The History of Leaflet Missal

Nearly 100 Years of Faith & Service

From 1929 to the present, Leaflet Missal has been distinctly Catholic and a trusted presence in the local and nationwide Catholic community. Over the decades we’ve adapted - printing the missal for JFK’s funeral Mass, pioneering Catholic mail-order catalogs, and expanding into nationwide online retail. Follow along by clicking through the milestones in our three key eras to get the full picture of where we came from and where we're heading with Catholic Home and Church!

 

The Beginning: 1929-1976

1929

The Leaflet Missal Company is founded by three priests - Fr. Bussard, Fr. Jennings, Fr. Gales

It began as a publisher and printer of Sunday Mass leaflet missalettes. Mas was said in Latin and the goal was to make the Mass more accessible to the laity

The business grew quickly, averaging over 90,000 copies a week with even more for nuptial and burial Mass booklets. These missalettes often contained art by the well-known and talented Virginia Broderick

1936

The Catholic Digest magazine stems from Leaflet Missal, created by the same three priests

1963

Leaflet Missal is selected to produce the missal for President JFK's funeral Mass

1970s

Leaflet Missal beings placing a few select products in the back of their missalettes, with immediate success

Soon, the first catalog was printed and sent out, containing just four black-and-white pages, paving the way and pioneering in the Catholic goods mail-ordering space

The Shift to Retail: 1977-1999

1977

The full-color, nationally distributed catalog is published

1978

Peter Welvang, who had been working at Leaflet specifically on the catalogs, purchases Leaflet Missal

He separated from the publishing business to focus on the growing need for Catholic supplies, making them accessible to the laity, just like the Priests had done with the Mass through the original missalettes

1990

Leaflet Missal moves into the building we are still at today on Minnehaha Ave in Saint Paul, Minnesota

1996

Peter & his wife Diane Welvang win the Catholic Servant's Catholic of the Year award

1998

Peter and Diane's children, the Welvang siblings, buy the business

1999

The Church Goods department is created, run by John Hastreiter as it still is today

Expanding Digitally and Worldwide: 2000-Present

2000

The leafletonline.com website is published and begins taking orders nationwide via the world wide web!

The online storefront, showroom, and mail-order catalog continue to grow quickly. At one point, Leaflet Missal was printing 8 different catalogs a year!

2025

Leaflet Missal completes a long-needed refresh and rebrand their digital presence under Catholic Home & Church

Leaflet Missal continues to operate as you know it, now through catholichomeandchurch.com

96+

We are quickly closing in on 100 years of faithfully serving the Catholic community!