Ite, missa est

Last updated
"Ite, missa est" sung by the deacon at a Solemn Mass IteMissaEst.jpg
"Ite, missa est" sung by the deacon at a Solemn Mass

Ite, missa est (English: "Go, it is the dismissal") are the concluding Latin words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite in the Catholic Church, as well as in the Divine Service of the Lutheran Church.

Contents

Until the reforms of 1962, at Masses without the Gloria, Benedicamus Domino was said instead. The response of the people (or, in the Tridentine Mass, of the servers at Low Mass, the choir at Solemn Mass) is Deo gratias ("thanks be to God").

Meaning

In the 19th century, it was common to explain the phrase elliptically, with missa the feminine participle of mittere, as in Ite, missa est [congregatio] "Go, it [viz., the assembly] is dismissed". [1] However, according to Fortescue (1910), the word missa as used in this phrase is not the feminine participle (Classical Latin missa), but rather a Late Latin form of what would be missio in classical Latin, meaning "dismissal", for a translation of "Go, the dismissal is made". [2]

Chupungco (1999) noted that "some persons have attempted" to "sublimate" the straightforward meaning of the phrase into an interpretation of missio "dismissal" as "mission" (as in, "go and be a missionary"), but judges this interpretation as "without foundation". [3]

The connection between the meaning "dismissal" and the 'deeper' meaning of "mission" was also discussed by Benedict XVI (without making an etymological claim) in Sacramentum caritatis (2007): "In antiquity, missa simply meant 'dismissal'. In Christian usage, however, it gradually took on a deeper meaning. The word 'dismissal' has come to imply a 'mission'. These few words succinctly express the missionary nature of the Church". [4]

Historically, there have been other explanations of the noun missa, i. e. as not derived from the formula ite, missa est. Medieval authors took the phrase to contain the noun missa "mass". Thus Guillaume Durand (13th century) suggests that the meaning is either elliptic missa est [finita] "the mass is finished", or that est should be taken absolutely, as meaning "the mass exists, is now accomplished fact". [5] But, in fact, the ecclesiastical Latin noun missa "mass" is itself derived from the missa in this liturgical formula.

Also, Du Cange (1678) reports "various opinions on the origin" of the noun missa "mass". [6] Fortescue (1910) cites more "fanciful" etymological explanations, notably a latinization of Hebrew matsâh (מַצָּה) "unleavened bread; oblation", a derivation favoured in the 16th century by Reuchlin and Luther. [7]

Overlooked are two forms of dismissal of the Aquileian Rite, one used for Major Double Feasts and another for Major Solemnities of the Blessed Virgin Mary, respectively, "Ite benedicti et electi in viam pacis: pro vobis Deo Patri hostia missa est" and "Ite benedicti et electi in viam pacis: pro vobis Mariae Filius hostia missa est" as recorded in Migne's Patrologia Latina 99 which presents a Mass for the feast of St. Paulinus II of Aquileia excerpted from the Aquileian Missal of 1519. Noteworthy is the fact missa est is used as a past perfect verb in the passive voice with hostia as its subject. Thus, the Host or sacrificial victim has been sent. In the former case, "the sacrificial victim has been sent to God the Father," in the latter "the sacrificial victim" is defined as "the son of Mary." At other times, the Aquileian Rite used the Roman dismissal.

History and liturgical use

It is one of the oldest formulae of the Roman Rite, recorded in Ordo I (6th or 7th century). [8] but if the noun missa "mass" is to be taken as a derivation from this formula, it must predate the 6th century and may date to as early as the 3rd, missa being a re-adoption into written Latin of the spoken Late Latin for missio. [9]

After the twelfth century, accretions began to be added to the Mass after the "Ite, missa est", changing it from a dismissal to a mere formula without relation to actuality. But only in the sixteenth century, with the establishment of the Tridentine Mass (Missal of Pope Pius V), were these accretions officially accepted as part of the Mass.

In this revision of the Roman Missal, the ”Ite, missa est” was followed by a silent private prayer by the priest, then by the blessing, and finally by the reading of what was called the Last Gospel (usually John 1:1–14, but since, until the reform of Pope Pius X, saints' feasts came to supplant most Sunday Masses, the Last Gospel on such Sundays was that of the Sunday Mass).

With the reform of Pope Paul VI "Ite, missa est" returned to its function as a dismissal formula. It is omitted if another liturgical function follows immediately and the people are not to leave (e.g., Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament).

"Ite missa est", not being variable like the Scripture readings and the Collect, is part of the Order of Mass and has always been printed in that part of the Roman Missal. Being sung by an individual (ideally the deacon), not by a choir, it cannot be part of a polyphonic musical setting of the Mass. Only the "Deo gratias" response could be set polyphonically but again, because of its brevity, it rarely was, except in some early settings such as Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame .

Alternative formulas

Patristic Era

Modern Roman Rite

In 2008 alternative dismissal formulas were approved for Mass of the Roman Rite: [10]

In each case the response called for by the Roman Missal continues to be "Deo gratias" (Thanks be to God).

Non-Roman Latin rites

The dismissal formulas in other Latin liturgical rites are:

Eastern Rites

Other languages (Roman Rite)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Missal</span> Central book of the most widespread Catholic liturgical rite

The Roman Missal is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass (liturgy)</span> Type of worship service within many Christian denominations

Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass of Paul VI</span> Type of liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Mass of Paul VI, also known as the Ordinary Form or Novus Ordo, is the most commonly used liturgy in the Catholic Church. It was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969 and its liturgical books were published in 1970; those books were then revised in 1975, they were revised again by Pope John Paul II in 2000, and a third revision was published in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tridentine Mass</span> Form of liturgy in the Roman Rite

The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass, the Traditional Rite, or the Extraordinary Form, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in 1570 and published thereafter with amendments up to 1962. Celebrated almost exclusively in Ecclesiastical Latin, it was the most widely used Eucharistic liturgy in the world from its issuance in 1570 until the introduction of the Mass of Paul VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Requiem</span> Mass celebrated for the repose of deceased peoples souls

A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead, is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is usually celebrated in the context of a funeral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontifical High Mass</span> High Mass celebrated by a Catholic bishop

A Pontifical High Mass, also called Solemn Pontifical Mass, is a Solemn or High Mass celebrated by a bishop using certain prescribed ceremonies. Although in modern English the word "pontifical" is almost exclusively associated with the pope, any bishop may be properly called a pontiff. Thus, the celebrant of a Pontifical High Mass may be the pope, any bishop or any other prelate who is allowed to wear pontificals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pax (liturgy)</span> Salutation in Catholic Mass

In Christian liturgy, "the Pax" is an abbreviation of the Latin salutations "pax vobis" or "pax vobiscum", which are used in the Catholic Mass, the Lutheran Divine Service, and the Western Orthodox Mass.

The ordinary, in Catholic liturgies, refers to the part of the Mass or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed. It is contrasted to the proper, which is that part of these liturgies that varies according to the date, either representing an observance within the liturgical year, or of a particular saint or significant event, or to the common which contains those parts that are common to an entire category of saints such as apostles or martyrs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Rite</span> Most widespread liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.

<i>Missa cantata</i>

Missa cantata is a form of Tridentine Mass defined officially in 1960 as a sung Mass celebrated without sacred ministers, i.e., deacon and subdeacon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solemn Mass</span> Full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass

Solemn Mass is the full ceremonial form of a Mass, predominantly associated with the Tridentine Mass where it is celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of incense. It is also called High Mass or Solemn High Mass.

Missale Romanum is the incipit of an apostolic constitution issued by Pope Paul VI on 3 April 1969. It promulgated the new revised version of the Roman Missal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canon of the Mass</span> Anaphora prayer sometimes used in Roman Catholic liturgies

The Canon of the Mass, also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name Canon Missæ was used in the Tridentine Missal from the first typical edition of Pope Pius V in 1570 to that of Pope John XXIII in 1962 to describe the part of the Mass of the Roman Rite that began after the Sanctus with the words Te igitur. All editions preceding that of 1962 place the indication "Canon Missae" at the head of each page from that point until the end of the Mass; that of 1962 does so only until the page preceding the Pater Noster and places the heading "Ordo Missae" on the following pages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norbertine Rite</span> Liturgical rite of the Catholic Church

The Premonstratensian Rite or Norbertine Rite is the liturgical rite, distinct from the Roman Rite, specific to the Premonstratensian Order of the Roman Catholic Church

Benedicamus Domino is a closing salutation that was formerly used in the Latin Mass instead of the Ite, missa est in Masses which lack the Gloria. The response, said afterwards, is Deo gratias. It is also sung as a versicle at the end of all Offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in the Catholic Church</span> Central liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church

The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

Orate fratres is the incipit of a request for prayer that the priest celebrating Mass of the Roman Rite addresses to the faithful participating in it before saying the Prayer over the Offerings, formerly called the Secret. It thus corresponds to the Oremus said before the Collect and the Postcommunion, and is an expansion of those shorter exhortations. It has gone through several alterations since the Middle Ages.

Sine populo is an expression that is used in the Roman Rite liturgy to describe a Mass celebrated by a priest without a congregation.

Deo gratias is a response in the Latin Mass, derived from the Vulgate text of 1 Corinthians 15:57 and 2 Corinthians 2:14.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal blessing</span>

The episcopal or pontifical blessing is a blessing imparted by a bishop, especially if using a formula given in official liturgical books.

References

  1. ↑ so Friedrich Diez, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der roman. Sprachen (1887), p. 212, cited by Fortescue (1910).
  2. ↑ "It is a substantive of a late form for missio. There are many parallels in medieval Latin, collecta, ingressa, confessa, accessa, ascensa — all for forms in -io. It does not mean an offering (mittere, in the sense of handing over to God), but the dismissal of the people, as in the versicle 'Ite missa est' (Go, the dismissal is made)." Fortescue, A. (1910). Liturgy of the Mass. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. ↑ Anscar J. Chupungco, Handbook for Liturgical Studies: The Eucharist, Volume 3 of Handbook for Liturgical Studies, Liturgical Press, 1999, p. 3.
  4. ↑ (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum caritatis, 51)
  5. ↑ "Durandus (Rationale, IV, 57) suggests several interpretations. It has been thought that a word is omitted: Ite, missa est finita; or est is taken absolutely, as meaning 'exists, is now an accomplished fact'". Fortescue (1910).
  6. ↑ De vocabuli origine variæ sunt Scriptorum sententiæ. Hanc enim quidam, ut idem Baronius, ab Hebræo Missah, id est, oblatio, arcessunt : alii a mittendo, quod nos mittat ad Deum, ut est apud Alcuinum de Divinis offic. Honorium Augustod. lib. 1. cap. 2. Rupertum lib. 2. cap. 23. etc. Du Cange, et al., Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, éd. augm., Niort : L. Favre, 1883‑1887, t. 5, col. 412b, s.v. 4. missa.
  7. ↑ "The origin and first meaning of the word, once much discussed, is not really doubtful. We may dismiss at once such fanciful explanations as that missa is the Hebrew missah ("oblation" — so Reuchlin and Luther), or the Greek myesis ("initiation"), or the German Mess ("assembly", "market"). Nor is it the participle feminine of mittere, with a noun understood ("oblatio missa ad Deum", "congregatio missa", i. e., dimissa — so Diez, "Etymol. Wörterbuch der roman. Sprachen", 212, and others).
  8. ↑ "When the prayer [Post-Communion] is over, that one of the deacons appointed by the archdeacon looks towards the pontiff to receive a sign from him and then says to the people: Ite missa est. They answer: Deo gratias" (Ordo I, ed. Atchley, London, 1905, p. 144).
  9. ↑ "It is our formula of the old dismissal (apolysis) still contained in all liturgies. It is undoubtedly one of the most ancient Roman formulæ, as may be seen from its archaic and difficult form. All the three oldest Roman Ordines contain it." Fortescue (1910).
  10. ↑ ZENIT Staff (14 October 2008). "Mass Could End With More Than "Go in Peace"". ZENIT. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  11. ↑ "In festo majori duplici," Extracta ex Missali ecclesiae Aquiliensis, impresse anno 1519, in exemplum ritus ejusdem ecclesiae in J.P. Migne Patrologia Latina 99:627.
  12. ↑ "In majoribus autem solemnitatibus beatae Mariae virginis," Extracta ex Missali ecclesiae Aquiliensis, impresse anno 1519, in exemplum ritus ejusdem ecclesiae in J.P. Migne Patrologia Latina 99:627.
  13. ↑ "Vatikāns apstiprinājis Svētās Mises noslēguma formulas" [The Vatican has approved closing formulas of Holy Mass]. Katolis.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Watykan: Nowe formuły rozesłania kończące Mszę św" [Vatican: New sending formulas ending Mass]. Liturgia.pl (in Polish). 22 October 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Liturgická komisia KBS". liturgia.kbs.sk. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.