''Ite, missa est'' are the concluding

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

words addressed to the people in the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

of the

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, as well as the

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Divine Service. Until the reforms of 1962, at Masses without the

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, '' Benedicamus Domino'' was said instead. The response of the people (or, in the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass (liturgy), Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in Editio typica, typical editions of the Roman Missal published from ...

, of the servers at Low Mass, the choir at

Solemn Mass Solemn Mass ( la, missa solemnis) 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,"The essence of high Mass is not the music but the deacon ...

) 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 ongregatio' "Go, it iz., the assemblyis dismissed". 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 Late Latin ( la, Latinitas serior) is the scholarly name for the form of Literary Latin of late antiquity.Roberts (1996), p. 537. English dictionary definitions of Late Latin date this period from the , and continuing into the 7th century in t ...

form of what would be '' missio'' in classical Latin, meaning "dismissal", for a translation of "Go, the dismissal is made". 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". The connection between the meaning "dismissal" and the 'deeper' meaning of "mission" was also discussed by

Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

(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". 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 Guillaume Durand, or William Durand (c. 1230 – 1 November 1296), also known as Durandus, Duranti or Durantis, from the Italian form of Durandi filius, as he sometimes signed himself, was a French canonist and liturgical writer, and Bishop ...

(13th century) suggests that the meaning is either elliptic ''missa est inita' "the mass is finished", or that ''est'' should be taken absolutely, as meaning "the mass exists, is now accomplished fact". But, in fact, the ecclesiastical Latin noun ''missa'' "

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

" is itself derived from the ''missa'' in this liturgical formula. Also,

Du Cange Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange (; December 18, 1610 in Amiens – October 23, 1688 in Paris, aged 77), also known simply as Charles Dufresne, was a distinguished French philologist and historian of the Middle Ages and Byzantium. Life Educat ...

(1678) reports "various opinions on the origin" of the noun ''missa'' "mass". 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

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and

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. Overlooked are two forms of dismissal of the

Aquileian Rite The Aquileian Rite was a particular liturgical tradition of the Patriarchate of Aquileia and hence called the ''ritus patriarchinus.'' It was effectively replaced by the Roman Rite by the beginning of the seventeenth century, although elements of ...

, 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 Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...

'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 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). 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

for ''missio''. 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

(Missal of

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), were these accretions officially accepted as part of the Mass. In this revision of the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) 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 th ...

, 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 , but since, until the reform of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

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s' feasts came to supplant most Sunday Masses, the Last Gospel on such Sundays was that of the Sunday Mass). With the reform of

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"Ite, missa est" returned to its function as a dismissal formula. It is omitted if another function follows immediately and the people are therefore not dismissed. "Ite missa est", not being variable like the Scripture readings and the collect, is part of the

Order of Mass Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass. The expression Order of Mass is particularly tied to the Roman Rite where the sections under tha ...

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 Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

's ''

Messe de Nostre Dame ''Messe de Nostre Dame'' (''Mass of Our Lady'') is a polyphonic mass composed before 1365 by French poet and composer Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300–1377). Widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of medieval music and of all religious mus ...

''.

Alternative formulas

Patristic Era

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: "Go in peace."

Modern Roman Rite

In 2008 alternative dismissal formulas were approved for Mass of the Roman Rite: * "Ite in pace" (Go in peace) * "Ite ad Evangelium Domini nuntiandum" (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord) * "Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum" (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life) 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 liturgical rites are: *

Ambrosian Rite The Ambrosian Rite is a Catholic Western liturgical rite, named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century, which differs from the Roman Rite. It is used by some five million Catholics in the greater part of the Archdiocese ...

: "Procedamus cum pace" (Let us go forth in peace). Response: "In nomine Christi" (In the name of Christ). * Mozarabic Rite: "Solemnia completa sunt in nomine D. N. I. C: votum nostrum sit acceptum cum pace" (The celebration is completed in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ; may our prayer be accepted with peace). Response: "Deo gratias" (Thanks be to God). *

: "Ite benedicti et electi in viam pacis: pro vobis Deo Patri hostia missa est." (Go blessed and elect in the way of peace: for you the sacrificial victim has been sent to God the Father.) *

: "Ite benedicti et electi in viam pacis: pro vobis Mariae Filius hostia missa est." (Go blessed and elect in the way of peace: for you the sacrificial victim, the Son of Mary, has been sent.)

Eastern Rites

*Antiochene, Alexandrian and Byzantine liturgies: "Let us go forth in peace" (said by the deacon). Response: "In the name of the Lord." Then the priest says a short "prayer of dismissal".

Other languages (Roman Rite)

* Latvian: "" (May the grace of God accompany you) * Polish: "" (Go in the peace of Christ) * Slovak: **"" (Go in peace) **"" (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord) **"" (Go in peace and announce the Lord through your life)

References

External links

* Fortescue, A. (1910)
Ite Missa Est
''

The Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'', New York: Robert Appleton Company.
See ''Ite Missa Est'' in the 1962 ''Missale Romanum'' with MP3 Audio
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