Ite missa est

"Ite, missa est" sung by the deacon at a Solemn Mass.

Ite, missa est are the concluding words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite, as well as the Lutheran Divine Service. The exact meaning of the words is disputed, it has the effect of "Go", or "It is Sent", but the term "Mass" (in Latin, missa) derives from this phrase. 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).

Since in classical Latin, missa is the feminine form of the perfect passive participle of mittere (to send), missa est could be taken to mean: "It has been sent", the "it" being something grammatically feminine in Latin, such as communio (communion), hostia (sacrificial victim), oblatio (offering), Eucharistia (Eucharist).

Another theory is that missa is a noun, meaning "dismissal", in a later form of Latin:

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).

After the twelfth century, accretions began to be added 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 Pope's 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 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 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 obviously cannot be part of a polyphonic musical setting of the Mass. Only the "Deo gratias" response could be set polyphonically and, because of its brevity, it rarely was, except in some early settings such as Machaut's Messe de Nostre Dame.

The dismissal formulas in other liturgical rites are:

• Ambrosian Rite: "Procedamus in pace" (Let us go 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).
• Apostolic Constitutions: "Go in peace."
• 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".

External links

• See Ite Missa Est in the 1962 Missale Romanum with MP3 Audio