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Formed in Christ

Friday, July 31, 2026Faith

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The responsibility to bring all of it outside the walls of the church is now a weeklong vocation for each of us until we return to be fed by Word and sacrament again next Sunday.

Father Robert M.
O'Grady

After the blessing, the deacon or priest dismisses the assembly to "go out" of the church into the world with the Mass.
Originally, I had titled this "The end of Mass." Probably from the dismissal previously used, "The Mass is ended. Go in peace." But then, I "read the black."
The new dismissals place a different emphasis. It's primarily about going out and not about ending the Mass.
One of these four commands are the last words we hear before leaving the church:
"Go forth, the Mass is ended."
"Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord."
"Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life."
"Go in peace."
We reply: "Thanks be to God."
There are two special forms of the dismissal for Easter and its Octave, and Pentecost. It is preferable that this dismissal and our response be sung.
"Go forth, the Mass is ended. Alleluia, Alleluia" or "Go in peace. Alleluia, Alleluia."
And the assembly responds: "Thanks be to God. Alleluia, Alleluia."
Next is the kissing of the altar by the priest and the deacon, followed by a profound bow to the altar by the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers.
This is the very last instruction for any of the assembly.
The ministers leave. The assembly leaves. It doesn't even suggest a recession.
No hymn is prescribed. No prayers are prescribed. Nothing. We all leave.

In a document of the U.S. bishops, "Sing to the Lord," the bishops add this with respect to the recessional at 199: "Although it is not necessary to sing a recessional hymn, when it is a custom, all may join in a hymn or song after the dismissal. When a closing song is used, the procession of ministers should be arranged in such a way that it finishes during the final stanza. At times, e.g., if there has been a song after Communion, it may be appropriate to choose an option other than congregational song for the recessional. Other options include a choral or instrumental piece or, particularly during Lent, silence."
Notice the wording? "It is not necessary." Which might be a softer way of addressing that it is not required and not even mentioned.
This also raises the question of non-liturgical prayers of various kinds being appended to the Mass.
While members of the assembly may remain, they cannot be required to remain in church after the dismissal, whether for music or for appended prayers.
If a parish wants these prayers, then it is entirely up to the pastor to permit or not. However, he cannot lead these until he has left and returned from the sacristy without vestments to lead them. He could assign another member of the assembly to lead these, but the confusion that these prayers are part of the Mass must be avoided.
These prayers, called the Leonine Prayers, were appended to the end of the Mass celebrated before the Second Vatican Council by Pope Leo XIII. They disappeared from the Missal with its reform by Pope St. Paul VI. The Holy See reminds us of this: "It must never be forgotten that the Missal of Pope Paul VI, from the year 1970, has taken the place of that which is improperly called the 'Missal of St Pius V' and that it has done this totally, whether regarding texts or rubrics. Where the rubrics of the Missal of Paul VI say nothing or say little in specifics in some places, it is not therefore to be inferred that the old rite must be followed."
The Mass is in some sense concluded, but in another it is not.
A pastor used to preach several times a year about the Mass. He ended the sermon every time with this: "The Mass used to end with 'Ite, missa est.' This means 'Go, you are sent.'" Not sure where he studied Latin, but he would get at best a 50 percent, or an F!
"Ite" does mean "Go." "Missa est" translates to "It is the Mass." For him to get 100 percent, he would have needed the Latin dismissal to be "misi estis." The very bad Latin aside, he was making a very good point.
The Mass can't be left at the door of the church. All that we pray, do, say, ponder, contemplate, and receive at the Mass is finished for this weekend. The responsibility to bring all of it outside the walls of the church is now a weeklong vocation for each of us until we return to be fed by Word and sacrament again next Sunday.
This column completes our pilgrimage through the Mass. Some readers have submitted questions or observations which have inspired more topics. In the coming weeks, look for columns about liturgical books -- recently revised, in process, and farther down the road. There will be more about liturgical music and a few weeks about liturgical formation. And, as the new Liturgy of Hours makes its appearance at the beginning of 2027, there will be another longer series on that book.