Sunday, February 21, 2010

Lenten reflection: Ite missa est (2)

The word "mass" derives from the "missa" in "Ite missa est" which were the words said at the conclusion of the old mass.

That may not seem interesting but consider the following. The Our Father is named for the first words of the prayer it identifies. So is the Creed (from "Credo"), the Gloria, the Hail Mary, the Sanctus, the Agnes Dei, the Magnificat and the Nunc Dim­it­tis. And it's not just liturgical matters, think also of opera arias: Caro Nome, La donna est mobile, O mio babino caro and Nessum Dorma all come from the first words.

Consider then, what an unusual thing it was to name the single most important liturgy of the church after the last words spoken in it. Think of what a betrayal of the hundreds of years of tradition and the millions of Catholics who have gone before us it is to now take away that simple expression of release.

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