Missa est - meaning

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Maximian

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Ite missa est is generally translated “Go, the Mass has ended.”

Therefore “Missa est” literally means “it has been sent.”
I have sometimes seen it rendered “you are dismissed” but that cannot be right as missa is feminine singular. There must be a “res” understood.

Does anyone share my feeling that missa est has the sense of “it is accomplished” - Jesus’ last words on the cross?
 
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“Ite. misa est” has been relayed to us as “Go, you are sent on mission” but in a more literal sense, what is it that we just offered at the holy sacrifice of the mass? One could also view it as “the Sacrifice has been sent”
 
I just listened to a podcast and the priest on the show mentioned that is exactly the way Ven. Fulton Sheen interprets those words
His Incarnation thus tended to the Crucifixion, for “greater love than this no man hast, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Now that Love had run its course in the Redemption of man, Divine Love could say: “I have done all for my vineyard that I can do.” Love can do no more than die. It is finished: “Ite, missa est.”
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https://sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books/calvary/the-ite-missa-est.html
 
Maximian said:
Does anyone share my feeling that missa est has the sense of “it is accomplished” - Jesus’ last words on the cross?
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That is certainly one sense of the word.

I usually favor “it [the Mass] is dismissed” rather than “you are …”

I know the reasoning is circular, but the other I like is this. Missa has also become the latin word for the Mass itself (probably from this fragment), so ite missa est could be interpreted “go, that’s the Mass” (in the sense of “that’s a wrap”).
 
po18guy said:
“Ite. misa est” has been relayed to us as “Go, you are sent on mission” but in a more literal sense, what is it that we just offered at the holy sacrifice of the mass? One could also view it as “the Sacrifice has been sent”
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Your latter translation makes good sense. I don’t really see how the grammar can be squeezed to fit a sense of “you are” because it is clearly a third person passive feminine (the feminine being an understood “res” - thing).
 
I think the “You are sent on mission” is a more practical exhortation. With the offering being sent, what must the faithful then do?
 
You may be right That it would be more practical but I don’t think thats what it means
 
I would go with what the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said.

It is good to remember that human language - all language - is capable of conveying only a tiny fraction of human experience.

As well, it might be good to move on from this, perhaps revisiting it later. If we stop to focus on the incomprehensible, we halt our progress and risk losing our grasp on that which is comprehensible.
 
If we believe the Filioque, the completion of the Son includes the sending of the Spirit.
 
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