The word "Mass"

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Where did the word “Mass” come from and what does it mean? I started using it when I tell people “I attend Mass” instead of “I go to church” just to differenciate between a Catholic Mass and a Protestant “Service”, but I was asked what the word Mass means and I didn’t know how to respond.
 
The word “Mass” is derived from the final words of the Mass: “Ite, Missa Est”. Literally, “Go, it is dismissed”. In the current English translation of the Mass, the words are “The Mass is ended, go in peace”. In Latin, you will still hear the Mass called the “Missa”…for example “Missa Simplex” is a “simple Mass”, “Missa Cantata” is a “Sung Mass” and “Missa Solemnis” is a “Solemn Mass”.

Adam
 
What the word Mass means today is simply the celebration of the Catholic Eucharist. (Or really, the combined celebration of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.)

I believe the word was derived from the old Latin ending to the Mass, “Ite, Missa est.” Go, the Mass is ended. Or Go, you are sent forth. I’m not sure, but I believe the derivation of the Latin word has to do with being sent.
 
Ite Missa Este - From ‘Missio’ - to be sent from which is also derived the word ‘Mission’.
Scripturally derived; see Mathew 28:19 -’ go therefore and make disciples of all nations’
Or again: Mark 16:15: ‘go into all the world and proclaim the good news’.
This is our primary duty as Christians and so we are sent out from the Mass suitably sanctified so we can indeed proclaim the good news to others.
 
ite missa est allelulia allleluia allelulia… Deo Gratias allelulia allelulia allleluia
 
I’ve heard “Ite, Missa est” translated as “Go, It is sent”, as in “Go, the sacrifice is sent to God” - “Missa est” being third person singular: ‘it’ or ‘he’. :confused:

The root of ‘Missa’ (mittere: to send) without prefix, as found in missive, mission, missile might suggest a somewhat different meaning to that found with the prefix dis- ( apart ) as in dismiss.

Can any Latin readers offer a most literal and verbatim translation of “Ite, Missa est”?

It seems to bear upon whether the word “Mass” means the sending of the sacrifice to God or the dispersal of those assisting amongst the world.
 
I also was intrigued by the word Mass. What do the letters stand for and why do we call the Mass the Mass. I asked God for the answer and this is the response I received.
We call the Mass the Mass because it is a Mother And Son’s Sacrifice

The Blessed Mother suffered all the sufferings of Christ as a co-redemptress of mankind.
 
I also was intriqued by the word Mass. What do the letters stand for and why do we call the Mass the Mass. I asked God for the answer and this is the response I received.
We call the Mass the Mass because it is a Mother And Son’s Sacrifice

The Blessed Mother suffered all the sufferings of Christ as a co-redemptress of mankind.
 
So, Missa is an ablative(?) formed from the noun **Missio **

.missio

a *a 1 fem sing abl

"Ite Missa est" = "Go, it is a sending from"

And the word mass is an English form of Missa - (as Missa Solemnis = Solemn Mass ; Missa Cantata = Sung Mass)

So the word “mass” means "a sending from".

But what “sending from” is referred to?

The “sending from” of the sacrifice of Christ unto the Father that takes place upon the Calvery of the Catholic altar?

Or the “sending from” of the congregation out into the world?

Doesn’t the former make more sense? It’s harder to see how the entire Holy Sacrifice we call the mass, “the sending from”, would be named for a valediction after its completion rather than the central supernatural drama preceding it.

It’s an interesting question that touches intriguingly upon the debate between the Traditional Catholic mass and Novus Ordo mass.
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judicame:
So the word “mass” means “a sending from”.

But what “sending from” is referred to?

The “sending from” of the sacrifice of Christ unto the Father that takes place upon the Calvery of the Catholic altar?

Or the “sending from” of the congregation out into the world?

Doesn’t the former make more sense? It’s harder to see how the entire Holy Sacrifice we call the mass, “the sending from”, would be named for a valediction after its completion rather than the central supernatural drama preceding it.
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It is harder to imagine this, but I think the latter makes just as much sense. Having entered into the Mystery of our Lord’s life, death, and resurrection during the liturgy, we are sent from there to enter into the Mystery of our Lord’s life, death, and resurrection out in the world.

During the Mass, we are privileged to join in the Heavenly liturgy and offer the Eucharist. Then, the dismissal charges us with becoming the Eucharist when we leave, to allow ourselves to be broken and poured out for others.
 
I suppose in effect that it is both.

The profane use of the word “mass”, (eg. massing for a sports or political event) which I suppose derives from the sacred, may initially imply a *gathering together, *

could be derived separately

in my missal
 
I suppose in effect it has always been both.

The profane use of the word “mass”, (eg. massing for a sports or political event) which I suppose derives from the sacred, involves a gathering together*,* an assisting and sending forth of a central significant event and a sending forth also of transformed participants.

In any case I see little need to suppose that the name “mass” or “missa” for the most Holy Sacrifice derives from the versicle “Ite Missa est” when the very sacrifice of Christ Himself is a missa to God. As also the instruction to go “into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16,15) is a missa.

Perhaps then, that which we refer to as the mass would be more correctly described as the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.
 
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judicame:
I suppose in effect it has always been both.

The profane use of the word “mass”, (eg. massing for a sports or political event) which I suppose derives from the sacred, involves a gathering together*,* an assisting and sending forth of a central significant event and a sending forth also of transformed participants.

In any case I see little need to suppose that the name “mass” or “missa” for the most Holy Sacrifice derives from the versicle “Ite Missa est” when the very sacrifice of Christ Himself is a missa to God. As also the instruction to go “into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16,15) is a missa.

Perhaps then, that which we refer to as the mass would be more correctly described as the Holy Sacrifice of the mass.
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It is probably best to rely on the Catholic Encyclopedia reference that someone posted… It said: "Ite missa est should be translated “Go it is the dismissal.” Pretty straightforward, and whether it is the most apt name or not, it does derive from the Latin words said to let people know they were at the “dismissal” and they could now “go.” No need to read anything more into it.

However, “Mass” can be properly referred to as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (though some might find this a little old fashioned sounding, that IS the essence of our worship). In fact, you will find such language in the Baltimore Catechism if I remember correctly.
 
In Tamil language we say Thiru Bali to mass, which means Holy Sacrifice.

In Christ,
selvaraj
 
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selvaraj:
In Tamil language we say Thiru Bali to mass, which means Holy Sacrifice.

In Christ,
selvaraj
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Thanks for the post selvaraj.
Thiru Bali would seem to support the expanation I received whe I asked and was told,“We call the Mass the Mass because it is a Mother And Son’s Sacrifice.”
 
Just for the record, in traditional Latin, “missa” is not from “missio.” The ablative of “missio” would be “missione.”

However, in medieval Latin, words ending in “-io” are sometimes misspelled to end in “-a” (actually, it is rather anachronistic to call it “misspelling,” since they had nothing like Webster’s Dictionary at that time to use for standardizing spelling). Thus, assuming the Catholic Encyclopedia’s interpretation is correct, “missa” would be an alternative spelling for “missio,” which would be nominative, not ablative. Thus, “missa est” would mean “it is the sending forth.”

In a more usual interpretation of the Latin, “missa” appears to be part of a verb. “missa est” would be the complete verb–to be specific, the third person active perfect indicative form of the verb “mitto, mittere,” which means “to send” (or perhaps in this case, “to dismiss”). The form “missa est” means literally “she was sent.” “missa” in this case would be a feminine form representing an unnamed subject. Who is “she”? Well, in Latin, many things that we would refer to as “it” are referred to as feminine, for example, in modern English if we were to refer to sending a ship to war or something we would say, “it was sent,” but the Latin equivalent (“navis missa est”) would be abbreviated “missa est,” which literally means “she was sent.”

All this is to say that if we interpret the phrase literally and don’t assume a medieval misspelling that there is little evidence for (despite the speculations of the Catholic Encyclopedia and numerous theologians), “missa est” means “she (or it or perhaps even he) was sent (or dismissed).”

My personal best guess is that “Ite, missa est” means “go” (“ite” is the plural imperative – literally, “go, all of you”), “it [whatever ‘it’ or ‘she’ or whatever is] was sent forth [or dismissed].” What that means – “go, it was sent forth” – is up to interpretation.

Whatever it means, “ite missa est” does not mean “go, the mass is ended” or “go, you are dismissed” or any number of other common mistranslations. If “missa” is indeed a medieval corrupt spelling of “missio” in this case, it might mean, “go, it is the sending forth,” but I believe “go, it/she was sent forth/dismissed” is the more accurate translation.

Hope that helps.
 
One other thing I came upon – the masculine word “missus” was used in late classical times to refer to a dismissal of law courts and similar formal ceremonies. “missa” could be a modification of that, rather than a corruption from “missio,” which could be an argument for the translation “Go, it is the dismissal.” However, the more usual word for this would be “missus,” which is masculine. I don’t know how common the feminine was, if it was used at all. (This type of word change would go against usual linguistic patterns of Latin word formation.)

The OED etymology for “mass” gives some of this information, as well as the other phrase “missa catechumenorum” which refers to the dismissal of the catechumens before the Eucharist, a phrase which is cited by some early sources as the source for “mass” as the term for the entire service. Modern sources tend to focus on the “ite, missa est” explanation.

Personally, I still think the most reasonable translation is “go, she/it was sent forth/dismissed,” with the “she/it” understood to mean something we no longer have a record of.
 
I know ite missa est is commonly referred to as a dismissal.

Instead of regarding it as “The Mass is ended, go in peace” we should see it as sending us out as missionaries to spread the Gospel message in our community.

More of a ‘commissioning’.

As far as the ‘Mass’ goes, although we commonly use the word as an abbreviation, maybe we should start giving it a more formal emphasis is this day and age to remind ourselves and others just what it is really all about.

The Eucharistic Sacrifice perhaps
 
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jzmckay:
Personally, I still think the most reasonable translation is “go, she/it was sent forth/dismissed,” with the “she/it” understood to mean something we no longer have a record of.
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Thanks for that information. I wonder if “she/it was sent forth” refers to the most perfect sacrifice Whose flesh and blood has just been eaten.

 
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