We now come to the Concluding Rites of the Mass, the final elements that bring this great prayer of the Mass to a close. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal does not give much in the way of explanation of this part of the Mass, only the elements that comprise these rites:
To the Concluding Rites belong the following:
- a) brief announcements, should they be necessary;
- b) the Priest’s Greeting and Blessing, which on certain days and occasions is expanded and expressed by the Prayer over the People or another more solemn formula;
- c) the Dismissal of the people by the Deacon or the Priest, so that each may go back to doing good works, praising and blessing God;
- d) 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. (n. 90)
Although I could say something about each of these items, let me focus on point c), the Dismissal. There are four options given by the Roman Missal for the Dismissal, and they all begin with the same word: “Go.” As the GIRM mentions, our going has the character of being sent “to do good works, praising and blessing God.” Although the Mass in ended, our giving glory to God has not. My favorite Dismissal option expressed this beautifully: “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” Having encountered God’s word and having been nourished by His Body and Blood, we are equipped to go and live the Gospel in our daily lives. The Mass is not one hour a week, totally separated from our daily lives. No, the Mass is integral (necessary) to our lives as Catholics. Here is how Father Timothy Gallagher, OMV, describes it in his book, A Biblical Way of Praying the Mass: The Eucharistic Wisdom of Venerable Bruno Lanteri:
He sends us, Venerable Bruno writes, as apostles. The word “apostle” means exactly this, “one who is sent.” Venerable Bruno sees in Acts 15:26 the portrait of an apostle: Paul and Barnabas are men “who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are apostles when, in our vocations as husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, in our various professions in the world, and in our life in the Church, we have dedicated our lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the words “Go forth, the Mass is ended” are proclaimed, we receive the call to exit the church and reenter the world in this way, as apostles. In a very real sense, the end of the Mass is a beginning.
(p. 86 of Kindle version of book)
This year-long series focusing on trying to pray the Mass better is, very fittingly, also coming to a conclusion. It has been my great joy to share these reflections with you, reflections which I hope have helped you to enter into this greatest prayer better. It is my hope that, as we come to the conclusion of these reflections, this will not be an end, but as with the Dismissal at Mass, a beginning. May it be just the beginning of a journey into a deeper intimacy with Jesus in the most beautiful gift we have as Catholics, the Holy Mass. If, down the road, we find ourselves losing that fervor for the Mass, falling back into our autopilot ways, not getting much from the Mass, let us take one final piece of advice from our friend, Venerable Bruno Lanteri. Though these words speak more specifically about our struggles with sin, I think they apply well to our struggles with keeping our hearts focused in prayer at Mass. He uses his favorite phrase, Nunc coepi, which translated means “Now I begin” or similarly, “Begin again”:
If I should fall, were it even a thousand times, I will not lose courage, I will not be troubled, but I will always say immediately, with peace, Nunc coepi [“Now I Begin.”]
Father Alford