Why Is It Called the Mass? The Catholic Mass of the Roman Rite and Where It Came From

The Mass most Catholics know is celebrated in the "Roman Rite" — the liturgical tradition of the Church of Rome. In this session of The Mass Explained, Dr. Brant Pitre explains why the liturgy is even called "the Mass" — from the Latin missa, taken from the dismissal "Ite, missa est" ("Go forth, the Mass is ended") (CCC 1332) — and how the Roman Rite stands alongside the other Catholic liturgical traditions the Catechism names: the Latin (Roman and Ambrosian), Byzantine, Alexandrian/Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite, and Chaldean rites (CCC 1202). Drawing on St. Justin Martyr's second-century description of the Sunday Eucharist — gathering, the readings, the homily, the prayers of the faithful, the kiss of peace, the offertory, the Eucharistic Prayer and "Amen," and Communion — he shows how the basic shape of the Mass has held firm from ancient times to our own day.

Key passages & sources examined: the meaning of missa / "Ite, missa est" (CCC 1332); the Ordo Romanus I (7th century); the diversity of Catholic rites (CCC 1202); and St. Justin Martyr's description of the Sunday liturgy (First Apology 65–67, c. A.D. 155; cited in CCC 1345).