Closing Gospel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A holy mass after the liturgy of 1962 ends with the final gospel . The text is usually the prologue of the Gospel of John ( John 1 : 1–14  EU ). With the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council , the rite in the ordinary form of the Roman rite was omitted , in the extraordinary form it is still practiced today.

The priest reads the final Gospel on the Gospel page of the altar quietly, usually from the canon tablet located there , on days with a different text from the missal . Before that he greets with “ Dominus vobiscum ” (“The Lord be with you”), to which the acolytes or the congregation reply: “ Et cum spiritu tuo ” (“And with your spirit”). Thereupon the priests, Levites , acolytes and congregation cross themselves with the triple sign of the cross, and the priest announces the following passage from the Gospel with the words “ Initium sancti Evangelii secundum Ioannem ” (“Beginning of the Holy Gospel according to John”). The answer is: " Gloria tibi, Domine " ('Glory to you, Lord').

At the words “ Et Verbum caro factum est ” (“And the word became flesh”, Jn 1.14  EU ) everyone involved squats. The Gospel ends with the answer: “ Deo gratias ” ('Thanks be to God').

Origin and liturgical significance

The text of the final gospel has been popular since the 12th century as a "blessing pericope" also for the administration of sacraments such as baptism or the sacraments of the death . Correspondingly, a close connection was seen between this gospel and the weather blessings that were immediately given in the spring and summer time . The custom of speaking the prologue of St. John at the end of Holy Mass has its origins in the liturgy of the Dominican Order in the 13th century , where the priest recited it when taking off his robes. Until 1962 the bishop spoke the text when leaving the altar at the pontifical office . Up to the 16th century, the final gospel became part of Holy Mass almost everywhere, with the exception of the liturgy practiced in the Carthusian order .

In modern times the blessing character of the final gospel has receded, it became the “epilogue” of the holy mass, which lost its meaning. In the communal mass , which became naturalized in the German-speaking countries from around 1920, the congregation no longer took part in the final gospel quietly recited by the priest, but sang a final song during this time. In the Easter Vigil was since its reform by Pope Pius XII. In 1951 the final gospel was omitted, as was the case with other masses, which were followed by an important function. With the instruction Inter Oecumenici Pope Paul VI. of September 26, 1964 in the course of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council , the final Gospel , just like the subsequent Leonian prayers , was abolished. In the Missale Romanum of 1970 it is no longer provided.

Instead of the beginning of the Gospel of John, a different Gospel text was recited on some days until the 20th century. In 1955, this only applied to the third Christmas mass , in which the St. John's pericope formed the gospel and Mt 2, 1–12  EU was read as the final gospel; on Palm Sunday the gospel of palm consecration ( Mt 21 : 1-9 EU ) was the final gospel in private masses  .

Before 1955, on days when a higher-ranking liturgical feast with its own Mass form replaced the subordinate daily liturgy, the suppressed Mass form was " commemorated " by appending its orations to those of the feast and reading the Gospel as the final Gospel. On these days the altar boy carried the missal back to the gospel page before the final gospel. The liturgical scholar Joseph Andreas Jungmann traces the practice back to the Missa Sicca , which was common in the 16th century , a second holy mass in short form, which the priest used to attend after the first mass without chasuble and after it was pushed back by the Council of The last element left in Trent was the Gospel reading.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Second volume, Herder Verlag, Vienna - Freiburg - Basel, 1948, 5th edition 1962, pp. 555f., 559, 560.
  2. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Second volume, Herder Verlag, Vienna - Freiburg - Basel, 1948, 5th edition 1962, p. 559, especially note 22.
  3. ↑ Inter Oecumenici 48 j: “The last Gospel is omitted; the Leonine prayers are abolished. "
  4. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Second volume, Herder Verlag, Vienna - Freiburg - Basel, 1948, 5th edition 1962, p. 558.
  5. ↑ Michael Haller: Happy service. A paperback for acolytes. Pfeiffer Verlag, Munich 1955, p. 27f.
  6. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia. A genetic explanation of the Roman mass. Second volume, Herder Verlag, Vienna - Freiburg - Basel, 1948, 5th edition 1962, p. 558.