I. HISTORY
From the very earliest
times the public reading of parts of the Bible was an important element
in the Liturgy inherited from the service of the Synagogue. The first
part of that service, before the bread and wine were brought up to be
offered and consecrated, was the Liturgy of the catechumens. This
consisted of prayers, litanies, hymns, and especially readings from
Holy Scripture. The object of the readings was obviously to instruct
the people. Books were rare and few could read. What the Christian of
the first centuries knew of the Bible, of Old Testament history, St.
Paul's theology, and Our Lord's life he had learned from hearing the
lessons in church, and from the homilies that followed to explain them.
In the first period the portions read were — like the rite — not yet
stereotyped. St. Justin Martyr (died c. 167) in describing the rite he
knew (apparently at Rome) begins by saying that: "On the day of the
sun, as it is called, all the inhabitants of town and country come
together in the same place, and the commentaries of the Apostles
[anamnemoneumata ton apostolon — gospels], or writings of the Prophets
are read as long as time will allow. Then, when the reader has stopped,
he who presides admonishes and exhorts all to imitate such glorious
examples" (I Apol., 67). At this time, then, the text was read
continuously from a Bible, till the president (the bishop who was
celebrating) told the reader to stop. These readings varied in number.
A common practice was to read first from the Old Testament (Prophetia),
then from an Epistle (Apostolus) and lastly from a Gospel (Evangelium).
In any case the Gospel was read last, as the fulfilment of all the
rest. Origen calls it the crown of all the holy writings (In Johannem,
i, 4, præf., P. G., XIV, 26). "We hear the Gospel as if God were
present", says St. Augustine ("In Johannem", tract. xxx, 1, P. L. XXXV,
1632). It seems that in some places (in the West especially) for a time
catechumens were not allowed to stay for the Gospel, which was
considered part of the disciplina arcani. At the Synod of Orange, in
441, and at Valencia, in 524, they wanted to change this rule. On the
other hand, in all Eastern Liturgies (e.g. that of the Apostolic
Constitutions; Brightman, "Eastern Liturgies", Oxford, 1896, p. 5) the
catechumens are dismissed after the Gospel.
The public reading of
certain Gospels in churches was the most important factor in deciding
which were to be considered canonical. The four that were received and
read in the Liturgy everywhere were for that very reason admitted to
the Canon of Scripture. We have evidences of this liturgical reading of
the Gospel from every part of Christendom in the first centuries. For
Syria, the Apostolic Constitutions tell us that when a bishop was
ordained he blessed the people "after the reading of the law and
prophets and our Epistles and Acts and Gospels" (VIII, 5), and the
manner of reading the Gospel is described in II, 57 (Cabrol and
Leclercq, "Monumenta eccl. liturgica", Paris, 1900, I, p. 225); the
"Peregrinatio Silviæ" (Etheriæ) describes the reading of the Gospel at
Jerusalem (Duchesne: "Origines", 493). The homilies of St. Basil and
St. John Chrysostom explain the Gospel as read at Cæsarea, Antioch,
Constantinople. In Egypt, St. Cyril of Alexandria writes to the Emperor
Theodosius II about the liturgical use of the Gospels (P. G., LXXVI,
471). In Africa, Tertullian mentions the same thing (adv. Marc., IV, 1)
and tells us that the Roman Church "reads the Law and the Prophets
together with the Gospels and Apostolic letters" (de præscr., VI, 36).
St. Cyprian ordained a certain confessor named Aurelian that he might
"read the Gospel that forms martyrs" (Ep. xxxiii, P. L., IV, 328). In
every rite then, from the beginning, as now, the reading of the Gospel
formed the chief feature, the cardinal point of the liturgy of the
catechumens. It was not only read in the Liturgy. The "Peregrinatio
Silviæ" (loc. cit.) alludes to the Gospel read at cock-crow. So in the
Byzantine Rite it still forms part of the Office of Orthros (Lauds). At
Rome the Gospel of the Liturgy was read first, with a homily, at
Matins, of which use we have now only a fragment. But the monastic
Office still contains the whole Gospel read after the Te Deum.
Gradually the portions to
be read in the Liturgy became fixed. The steps in the development of
the texts used are: first in the book of the Gospels (or complete
Bible) marginal signs are added to show how much is to be read each
time. Then indexes are drawn up to show which passages are appointed
for each day. These indexes (generally written at the beginning or end
of the Bible) are called Synaxaria in Greek, Capitularia in Latin; they
give the first and last words of each lesson (pericope). The complete
Capitularium giving references for all the Lessons to be read each day
is a Comes, Liber comitis, or comicus. Later they are composed with the
whole text, so as to dispense with searching for it; they have thus
become Evangeliaria. The next step is to arrange together all the
Lessons for each day, Prophecy, Epistle, Gospel, and even readings from
non-canonical books. Such a compilation is a Lectionarium. Then,
finally, when complete Missals are drawn up (about the tenth to the
thirteenth centuries) the Lessons are included in them.
II. SELECTION OF GOSPELS
What portions were read? In
the first place there was a difference as to the text used. Till about
the fifth century it seems that in Syria, at any rate, compilations of
the four Gospels made into one narrative were used. The famous
"Diatessaron" of Tatian is supposed to have been composed for this
purpose (Martin in Revue des Quest. Hist., 1883, and Savi in Revue
bibl., 1893). The Mozarabic and Gallican Rites may have imitated this
custom for a time (Cabrol, "Etude sur la Peregrinatio Silviæ", Paris,
1895, 168-9). St. Augustine made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce
it in Africa by inserting into one Gospel passages taken from the
others (Sermo 232, P. L., XXXVIII, 1108). But the commoner use was to
read the text of one of the Gospels as it stands (see Baudot, "Les
Evangéliaires", quoted below, 18-21). On great feasts the appropriate
passage was taken. Thus, at Jerusalem, on Good Friday, "Legitur iam
ille locus de evangelio cata Johannem, ubi reddidit Spiritum" (Per.
Silviæ, Duchesne, l. c., 492), on Easter Eve "denuo legitur ille locus
evangelii resurrectionis" (ibid., 493), on Low Sunday they read the
Gospel about St. Thomas "Non credo nisi videro" (494), and so on. The
"Peregrinatio "gives us the Gospels thus read for a number of days
throughout the year (Baudot, op. cit., 20). For the rest of the year it
seems that originally the text was read straight through (probably with
the omission of such special passages). At each Synaxis they began
again where they had left off last time. Thus Gassian says that in his
time the monks read the New Testament through (Coll. patr., X, 14). The
homilies of certain Fathers (St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, etc.)
show that the lessons followed each other in order (Bäumer, "Gesch. des
Breviers", Freiburg, 1895, 271). In the Eastern Churches the principle
obtained that the Four Gospels should be read right through in the
course of each year (Scrivener in Smith, "Dict. of Christ.
Antiquities", s. v. "Lectionary"). The Byzantine Church began reading
St. Matthew immediately after Pentecost. St. Luke followed from
September (when their new year begins), St. Mark began before Lent, and
St. John was read during Eastertide. There were some exceptions, e.g.
for certain feasts and anniversaries. A similar arrangement is still
observed by them, as any copy of their Gospel-book will show
(Euaggelion, Venice, 1893). The Syrians have the same arrangement, the
Copts a different order, but based on the same principle of continuous
readings (Scrivener, "Introduction to the criticism of the N. Test.",
London, 1894, I; Baudot, op. cit., 24-32). For the present arrangement
of the Byzantine Church see Nilles, "Kalendarium manuale", Innsbruck,
2nd ed., 1897, pp. 444-52. It is well known that they name their
Sundays after the Sunday Gospel, e.g., the fourth after Pentecost is
"Sunday of the Centurion" because Matt., viii, 5 sqq., is read then.
This brings us to a much-disputed question: what principle underlies
the order of the Gospels in the Roman missal? It is clearly not that of
continuous readings. Father Beissel, S.J., has made an exhaustive study
of this question ("Entstehung der Perikopen", see below), in which he
compares all manner of Comites, Eastern and Western. Shortly, his
conclusions are these: The root of the order is the selection of
appropriate Gospels for the chief feasts and seasons of the year; for
these, the account that seemed most complete was chosen, without regard
to the particular Evangelist. The intervals were then filled up so as
to complete the picture of Our Lord's life, but without chronological
order. First, Easter was considered with Holy Week. The lessons for
this time are obvious. Working backwards, in Lent the Gospel of Our
Lord's fast in the desert was put at the beginning, the entry to
Jerusalem and the anointing by Mary (John 12:1, "six days before the
Pasch") at the end. This led to the resurrection of Lazarus (in the
East, too, always at this place). Some chief incidents from the end of
Christ's life filled up the rest. The Epiphany suggested three Gospels
about the Wise Men, the Baptism, and the first miracle, which events it
commemorates (cf. Antiph. ad Magn., in 2 vesp.) and then events of
Christ's childhood. Christmas and its feasts had obvious Gospels;
Advent, those of the Day of Judgment and the preparation for Our Lord's
coming by St. John Baptist. Forward from Easter, Ascension Day and
Pentecost demanded certain passages clearly. The time between was
filled with Our Lord's last messages before He left us (taken from His
words on Maundy Thursday in St. John). There remains the most difficult
set of Gospels of all — those for the Sundays after Pentecost. They
seem to be meant to complete what has not yet been told about His life.
Nevertheless, their order is very hard to understand. It has been
suggested that they are meant to correspond to the lessons of Matins.
In some cases, at any rate, such a comparison is tempting. Thus, on the
third Sunday, in the first Nocturne, we read about Saul seeking his
father's asses (1 Samuel 9), in the Gospel (and therefore in the third
Nocturne) about the man who loses one sheep, and the lost drachma (Luke
15); on the fourth Sunday, David fights Goliath "in nomine Domini
exercituum" (1 Samuel 17), in the Gospel, St. Peter throws out his net
"in verbo tuo" (Luke 5); on the fifth, David mourns his enemy Saul (2
Samuel 1), in the Gospel we are told to be reconciled to our enemies
(Matthew 5). The eighth Sunday begins the Book of Wisdom (first Sunday
in August), and in the Gospel the wise steward is commended (Luke 16).
Perhaps the nearness of certain feasts had an influence, too. In some
lists Luke, v, where our Lord says, "From henceforth thou shalt catch
men", to St. Peter, came on the Sunday before his feast (29 June), and
the story of St. Andrew and the multiplied bread (John 6) before 30
November. Durandus notices this ("Rationale", VI, 142, "De dom. 25a
post Pent."; see also Beissel, op. cit., 195-6). Beissel is disposed to
think that much of the arrangement is accidental, and that no
satisfactory explanation of the order of Gospels after Pentecost has
been found. In any case the order throughout the year is very old. A
tradition says that St. Jerome arranged it by command of St. Damasus
(Berno, "De officio missæ", i, P. L., CXLII, 1057; "Micrologus", xxxi,
P. L., CLI, 999, 1003). Certainly the Lessons now sung in ourchurches
are those that St. Gregory the Great's deacon chanted at Rome thirteen
hundred years ago (Beissel, op. cit., 196).
III. CEREMONY OF SINGING THE GOSPEL
The Gospel has been for
many centuries in East and West the privilege of the deacon. This was
not always the case. At first a reader (anagnostes, lector) read all
the lessons. We have seen a case of this in the story of St. Cyprian
and Aurelian (see above). St. Jerome (died 420) speaks of the deacon as
reader of the Gospel (Ep. cxlvii, n. 6), but the practice was not yet
uniform in all churches. At Constantinople, on Easter day, the bishop
did so (Sozomen, H. E., vii, 19); in Alexandria, it was an archdeacon
(ibid., he says that: "in other places deacons read the Gospel; in many
churches only priests"). The Apostolic Constitutions refer the Gospel
to the deacon; and in 527 a council, at Vaison, says deacons "are
worthy to read the words that Christ spoke in the Gospel" (Baudot, op.
cit., 51). This custom became gradually universal, as is shown by the
formulæ that accompany the tradition of the Gospel-book at the deacon's
ordination (the eleventh century Visigothic "Liber ordinum" has the
form: "Ecce evangelium Christi, accipe, ex quo annunties bonam gratiam
fidei populo", Baudot, p. 52). An exception that lasted through the
Middle Ages was that at Christmas the emperor, dressed in a rochet and
stole, sang the midnight Gospel: "Exiit edictum a Cæsare Augusto" etc.
(Mabillon, "Musæum italicum", I, 256 sq.). Another mark of respect was
that everyone stood to hear theGospel, bareheaded, in the attitude of a
servant receiving his master's orders (Apost. Const., II, 57, and Pope
Anastasius I, 399-401, in the "Lib. Pontif."). Sozomenos (H. E., VII,
19) is indignant that the Patriarch of Alexandria sate ("a new and
insolent practice"). The Grand Masters of the Knights of St. John drew
their swords while the Gospel was read. This custom seems still to be
observed by some great noblemen in Poland. If any one has a stick in
his hand he is to lay it down (Baudot, 116), but the bishop holds his
crosier (see below). The Gospel was sung from the ambo (ambon), a
pulpit generally halfway down the church, from which it could be best
heard by every one (Cabrol, Dict. d'archéol. chrét. et de liturgie,
Paris, 1907, s.v. "Ambon", I, 1330-47). Often there were two ambos: one
for the other lessons, on the left (looking from the altar); the other,
for the Gospel, on the right. From here the deacon faced south, as the
"Ordo Rom. II" says (Mabillon, Musæum italic., II, 46), noting that the
men generally gather there. Later, when the ambo had disappeared, the
deacon turned to the north. Micrologus (De missa, ix) notices this and
explains it as an imitation of the celebrant's position at the altar at
low Mass — one of the ways in which that service has reacted on to high
Mass. The Byzantine Church still commands the deacon to sing the Gospel
from the ambo (e.g. Brightman, op. cit., 372), though with them, too,
it has generally become only a theoretical place in the middle of the
floor. The deacon first asked the blessing of the bishop (or celebrant)
then went to the ambo with the book, in procession, accompanied by
lights and incense. Germanus of Paris (died 576) mentions this (Ep. 1,
P. L., LXXII, 91; cf. Durandus. "Ration.", IV, 24). See the ceremonies
in the "Ordo Rom. I", 11, and "Ordo Rom. II", which are almost exactly
ours. Meanwhile the Gradual was sung (see GRADUAL). The "Dominus
vobiscum at the beginning, the announcement of the Gospel ("Sequentia
sancti Evangelii" etc.), and the answer, "Gloria tibi Domine", are also
mentioned by the sixth-century Germanus (loc. cit.). At the end of the
Gospel the people answered, "Amen", or "Deo Gratias", or "Benedictus
qui venit in nomine Domini" (Durandus, "Rationale", IV, 24; Beleth,
"Rationale", XXXIX; St. Benedict's Rule, XI). Our present answer, "Laus
tibi Christe", seems to be a later one (Gihr, "Messopfer", 444). The
elaborate care taken to decorate the book of the Gospels throughout the
Middle Ages was also a sign of respect for its contents; St. Jerome
speaks of this (Ep. xxii, 32). In a collection of manuscripts the
Evangeliaria nearly always stand out from the rest by their special
sumptuousness. They are not uncommonly written in gold and silver
letters on vellum stained purple — the extreme limit of medieval
splendour. The bindings, too, are nearly always adorned with special
care. It is on Gospel books that one generally sees ivory carvings,
metal-work, jewellery, enamel, sometimes relics. (For descriptions see
Baudot, op. cit., 58-69.) The same tradition continues in the East.
Allowing for doubtful modern taste in Greece, Russia, Syria, etc., the
Euaggelion is still the handsomest book, often the handsomest object in
a church. When it is not in use it generally displays the enamels of
its cover on a desk outside the Iconostasis. To kiss the book was
always from early times a sign of respect. This was done at one time
not only by the celebrant and deacon, but by all the people present
("Ordo Rom. II", 8). Honorius III (1216-27) forbade this; but the book
is still kissed by any high prelates who may be present (Cærim. epise.,
I, 30; Gihr, op. cit., 445). For this and similar ceremonies see Baudot
(op. cit., 110-19). When the ambo disappeared in the West the
sub-deacon held the book while the Gospel was sung by the deacon. He
also carried it first to lay it on the altar (Amalarius of Metz: "De.
Eccl. offic.", P. L., CV, 1112; Durandus, loc. cit.). The deacon made
the sign of the cross first on the book and then on himself — taking a
blessing from the book ("Ordo Rom. I", 11, "ut sigilletur"; Durandus,
loc. cit., etc.; Beleth, XXXIX). The meaning of all these marks of
reverence is that the Gospel-book, which contains Christ's words, was
taken as a symbol of Christ himself. It was sometimes carried in the
place of honour in various processions (Beissel, op. cit., 4);
something of the same idea underlay the practice of putting it on a
throne or altar in the middle of the synods (Baudot, 109-110. During
provincial and general synods the Gospel is to be sung at each session.
— Cær. Episc. I, xxxi, 16), and the superstitious abuses that
afterwards developed, in which it was used for magic (ibid., 118;
Catalani, "de codice S. Evangelii", III, see below). The Byzantine
Church has developed the ceremony of carrying the Evangelion to the
ambo into the elaborate rite of the "Little Entrance" (Fortescue,
"Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom", London, 1908, 68-74), and all
the other Eastern Churches have similar stately ceremonies at this
point of the Liturgy (Brightman, op. cit., for each rite). Another
special practice that may be noticed here is that at a papal high Mass
the Gospel (and the Epistle too) is read in Latin and Greek. This is
already noticed by the first Roman Ordo (40). At Constantinople the
Patriarch, on Easter Day, reads the Gospel in Greek, and it is then
read by other persons (oi agioi archiereis) in various languages
("Typikon" for that day, ed. Athens, 1908, pp. 368, 372, Nilles, "Kal.
man.", II, 314-15). The same thing is done again at the Hesperinos. The
little Synopsis (Synopsis iera) of Constantinople (1883) gives this
Gospel of the Hesperinos (John 20:19-25) in Greek (with two poetic
versions, hexameter and iambic), Slavonic, Bulgarian, Albanian, Latin,
Italian, French, English, Arabic, Turkish, and Armenian (all in Greek
characters, pp. 634-78). The same custom is observed in Russia (Prince
Max of Saxony, "Prælectiones de liturgiis orientalibus", Freiburg im
Br., 1908, I, 116-17), where the Gospel of the Liturgy (John 1) is read
in Slavonic, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
IV. PRESENT CEREMONY OF THE GOSPEL
Except for the
disappearance of the ambo, the rules of the Rubrics in the Missal
(Rubr. gen., X, 6; Ritus cel., VI, 5) are still almost exactly those we
have seen observed in the Roman Rite since the seventh or eighth
centuries. After the Epistle the deacon puts the Gospel book in the
middle of the altar (while the celebrant reads his Gospel from the
Missal). Liturgical editors publish books containing the Epistles and
Gospels, otherwise a second Missal is used (the subdeacon has already
chanted the Epistle from the same book). The celebrant then puts
incense into the thurible and blesses it as usual. The subdeacon goes
down and waits below, before the middle of the altar. The deacon
kneeling by the celebrant just behind him at his right says the "Munda
cor meum". Then, rising and taking the book, he kneels with it before
the celebrant (turning towards the north) and says "Jube domne
benedicere". Jube with an infinitive is a common late Latin way of
expressing a polite imperative (Ducange-Maigne d'Arnis, "Lexicon
manuale", ed. Migne, Paris, 1890, s. v., col. 1235). Domnus is a
medieval form instead of dominus, which got to be looked upon as a
Divine title (so in Greek, kyr and kyris for kyrios). The celebrant
blesses him with the form in the Missal (Dominus sit in corde tuo . . .
) and the sign of the cross; he kisses the celebrant's hand laid on the
Missal. The celebrant goes to the Epistle side, where he waits; he
turns round towards the deacon when the Gospel begins. The deacon,
holding the book lifted up with both hands, comes down to the
subdeacon's side; they make the usual reverence to the altar, and the
procession starts. The thurifer goes first with incense, then two
acolytes, then the deacon and subdeacon side by side, the deacon on the
right. We have seen the antiquity of lights and incense at the Gospel.
All this time, of course, the Gradual is being sung. The procession
arrives at the place that represents the old ambo. It is still to the
right of the altar (north side), but now inside the sanctuary, so that,
except in very large churches, there is hardly any way to go; often the
old procession to the ambo (the Latin "little entrance") is represented
only by an awkward turning round. Arrived at the place, the deacon and
subdeacon face each other, the subdeacon receives the book and holds it
up open before him. Originally the subdeacon (two are required by the
"Ordo Rom. I", 11, one as thurifer) accompanied the deacon up into the
ambo, helped him find his place in the book, and then stood back behind
him by the steps. At Milan, where the ambo is still used, this is still
done.
In the Roman Rite the
subdeacon himself takes the place of the desk of the ambo. But the
"Cærimoniale Episcoporum" still allows the use of "legilia vel ambones"
if there be any in the church. In that case the subdeacon is to stand
behind the desk or at the deacon's right and to turn over the pages if
necessary (II, viii, 45). There is a difficulty about the way they
stand. The "Ritus celebrandi" says that the deacon is to stand "contra
altare versus populum" (VI, 5). This must mean looking down the church.
On the other hand the "Cærim. Episcoporum" (II, viii, 44) says that the
subdeacon stands "vertens renes non quidem altari, sed versus ipsam
partem dexteram quæ pro aquilone figuratur". This means the way in
which they always stand now; namely, the deacon looks north or slightly
north-east (supposing the church to be properly orientated); the book
is in the same direction as the Missal for the Gospel at low Mass. The
acolytes stand on either side of the subdeacon, the thurifer at the
deacon's right. The deacon, junctis manibus, sings "Dominus vobiscum
(answered by the choir as usual), then, making the sign of the cross
with the right thumb on the book (the cross marked at these words in
the Missal is put there to show the place) and signing himself on
forehead, lips, and breast, he sings "Sequentia [or Initium] sancti
Evangelii secundum N . . ." It appears that sequentia is a neuter
plural (Gihr, op. cit., 438, n. 3). 'While the choir answers, "Gloria
tibi Domine", he incenses the book three times, in the middle, to its
right, and left, bowing before and after. He gives the thurible back
and sings the text of the Gospel straight through. He bows at the Holy
Name, if it occur, and sometimes (on the Epiphany, at the third
Christmas Mass, etc.) genuflects (towards the book). The tones for the
Gospel are given at the end of the new (Vatican) Missal. The normal one
is a recitative on do falling to la four syllables before the end of
each phrase, with the cadence si, la, si, si-do for questions, and a
scandicus la, si (quilisma), do before the end. Two others, more
ornamented, are now added ad libitum. The celebrant, standing at the
Epistle side, looking towards the deacon, hears the Gospel and bows or
genuflects with him, but towards the altar. When the Gospel is over the
subdeacon brings him the book to kiss, he says: "Per evangelica dicta",
and he is incensed by the deacon. The Mass then continues. We have
noted that the only other persons now allowed to kiss the book are the
ordinary, if he be present, and other prelates above him in rank (Cær.
Episcop., I, xxx, 1, 3). A bishop celebrating in his own diocese reads
his Gospel sitting on his throne, and hears it standing there, holding
his crosier with both hands (Cær. Episcop., II, viii, 41, 46). In this
case no one else is ever to kiss the book (ibid., I, xxix, 9).
In low Mass the ceremonies
for the Gospel are, as usual, merely an abridgment and simplifying of
those for high Mass. When the celebrant has finished reading the
Gradual he says the "Munda cor meum", etc., in the middle of the altar
(he says, "Jube Domine benedicere", because he is addressing God).
Meanwhile the server brings the Missal to the north side (this is only
an imitation of the deacon's place at high Mass). With the book turned
slightly towards the people, the priest reads the Gospel with the same
ceremonies (except, of course, for the incense) and kisses it at the
end.
V. THE LAST GOSPEL
The Gospel read at the end
of Mass is a late development. Originally (till about the twelfth
century) the service ended with the words that still imply that, "Ite
missa est". The prayer "Placeat tibi", the blessing, and the last
Gospel are all private devotions that have been gradually absorbed by
the liturgical service. The beginning of St. John's Gospel (I, 1-14)
was much used as an object of special devotion throughout the Middle
Ages. It was sometimes read at children's baptism or at extreme unction
(Benedict XIV, "De SS. Missæ sacrif.", II, xxiv, 8). There are curious
cases of its use for various superstitious practices, written on
amulets and charms. It then began to be recited by priests as part of
their prayers after Mass. A trace of this is still left in the
"Cærimoniale Episcoporum", which directs that a bishop at the end of
his Mass shall begin the last Gospel at the altar and continue it (by
heart) as he goes away to take off the vestments. It will also be noted
that it is still not printed in the Ordinary of the Mass, though of
course the rubric about it is there, and it will be found in the third
Christmas Mass. By the thirteenth century it was sometimes said at the
altar. But Durandus still supposes the Mass to be finished by the "Ite
missa est" (Rationale, IV, 57); he adds the "Placeat" and blessing as a
sort of supplement, and then goes on at once to describe the psalms
said after Mass ("deinde statim dicuntur hymni illi: Benedicite et
Laudate", IV, 59). Nevertheless, the practice of saying it at the altar
grew; eventually Pius V made this practice universal for the Roman Rite
in his edition of the Missal (1570). The fact that all these three
additions after the "Ite missa est" are to be said, even at high Mass,
without any special ceremony, preserves the memory of their more or
less accidental connexion with the liturgy. The normal last Gospel is
John, i, 1-14. It is read by the celebrant at the north side of the
altar after the blessing. He reads from the altar-card with the usual
introduction (Dominus vobiscum . . . Initium S. Evangelii, etc.),
taking the sign of the cross from the altar. He genuflects at the
words, "Et verbum caro factum est", and the server, at the end, answers
"Deo gratias". At high Mass the deacon and subdeacon stand on either
side, genuflect too, and answer. They do not read the Gospel; it is in
no way to be sung by the deacon, like the essential Gospel of the
Liturgy. Whenever an office is commemorated, whose Gospel is begun in
the ninth lesson of Matins, that Gospel is substituted for John, i, at
the end of Mass. In this case the Missal must be brought to the north
side (at high Mass by the subdeacon). This applies to all Sundays,
feriæe, and vigils that are commemorated. At the third Mass on
Christmas day (since John 1:1-14 forms the Gospel of the Mass) that of
the Epiphany is read at the end; at low Mass on Palm Sunday the Gospel
of the blessing of palms is read. Of Eastern Rites the Armenians alone
have copied this practice of the last Gospel from the Latins.
Publication information
Written by Adrian Fortescue. Transcribed by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ
The Catholic Encyclopedia,
Volume VI. Published 1909. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil
Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. +John M.
Farley, Archbishop of New York
Bibliography
All the medieval
commentators (Durandus, Berno of Constance, Micrologus, etc.) discuss
the Gospel at Mass and give mystic explanations of its use. See
especially DURANDUS, Rationale div. officiorum, IV, 24, De Evangelio;
BEISSEL, Entstehungder Perikopen des römischen Messbuches (supplement
to the Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, 98) (Freiburg im Br., 1907); BAUDOT,
Les Evangéliaires, series Liturgie (Paris, 1908); BENEDICT XIV, De
Sacrosancto Sacrificio Miss , ed. SCHNEIDER (Mainz, 1879), II, 7, pp.
118-25, II, 24, p. 297; GIHR, Das heilige Messopfer (6th ed., Freiburg
im Br., 1897), 400-406, 433-446, 723-724 (tr. St. Louis, 1903); DE
HERDT, Sacr liturgi praxis (ed. 9, Louvain, 1894), I, 292-96, 438-46.
