Pax vobiscum....Ite in pace

December 21 2009, 8:18 PM  by Bernie Michalik

"Pax vobiscum....Ite in pace" is what I used to hear at the end of the Roman Catholic mass when I was a kid. It means "Peace be with you...go in peace". As a kid, I loved it, because it meant: mass was over! And I could go and do kid things, whatever they were.

As an adult, I only now appreciate the poetic simplicity of those two phrases. The first, an evocation to be at peace. A summing up of the Mass, whereby the process of going through Mass should have left you at peace with yourself. The second, a command to go into the world at peace, but also a command to bring peace wherever you may go. There is a wonderful transitory aspect of the two phrases, whereby you move from the encapsulation of the ceremony and the sanctuary of the Church to the wide openness of the world.

Even non-Catholics or former Catholics (such as myself) can gain benefits from such words, such thoughts.

331 views and 2 responses

  • Dec 22 2009, 1:50 PM
    Aaron Kim responded:
    Okay, 3 comments this time:

    1) Did you attend masses in Latin or only the last sentences were in Latin? In Brazil, AFAIK, masses are said in Portuguese since 1965, not a single Latin word at all ("Ide em paz, e o Senhor vos acompanhe", more like "Ite in pace, dominus vobiscum").

    2) The "comments" link in this template seems to be buggy in IE 7 (at least in the computer I'm using now). I click on it, the link disappears, but no textbox shows up for comments.

    3) Even though I have the "email me" enabled, I did not get anything from your previous reply to my comment.

    (I still like your posterous stream, but I thought you'd be interested in some of the user experience issues I encountered, as others may be getting the same.

  • Dec 22 2009, 3:30 PM
    Bernie Michalik responded:
    Aaron, what I remember is that at least for some masses, some Latin was used. It was long ago, but that's what I remember. I recall Pax Vobiscum and Agnes Dei for sure. To be honest, more often what I heard though was Peace Be With You / Go in Peace, as the litergy opened up after Vatican II

    I like the idea of some of the mass being in Latin, to be honest. B 16 (the latest Pope) will like that!

    2/3) I am using FF, so I don't have the problems you are mentioning. I think I am going to be using any of the other browsers before I switch to IE7.