Apr 24 Fri
How many times is “The Lord be with you” repeated in the Mass?
In the Roman Rite, the priest says “The Lord be with you” (Dominus vobiscum) five times:
1. At the start of Mass (Introductory Rites), the priest greets the entire Church with “The Lord be with you.”
The priest declares to us that the Lord is present.
This greeting expresses the mystery of the gathered Church, which is present even when we are just a few persons in the room. We are going to participate and offer to God the Father the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, present here in a real, sacramental manner.
“When I celebrate Mass with just one person to help me, the people are present also. I feel that there with me are all Catholics, all believers, and also those who do not believe. All God’s creatures are there—the earth and the sea and the sky, and the animals and plants—the whole of creation giving glory to the Lord." Saint Josemaría.
In this greeting, the ministerial priest’s special relationship with the Holy Spirit is acknowledged by the faithful, “And with your spirit.”
2. Before the Gospel, the priest (or deacon) uses the same greeting.
By faith we know that when the Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself is speaking to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, is proclaiming the Gospel.
Besides his Eucharistic presence, “in another very genuine way, Christ is also present in the Church as she preaches. For the Gospel which she proclaims is the word of God, and it is only in the name of Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, and only by his authority and with his help that it is preached, so that there might be ‘one flock resting secure in one shepherd.’
3. Before the Eucharistic Prayer, in the introduction to the Preface, the priest says, “The Lord be with you.” The Church proclaims that Christ is truly present and acting among the people gathered for worship. The greeting is not like casual small talk; it is a liturgical recognition of a real, spiritual “nearness”—Jesus gathers and stays with those who are assembled in his name, and are about to participate in His sacrifice.
4. Before distributing communion, at the breaking of the Bread, the priest says, “The Peace of the Lord be with you always.” It reminds us of the same greeting the Risen Lord gave to the disciples in the Upper Room. Peace is an essential requirement to live our Christian life, and it is our duty as Christians to be sowers of God’s peace in the world.
5. Before the final blessing, the greeting is now made real in its highest sense: The Lord is with us, especially with those who have received Communion.
The Mass is finished, we are encouraged to return to our ordinary occupations to love and serve the Lord. We serve the Lord while fulfilling our usual norms of piety, resting, or working in the presence of God. In this way, we constantly keep alive those dispositions we had during the Mass.