What is the Introit? Parts of the Latin Mass Chapter 3

Table of Contents

Historical Context

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“To me nothing is so consoling, so piercing, so thrilling as the Mass.” - Saint Cardinal Newman

The psalms were sung in procession in early Christian times but in the fifth century Pope Celestine ordered that a whole psalm be sung while the priests entered to the altar.

Thus the introit (he enters) was sung while the procession approached the altar.

Pope Gregory the Great himself arranged many of the introits, as they began to be called. He took fragments from the psalms and Old Testament prophecies. The introit expresses the keynote and sets the tone for the whole Mass. It also changes with the feast and season and can express joy, sorrow, hope, or fear.

In Advent, for example, longing for the savior is expressed and in Lent, sorrow.

In Rome, during the early days of the Church, the faithful would father at one church

and sing a psalm while proceeding through the streets to the station church

where the pope offered the Holy Sacrifice. Certain masses in your missal are still marked “station at ___,” naming one of the Roman churches.

In the 11th century, the old form of the introit was shortened. At that time, it was decreed that the introit would not be sung during low mass and would consist of an antiphon (one psalm verse, the glory be, and the psalm verse again) instead.

The introit became the first movable part of the mass.

And in spite of the shortened form there is a way you can discover the full beauty of the introit. Look up the mass for each Sunday, get the number of the psalm, then read the entire psalm. You’ll see how it fits perfectly into the general theme of the mass.

An Introit (from the Second Sunday of Lent)

English

Ps 24:6, 3, 22
Remember that Your compassion, O Lord, and Your kindness are from of old; let not our enemies exult over us; deliver us, O God of Israel, from all our tribulations.
Ps 24:1-2
To You I lift up my soul, O Lord; in You, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Remember that Your compassion, O Lord, and Your kindness are from of old; let not our enemies exult over us; deliver us, O God of Israel, from all our tribulations.

Latin

Ps 24:6; 24:3; 24:22
Reminíscere miseratiónum tuarum, Dómine, et misericórdiæ tuæ, quæ a sǽculo sunt: ne umquam dominéntur nobis inimíci nostri: líbera nos, Deus Israël, ex ómnibus angústiis nostris.
Ps 24:1-2
Ad te, Dómine, levávi ánimam meam: Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam.
V. Glória Patri, et Fílio, et Spirítui Sancto.
R. Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.
Reminíscere miseratiónum tuarum, Dómine, et misericórdiæ tuæ, quæ a sǽculo sunt: ne umquam dominéntur nobis inimíci nostri: líbera nos, Deus Israël, ex ómnibus angústiis nostris.

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