Mass
A term for the Holy Eucharist. It is primarily used by Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Lutherans. It appeared as a part of the title of the service in the first BCP of 1549. It is included by the Catechism in a list of names by which the eucharist is known (BCP, p. 859). It is derived from the Latin missa, which is from mittere, “to send.” It was a part of the dismissal in the medieval Latin Mass, Ite, missa est (“Go, it is finished”).
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.