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An ancient form of devout salutation, incorporated in the liturgy of theChurch, where it is employed as a prelude to certain formalprayers. Its origin is evidently Scriptural, being clearly borrowed fromRuth 2:4, and2 Chronicles 15:2. The sameidea is also suggested in theNew Testament, e.g., inMatthew 28:20: "Ecce ego vobiscum sum", etc. Theecclesiastical usage dates probably from Apostolic times. Mention of it is made (ch. iii) by the Council ofBraga (563). It also appears in the sixth or seventh-century "Sacramentarium Gelasianum". The phrase is pregnant with a deep religious significance; and therefore intensely expressive of the highest and holiest wishes. For is not the presence of the Lord — the Source of every good and the Author of every best gift — a certain pledge of Divine protection and a sure earnest of the possession of all spiritual peace and consolation? In the mouth, therefore, of thepriest, who acts as the representative and delegate of theChurch, in whose name and with whose authority heprays, this deprecatory formula is pre-eminently appropriate. Hence its frequent use in the publicprayers of theChurch's liturgy. During the Mass it occurs eight times, namely, before thepriest ascends the altar, before the two Gospels, the collects, theOffertory, the Preface, the Post-Communionoratio, and the blessing. On four of these occasions the celebrant, whilst saying it, turns to the people, extending and joining his hands; on the other four he remains facing the altar. In the Divine office this formula is said before the principal oratio of each Hour bypriests, even in private recitation, because they are supposed topray in union with, and in behalf of, theChurch.Deacons say it only in the absence of apriest or with his permission if present (Van der Stappen, De officio divino, 43), butsubdeacons use instead the "Domine exaudi orationem meam". Contrary to general usage, the "Dominus Vobiscum" does not precede theprayer of theBlessed Sacrament before Benediction is given. Gardellini (Comment. in Inst. Clem., 1531, n. 5) explains this anomaly on the ground that the blessing with the Sacred Host in themonstrance effectively contains all that is implied in the formula. Bishops use the "Pax Vobis" (q.v.) before the collects in Masses where the Gloria is said. The response to the "Dominus Vobiscum" is "Et cum spiritu tuo" (cf.2 Timothy 4:22;Galatians 6:18;Philippians 4:23). Formerly this answer was rendered back with one voice by the entire congregation. Among the Greeks there is a corresponding form "Pax omnibus" (Liturgy of St. Basil). The Council ofBraga, already mentioned,ordained (Mansi, IX, 777) thatpriests, as well asbishops, to whom alone the Priscillianist sought to restrict it, should adopt this formula.
SAINT PETER DAMIAN, treatise on the "Dominus Vobiscum" in P.L., CXLV, 231 sqq.; ANGELUS ROCCA, De Salutatione Sacerdotis in Missa et in divinis officiis, I, 236, in his Thesaurus Antiquitatum (2nd ed., Rome, 1745); BONA, Rerum Liturgicarum Libri duo (Turin, 1747), II, v; GUHR in Kirchenlex., s.v.; VAN DER STAPPEN, De officio Divino (Mechlin, 1904); BERNARD, Cours de Liturgie Romaine: Le Breviarire (Paris, 1887), II, 168-73; KRULL in KRAUS, Real-Encyk., s.v.
APA citation.Morrisroe, P.(1909).Dominus Vobiscum. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05114a.htm
MLA citation.Morrisroe, Patrick."Dominus Vobiscum."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 5.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1909.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05114a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett.Dedicated to the Poor Souls in Purgatory.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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