USCCB Docs Reveal How Mass Dismissal was Nearly “The Mass is ended, have a nice day!”

(AoftheANews) Confidential documents given to AoftheA News show that the USCCB – back when it was called the National Conference of Catholic Bishops – seriously considered modifying the Mass dismissal in 1970, the year after the Mass of Paul VI was first promulgated.

AoftheA News obtained these documents from an anonymous source within the USCCB, and the details within provide yet another glimpse at the confusion that erupted upon the introduction of the Ordinary Form.

In this case, it appears that sanity had prevailed.

According to the documents, the USCCB had conducted focus groups – coyly described as “active participation opportunities” – with random Catholics registered in the Archdiocese of Atlanta. These participants were then asked, if given the chance, how they would write the dismissal in the vernacular. Nearly 1,000 Catholics took part in the three-month long focus group program. At the program’s conclusion, the contributions were collected and analyzed, and ranked according to appropriateness and inclusiveness. Ballots were drawn up, and the participants were then asked to vote for their favorite from a list of 132 choices.

The top ten selections, as reported in the documents, were:

10) “The Mass is ended, last one out is a rotten egg.”
9) “The Mass is ended, go forth and multiply.”
8) “The Mass is ended, now that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
7) “The Mass is ended, don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!”
6) “The Mass is ended, y’all come back now, y’hear?”
5) “The Mass is ended, now don’t y’all feel better?”
4) “The Mass is ended, enjoy your breakfast at Waffle House.”
3) “The Mass is ended, thanks for coming.”
2) “The Mass is ended, tune in next Sunday, same bat time, same bat channel.”
1) “The Mass is ended, have a nice day!”

Cardinal John Dearden was president of the NCCB at the time, and he completely disregarded the focus group’s results, and chose “The Mass is ended, go in peace” instead, which had received only four votes. The documents reveal that he is quoted as having said “Hey, if the Holy Father can ignore the commission regarding Humanae Vitae, then I can ignore the focus group regarding the dismissal.”