Editing Introit

{{Short description|Feature of the Eucharist celebration}}

[[File:Introit.jpg|thumb|alt=A priest stands at the right side of the altar to pray the Introit.|A priest prays the Introit in [[St Gabriel's Church, Pimlico]].]]

The '''Introit'''{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|n|t|r|ɔɪ|t}}, {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|n|t|r|oʊ|ɪ|t}}, or {{IPAc-en|ɪ|n|ˈ|t|r|oʊ|ɪ|t}}.<ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref>}} ({{ety|la|introitus|entrance}}) is part of the opening of the [[liturgy|liturgical]] celebration of the [[Eucharist]] for many [[Christian denominations]]. In its most complete version, it consists of an [[antiphon]], [[Psalms|psalm]] verse and ''[[Gloria Patri]]'', which are spoken or sung at the beginning of the celebration. It is part of the ''[[Proper (liturgy)|proper]]'' of the liturgy: that is, the part that changes over the liturgical year.

In the [[Roman Rite]] of the [[Catholic Church]] it is known as the ''antiphona ad introitum'' (Entrance antiphon), as in the text for each day's Mass, or as the ''cantus ad introitum'' (Entrance chant) as in the [[General Instruction of the Roman Missal]], 47 and the First Roman Ordo (sixth to seventh century).<ref name=CathEnc>Fortescue, A. (1910). [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08081a.htm "Introit"]. ''[[The Catholic Encyclopedia]]''. Retrieved 2 May 2009</ref> In pre-1970 editions of the Roman Missal, the word ''Introitus'' was used, distinguished from the normal meaning of the word (entrance) by being capitalized. In [[Ambrosian chant]] and [[Beneventan chant]], the counterpart of the Introit is called the ''ingressa''.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Apel
 | first = Willi
 | year = 1990
 | title = Gregorian Chant
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8PjxAAzSK8sC&pg=PA469
 | publisher = Indiana University Press
 | location = Bloomington, IN
 | page = 469
 | isbn = 0-253-20601-4
 | oclc = 22288875
}}</ref>
The [[Lutheran]] rite uses the term ''Introit'' in the same fashion, marking the opening of the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]. In the [[Mozarabic Rite|Mozarabic]], [[Latin liturgical rites|Carthusian]], [[Dominican Rite|Dominican]], and [[Carmelite Rite]]s, it is called the "officium".<ref name=CathEnc/>

== History==

Originally, the entrance of the priest who was to celebrate Mass was accompanied by the singing of a whole psalm, with [[Gloria Patri]] (doxology). While the psalm was at first sung [[responsorial psalm|responsorially]], with an antiphon repeated by all at intervals, while a solo singer chanted the words of the psalm, it was soon sung directly by two groups of singers alternating with each other, and with the antiphon sung only at the beginning and the end, as is the usual way of chanting the psalms in the [[Liturgy of the Hours]].  The change to this manner of singing the psalm has been attributed to [[Pope Celestine I]] (422–432). [[Pope Gregory I]] (590–604), after whom [[Gregorian chant]] is named, composed several antiphons for singing with the Entrance psalm.<ref name=CathEnc/>

If singing of the psalm was not completed by the time the Entrance procession arrived at the altar, the singers moved directly to the Gloria Patri and the final repetition of the antiphon. In time only the opening verse of the psalm was kept, together with the Gloria Patri, preceded and followed by the antiphon, the form of the Introit in [[Tridentine Mass]] [[Roman Missal]]s, which explicitly indicate this manner of singing the Introit.

The 1970 revision of the Roman Missal explicitly envisages singing the entire psalm associated with the antiphon, but does not make it obligatory.<ref>[http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 48] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720091216/http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf |date=2008-07-20 }}</ref>
In [[Mass of Paul VI|contemporary Catholic usage]], the introit corresponds to the '''Entrance Antiphon''' and is sung or recited audibly throughout by the faithful.

==Text and liturgical use==

The antiphons of most Introits are taken from [[Psalms]], though many come from other parts of [[Bible|Scripture]]. In some rare cases the antiphon is not from Scripture: "Salve, sancta parens", from the Christian poet [[Coelius Sedulius|Sedulius]], who was imitating a line from book V of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', is the antiphon used in the Tridentine form of the Roman Rite for common Masses of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]]; the 1970 revision kept a Mass formula of the Blessed Virgin with that antiphon, but provided several alternatives.

The words of the antiphons are related to the theme of the feastday or celebration and most frequently have something in common with the liturgical readings of the Mass.

In the Tridentine Mass the Introit is no longer the first text used in the Mass. In [[Low Mass]], the priest reads it only after the [[Tridentine Mass#Prayers at the foot of the altar|Prayers at the Foot of the Altar]]. Until 1908, even in sung Mass the choir began the Introit only after the priest had begun those prayers, but [[Pope Pius X]] restored the old arrangement whereby the Introit accompanied the entrance procession of the priest with the ministers. The Tridentine Mass has the priest read the Introit in the Missal even when it is also sung by the choir.  It also has him make the [[sign of the cross]] when reading it, as the Introit is when the Mass has properly begun, rather than the preparatory prayers made at the foot of the altar.<ref name=CathEnc/>

Since the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal, the Entrance chant begins as the priest enters. Its purpose is to open the celebration, foster the unity of those who have been gathered, turn their thoughts to the mystery of the celebration, and accompany the procession. If there is no singing at the Entrance, the antiphon in the Missal is recited either by the faithful, or by some of them, or by a lector; otherwise, it is recited by the priest himself, who may
even adapt it as an introductory explanation.<ref>[http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 37-48] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720091216/http://www.acbc.catholic.org.au/documents/200707031933.pdf |date=2008-07-20 }}</ref>

If another rite immediately precedes Mass, such as the [[Palm Sunday]] procession or the various ceremonies that precede Mass at the [[Easter Vigil]], Mass begins with the [[collect]]; there is no Entrance at that point and so no Entrance chant.

==Musical setting==

In the musical idiom of [[Gregorian chant]], Introits normally take the form antiphon-verse-antiphon-[[Glory Be to the Father|doxology]]-antiphon. In the Tridentine Missal, this form was, with very few exceptions, reduced to antiphon-verse-doxology-antiphon.

For example, the Tridentine Missal presents the Introit of the Fourth Sunday of [[Advent]] as follows:<ref>[http://media.musicasacra.com/pdf/missale62.pdf Missale Romanum 1962, p. 14]</ref>
:First the antiphon ''[[Rorate caeli]]'' from {{bibleverse||Isaiah|45:8|DRA}}:
::''Rorate, cæli, desuper, et nubes pluant iustum:''
::''aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem.''
::(Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the Just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a Saviour.)
:Then the verse from the beginning of the psalm, {{bibleverse||Psalm|18:2|DRA}}:
::''Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei''
::''et opera manuum eius annuntiat firmamentum''
::(The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.)
:Then the doxology.
::''Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,''
::''Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.'' 
::(Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)
:Then, once again, the initial antiphon: ''Rorate ... Salvatorem.''

Introits, like [[Offertory|Offertories]] and [[Communion (chant)|Communion]]s, are believed to have evolved from simpler [[reciting tone]]s. Introit melodies show this musical parentage most clearly, and are often anchored around two reciting notes which may be repeated or percussed.<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Hiley
 | first = David
 | year = 1995
 | title = Western Plainchant: A Handbook
 | publisher = Oxford University Press Inc.
 | location = New York
 | isbn = 0-19-816572-2
}}</ref> The melodies are mostly ''neumatic'', dominated by [[neume]]s with two or three notes per syllable, although syllabic and [[melisma]]tic passages also occur.

The Introits of [[Old Roman chant]] share many similarities with their Gregorian cousins, and often include a repeated extra verse that fell out of use in the Gregorian repertory.

== Use of the incipit ==
In the same way as Church documents are referred to by their [[incipit]] (their first words in Latin),<ref>Examples are the papal encyclical ''[[Humanae vitae]]'' and the Second Vatican Council's dogmatic constitution ''[[Lumen gentium]]''</ref> Mass formulas are known by the incipit of their Introit, which is the first text in the formula. Thus a Mass for the dead is referred to a ''[[Requiem]]'' Mass, and the three [[Christmas Day]] Masses have been called ''Dominus dixit'', ''Lux fulgebit'' and ''Puer natus''. So too, [[Gaudete Sunday]] is a name for the third Sunday in [[Advent]], [[Laetare Sunday]] for the fourth Sunday in [[Lent]], and [[Quasimodo Sunday]] for the [[Octave of Easter|Octave]] or Second Sunday of Easter, because of the incipit of the Entrance antiphons of those Sundays.

== In Lutheran liturgy ==
The introit opens the [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] in the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Churches]].<ref name="COS2007">{{cite web |title=The Eucharist also called Holy Communion (High Mass) |url=http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/gudstjanstbanken/service_book/01hogmassa.htm#TopOfPage |publisher=[[Church of Sweden]] |access-date=19 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704082152/http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/gudstjanstbanken/service_book/01hogmassa.htm#TopOfPage |archive-date=4 July 2007 |date=2007}}</ref> It is at this point of the Mass that the priest (pastor) enters the [[chancel]].<ref name="Ferkenstad2018">{{cite web |last1=Ferkenstad |first1=Aaron |title=Liturgy: Introit, Kyrie, and Gloria |url=https://www.kingofgracelutheran.com/blog/liturgy-introit-kyrie-and-gloria |publisher=King of Grace Lutheran Church and School |access-date=19 May 2025 |date=19 January 2018}}</ref>

==In Anglican liturgy==
In the [[Anglican Communion]], Introit is the name given to the [[hymn]] or [[metrical psalm]] which is sung at the start of a service, a tradition which dates back to the Book of Common Prayer of 1549, although omitted in the version of 1552 and restored by permission in the reign of Queen [[Elizabeth I of England]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Armentrout |editor1-first=Don S. |editor2-last=Slocum |editor2-first=Robert Boak |date=2000 |title=An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church: A User-Friendly Reference for Episcopalians |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4_P098HhHMC&q=introit+anglican+hymn&pg=PA268 |location=New York |publisher=Church Publishing Incorporated |page=268 |isbn=978-0898692112 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Introit |url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/introit/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=The Episcopal Church |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Order of Mass]]