Benedicamus Domino is a closing salutation used in the Roman Mass instead of the Ite missa est

Ite missa est

Ite, missa est are the concluding words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite, as well as the Lutheran Divine Service. The exact meaning of the words is disputed, it has the effect of "Go", or "It is Sent", but the term "Mass" derives from this phrase...

 in Masses which lack the Gloria

Gloria in Excelsis Deo

"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...

 (such as those during Lent

Lent

In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...

). The response

Response (liturgy)

A response is the second half of one of a set of preces, the said or sung answer by the congregation or choir to a versicle said or sung by an officiant or cantor...

, said afterwards, is "Deo gratias" ("Thanks be to God"). It is also sung as a versicle

Versicle

A versicle is the first half of one of a set of preces, said or sung by an officiant or cantor and answered with a said or sung response by the congregation or choir...

 at the end of all Offices

Canonical hours

Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....

.

Apparently the chant was unknown in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 before about AD 1000, and may have originated in the Gallican liturgy

Gallican rite

The Gallican Rite is a historical sub-grouping of the Roman Catholic liturgy in western Europe; it is not a single rite but actually a family of rites within the Western Rite which comprised the majority use of most of Christianity in western Europe for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD...

. In modern chantbooks, the music given for the chant is exactly the same as for the Ite missa est

Ite missa est

Ite, missa est are the concluding words addressed to the people in the Mass of the Roman Rite, as well as the Lutheran Divine Service. The exact meaning of the words is disputed, it has the effect of "Go", or "It is Sent", but the term "Mass" derives from this phrase...

, but it is not known how much that was true in the medieval period as well.

The text was frequently troped, especially by adding text between the two words, or using the melody as the cantus firmus

Cantus firmus

In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...

 for an organum

Organum

Organum is, in general, a plainchant melody with at least one added voice to enhance the harmony, developed in the Middle Ages. Depending on the mode and form of the chant, a supporting bass line may be sung on the same text, the melody may be followed in parallel motion , or a combination of...

. The use of this chant as a tenor was common in the St. Martial

St. Martial School

The Saint Martial School was a medieval school of composition centered in the Abbey of Saint Martial, Limoges, France. It is known for the composition of tropes, sequences, and early organum. In this respect, it was an important precursor to the Notre Dame School.Most of the manuscripts that are...

 and Notre Dame school

Notre Dame school

The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1160 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony....

s of polyphony, including a dozen settings in the Magnus Liber Organi

Magnus Liber

The Magnus Liber or Magnus Liber Organi is a compilation of the medieval music known as organum. The whole name of the work is Magnus liber organi de graduali et antiphonario pro servitio divino...

.

During the liturgical reforms of Pope Pius XII (1938-1958) and Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

 (1958-1963) the use of the Benedicamus Domino was much restricted. By 1963 it was only recited or chanted when a procession

Procession

A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...

 immediately followed the Mass. It is rarely heard in Anglo-Saxon countries, processions being rarities there. It is still however, used in the Divine Office

Liturgy of the hours

The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...

.

Lutheran

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

s continue to use it in the Divine Office and at the end of their Divine Service.