Benedicamus Domino

Benedicamus Domino (Let us bless the Lord), a liturgical form of words, said by the priest at the end of all the canonical hours, with the exception of matins. The response to it is always Deo gratias. It is also said at the end of the mass in those masses in which Gloria in excelsis is not said, and which are not masses for the dead, in which the corresponding form is Requiescat in pace. The custom of substituting Benedicamnus for Ite missa est in these masses is derived from the old practice of the Church, according to which after masses for the dead, or those for penitential days, the people were not dismissed as at other times, but remnained for the recitation of the psalms, which were said after the mass.