What is the Last Gospel and why is it read?

At the end of every Traditional Latin Mass, after the dismissal and final blessing, the priest returns to the altar to read the Prologue of the Gospel of St. John — “In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum.” “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The faithful kneel at the words “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” This is the Last Gospel.

It functions as a kind of postscript to the Mass — a final proclamation of the central mystery of the Incarnation, the doctrine that grounds everything that has just happened on the altar. God became man, dwelt among us, was sacrificed, and gives Himself in this Eucharist. The Last Gospel reasserts the metaphysical foundation of the rite the faithful have just assisted at.

It is also a blessing. The Prologue of John was used as a sacramental in the Middle Ages — read over the sick, the dying, fields, and houses. Its presence at the end of every Mass extends that blessing over the faithful as they leave the church and return to the world. They do not depart with words of mere dismissal; they depart with the great Christological doxology ringing in their ears.

The 1969 reform abolished the Last Gospel. The Mass simply ended at the dismissal. Something quiet but immense was lost — a final ringing affirmation of who Christ is, sent home with every Catholic, every day, for centuries.

Go deeper → Understanding the Parts of the Mass