“Lamb of God” is the title John the Baptist gave to Jesus when he saw him coming: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.” It sums up who Jesus is and what he came to do: like the Passover lamb, he was sacrificed so that his people might be saved. At every Mass the Church sings the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”) while the priest breaks the consecrated Host, and the priest shows the Host to the people with John’s words before Communion. Below is the meaning of the title in Scripture, the Agnus Dei in Latin and English, its place in the Mass, and how the Lamb appears in Christian art and in heaven.
“Behold the Lamb of God”
The next day, John saw Jesus coming to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world.
The Catechism explains that with these words John reveals Jesus as both “the suffering Servant who silently allows himself to be led to the slaughter and who bears the sin of the multitudes, and also the Paschal Lamb, the symbol of Israel’s redemption at the first Passover” (CCC 608).
The Lamb in the Old Testament
The Passover lamb. On the night of the Exodus, each Israelite family sacrificed an unblemished lamb and marked their doors with its blood, so that the angel of death passed over them:
And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year: according to which rite also you shall take a kid.
And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening.
And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Jesus died at Passover, and St. Paul writes, “Christ our pasch is sacrificed.”
The suffering Servant. The prophet Isaias described the Servant of the Lord who would bear the sins of many:
He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth.
The Agnus Dei at Mass
During the Communion Rite, while the priest breaks the consecrated Host (the Fraction), the people sing or say the Agnus Dei. The Latin text, sung since the seventh century:
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
miserere nobis.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
dona nobis pacem.
A literal translation, made for this page:
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
It may be repeated as often as needed to accompany the breaking of the bread; the last invocation always ends with “grant us peace.” The Agnus Dei was added to the Roman Mass by Pope St. Sergius I, a pope of Syrian origin, around the year 700.
“Behold the Lamb of God” before Communion
Holding up the Host, the priest echoes the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and of the Apocalypse, calling blessed those who are invited to the supper of the Lamb. The people answer with the words of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant (see CCC 1386):
And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.
The “supper of the Lamb” is the wedding feast of heaven, of which every Mass is a foretaste:
And he said to me: Write: Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith to me: These words of God are true.
The Lamb in heaven
In the Apocalypse St. John sees a Lamb “standing as it were slain” at the center of God’s throne, worshiped by angels and saints:
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands,
Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction.
That is why Christian art shows the Lamb of God standing, bearing a banner with a cross: slain, yet risen and victorious. The great Ghent Altarpiece, the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by the van Eyck brothers (1432), is one of the most famous images of this vision. See also Our Lady of Knock, where the Lamb appeared on an altar.
A prayer to the Lamb of God
Written for this page:
Lamb of God, you were led like a lamb to the slaughter
and gave your life to take away the sins of the world.
Wash me in your precious Blood,
make me worthy to share the supper of the Lamb,
and give me your peace, now and forever. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Jesus called the Lamb of God?
Because he is the true Passover lamb, whose sacrifice frees us from sin and death, and the innocent Servant who bore our sins, as John the Baptist proclaimed.
What are the words of the Lamb of God at Mass?
In Latin: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis (twice), then dona nobis pacem: “Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us… grant us peace.” The English wording used at Mass in your country is printed in the missal or worship aid.
When is the Lamb of God said at Mass?
During the breaking of the bread, after the Sign of Peace and before Communion.
What does “Agnus Dei” mean?
It is Latin for “Lamb of God.”
More about the Mass
- The Liturgy of the Eucharist
- Holy, Holy, Holy (the Sanctus)
- Order of the Mass
- Prayer before Communion
- Who can receive Communion?
- Catholic prayers in Latin
- St. John the Baptist prayer
- Litany of the Precious Blood
Sources
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 608, 1386.
- Scripture: John 1:29; Exodus 12:5–7; Isaias (Isaiah) 53:7; Matthew 8:8; Apocalypse 5:11–12 and 19:9; 1 Corinthians 5:7, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- Latin Agnus Dei: Latin Wikisource; English translation made for this page.
- Liber Pontificalis, life of Pope Sergius I.