Communicantes
March 18, 2026 - 4th Wednesday of Lent
In the last few weeks we have been examining the parts of the Roman Canon so that we can more fully understand this essential prayer in our liturgical tradition and seek to appropriate a deeper spiritual closeness with the Lord through this understanding. So far each part of the Canon has caused us to think about three things. First, we consider to whom we make our offering, namely, the Father. Second, we consider what manner of offering we are making, specifically, sacrifice and prayer. Third, we consider who we are making this offering with. It is this third consideration that we will continue to deepen.
In the Te igitur we noted that we are praying along with the Holy Father, the local Bishop, and those who seek to hold and hand on the faith in the public order. In the Commemoration of the Living we directed our prayers to those for whom we are praying and their needs. However, we also join all of those who all of the people with whom we are physically present at Mass and all of their needs. This intimate communion continues even more fully in today’s section.
If the Commemoration of the Living draws our eyes to the left and to the right so that we might see the needs of our neighbors, the Communicantes draws our eyes upwards to the Communion of Saints. It is good to recall that the Church is composed of three distinction but related categories: the Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Militant. As members of the Church Militant, we are now recalling those people who are part of Church Triumphant, in heaven, so that “through their merits and prayers, in all things we may be defended” by the help of God the Father.
But, something interesting happens here. At this point in the Canon we stop to reflect on the most important mysteries of the Christian faith. Throughout the year we hear the words “In communion with those whose memory we venerate, especially, etc.” However, on Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost this section of the Communicantes adapts itself to the season. In typical Roman fashion it proclaims each inexhaustible mystery in an extremely terse but also in a profoundly compact way. It is designed to draw us back into the season we are celebrating and the reason why we are doing what we do.
On Christmas we hear “Celebrating the most sacred night on which blessed Mary the immaculate Virgin brought forth the Savior for this world.” On epiphany it says “Celebrating the most sacred day on which your Only Begotten Son, eternal with you in your glory, appeared in a human body, truly sharing our flesh.” Easter hits us with the cause of our joy by proclaiming, “Celebrating the most sacred night of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh.” On the Ascension we hear, “Celebrating the most sacred day on which your Only Begotten Son, Our Lord, placed at the right hand of your glory our weak human nature, which he had united to himself. And, on Pentecost, “Celebrating the most sacred day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit appeared to the Apostles in tongues of fire.”
These very short formulae act as points of interest to draw our attention to the mystery we are celebrating, with the reason why this community of the faithful has been drawn together in the first place. In one sense you could say that it is a practice in rediscovering the fundamentals of the faith. We can get involved in all of the concerns that we have in our life, our personal issues, our relational issues, our family issues, and our civic issues. But the liturgy, at this moment, is asking us to stop and take account of this deeper, more fundamental truth. We have come around this altar to give thanks to the Father for sending Jesus into the world to invite us into his glory. Here, at this moment of the liturgy, we pause to wonder at the profound ways in which he has accomplished that invitation.
