Saints in the Communicantes
March 25, 2026 - The Annunciation
Last week we began our examination of the Communicantes. As we saw, this part of the Roman Canon draws us ever closer into communion with the seasonal mystery that we are celebrating. Today, however, we continue on with the theme of communion. The communion that we see in this portion of the Canon draws our eyes to a more particular reality, the reality of the particular church to which we belong.
Each of the various churches that make up the Catholic Church has a distinct way of recalling its own unique identity in word and symbol. The Communicantes causes us to recall that we are spiritually Roman no matter where in the world we may be or what particular culture in which we might find ourselves either by domicile or by birth. I’ve been asked before, “why is there a litany of saints in the middle of the Mass?” I love that question because it shows that the person asking that question is listening with attention. But also, it offers the opportunity to make a correction. It is not a litany. A litany is where we invoke the saints to aid us in a particular need. Here, instead we are recalling these saints so that we are drawn to them instead of them being drawn to us.
We begin by recalling that we are paying this liturgy along with the Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother and our Queen. In recent years we have added St. Joseph, her husband and the Foster Father of Our Lord to this commemoration. But immediately after this we draw ourselves near to the principal patrons of the Roman Church. We recall Peter and Paul who died in the City of Rome, marking the preeminent significance of that See. We then recall the other apostles, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Jude, who each brought the Gospel to the various corners of the Roman Empire and beyond. Again we see a movement from the universal to the particular.
The final twelve saints listed in this section of the Canon are the twelve principal martyrs of Rome. Each one is a Pope, a Bishop, Priest or Deacon. Later in the Canon we will reference other martyrs from other States of Life. However, here we recall those who were tasked with the governance of the Church to provide the Sacrifice, to preach the Gospel, to organize the good works of the Church, and to defend and order Her according to the Divine Will. It is fitting that these individuals would be mentioned now since we are nearing the heart of the Sacrifice.
As we conclude this section we ask these saints to do for us now what they did when they lived their earthly lives. We ask that they will continue to defend us, Christ’s Church, as we perpetuate the Sacrifice for which they themselves sacrificed their own lives and that we may have the grace to do the same in the manner of our lives, and if so called, in the manner of our deaths.
