The Hanc Igitur
April 1, 2026 - Spy Wednesday
This week in our Wednesday Reflections we move past the objects of unity and move into the primary petitions that we have for the Lord. In particular we move into a position of humility before the Lord in the part of the Roman Canon known as the Hanc igitur.
The first petition in this prayer is our pleading with God to accept this oblation that we are about to make. We are asking God to look at us in our need and even in this humble offering that he does for us what he has promised. But even here we never forget about our unity with the larger body of Christ. We see this when we immediately say that this offering is not just our offering but that “of your whole family.”
From the Easter Vigil to the end of the Easter Octave we add a petition for those new members of the Christian family who have just been fully initiated into the Church through the sacrament of Baptism. This moment is truly a moment of intimacy with God for each and every one of us.
There are three further petitions that we add to our prayer, almost sneaking them in at the last moment like children begging their parents for one last gift. We ask that our days are ordered to His peace, that we are delivered from eternal damnation, and that we are all members of the elect.
These petitions are profound requests since we are entitled to none of them. But as our Lord tells us, if we ask for good things, then God will grant them because he is a loving father. The first speaks to our temporal need for peace so that we can pursue the Christian life well. The second two concerns our eternal destination. The first is a petition to keep us faithful in all things so that we reach heavenly glory with all of the saints and angels. The second is about that constant unity and the grace that God gives us to avoid being separated from Him in any way.
Next week we will move one step closer to the heart of the Roman Canon. We will look upon what we are asking God to do for us in this precise moment so that all of the petitions we have gathered so far can be accomplished by his loving mercy.
I hope to see many of you for our Triduum liturgies that begin tomorrow where we recount the most sacred moments of the liturgical year and until then, may you be blessed to receive that glorious peace of Christ!
