The Roman Canon

 February 25, 2026 - 1st Wednesday of Lent

Today we begin our examination of the Roman Canon. This is the primary anaphora (popularly known as a Eucharistic Prayer) of the Roman Liturgy. In the liturgy as it has been reformed following the Second Vatican Council it is one of the main four anaphoræ. The Roman Canon is the oldest and most consistently used Eucharistic prayer since we have records of the Liturgy. The anaphora is the heart of the Mass. In the Roman Canon we see a summation of the Catholic faith as prayed by the Roman Church. In this first reflection we will simply provide an overview of the Canon. In future reflections we will discuss the specific parts of the Canon and how we can more intentionally engage that moment in our prayer at Mass.

The placement of the Canon, and each anaphora in the sequence of the Mass is important to note. Generally speaking you can divide the Mass into the following sections: The Introductory Rite, The Penitential Rite, The Gloria (if it is said), The Opening Prayer (properly called the Collect), The Liturgy of the Word, The Homily, The Creed (if it is said), The Offertory, The Preface, The Anaphora, The Lord’s Prayer, The Peace (if it is given), The Fraction Rite, The Communion Rite, The Post-communion Prayer, and the Dismissal. As you can see, the anaphora is structurally the center or heart of the Mass. Each of the other parts revolve around it and provide us with a way to spiritually connect the life of the Church, Divine Revelation, and our own lives to it.

The Roman Canon itself is divided into twelve sections, or more accurately four sections with three parts each. They are: 1. the Te igitur, the Commemoration of the Living, the Communicantes; 2. the Hanc igitur, the Quam oblationem, the Qui pridie; 3. the Unde et memores, the Supra quæ, the Supplices te rogamus; 4. the Commemoration of the Deceased, the Nobis quoque, and the Per quem hæc omnia.

Each division and each part focuses on a different aspect of the Christian life and affords us access to the Paschal Mystery, that is, the mystery of the life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord. If we understand what is being prayed at these moments and why they are being prayed it allows us to enter more deeply into a right relationship with God. One could think of the Canon as a summary of the Christian faith where we recognize ourselves in the presence of God himself. It helps us to focus on the life that Christ desires us to live and to make a return to the Father in the sacrifice of our daily lives, by the Holy Spirit, in and through these concrete moments of the liturgy. 

In the next reflection we will discuss the Te igitur, its significance and how we should approach that moment in the liturgy as we assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

In Our Holy Father Dominic,

Fr. Gabriel, OP

Pastor