Canon saint

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Canon saints are saints whose names are mentioned in the Roman rite in the first prayer of Holy Mass , the Canon Missae , and in the prayer of the Ambrosian rite . Names of saints are also mentioned in the anaphora in the Byzantine Rite .

Structure and theological statement of the two rows of saints in the Canon missae

Two parts of the Canon Missae contain lists of names of saints: the section called Communicantes (“In community”) before the change and the section Nobis quoque peccatoribus (“We too, your sinful servants”) after the change. Both prayers are directed with a request to God. The saints are called in "reminiscent call" God of intercession ( intercession may assume): "Views of their holy life and death and grant us through her intercession in all your help and your protection."

Communicantes

The Communicantes prayer in the first part of the Canon missae follows on from the prayer Memento, Domine, famulorum famularumque tuarum et omnium circumstantium (“Remember your servants and all who are gathered here.”) In the connection of the two prayers comes the thought expresses the communion of saints : the unity of the community celebrating the Eucharist , indeed of the entire earthly Church in the Memento, Domine and the “heavenly Church of the perfect saints” in the Communicantes . The sacrificing congregation of those living today “does not stand alone, but belongs to the great people of the redeemed”, those who have already died.

In the Communicantes 26 saints are named: the parents of Jesus and two twelve names. The naming of the saints begins with Communicantes et memoriam venerantes [Virginis Mariae et beati Ioseph] , the series of saints is added in the genitive , literally: “By having fellowship and venerating the memory [of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph]”. Today's German version “We commemorate in communion with the whole church” sees the earthly and heavenly church in the “whole church”.

"Communicántes, et memóriam venerántes, in primis gloriósæ semper Vírginis Maríæ, Genitrícis Dei et Dómini nostri Jesu Christi: sed et beati Joseph, eiusdem Virginis Sponsi, et beatórum Apostolórum ac Mártyrum tuórum, Petri et Pauli ,æ, Joánnis, Petri et Pauli, Andréæ, Jacóbi, Philíppi, Bartholomæi, Matthæi, Simónis, et Thaddæi: Lini, Cleti, Cleméntis, Xysti, Cornélii, Cypriáni, Lauréntii, Chrysógoni, Joánnis et Pauli, Cosmæ et Damiáni: et ómnium Sanctórum tuórum; quorum méritis precibúsque concédas, ut in ómnibus protectiónis tuæ muniámur auxílio. Per eúndem Christum, Dóminum nostrum. Amen."

“In communion with the whole Church we remember your saints. Above all , we honor Mary , the glorious, always virgin Mother of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. We honor your bridegroom, St. Joseph , your holy apostles and martyrs: Peter and Paul , Andreas , Jakobus , Johannes , Thomas , Jakobus , Philippus , Bartholomäus , Matthäus , Simon and Thaddäus , Linus , Kletus , Klemens , Xystus , Kornelius , Cyprianus , Laurentius , Chrysogonus , John and Paulus , Cosmas and Damianus and all your saints; look to their holy life and death and grant us your help and protection in everything through their intercession. "

Nobis quoque peccatoribus

After the conversion, 15 names follow in the prayer Nobis quoque peccatoribus at the end of the Canon missae : John the Baptist and twice seven names, in addition, “all your saints” are finally mentioned. The request to God for partem aliquam et societatem (“share and fellowship”) is followed by the names with cum (“with”, with ablative): “share and fellowship with your holy apostles and martyrs”. The prayer is preceded by the memento , the prayer for the deceased, “who preceded us with the sign of faith and fell asleep in peace”. The community celebrating the Eucharist asks for them from God the “place of refreshment, of light and of peace” and now afterwards in the Nobis quoque peccatoribus also for the living a share with the saints in heaven. According to Eastern Church models, the biblical connection between the Eucharist and eternal life is expressed (see Jn 6,48-51  EU ).

"Nobis quoque peccatóribus fámulis tuis, de multitúdine miseratiónum tuárum sperántibus, partem áliquam et societátem donáre dignéris, cum tuis sanctis Apóstolis et Martýribus: cum Joánne, Stéphano, Matthíte, Agionaba, Alexéta Felétro, Petrotro, Petronaba, Felétro, Lúcia, Agnéte, Cæcília, Anastásia, et ómnibus Sanctis tuis: intra quorum nos consórtium, non æstimátor mériti, sed véniæ, quæsumus, largítor admítte. Per Christum, Dóminum nostrum. "

"Also give us, your sinful servants, who hope in your rich mercy, share and fellowship with your holy apostles and martyrs: John , Stephen , Matthias , Barnabas , Ignatius , Alexander , Marcellinus, Peter , Felicitas, Perpetua , Agatha , Luzia , Agnes , Cecilia , Anastasia and all your saints; do not weigh our merits, but graciously give us forgiveness and give us with them the inheritance of heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. "

Origin and structure of the series of names

The diptychs , lists of names of the deceased and the living on folding boards that have been read out during the service , have been used as a model for each of the two-part lists of names that have been created since the 4th century, especially in the Eastern Church area . In some mass rites, for example in the Eastern Syrian Rite , they comprised several hundred names; the inclusion in a diptych corresponded to the later western church canonization , the deletion could mean excommunication . In the western church rite naming the deceased was not yet common at that time, only lists of names of living donors were read out.

Communicantes

The series of names des Communicantes has twice the number of twelve, led by Mary, the Mother of God (who was first added by Pope John XXIII St. Joseph ). There are twelve apostles and twelve martyrs , the number of elders in the Revelation of John ( Rev 4,10  EU ; 5,8 EU ).

The first to be included in the Communicantes are Maria, Peter and Paulus, Xystus and Laurentius, Cornelius and Cyprian , who were particularly venerated in Rome around 500 . During the sixth century, the other apostles and other martyrs joined them; worshiping confessors was not yet common in Christianity at the time. The addition and formation of the two lists of twelve is probably due to Pope Gregory the Great (590–604). The list of the twelve apostles also includes Paul, but not Judas Iscariot and also not his replacement Matthias , who is mentioned in the Nobis quoque peccatoribus . The order of the apostles differs from the biblical ( Mt 10,2-4  EU , Mk 3,16-19  EU , Lk 6,13-16  EU ) and other apostelists: the fact that Paul is named immediately after Peter corresponds to the otherwise usual Incidentally, the apostles Thomas and James the Younger are essentially preferred and immediately follow James and John. The list of martyrs is structured hierarchically : five popes are followed by a bishop, then two clergy and four lay people. Besides Kosmas and Damian, the martyrs came from the West; in particular, the bishop's seat mentioned outside of Rome is probably the second most important western seat of the time, namely Carthage (by the way, the old enemy of Rome).

In the period that followed, the list of names of the Communicantes in the Roman mass canon was not considered complete in some places, but was in some cases considerably expanded in the Franconian region, for example to include the names of saints such as Augustine , Benedict or Martin von Tours or patrons of the region or the diocese. At least since the Missale Romanum of Pope Pius V in 1570, the list of the Canon missae has been valid with 25 names, from 1962 with St. Joseph is 26.

Nobis quoque peccatoribus

The Nobis quoque peccatoribus initially only contained individual names; the first two, Johannes and Stephanus, were also mentioned in the Alexandrian prayer in the 4th century and can be seen as the "old foundation of the common prayer of the Roman and Alexandrian churches". The introductory mention of the holy apostles and martyrs is Roman and corresponds to the Communicantes . The first names are likely to have found their way into prayer in the course of the 5th century because of their high veneration in Rome, besides John the Baptist and the arch-martyr Stephen, the "remaining" Apostle Matthias, who also usually referred to as the Apostle Barnabas and the most important immediately post-apostolic Eastern Church father Ignatius as well as Saints Peter, Marcellinus, Agnes, Cäcilia and Felicitas from Rome. Not all saints can be clearly assigned to a specific person; the name Alexander appeared at least three times in 4th-century Roman martyr lists.

Presumably, as in the Communicantes, the series of names got their final form by Pope Gregory the Great towards the end of the 6th century. Like the biblical twelve number there, the holy number seven was the design principle. At the head there is a great person, John the Baptist, followed by seven male and seven female saints. In contrast to the list before the change, the hierarchical order is only more or less maintained: Among the men, the arch-martyr is mentioned first, then those venerated as apostles, then Bishop Ignatius, then Alexander, according to tradition, bishop or priest (the sometimes, however, is associated with the pope of the same name, according to tradition at least a martyr, and would then succeed a bishop); the clergy follow. The list of female saints, all martyrs and, apart from Perpetua, virgins , begins with two African women , of whom the slave is mentioned first, followed by two Sicilians, the two Roman women and Anastasia from the east. In the Middle Ages there were temporary extensions to the list, but not to the same extent as with Communicantes .

The total number of saints added up until the insertion of St. Joseph on the holy number forty.

literature

Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia - a genetic explanation of the Roman mass , Volume 2, Herder Verlag, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th edition 1962, pp. 213–225, 309–322

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Bernhard Meyer : Eucharist. History, theology, pastoral care. Regensburg 1989 (Church Service. Handbook of Liturgical Science, Part 4), p. 348.
  2. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, p. 213
  3. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, p. 309
  4. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, pp. 200f. and p. 201 note 7; Rainer Warland : Diptychs . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 3 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, Sp. 256 f .
  5. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, p. 218ff.
  6. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, p. 220ff.
  7. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, p. 315
  8. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann SJ: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 2, Vienna, Freiburg, Basel, 5th ed. 1962, pp. 314–319