COMMUNE SANCTORUM. — This is the third of the major sections into which the Roman Missal and Breviary are divided, and it comprises a collection of liturgical formularies (Masses and Offices) for the feasts of those saints who lack formularies of their own, either wholly or in part.
Originally, the feasts of the saints were quite rare: only from the fifth century onward is a rapid increase in feasts noticeable. It was therefore natural that those earliest feasts should have had well-appropriate liturgical formularies. But the continual increase in feasts no longer permitted an abundance of proper formularies. Moreover, some great primitive feast of a saint might also have had a certain number of proper formularies, especially for the Mass, from which the celebrant could freely choose. Thus, for example, in the Leonine Sacramentary. Now, with the passage of time, one of these Mass formularies definitively became the proper festive Mass; the other Masses subsequently served for saints of a similar type, or came into common use, either wholly or in part.
The first Communia to be formed were those for martyrs, confessors, and virgins (martyrs and non-martyrs), with a great variety of formularies, especially of Masses. Equally ancient is the use of a Commune for the annual celebration of the dedication of churches. In general, at least in the sacramentaries, each Commune has formularies for the festive vigil and for the feast itself. In Rome there also formerly existed a Commune for the Apostles, since, apart from the feast of ss. Pietro and Paolo, no particular feast existed for the other Apostles. In France, where the Apostles were celebrated individually, the Roman vigil Mass of the Apostles became the vigil Mass for ss. Simone and Giuda (27 October), and the festive Mass of all the Apostles became that of Simone and Giuda (28 October). Moreover, the Frankish Church made use of various proper Masses from the primitive Gelasian Sacramentary as common formularies: for example, the proper Mass of s. Benedetto abate, then celebrated on 11 July, became the common Mass of abbots; the Statut Mass of s. Marcello papa became the common Mass for pontifical confessors (today secundo loco); the festive Mass of the martyrs Cornelio and Cipriano Iutret became a common Mass of pontifical martyrs (today primo loco). In general, it may be stated that the authentic primitive Roman books were rather sparing in common formularies, whereas those of the Frankish Church, given the enormous development of the Sanctorale during the Merovingian and Carolingian eras, assigned several ancient Gelasian Masses to new feasts and created other new formularies for common use. The ancient Roman epistolaries
have relatively few proper saints, but a fairly developed C. S., whereas the ancient Roman evangeliaries, on the contrary, record many particular saints but, in their common section, prove to be quite limited. It suffices to compare the Würzburg lectionary, published by G. Morin (Revue bénédictine, 28 [1911]), and the four principal types of Roman evangeliaries in Th. Klauser (Das römische Capitulare evangeliorum, Münster 1935). As for the liturgical books used for the Office, there is a great variety of formularies and a great difference in the number of the individual types. The ancient Roman sermonaries of the eighth century (e.g., Agimundo, Egino, Alano, S. Pietro in Vaticano) know only the primitive Communia of the martyrs, confessors, virgins, and the dedication. Later, however, the Commune was greatly enriched also in sermonaries and homiliaries.
A certain uniformity was achieved only in the second half of the Middle Ages, above all through the liturgical books of the Roman Curia, disseminated throughout the world by the Friars Minor. The definitive arrangement, at least in substance, is due to s. Pio V, who prescribed for the entire Latin Church the Breviary (1568) and the Missal (1570), duly reformed by him. Yet, even in the subsequent official editions of Clemente VIII and Urbano VIII, certain parts of the Commune, especially in the Breviary, were further revised and perfected. The Commune Virginum and non Virginum attained its present form only under Urbano VIII (1631). In the first decades of the last century, a Commune B. Mariae Virginis appears here and there in the Breviaries, certainly prompted by the increased number of minor feasts of the Madonna. In the Missal, however, the said Commune was introduced only in the typical Vatican edition of 1920. Pio XII introduced a new Commune « unius vel plurium Summorum Pontificum », 9 January 1942 (AAS, 34 [1942], pp. 105–11).
At present, the C. S. appears somewhat different in the Missal and in the Breviary, since the Missal lacks a Commune Apostolorum, given that the common parts for the Apostles are printed in full in the individual feasts. The same applies to the Commune Evangelistarum. Moreover, the votive Mass found in the Missal, in honor of all the Apostles, precisely brings together the common elements of the individual festive Masses for the Apostles. In addition, the Missal presents, in each Commune, one or more complete Masses, whereas the Breviary also contains certain Communia which, in reality, are nothing other than « variations », to be used in preceding or following complete Communia. With this qualification, a table is given here of the existing Communia, according to the order of the Breviary, which is more complete, noting in the margin whether a Commune is rather only a variation of others.
Current structure of the C. S.
1. In vigilia Apostolorum. Var. in the ferial Office.
2. Comm. Apostolorum extra Temp. Pasch.
3. Comm. Evangelistarum extra Temp. Pasch. Var. of no. 2.
4. Comm. Apost. et Evang. Temp. Pasch. Var. of nos. 2 or 3.
5. Comm. unius vel plur. Summ. Pontificum. Var. of nos. 6, 7, 9, according to the case.
6. Comm. unius Martyris extra Temp. Pasch.
7. Comm. plurimorum Martyrum extra Temp. Pasch.
8. Comm. un. vel plur. Martyrum Temp. Pasch. Var. of nos. 6 or 7.
9. Comm. Confessoris Pontificis.
10. Comm. Doctorum. Var. of nos. 9 or 11.
11. Comm. Confessoris non Pontificis.
12. Comm. Abbatum. Var. of no. 11.
13. Comm. Virginum.
14. Comm. non Virginum.
15. Comm. Dedicationis Ecclesiae.
16. Comm. Festorum B. Mariae Virginis.
As can be seen, in the Breviary, of 16 Communia, only nine are complete; in the Missal, on the other hand, there are 13 Communia, all complete. The proper Paschal type in use for martyrs, among whom the Apostles are included, should be noted.
and the Evangelists. The martyrs, in fact, were the first to receive public cult in the Church; when their feasts fell within the Easter season, they fully shared in the joyful character of that liturgical season; consequently, they also received their own proper Easter liturgical formularies. The other saints, having entered into the cult later, were honoured during the Easter season only through the extensive use of the Alleluia in the ordinary liturgical formularies. This pre-eminence of the martyrs is also revealed in the psalmody. It is well known that in ancient times the fundamental rule for psalmody was continuous recitation; only on the great feasts was a selection made, though always following the numerical progression of the psalms. Now, even a rapid comparison of the nocturnal and vesperal psalmody of the Communia and of the most ancient feasts of the martyrs makes clear its direct derivation from the primitive psalmodic stock of the martyrs. The Commune for virgins, given their particular character of holiness, also has a sui generis psalmody; it should be noted, however, that the most illustrious martyr virgins (Agata, Agnese) have a psalmody very close to the primitive psalmody of the martyrs, and that the first confessor with public cult, s. Martino, still retains the complete psalmody of a martyr. The psalmody of virgins was also used for other female saints and, with variations, especially in the readings, also for the Most Blessed Virgin (only Ps. 47 of the Commune of virgins was replaced by Ps. 86, which sings of holy Jerusalem, an image of the Most Blessed Virgin). The psalmody for the Apostles and for the dedication developed independently. As regards the Apostles, it is curious to reread the abstruse commentaries of the medieval liturgists, who naturally observed the difference between the psalmody for the Apostles and that for the other saints. They also noted, however, that the nocturnal office of the Apostles contains, in progressive order, various psalms from the ancient ferial cycle; consequently, these liturgists deduced the following symbolism: the Apostles, through their universal mission, contain all seasons within themselves; therefore their psalmody drew its elements from all the days (v. le relative notizie presso B. Gavanti-G. M. Merati, Thesaurus sacr. rituum, II, Roma 1736, p. 156).
The C. S. is, in a certain sense, a makeshift, and therefore cannot satisfy every need. The continual increase in the feasts of the saints, of such differing types and such diverse spiritualities, makes the deficiency of the C. S. even more apparent; by its nature it remains generic, colourless, and poorly suited to saints of particularly pronounced distinction. Finding a remedy for this state of affairs will be difficult; a return to formularies entirely proper to each saint, as some desire, seems impossible, at least for the universal Church; for the various diocesan and religious proper offices, more appropriate texts are readily granted. A widespread desire, and a genuine movement, exists for the creation of a proper Commune for saintly priests, who at present, without the slightest emphasis on their state, are treated as confessors who are not pontiffs.