The ''Sanctus'' (, "Holy") is a

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. It may also be called the ''epinikios hymnos'' (, "Hymn of Victory") when referring to the Greek rendition and parts of it are sometimes called "Benedictus". ''Tersanctus'' (Latin: "Thrice Holy") is another, rarer name for the Sanctus. The same name is sometimes used for the ''

Trisagion The ''Trisagion'' (; 'Thrice Holy'), sometimes called by its incipit ''Agios O Theos'', is a standard hymn of the Divine Liturgy in most of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Western Orthodox, Oriental Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodox, an ...

''. In

Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity (Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Protestantism, Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the O ...

, the ''Sanctus'' forms part of the Ordinary and is sung (or said) as the final words of the

Preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

of the Eucharistic Prayer of remembrance,

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

, and praise. The preface, which alters according to the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, usually concludes with words describing the praise of the worshippers joining with the

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

s, who are pictured as praising God with the words of the ''Sanctus''. In the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

and general

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Christianity, the ''Sanctus'' is offered as a response by the choir during the Holy Anaphora.

Text

In Greek

''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth; plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou, hōsanná en toîs hupsístois. Eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou. Hōsanná (ho) en toîs hupsístois.''
In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the Liturgy of St. Basil:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος Σαβαώθ· πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης σου, ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Ὡσαννὰ ὁ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. ''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth;'' ''plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou,'' ''hōsanná en toîs hupsístois.'' ''Eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou.'' ''Hōsanná ho en toîs hupsístois.''

In the Liturgy of St. James:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος Σαβαώθ. Πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης σου. Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. ''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth.'' ''Plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou.'' ''Hōsanná en toîs hupsístois.'' ''Eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou.'' ''Hōsanná ho en toîs hupsístois.''

In Latin

In the

Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.

In the Roman Rite, the ''Sanctus'' also forms part of the solemn hymn of praise ''Te Deum laudamus'', but with the addition of a reference to the "majesty" of the Lord's glory in the ''Pleni sunt'' verse (the phrase ''pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua'' becomes ''pleni sunt caeli et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae''). The ''Benedictus'' is not included in the '' Te Deum'', and the Sanctus is therefore included as part of that hymn as follows:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt cæli et terra maiestatis gloriæ tuæ.

In the Mozarabic Rite:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth: Pleni sunt cæli et terra gloria maiestatis tuæ, Hosanna filio David. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis. Hagios, hagios, hagios Kyrie o Theos.

In English

The Sanctus appears thus in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer (and as set to music by

John Merbecke John Marbeck, Merbeck or Merbecke () was an English choral composer and theological writer whose musical setting of the early Anglican liturgy standardised the sung Anglican service until the late 20th century. He is also known today for his s ...

in 1550):

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.

In the 1552 Book of Common Prayer and 1559 BCP it appears without the Benedictus:

Holy, holy, holy, lord god of hostes, heven and earth are ful of thy glory, glory be to the, O Lord most hyghe.

The 1662 BCP has it thus:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hoſts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory; Glory be to thee, O Lord Moſt High.

Later

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

prayer books following the

ritualist A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

and

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

movements of the twentieth century, restored the Benedictus to this form, yielding:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The following English version was used by most

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

in North America until 1978 when the ICET version was adopted in the ''Lutheran Book of Worship''. This traditional version has continued to be used in the Divine Service of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest.

In 1973 the International Consultation on English Texts (ICET) produced an ecumenical version that at that time was adopted by Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists and others:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Since 2011 the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal () is the book which contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Roman Rite, the most common liturgy and Mass of the Catholic Church. There have been several editions. History Before the Council of Trent (1570) ...

in English has:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

In Coptic

As part of the Alexandrian rite, the ''Benedictus'' is not present in the Liturgy of Saint Cyril:

Αγιος, αγιος, αγιος. Ⲭⲟⲩⲁⲃ `Ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ ⲥⲁⲃⲁⲱⲑ: `ⲧⲫⲉ ⲛⲉⲙ `ⲡⲕⲁϩⲓ ⲙⲉϩ ⲉⲃⲟⲗϧⲉⲛ ⲡⲉⲕⲱⲟⲩ ⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ `Ⲡϭⲟⲓⲥ Ⲡⲉⲛⲛⲟⲩϯ.

Sources

As Enrico Mazza writes:

The ''Sanctus'' became part of the Roman Eucharistic Prayer only in the first half of the fifth century; all in all, this was a fairly late period, inasmuch as by then the
text Text may refer to: Written word * Text (literary theory) In literary theory, a text is any object that can be "read", whether this object is a work of literature, a street sign, an arrangement of buildings on a city block, or styles of clothi ...
of the Roman Canon had become fixed and was regarded as a text possessing great authority. There exist two fundamental types of Sanctus: the Alexandrian and the Antiochene. The Sanctus of the Roman Eucharist derives from the Antiochene liturgy and has two parts: (a) the Sanctus true and proper, consisting of the acclamation from Isaiah 6:3; and (b) the ''Benedictus'', a christological acclamation taken from Matthew 21:9. The Sanctus has been given a christological interpretation and a trinitarian interpretation, and this in both the
East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and the
West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
. These differing interpretations may be due to the presence, in the text of the Sanctus, of a theological section, namely, the acclamation from Isaiah 6:3, and a christological part, namely the acclamation from Matthew 21:9. The text of the Sanctus passed from Jewish use to Christian use at a very early time, since it is cited in the Apocalypse of John and in the letter of Clement to the Corinthians.

As can be read in the same source, in the Alexandrian tradition on the other hand,

the Sanctus consisted of only the first part, the citation of Isaiah 6:3, and lacked the ''Benedictus''; this was the earliest form taken by the Sanctus in the Eucharist. This early state can be seen in the testimonies of
Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
, the ''Mystagogical Catecheses'' of Cyril of Jerusalem, and, above all, the ''Ritual'' used in the Church of Theodore of Mopsuestia. In the latter, too, that is, in the archaic stage of the Syrian liturgy, the ''Benedictus'' was unknown, and the Sanctus consisted solely of the acclamation from Isaiah 6:3.

The first part of the Sanctus, the adaptation from , describes the prophet Isaiah's vision of the throne of God surrounded by six-winged, ministering

seraphim A seraph ( ; pl.: ) is a Angelic being, celestial or heavenly being originating in Ancient Judaism. The term plays a role in subsequent Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Tradition places seraphim in the highest rank in Christian angelology and ...

. A similar representation is found in . In Jewish liturgy, the verse from Isaiah is uttered by the congregation during Kedusha, a prayer said during the leader's repetition of the

Amidah The ''Amidah'' (, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' during each of the three services prayed on week ...

(18 Benedictions):

''Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Adonai Tz'vaot'' ''Melo Kol Haaretz Kevodo.''

The text of the second part, beginning with the word ''Benedictus'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "Blessed") is taken from , describes Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

, which is in turn based on the first half of Psalm 118:26. In its present liturgical context "it points to the expected presence of the Lord in the eucharistic gifts". Within Anglicanism, the 1552

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

omitted it and, though it is now permitted, "the choice whether or not to use the ''Benedictus'' is still for some a matter of Eucharistic theology and churchmanship". The Sanctus appears in the Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis (the saint died in 360), but may go as far back to Christian liturgy in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

in the year 200.

Hymn forms in Eastern liturgies

The present form of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the primary

of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

, reads (when in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

) the following text:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος Σαβαώθ· πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης σου, ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου. Ὡσαννὰ ὁ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις.. For an English translation, se
The Orthodox Page: The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostomos
/ref> ''Hágios, hágios, hágios Kýrios Sabaṓth; plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou, hōsanná en toîs hupsístois. Eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou. Hōsanná ho en toîs hupsístois.''

The above differs from the

Latin text *in that the Latin adds to the word '' Dominus'' (Lord), which is the regular Latin translation of יהוה, the ''

Deus ''Deus'' (, ) is the Latin word for 'God (word), god' or 'deity'. Latin ''deus'' and ''dīvus'' ('divine') are in turn descended from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''deiwos'', 'celestial' or 'shining', from the same root ( ...

'' (God), which is found in neither the Greek nor the Latin translations nor in the original text of Isaiah 6:3, but is found in : "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" *in that the Latin has the plural '' caeli'', and the Greek the singular for the mention of "heaven", which appears in neither the Latin nor the Greek translation of Isaiah 6:3. *in that the Greek gives two different forms of the phrase corresponding to '' Hosanna in excelsis'', the second one including an article. The article is not found in Matthew 21:9. The form of the hymn without the article is also used in the Greek

Liturgy of Saint James The Liturgy of Saint James is a form of Christian liturgy used by some Eastern Christians of the Byzantine rite and West Syriac Rite. It is developed from an ancient Egyptian form of the Basilean anaphoric family, and is influenced by the tradition ...

, and in modern settings, practises and contexts. The Liturgy of Saint Basil of the

has the same form of the Sanctus as the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, with its two variants of the Hosanna phrase. In older Greek liturgical manuscripts, various forms of the hymn are attested; the ones that will follow below, belong to the ones edited by Swainson in his 1884 book ''The Greek liturgies''. Among these forms, there are variations of the hymn being composed of practically only the Old testament part. Others include:
In the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, one of them excludes not only the article , but also the article «τῆς»:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, Κύριος Σαβαώθ· πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ δόξης σου. Ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις· εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. ''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth; plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê dóxēs sou. Hōsanná en toîs hupsístois; eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou; hōsanná en toîs hupsístois.''

The

as given in Swainson reads as follows:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, Κύριε σαβαώθ· πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης σου· ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Eὐλογημένος ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. ''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrie sabaṓth. Plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou; hōsanná en toîs hupsístois. Eulogēménos ho erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou; hōsanná en toîs hupsístois.''

This text not only omits the article that is used in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, but also has ''Kyrie'' (

vocative case In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numeral ...

) where the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom has ''

Kyrios ''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' () is a Greek word that is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) about 7000 times, in particular translating the name YHWH (t ...

'' (

nominative In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...

). In current use, the Liturgy of Saint James may use the nominative rather than the vocative case of ; the article is also not present in this form at the concluding ''Hosanna''. Moreover, a different variant of the Liturgy of Saint James is found in the margin of a manuscript that gives only the three words in the body: "In the margin, much abbreviated, may be discerned the following: This produces the text:

Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος, Κύριος σαβαώθ, πλήρης ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ τῆς δόξης σου· ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. Εὐλογημένος ὁ ἐλθὼν καὶ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου· ὡσαννὰ ἐν τοῖς ὑψίστοις. ''Hágios, hágios, hágios, Kýrios Sabaṓth, plḗrēs ho ouranós kaí hē gê tês dóxēs sou; hōsanná en toîs hupsístois. Eulogēménos ho elthṓn kaí erkhómenos en onómati Kyríou; hōsanná en toîs hupsístois.''

This version adds "he who came and" before "he who comes"; in this it resembles the Liturgy of Saint James in the tradition of the

Syriac Orthodox Church The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The ch ...

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; heaven and earth are full of His glories. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He Who came and will come in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

The Syriac Orthodox Church also has what it calls the ''Liturgy of Saint Dionysius'', in which the Hosanna phrase appears only at the end:

Holy Holy Holy, Lord of Sabbaoth, Heaven and Earth are full of Thy Glory. Blessed is He that cometh in the Lord's Name; Hosanna in the highest.

The form used in the ancient Liturgy of Addai and Mari is much shorter:

ܩܲܕܝܫ: ܩܲܕܝܼܫ: ܩܲܕܝܼܫ: ܡܵܪܝܵܐ ܐܲܠܵܗܵܐ ܚܲܝܠܬ݂ܵܢܵܐ: ܕܲܡܠܹܝܢ ܫ̈ܡܲܝܵܐ ܘܐܲܪܥܵܐ ܡܸܢ ܬܸܫ̈ܒ݁ܚܵܬܹܗ: ܘܡܸܢ ܟܝܵܢ ܐܝܼܬ݂ܘܼܬܹܗ: ܘܡܸܢ ܗܸܕ݂ܪܵܐ ܕܙܝܼܘܹܗ ܡܫܲܒ݁ܚܵܐ܀ ܐܘܿܫܲܥܢܵܐ ܒܲܡܪ̈ܲܘܡܹܐ: ܐܘܿܫܲܥܢܵܐ ܠܲܒ݂ܪܹܗ ܕܕ݂ܵܘܝܼܕ݂: ܒܪܝܼܟ݂ ܕܐܸܬ݂ܵܐ ܘܐܵܬܹܐ ܒܲܫܡܹܗ ܕܡܵܪܝܵܐ: ܐܘܿܫܲܥܢܵܐ ܒܲܡܪ̈ܲܘܡܹܐ. Holy, Holy, Holy Lord is the Lord God of hosts, for heaven and earth are full of his praises, and of the nature of his being, and for the excellency of his glorious splendor. Hosanna in the heights. Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who came and will come in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the heights.

The Coptic version of the Liturgy of Saint Basil also gives a short text of what it calls the ''Hymn of the Seraphim'':

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Your holy glory.

Alternative ancient names and ancient secrecy

The priest's introductions, following the rubrics that set what should be done by whom with each passage, uniformly call the hymn the , i.e. "the hymn of victory". On the other hand, it used to be that, as Swainson notes about an attested variant form wherein only is being quoted:

In the margin, much abbreviated, may be discerned the following: '. Chrysostom frequently refers to this: sometimes as '; sometimes as '; sometimes as the '. The knowledge of it as a whole was confined to the faithful.

:''Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth; pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua'' ::Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts; Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. :''Hosanna in excelsis'' ::Hosanna in the highest :''Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.'' ::Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord :''Hosanna in excelsis''

Musical settings

The Sanctus has been set to numerous

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive for ...

melodies, many of which are given in the

, and many more composers have set it to

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice ( monophony) or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ...

music, both in single settings and as part of cyclic mass settings. Parts of the Hymn have also been used in modern music, notably "Prism of Life" by Enigma (album Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!) Modern versions of the content of Sanctus include the 1986 German hymn " Du bist heilig, du bringst Heil", derived from a Swedish model.

Accompanying gestures

In the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

the priest joins his hands while saying the word "Sanctus" and then, bowing, continues to recite the whole of the Sanctus in a lower voice, while a small bell is rung; then, on reaching the words "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini", he stands erect again and makes the

Sign of the Cross Making the sign of the cross (), also known as blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is both a prayer and a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. It is a very significant prayer because Christians are acknowledging ...

. He then continues immediately with the

Canon of the Mass The Canon of the Mass (), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest Anaphora (liturgy), anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass (liturgy), Mass. The name ''Canon ...

, while the choir, if there is one, sings the Sanctus. In the pre-1962 form, the choir pauses for the Consecration and continues with the ''Benedictus'' part afterwards. As a result of this division, the Sanctus has sometimes been spoken of as "Sanctus and Benedictus". However, in line with

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

's revision of the rubrics of the liturgy, the splitting of the Sanctus, when sung to

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

(though not if sung polyphonically) was forbidden and is thus not allowed in celebrations of the 1962 Tridentine Mass as authorized by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

's ''

Summorum Pontificum (English: 'Of the Supreme Pontiffs') is an Ecclesiastical letter#Letters of the popes in modern times, apostolic letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued on 7 July 2007. This letter specifies the circumstances in which Priesthood in the Catholic Chur ...

''. In the Mass revised after the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, the Sanctus may, of course, not be split, since the whole of the eucharistic prayer is sung or spoken aloud, and the only ceremony prescribed for the priest during the Sanctus is to join his hands. He and the people sing or recite together the whole of the Sanctus, before the priest continues the Eucharistic Prayer.

Use in architecture and art

Words of the Sanctus are often used in

church architecture Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as Church (building), churches, chapels, convents, and seminaries. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly ...

and

Christian art Christian art is sacred art which uses subjects, themes, and imagery from Christianity. Most Christian groups use or have used art to some extent, including early Christian art and architecture and Christian media. Images of Jesus and narrative ...

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

* {{Lutheran Divine Service Christian liturgical music Eucharist Latin religious words and phrases Order of Mass