Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus—Holy, Holy, Holy

At the conclusion of the Preface at Mass, right before the Eucharistic Prayer, all present sing or say the Sanctus. We may think of it as simply an interlude from one part of the Sacred Liturgy to the next. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
           
The Sanctus, or Holy, Holy, Holy, is a heavenly wake-up call or a celestial announcement to both priest and faithful about where they are and what they are being called into. It is a cry to be vigilant, to fall down in adoration, and to open one’s eyes in faith. We should pray these words with all our hearts.
           
The Sanctus is really an ecstatic hymn of praise to God. The first part comes from the book of Isaiah the Prophet 6:3. Isaiah describes a vision of God as the Heavenly King, seated on a throne, high and lofty. The King’s train filled the temple, the house of the Lord. “Above the King stood the seraphim. Each of the seraphim had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said,
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of His glory’” (6:1-3).
           
The seraphim, along with the cherubim, are the highest of the angelic hosts. The seraphim, whose name comes from the Hebrew word saraph, meaning “to consume with fire,” minister to the Most High God in the heavenly sanctuary. Their cry, Sanctus, reminds us at Mass that we are being admitted into the presence of the Lord God. Their hymn cries out to us gathered before the altar of God as if to say, “You are coming to the place where the earthly liturgy and the heavenly liturgy become one! You are being brought into the all holy Presence of the Great King!” Isaiah goes on to say, “And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke” (Is 6:4).  This is no ordinary place. This is the temple where our voices are joined with the voices of the angels and saints of the heavenly court.
           
The repetition of the word “Holy” three times is a Hebraic expression denoting the superlative, as though to say “the Holiest.” There is none more Holy than He, our God, whose glory  alone fills the earth, and especially our sanctuary, our church, with His glory.
           
The Sanctus also echoes in the Book of Revelation. St. John writes of the amazing vision he had of the heavenly liturgy. He sees Jesus, the Son of Man, splendid in glory (Rev 1:17). He also describes the six-winged angels that Isaiah saw, singing that familiar hymn, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come” (Rev 4:8). John goes on to describe “the twenty-four elders” falling down before the throne of God and praising Him, saying,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev 4:11)
Like those twenty-four elders who cast their crowns before God and fall down to worship Him, we, too, bow down before the Lord of All who will come upon our altar.
           
In the second half of the Sanctus we echo the words of Psalm 118, a psalm of ascent that was prayed by all pilgrims who were going up to the temple on feast days to offer adoration and sacrifice to the Lord. “Hosanna” comes from transliteration of a Hebrew word in the psalm that means “Save us!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” was originally a prayer of blessing over the pilgrims who came to the temple, but may also refer to the Lord Jesus who comes to us at Mass.
           
The Sanctus proclaims boldly to us that with Isaiah and John we are being admitted into the heavenly sanctuary and immersed in the Liturgy of Heaven as Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior, makes His Sacrifice present on the altar and welcomes us to the Banquet of His Body and Blood. How awesome is the Mass!

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh