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Sanctus (, "Holy") is a hymn in Christianity liturgy. 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.
In Western Christianity, the Sanctus forms part of the Ordinary and is sung (or said) as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer of remembrance, consecration, and praise. The preface, which alters according to the Liturgical year, usually concludes with words describing the praise of the worshippers joining with the , who are pictured as praising God with the words of the Sanctus. In the Byzantine Rite and general Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Sanctus is offered as a response by the choir during the Holy Anaphora.
In the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom and the Liturgy of St. Basil:
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:
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 en toîs hupsístois.
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:
In the Mozarabic Rite: Shawn Tribe, "The Mozarabic Rite: The Offertory to the Post Sanctus" (with regularized spelling). English translation: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth: Heaven and earth are full of the glory of Thy majesty. Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy, holy, holy art thou Lord God ( The Mozarabic Liturgy).
In the 1552 Book of Common Prayer and 1559 BCP it appears without the Benedictus:
Later Anglican prayer books following the ritualist and liturgical movements of the twentieth century,Walker, Charles (1901). The Ritual Reason Why. Revised and edited by T. I. Ball. Oxford; London: A. R. Mowbray. "The words 'Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest,' which are sometimes added to the Sanctus are a restoration of a clause which forms part of the hymn in nearly every ancient Liturgy, Eastern or Western, and which was retained in our English 'Mass' of 1549." Ritual Notes: A Comprehensive Guide to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Book of Common Prayer of the English Church (1926). 7th ed. London: W. Knott & Son. p. 120. restored the Benedictus to this form, yielding:
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:
Since 2011 the Roman Missal in English has:Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal.
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 and the West. 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 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 similar representation is found in . In Jewish liturgy,On the relationship of the Christian Sanctus to ancient Jewish liturgy, see David Flusser, "Sanctus und Gloria," in Abraham Unser Vater: Juden und Christen im Gespräch Über die Bibel Festschrift für Otto Michael (ed. Otto Betz, Martin Hengel, and Peter Schmidt; Leiden: Brill, 1963), 129-152; repr. in David Flusser, Entdeckungen im Neuen Testament (2 vols.; Neukirchener, 1987-1999), 1:226-244. For an English translation of this article, click here. the verse from Isaiah is uttered by the congregation during Kedusha, a prayer said during the leader's repetition of the Amidah (18 Benedictions):
The text of the second part, beginning with the word Benedictus (Latin for "Blessed") is taken from , describes Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, 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". Johannes H. Emminghaus, The Eucharist: Essence, Form, Celebration (Liturgical Press 1997 ), p. 181 Tim Gray, Mission of the Messiah (Emmaus Road Publishing 1998 ), pp. 109–110 Within Anglicanism, the 1552 Book of Common Prayer 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". Paul Thomas, Using the Book of Common Prayer (Church House Publishing 2012 ), p. 102
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 in the year 200. Perspectives on Christian Worship by J. Matthew Pinson, Timothy Quill, Ligon Duncan and Dan Wilt (Mar 1, 2009) pages 64-65
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 Roman Rite Latin text
The Liturgy of Saint Basil of the Eastern Orthodox Church 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:
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 Liturgy of Saint James as given in Swainson reads as follows:
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 ὁ that is used in the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, but also has Kyrie (vocative case) where the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom has Kyrios (nominative).
In current use, the Liturgy of Saint James may use the nominative rather than the vocative case of Κύριος; the article ὁ 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 Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος in the body: "In the margin, much abbreviated, may be discerned the following: 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. This produces the text:
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 has what it calls the Liturgy of Saint Dionysius, in which the Hosanna phrase appears only at the end:
The form used in the ancient Liturgy of Addai and Mari is much shorter:
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:
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.
In the Mass revised after the Second Vatican Council, 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.
In Latin
In the Roman Rite: Missale Romanum 2002, p. 517 ( electronic text)
In English
The Sanctus appears thus in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer (and as set to music by John Merbecke in 1550):
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hoſts,
heaven and earth are full of thy glory;
Glory be to thee, O Lord Moſt High.
The following English version was used by most Lutheranism in North America until 1978 when the ICET version was adopted in the Lutheran Book of Worship. Service Book and Hymnal: Authorized by the Lutheran Churches cooperating in The Commission on the Liturgy and Hymnal (1958). Co-published: Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House; Philadelphia: Board of Publication, Lutheran Church in America. pp. 32-33, 61. This traditional version has continued to be used in the Divine Service of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod: Lutheran Worship (1982),
Divine Service I. The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod.
Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. pp. 148-149. Lutheran Service Book (2006). Divine Service III. Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
In Coptic
As part of the Alexandrian rite, the Benedictus is not present in the Liturgy of Saint Cyril: Liturgy of Saint Cyril copticchurch.net
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 of the Roman Canon had become fixed and was regarded as a text possessing great authority.
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, 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.
Hymn forms in Eastern liturgies
The present form of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, the primary liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox Church, reads (when in Greek language) the following text:
In the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, one of them excludes not only the article ὁ, but also the article «τῆς»:
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 ἐπινίκιος ὕμνος, 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 Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος is being quoted:
In the margin, much abbreviated, may be discerned the following: 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. Chrysostom frequently refers to this: sometimes as τὸ μυστικὸν μέλος; sometimes as ὁ πανάγιος ὕμνος; sometimes as the τρισάγιος ὕμνος. The knowledge of it as a whole was confined to the faithful.
Musical settings
The Sanctus has been set to numerous Plainsong melodies, many of which are given in the Roman Missal, and many more composers have set it to polyphony music, both in single settings and as part of cyclic mass settings.
Accompanying gestures
In the Tridentine Mass 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. Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae, VII, 8 He then continues immediately with the Canon of the Mass, 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's revision of the rubrics of the liturgy, the splitting of the Sanctus, when sung to Gregorian chant (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's Summorum Pontificum.
Use in architecture and art
Words of the Sanctus are often used in church architecture and Christian art. at Cheadle in Staffordshire, England]] church in Barcelona, Spain are decorated with the words "Sanctus", "Hosanna" and "Excelsis".]]
Notes and references
Notes
Further reading
External links
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