Holy, Holy, Holy: The Sanctus Prayer and the Hymn Lyrics

“Holy, Holy, Holy” is the song of the angels before the throne of God, and at every Mass the Church joins it in the Sanctus, just before the consecration. The same words inspired one of the best-loved hymns in English, Reginald Heber’s “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.” Below are the Sanctus in Latin and English, where its words come from in Scripture, when it is sung at Mass, and the full lyrics of the hymn.

The Sanctus: “Holy, Holy, Holy” at Mass

At the end of the Preface, the priest invites everyone to join the angels and saints in their endless hymn of praise. The whole congregation then sings or says the Sanctus, Latin for “Holy.” In Latin:

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

In English, in the traditional wording of the Douay-Rheims Bible from which it comes:

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts.
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.

Parishes today use the approved English translation printed in the missal. Sabaoth is a Hebrew word meaning “hosts,” the armies of angels and stars.

Where the words come from

The first half of the Sanctus is the cry of the seraphim in the prophet Isaias’s vision of God in the Temple:

In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple.
Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew.
And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory.

St. John hears the same song in heaven:

And the four living creatures had each of them six wings; and round about and within they are full of eyes. And they rested not day and night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.

The second half is the crowd’s welcome to Jesus as he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday:

And the multitudes that went before and that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

So the Sanctus joins heaven and earth: the angels’ praise of God’s holiness and the people’s welcome to Christ, who is about to become present on the altar.

When is the Sanctus sung?

The Sanctus comes in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, at the end of the Preface and right before the Eucharistic Prayer continues toward the consecration. In many churches the people kneel after it. It is part of the Ordinary of the Mass, the texts that stay the same at every Mass, together with the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo and Agnus Dei. That is why so many composers, from Gregorian chant to Palestrina, Mozart and modern Mass settings, have written music for it. See the order of the Mass.

The Catechism teaches that in the earthly liturgy “we share in a foretaste of that heavenly liturgy” and sing “with all the warriors of the heavenly army” (CCC 1090).

The hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty”

The hymn was written by Reginald Heber (1783–1826), an Anglican bishop, for Trinity Sunday, and published after his death in 1826. Its tune, NICAEA, was composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1861 and named after the Council of Nicaea, which defended faith in the Trinity. It is sung in Catholic parishes as well as in many other churches, especially on Trinity Sunday.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! tho’ the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy, there is none beside thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Other hymns of holiness

“Holy God, We Praise Thy Name,” a German Catholic hymn (Grosser Gott, wir loben dich) based on the Te Deum, whose second verse also echoes “Holy, holy, holy.”
The Te Deum, the ancient hymn of praise that includes the words “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.” See the Te Deum in our Benediction guide.
The Trisagion (“Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us”), sung in the Eastern Churches and on Good Friday in the Roman Rite.

Frequently asked questions

What is the “Holy, Holy, Holy” prayer called?

At Mass it is called the Sanctus, Latin for “Holy.” It is also sometimes called the “Thrice Holy” or, from its second half, the Benedictus.

Why do we say “holy” three times?

In Hebrew, repeating a word is the strongest way to say something: “holy, holy, holy” means God is utterly holy. Christians have also seen in the threefold “holy” a hint of the Holy Trinity.

What does “Hosanna in the highest” mean?

“Hosanna” is a Hebrew cry meaning “Save us, we pray,” which became a shout of praise. “In the highest” means in the highest heavens.

Who wrote the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy”?

Reginald Heber wrote the words (published 1826); John Bacchus Dykes wrote the tune NICAEA (1861).

More about the Mass

Texts and sources

Sanctus in Latin: The Roman Missal adapted to the use of the laity (c. 1915), public domain (archive.org).
Scripture: Isaias 6:1–3; Apocalypse 4:8; Matthew 21:9, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain. The English form of the Sanctus above follows these verses.
Hymn: Reginald Heber (1826), as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), no. 4, public domain (Wikisource).
Catechism of the Catholic Church 1090.