After the first priestly prayer of the Anaphora, all present are called upon to sing the Seraphim’s song, namely the Holy, Holy, Holy. The first line is the hymn is found in Isaiah 6:3 and also Revelation 4:8. In Isaiah we read that he saw the Lord and the Temple was filled with his glory. Then Isaiah says this: Hovering about him were mighty, six-winged seraphs …. In a great antiphonal chorus they sang, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is filled with his glory.”

The apostle John writes in Revelations something which truly appears to have been taken directly from Isaiah: Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty – the one who was, and is, and is to come.

The second part of this prayer is what the crowd cried to Jesus at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Mt 21:9), which is modeled after Psalm 118:25 and, of course, Isaiah. It was tradition that all Hebrews memorized certain portions of the Old Testament. Psalm 118 reads:

O Lord, please help us. Save us. Give us success. Blessed is the one who is coming, the one sent by the Lord. We bless you from the Temple.

In this hymn we use a Hebrew word Hosanna. It is derived from the words yasha, which means “save,” and na, which is an expression of entreaty or request and can be translated in a variety of ways. The Hebrew terms yasha and na were combined (O, save!) to became the word hosanna.

The word hosanna was used as part of the Jewish temple liturgy on the feast of Tabernacles. The priests carried willow branches and cried Hosanna while processing around the altar of burnt offering. (this truly sounds like something we would do). Over time, the crowd gathered to worship, picked it up and it became a cry of joy. The seventh day of Tabernacles even came to be called “Hosanna Day.”

We see this used when the crowd greeted Jesus as He entered the city of Jerusalem. It is recorded that they waved palm branches and joyfully cried out: Hosanna! By this time, the term may have lost some of its original meaning and may have been mostly an acclamation of joy and petition (as it is now during the Divine Liturgy). At this point in the Liturgy we eagerly welcome into our midst, Christ our true Savior.