Holy Holy Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy
There is a hymn that comes to mind whenever I read this selection from Revelation. It is Holy, Holy, Holy. As a reminder here are the words:
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
Blessed 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 ever more shall be.
Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide thee
Though the eye made blind by sin
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
Blessed Trinity
We all know this hymn, but did you know it comes from the book of Revelation? Reread today’s first reading. You will find most of the words of this hymn there. Probably most notable is the Holy, Holy, Holy.
At the beginning of our Eucharistic Prayer, we sing or say Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory! This reading gives a wonderful mental image of what heaven will be like. In the reading we have the twenty-four elders, in the hymn all the saints, and all casting down their golden crowns. We don’t know exactly who the twenty-four elders are, they may be the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve apostles.
In the hymn we hear of the angels that minister to God, two kinds in particular. The seraphim and the cherubim. The seraphim are closest to God, they are always on fire. A seraphim angel has three sets of two wings. Two wings cover their feet, two wings cover their body, and two wings cover their head.
The cherubim have four faces, one face looking in each direction. One face is like a man’s face, another face is like a lion, another face is like an ox, and the fourth face is an eagle. Our gospels are also represented by these four faces.
The face like a man is the gospel of Matthew because he lists the genealogy of Jesus. Mark is represented by the lion because he speaks one roaring in the desert. Luke is represented by the ox because of the animals sacrificed in the temple. And John is known as the eagle because his style of writing is to lift us up to heaven like an eagle soaring on its wings.
It continues that our eyes cannot see God because He is so holy and perfect, merciful, and mighty. There are many ways to imagine God and heaven, but I think this hymn does it in a very special way.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen