The Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus

These are three pieces of service music with which we have all become familiar; we use them every Sunday in our worship :

·   The words of the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory in the Highest) came into normal use in the church in the 11^th century, but the words and form of this glorious song of praise have their roots in Jewish Temple worship during and before the time of Christ. 

 

·   The Sanctus is adapted from Isaiah 6:1-3,  “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted...and above him were seraphs...calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his Glory.” It had been part of Jewish morning worship and became a normal part of the Christian Eucharistic liturgy in about the 4^th century. 

 

·   It has also become the custom of the Church to attach to the end of the Sanctus what is known as the Benedictus (Blessed is He) from John 12:13.