Sanctus

Holy, Holy, Holy

Level 1

The Holy, Holy, Holy of the Mass, learned whole.

How It Works

LatinEnglish
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth.Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in excelsis.Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in excelsis.Hosanna in the highest.

In Church Latin caeli sounds like CHEH-lee. In classical Latin it is KYE-lee. Sanctus sounds like SAHNK-toos in both.

Pleni is masculine plural and agrees with caeli. Gloria tua is in the ablative, the form that says full of.

The first part comes from the vision of the prophet Isaiah, and the second from the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem.

Examples (5)

  1. Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.

    Holy, holy, holy.

    Sanctus is an adjective: holy. The prayer says it three times.

  2. Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

    Lord God of hosts.

    Sabaoth is a Hebrew word, and it does not change.

  3. Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.

    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

    Pleni agrees with caeli. Gloria tua is ablative: with your glory.

  4. Hosanna in excelsis.

    Hosanna in the highest.

    In excelsis is in plus the ablative plural.

  5. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

    Venit is comes. In nomine Domini is in the name of the Lord.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the glory in the accusative, as if it were the object of the fullness.

    Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloriam tuam.
    Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.

    Plenus (full of) takes the ablative or the genitive, not the accusative. The Mass uses gloria tua.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

SanctusLevel 1Holy, Holy, Holy

Learn This First

The Sanctus is sung in Church Latin, so the Church sounds come first.

Words in This Pattern

sanctus