E SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

84
THE PREFACE.
seem to annihilate themselves in adoring the Majesty of
their Creator the Dominations adore. The Powers, so
called says Gregory the Great, because by their strength
they overcome the demons, tremble before It, that is,
are filled with a reverential fear (tvemunt Potestates).
The Heavens, that is, the entire Heavenly Host ; the
Virtues, perhaps the Choir of Angels through whose
agency miraculous signs are made, and the Blessed
Seraphim, the highest choir of all, called Blessed
because of their incomparable love for God, in common
jubilee glorify God s Majesty.
Here four different emotions or actions are ascribed
to the angels in which we are to imitate them : namely,
praise, adoration, awe, and joy.
The priest next prays in the name of the faithful
and in his own. In union with whom we beseech
Thee to ordain that our voices be admitted in
suppliant accord (our humble voice of praise) saying:
now comes the conclusion of the Preface.
1. Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts.
Full are the heavens and the earth of Thy glory.
2. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of
the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
The first verse is taken from the sixth chapter of
Isaias, v. 3, where the Prophet describes the glorious
vision of the Lord s throne and the Seraphim "cried
one to another, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of
The three-fold
hosts, all the earth is full of His glory."
repetition of holy is perhaps in honour of the Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, distinct in person, the
same in nature.
The second verse is the repetition of the cries of
joy by the crowd in St. Matthew (xxi. 9) as our Lord
" Blessed is He
entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.