My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON THE THRICE-HOLY HYMN: "HOLY GOD, HOLY MIGHTY, HOLY IMMORTAL, HAVE MERCY UPON US"
By the saintly bishop of Florina Augoustinos Kantiotes (+ 2010)

The hymns which are chanted following the Small Entrance, and we hear the exclamation of the priest: "For Thou Our God art Holy, and to Thee, we ascribe glory, to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, unto the ages of ages." The Thrice-Holy hymn is then chanted: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy upon us."

This hymn has great importance for the Church. A historian of Byzantium, Theophanes, mentions the following event concerning this hymn. When Proclos (433 A.D.), a student of Saint John Chrysostom, was Patriarch of Constantinople, the city was shaken by earthquakes continuously for four months. The inhabitants, terrified, ran outside the walls of the city to a place called Campoi, and there prayed, and with tears in their eyes asked God to stop the earthquakes.

One day, when the earth was trembling and the people were crying, "Kyrie eleison" (Lord, have mercy), an unseen power carried off a child from the midst of the people, raising him towards heaven. And when the child came to earth, he said that he heard a Divine voice which ordered him to tell the bishop that intercessions must be chanted as follows: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy upon us." Patriarch Proclos ordered that this hymn be chanted. And when they began chanting it, the earthquakes stopped.

With prayer, with the Holy God...the earthquakes stopped. Perhaps someone who is educated, and boasts of his science, will laugh upon hearing this, and say: "What's this you're saying to us? An earthquake is a natural phenomenon and has nothing to do with God..." But the word of God assures us that earthquakes and all the other natural phenomena which take place in the world are dependent on God's power. The Psalm says: "Who looketh on the earth and maketh it tremble, Who toucheth the mountains and they smoke" (Psalms103:35). Saint John Chrysostom says that the cause of earthquakes is God's wrath, and the cause of God's wrath is the sins which people do continuously, young and old, clergy and laity...

"...There is a need to return to the piety of our ancestors. We must return to the ways of ancient times when Christians chanted the Thrice-Holy Hymn with tears in their eyes. For when the Christian is taught and knows what is meant by all that is said and takes place in the Divine Liturgy, there is hope that this Christian shall feel the grandeur of Sacred Worship.

Holy God. We spoke about the Saints in previous homilies. But by comparison with God, what is even the most holy man? One drop in comparison with an endless ocean. One ray in comparison with the sun. God only is holy and absolute degree; God is the source of holiness and sanctification. Man is enlightened by God and receives the power (from God) in order to live a life of holiness, which no matter what great heights it reaches, is small and unimportant in comparison with the infinite holiness of God. No one is holy like God.

Holy Mighty. Power is another attribute of God. Man is also called mighty. But man's power, no matter how great it is, no matter what mighty things he can do--even if he flies to the stars of the heavens--is small and unimportant in comparison with the All-Mightiness of God. The lord of Power is God. From Him comes every power and energy in the world. As a certain poet says, "One of God's looks has the power to shake the earth;" it is possible for the universe to dissolve into the elements "from which it was made" and a new world to be created.

Holy Immortal. Another attribute of God is immortality. God is immortal. What does immortality mean? While all things waste away and are destroyed, God remains unaltered, imperishable, eternal, immortal. He is life. He is the source of life. And if man is immortal, he is immortal not because of himself, not, that is to say, because of his own power, but because God created him "according to His image and likeness and gave him the gift of immortality. Man is immortal in soul, perishable in body, because of sin. But this perishable body shall become imperishable and eternal in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Thrice-Hymn, the word Holy is repeated three times. This threefold repetition is done purposely to show the three Persons of God, that Great Mystery of our faith that God is three hypostases (or persons). We worship and glorify one Divinity in three Persons. These three Persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--are one Divinity. That is why we do not say in the Thrice-Holy Hymn: "You (plural) have mercy on us," but "have Thou (singular) mercy on us." The three attributes we have mentioned--holiness, mightiness, and immortality--are attributes of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. "As Father, as Son, as Holy Spirit, O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee!"

My dear readers! We have seen the miracle that took place in Constantinople. We have seen the meaning of the Thrice-Holy Hymn. Priests, chanters, and laity: let us be careful during the time of the Thrice-Holy Hymn, and let us pray to the Triune God with pious contrition and a spirit of humility. (Source: Orthodox Heritage)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George