Eucharistic prayers
The Eucharistic prayers turn our hearts to God, with thanksgiving. They also turn our gaze to God's Creation on several occasions. Do we hear it?
For example, have you ever heard the cosmic (environmental) significance of the Sanctus prayer?
“Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might [or God of hosts],
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.”
This prayer, which is recited at the beginning of the Eucharistic liturgy, is taken from two biblical verses: first, the vision of the angels in Isaiah 6:3 and Jesus' entry into Jerusalem with the palms in Matthew 21:9.
For a mystical moment, Isaiah saw the glory of God on earth which is the work of the God of the universe (of the cosmos, of the world). Isaiah's amazement at the presence of God in the natural environment is transformed into praise, listening to the angels singing "Holy! Holy! Holy! ».
Have you ever walked in a national park or stopped to watch the sunset over the sea and your heart sang before this beauty, God's Creation? The prayer of the Sanctus brings us back to that special praise to our Creator God.
Try to remember the meaning of this praise at the next Eucharist.