Abstract
In his study, the author focuses on how the theme of God’s holiness is reflected in the liturgy, especially in Eucharistic prayer. He draws on the text of the Sanctus hymn, which ends the preface of the Mass canon and which, in form and content, refers to the revelation of God’s holiness in the book of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1–13).
He distinguishes between two ways of encountering God’s holiness in the liturgy: while the preface is primarily a celebration of God’s holiness, in the following parts of the canon the celebrating assembly relates to God’s holiness in as much as it is sanctified by it. God’s holiness is the first theme of the celebration of the service, which is throughout it: the liturgy is a confession of God’s holiness.
At the same time, it is the space in which God’s holiness touches us and bears its fruit in us: through the liturgy we are purified and sanctified, associated with God’s holiness and placed in the “state of the saints”.