This is the grand hymn of the communion liturgy; through it we acknowledge a reality that our senses cannot experience. Lest the first half of the service, the Service of the Word, tempt us to reduce the Christian faith to a mere intellectual exercise, the Sanctus prepares us for the mystery of mysteries as we join our voices with the saints and angels. Here we are reminded that worship is about more than us, for heaven itself is breaking into our midst as Christ himself will shortly when he gives his own flesh and blood to eat and drink.

The Sanctus is drawn from two portions of Scripture: the song of the angels in Is. 6:3 and the song of the pilgrims who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem just days before his crucifixion (Matt. 21:9).

There are many musical settings of the Sanctus, a number of which can serve admirably at this point in the service. Less successful is the substitution of a hymn that perhaps only alludes to the realities that the Sanctus proclaims. For example, while a hymn like "Holy, Holy, Holy" (/AVI68; TLH 246) might seem at first glance to be a fitting substitute for the Sanctus, a closer examination of the text shows that it misses much of what the Sanctus proclaims, especially our confession that it is Christ who comes to us even now "in the name of the Lord."