Trisagion
In churches which use the Byzantine Rite, the Trisagion is chanted immediately before the Prokeimenon and the Epistle reading.
The hymn is of great antiquity, and perhaps much older than the event assigned by the Greek Menology as connected to its origin.
The tradition recounts that during the reign of Theodosius II (408–450) Constantinople was shaken by a violent earthquake, 24 September, and that whilst the people, the emperor and the Patriarch Proclus of Constantinople (434–446) were praying for heavenly assistance, a child was suddenly lifted into midair, to whom all cried out Kyrie eleison ('Lord, have mercy').
Benedict XIV thought that the Greek formula was joined with the Latin in allusion to the divine voice heard at Constantinople.
But the explanation seems hardly necessary, in view of the retention of Kyrie eleison in the Roman Liturgy, as well as such Hebrew words as Amen, Alleluia, Hosanna, Sabaoth.
Various additions or modifications made to the Trisagion at certain points in history have been the subject of considerable controversy.
According to Pseudo-Zacharias Rhetor, the phrase 'who wast crucified for us' was added to it by Eustathius of Antioch to combat the Arians, although this is dismissed by some[who?]
][10] Those who understood the hymn as being addressed to the Trinity (such as John of Damascus[11]) censured Peter for propagating the teaching of the Theopaschites.
But, in light of widespread adoption of the hymn with the above addition ('who wast crucified for us'), Calandion, Bishop of Antioch, sought to allay the controversy surrounding it by prefixing the words 'Christ, King'.
Later Severus, who was the Non-Chalcedonian Patriarch of Antioch, wrote to prove the correct ascription of the hymn to the Son of God, and made the use of the emended version standard in his diocese.
The eighty-first canon of the Council of Trullo anathematized anyone who allows the Trisagion to be modified by adding "who was crucified for us" or any other modification.
[13][14] In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII (1073–1085) wrote to the Armenians, who still used the emended formula, instructing them to avoid all occasion for scandal by removing the additions, which Pope Gregory argues (incorrectly) that neither the Roman nor any Eastern Church (save the Armenians themselves) had adopted.
Variations of the traditional formula and Trinitarian ascription are found also in the Armenian Orthodox Liturgy.
[16] In the Latin Church, the main regular use of the Trisagion is on Good Friday, when it is sung during the ceremony of the Adoration of the Cross, in Popule meus.
In the Latin Church, the Trisagion is employed in the hour of Prime, in the ferial Preces, on ferias of Advent and Lent and on common Vigils.
[18] A paraphrase of the Trisagion was used in the anthem "In the midst of life" found in the graveside Burial liturgy in the first Book of Common Prayer and subsequent revisions, including those in 1552, 1559, 1604, and 1662.
[19] The form found in the 1662 prayer book is: In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased?
Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic): Tigrinya: Hebrew: Arabic: Cebuano: Chinese: Filipino: Indonesian: Japanese: Korean: Malayalam: ദൈവമേ നീ പരിശുദ്ധനാകുന്നു, ബലവാനേ നീ പരിശുദ്ധനാകുന്നു മരണമിലാത്തവനേ നീ പരിശുദ്ധനാകുന്നു ഞങ്ങൾക്കു വേണ്ടി ക്രൂശിക്കപ്പെട്ടവനേ ഞങ്ങളോട് കരുണ ചെയണമേ.
Marathi: East Syriac: ܩܰܕܺܝܫܰܐ ܐܰܠܰܗܰܐ ܩܰܕܺܝܫܰܐ ܚܰܝܠܬܰܢܰܐ ܩܰܢܕܺܝܫܰܐ ܠܐܰ ܡܰܝܽܘܬܰܐ ܐܶܬܪܰܚܰܡ ܥܠܰܝܢ West Syriac: ܩܰܕܺܝܫܰܬ ܐܰܠܳܗܳܐ ܩܰܕܺܝܫܰܬ ܚܰܝܠܬܳܢܳܐ ܩܰܕܺܝܫܰܬ ܠܐܳ ܡܳܝܽܘܬܳܐ ܐܶܬܪܰܚܰܡ ܥܠܰܝܢ Chavacano: Vietnamese: Albanian: Classical Armenian: Belarusian: Bulgarian: Church Slavonic: Croatian: Danish: Dutch: Estonian: Finnish: French: Georgian: German: Hungarian: Icelandic: Italian: Low Mari (spoken in the Russian Federation): Macedonian: Norwegian: Polish: Portuguese: Romanian: Russian: Serbian: Slovak: Spanish: Swedish: Turkish: Ukrainian: Some feasts call for replacing the Trisagion in the Divine Liturgy with an alternative invocation known as an Anti-Trisagion.
