The Story Behind the Hymn

I used to have a book that told the stories behind many Protestant Hymns (The story of "It is Well With My Soul" is heart breaking.) The book was given to me by my mother and I loved it very much. Here is the story of an Orthodox hymn.

Many centuries ago, in that part of Asia called Anatolia, a child was sucked up into a tornado. Several minutes later he was set down in a field not far from where he was lifted up. The people of the area ran to him and found him unharmed. They asked what it was like, what he had heard. (Isn't it interesting that they expected him to have heard something?) He said, "I heard angles singing "Holy God! Holy Mighty! Holy Immortal!" When the people heard the words they fell on they faces and replied "Have mercy on us!" It wasn't long after that the words of the angels and the response of the people were incorporated into the services of the Orthodox Church. The hymn is called the Trisagion, or the Thrice Holy Hymn.