English
The word “hosanna” is only found in the New Testament. It is a rare word that has many layers of hidden meaning and has a rich history.
When reading the account of the events that happened on Palm Sunday, one word sticks out: “Hosanna.”
It is a curious word, as it isn’t an English word but it isn’t a Latin word either. The word “hosanna” is a Hebrew word that is connected to the liturgical practice of the Jews in the 1st century.
Hosanna
The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that “the word originated from two Hebrew words of Psalm 117 (118):25. This psalm ‘Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus’ was recited by one of the priests every day during the procession around the altar, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when the people were commanded to ‘rejoice before the Lord‘”‘ (Leviticus 23:40); and on the seventh day it was recited each time during the seven processions.”
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!or by another translation:
Lord, grant salvation!
Lord, grant good fortune!
More specifically, “The Hebrew for salvum fac or serva nunc was hoshi’a na. This was repeated so frequently that it became abbreviated into hosanna; the seventh day of the feast was called the Great Hosanna; and the palm-branches of willow, myrtles, etc., received the name of hosannas.”
Palm branches and rejoicing
The association of palm branches to rejoicing is directly connected to the book of Maccabees:
On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered [Jerusalem] with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. (1 Maccabees 13:51)
The fact that the crowd used palm branches and said “Hosanna!” points to this sense of praise, praising the Messiah for coming and crushing the enemies of Israel.
The word “hosanna” expresses great praise of God, but is also seen as a prayer of supplication.
Fr. Patrick Briscoe explains in an article for Aleteia: “It was a supplication, a crying out. It was a plea for God to hear and answer Israel’s cries for deliverance.”
We join the crowds, not only praising God, but also asking him to come and deliver us from our bondage to sin.
Catholics continue to use the word “hosanna” during Mass, in the Sanctus prayer:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord:
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
While it may not be a readily understandable word in the English language, “hosanna” has a depth of meaning that the Church has seen great profit in preserving in the liturgy.