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The Trisagion, the thrice-holy hymn sung in the Divine Liturgy and at funerals, carries a live tie of four distinct bodies each holding a variant, differently-accounted, stance toward it in this atlas: the Armenian Apostolic Church, Coptic Orthodoxy, the Maronite Church and Oriental Orthodoxy generally. All four keep a fifth-century addition the Byzantine churches refused, and all four read the hymn as addressed to Christ rather than to the Trinity.

One Insertion at Antioch, a Lasting Division

The insertion of the phrase "who was crucified for us" was made at Antioch in the fifth century, and it produced a lasting division that survives in this atlas's own record of who sings which version. The churches that use the addition read the hymn christologically, addressed to Christ specifically; the Byzantine churches, holding a different account of the same hymn, address it to the Trinity and refused the addition outright, so the two readings of one hymn have stood apart for roughly fifteen centuries.

The Same Addition, Kept in Four Languages

Coptic Orthodoxy sings it in Greek with the addition kept, read as addressed to Christ. The Maronite Church sings it as Qadishat Aloho in Syriac, keeping the same addition even after entering communion with Rome. Oriental Orthodoxy as a whole holds the identical reading. The Armenian Apostolic Church keeps the addition too, but varies it by the day: the same hymn says "crucified for us" on Good Friday and "risen from the dead" at Easter, naming the mystery of the day rather than fixing a single clause year round, the one place among the four where the shared christological reading is itself elaborated rather than simply repeated.

Where To Read More

• Trisagion (Hymn)Christianity HymnsThe hymn itself, four bodies holding a distinct account of it
• Armenian Apostolic ChurchChristianityVaries the addition by the day, crucified for us on Good Friday, risen at Easter
• Coptic OrthodoxyChristianitySung in Greek with the addition kept, addressed to Christ
• Maronite ChurchChristianitySung as Qadishat Aloho in Syriac, addition kept when entering communion with Rome
• Oriental OrthodoxyChristianityThe wider family reading, addressed to Christ, against the Byzantine refusal of the addition