Gloria in Excelsis

Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest") is the title and beginning of the great doxology (song of praise) used in the Roman Catholic mass and, in translation, in the services of many other Christian churches.

The text of the song begins with the words sung by the angels at the Nativity in Luke 2:14 and continues with verses added to make a proper doxology. This song was originally in Greek and goes back very far in the history of Christianity. Another form of the song goes to at least the third century, if not to the first. A longer version dating to the fourth century is still sung in the Greek Orthodox church. This version is not used in the standard liturgy of the church. In any case, the Latin version differs from the present Greek form. They correspond down to the end of the Latin, which however adds: "Tu solus altissimus" and "Cum sancto Spiritu". The Greek then goes on: "Every day I will bless thee and will glorify thy name for ever, and for ever and ever" and continues with ten more verses, chiefly from psalms, to the Trisagion and Gloria Patri.

Currently, the Gloria is sung at any time that the Te Deum is sung. This means that it is omitted in the Catholic Church during vigils and Advent. It is also not said at requiems or votive masses. The only exceptions are during Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday.

However, the song's use was gradually adopted. The first Pope to order this part of the liturgy was Pope Telesphorus (128 - 139?), who ordered it sung at every Christmas, and Pope Symmachus (498 - 514) ordered that it be said every Sunday. It was then spread to use at Easter only for priests. By the end of the 11th century, priests began to have license to say the Gloria on their own on any Feast day. However, it was still not said during Advent, as that was a time of repentance. Since the song uses the text of the Angels at the Nativity, it originally appeared only in its most appropriate place and slowly spread to other occasions.

In the medieval period, several "farced" Glorias were composed. These expanded the basic Gloria with special purpose, or ariel, verses. The adapted version for the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sarum Missal, was used all over Europe. Even though these interpolations were condemned repeatedly, they were still sung as late as 1570.

The Gloria is a hymn of praise addressed to each Person of the Holy Trinity in turn, although the clause about the Holy Ghost is very short (cum sancto Spiritu) and is evidently an afterthought. The clauses are arranged in parallels with a certain loose rhythm. This rhythm is much more evident in the Greek original (measured of course by accent); for instance:

Kyrie basileu epouranie,

Thee pater pantokrator

The Gloria and the Te Deum are the only remains of the psalmi idiotici (psalms composed by private persons instead of being taken from the Biblical Psalter) that were popular in the second and third centuries. The extraodinary beauty of these two (to which one should add the phos hilaron) is a witness to the splendour of that outburst of lyric poetry among Christians during the time of persecution.

A similar phrase is Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.