A Look at the Mass: The Gloria

I've always said the most pathetic thing I hear in the Church is the Gloria being spoken instead of sung. It's not particularly because the words themselves can't be spoken in a joyful manner, rather I think it's because we always seem to end up reciting them in a monotone voice. And let's face the cold hard truth, saying, "We praise you, we bless you, we adore you..." in a monotone voice is neither inspiring nor joyful sounding.

Nevertheless, in an effort to save time, this hymn is often simply said. I suppose another reason for this is that the celebrant judges it would be too difficult for the people to sing this hymn without accompaniment, which is an especially interesting claim, since it was written as a hymn for the people, to be sung without any special musical ability or musical instruments.

The Gloria was a hymn developed not even precisely to be sung at Mass, but instead simply for festive occasions. The other famous hymn which developed around the same time and for the same reasons is the Te Deum. Due to its being created, mostly by the laity it seems, for festive occasions it was often used at festive Masses in Rome and, at least by the fifth century, was ordered by the pope to be used at the Masses of bishops on Sundays and the feasts of martyrs. This exclusion of the hymn to the Mass of a bishop seems to have fallen out in the eleventh century when it found its way into all Masses, both those celebrated by a bishop or a priest. However, it retained its original use of only being used on festive days.

The oldest melodies of the hymn we have are very simple, since they were likely designed not for trained musicians but for the entire congregation. In an Extraordinary Form Sung Mass, the hymn is intoned by the celebrant, emphasizing the importance of it in a sense, as the choir and celebrant meet at this point to recite the text "together."

Obviously, the Gloria is developed from the hymn of the angels sung at the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:14). The text is:

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.
We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.
Amen."

As stated previously, the first lines are directly taken from the hymn of the angels in Holy Scripture as a praise of God. God is praised as above all, i.e. the highest. On Christmas, the angels sang this as a tribute to the Infant Jesus, for though he had taken upon Himself "the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7)," He remained God, above all creation, Who came to bring peace to the human race. We are now able to sing these words at Mass because there we encounter Jesus, Who, though He is a man with Whom we can relate and is our brother, is also highest God. And it is through His being perfect God and perfect man that He is able to bring peace to our human race, for He redeemed us and continues to sanctify us, through His Cross and Resurrection and through the Holy Spirit.

The next lines continue this praise of God. However, I believe the very next line, "We praise you," is clearer in the Latin, which is "Laudamus te." Laudamus is a form of laudo, which is where we get the English word, laud. While "laud" and "praise" are synonyms, "laud" seems to have a higher character about it. When we laud something or someone, we really "sing their praises," and it is continuous. We truly put our heart into it. This is what this line of the Gloria is about. We praise God with all our being - body and soul.

Now, obviously we can't bless God in the sense of how He blesses us, since it is from Him we receive all blessings. Instead this line of "we bless you," is explained by Gueranger as, "We bless Thee; that is to say, we offer Thee thanksgiving, in return for Thy benefits (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria In Excelsis)."

When we say "we adore you," we express our full submission to God in His awesome power. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

"Adoration is the first attitude of man acknowledging that he is a creature before his Creator. It exalts the greatness of the Lord who made us and the almighty power of the Savior who sets us free from evil. Adoration is homage of the spirit to the 'King of Glory,' respectful silence in the presence of the 'ever greater' God. Adoration of the thrice-holy and sovereign God of love blends with humility and gives assurance to our supplications (2628)."

May our thoughts and actions always be given to the adoration of God, for then we will be able to fully sing, "we glorify you." Then, we will become mirrors who reflect the glory of God. We will acknowledge that all we have received is a gift from God. Therefore, He will be glorified in us.

We close this litany of praises with, "we give you thanks for your great glory." Here, as both Jungmann (352) and Gueranger (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis) note, what we are ultimately thanking God for are the benefits which He has bestowed upon us. All of His works rebound to His greater glory. Therefore, the blessings and graces He has granted to us throughout all our days are, as mentioned above, directly meant for His glorification. Within this line, then, we offer Him our thanksgiving for the manner in which He has deigned to manifest His glory, namely through Jesus Christ and His Church.

The Gloria now shifts from a praise of the Triune God and directly addresses each of the Divine Persons, beginning with God the Father, "The Principle and source of the other Two [Persons] (Gueranger, The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis)." Within the lines "Lord God, heavenly King, / O God, almighty Father," we begin by finishing our praise of God in His unity as our Lord and King. We have praised and adored Him with all our being and given ourselves fully to Him. By these acts we show Him to be our Lord and King, but the fact we give our entire being, and not just a part, shows that He is also God. Thus, "Lord God, heavenly King," but this dedication of ourselves to the One God, extends consequently to each of the Three Persons, Who of course are the One God. Therefore, we begin by acknowledging this with the words, "O God." Having acknowledged the Father's divinity, we name Him, "almighty Father."

Within this single line is summed up all of our adoration and consecration to God the Father! How simple are the words, yet how deep their meaning! The Father is God; He is almighty. He is the source of all the graces we have received. We implore Him to continue to shower us with blessings for His glorification. He is the highest God and our Lord. We give ourselves fully to Him, with the love the Son has for Him in the Person of the Holy Spirit.

This then moves us into the praise of God the Son, which is done in the Person of Jesus Christ. This is a common shift which takes place in these hymns of the time. The first part of the hymn sings the praises of God in His unity, and then moves to praise God through the Person of Jesus Christ and His works as perfect God and perfect man. This form is present within the Te Deum and is even present in the Creed (which was not developed as a hymn).

Christ's praises begin with an acknowledgment of His divinity, which He has possessed from eternity. as the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. The very first word used is, "Lord." Here we acknowledge, "The Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet there are not three Lords, but one Lord (From the Athanasian Creed)." But the next words do acknowledge that the Son of God, though existing from all eternity as God, also came to exist in time as man, in the Person of, "Jesus Christ." He is, therefore, man, but He is not a human person. He is a Divine Person, the, "Only Begotten Son."

Now, it is on account of His being both God and man that Christ is our mediator in Heaven. St. Paul says:

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men . . . . This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Timothy 2:1-6)."

These words of St. Paul explain the next lines of the Gloria. We begin our intercessions to God through Jesus Christ, with the the line, "Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, / you take away the sins of the world, / have mercy on us." This first line repeats what we have already said above, about Jesus being the Son of God, but it includes the addition of the title given Him by St. John the Baptist of, "Lamb of God (John 1:29)." This recalls, as St. Paul said, how He gave Himself as a ransom for us. It is especially significant that His title of "Lamb of God" falls in between the two titles of His divinity, for it is account of His divine nature that He is able to be our ransom, acknowledged by the words, "you take away the sins of the world."

As man, he is able to die, and redeem the nature He possessed, but only an infinite being could make the infinite sacrifice required to expiate sin. Therefore, it is as God he is able to pay the price, and the thought of this divinity again possesses us to cry out for mercy. We tremble in awe at the thought of God dying for us, on account of our sins. Thus, we sue Him for mercy.

With confidence in His mercy, we are able to then make our next supplication, after reminding ourselves that He has taken away our sins. We say, "You take away the sins of the world, / receive our prayer." We are here acknowledging Christ's role of mediator between God and men. We make our supplications and prayers to Christ, so that He might present them to His eternal Father. It is to the Sacrifice about to made present at Mass that we unite our prayers, and it is in union with this Sacrifice of Calvary that Christ presents our prayers to God as the mediator, Who is, "seated at the right hand of the Father."

This may function as a reminder for us that Jesus did not simply die as man, but, as God, raised Himself from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father to intercede for us (Romans 8:34). Once again, this reminder of Christ's divinity calls us to cry for mercy in the words, "have mercy on us."

Jesus is not the highest of God's creation, as the Arian heresy taught. Rather, He Himself is God. He alone is the Holy One, He alone is the Lord, He alone is the Most High. These are profound statements we sing, for when we say that Jesus alone is these things, this does not exclude the other two Persons, but instead emphasizes their Unity as the One God. Nevertheless, we may say that these are addressed specifically to Christ, since it is the Person of Jesus Christ we are praising, true God and true man. This cannot be said of the other two Persons. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit do not have a human nature. This is possessed alone by God the Son.

However, so as not to give the idea that Christ is somehow higher than the other two Persons, especially after the words, "For you alone are the Holy One, / you alone are the Lord, / you alone are the Most High," we close with, "Jesus Christ, / with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father." This simple mention of the Holy Spirit should not in any way be taken as considering Him as less important than the other two Persons. Instead, like the reference made to God the Father above, the same applies to the Holy Spirit. All of the praises we sang of God within this hymn are given to Him as well, including the submission and gift of ourselves, for He Himself is also God.

God is One in a Trinity of Persons as acknowledged throughout the Gloria and especially at the end with the mention of the Three Persons. This is a common theme to our Liturgy. We make threefold petitions. We sing glory to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We begin the Mass and end it in the Name of the Three Persons. So it is in this simple yet profound hymn. The Gloria is a prayer in itself which has been assumed into the entire prayer of the Mass, elevating its dignity beyond that of a song of the angels, to the Prayer of Christ to His Father in the Holy Spirit. Thus, we close it with the word, "Amen," i.e. "Let it be so."

May what we have sung, acknowledged and promised always hold true in our lives and in our hearts!

As a final note, I should mention what was said towards the beginning of this post. The Gloria was originally only used on festive occasions, both outside of and within the Mass, and this has held throughout the ages to our present day. Currently, within the Ordinary Form, it is used only on Feasts and Solemnities, with the exception of Sundays of Advent and Lent and Masses for the Dead, and within festive Masses, such as Ordinations and Weddings.

Its exclusion from everyday use speaks of its dignity. Its use elevates the celebration to something higher. While it is true that the Mass cannot in and of itself be higher, for it is the highest prayer afforded to man, its externals do have gradations. The use of the Gloria basically screams, "Rejoice!" Its singing is often accompanied with the ringing of bells, which are mandated on Holy Thursday and the Easter Vigil. I close with the words of Gueranger, which sum up this joy so well:

"In this magnificent Canticle, everything is, at once, grand and simple. Holy Church is in admiration at the thought of her Divine Spouse. She began with the Kyrie; then, the Hymn of the Angels followed; she took up their song, and continued it; and the same Spirit that spoke, through the Angels, to the Shepherds, taught the Church how to worthily close the Canticle (The Holy Mass, Section: Gloria in excelsis; emphasis in original)."

All historical information taken from:
Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J. The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development. Volume 1. Part III: Gloria in excelsis, 346-359. Translated by Rev. Francis A. Brunner, C.SS.R. (Christian Classics: Notre Dame, Indiana, 1951).