Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/662

 GLORIA

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GLORIA

has a full office, except in Advent and Septuagesima, and on the feast of the Innocents, both the priests and the bishop say Gloria in excelsis" (c. ii). It then be- came, as it is now, an element of every Mass except in times of penance. Even in Advent, until it began to be considered such a time, it was said. As early as Amalarius of Metz (ninth century) (De officiis eccl. libri IV, IV, 30), it was said during Advent "in some places". This would apply, of course, to bishops' Masses on Sundays and feasts at that time. So also Honorius of Autun (1145) in the twelfth century, "Gemma anima>". III, 1. White vestments were used, and the filoria said, in Rome during Advent to the end of the twelfth century, "Ordo Romanus XI", 4. After that. Advent was gradually considered a time of penance, in imitation of Lent. The Te Deum and Gloria were left out during it, and the use of purple vestments introduced.

The so-called farced Glorias were a medieval develop- ment. As in the case of the Kyrie, verses were intro- duced into its text for special occasions. Such ex- panded forms were very popular, especially one for feasts of the Blessed Virgin that seems to have been used all over Europe. Thus in the Sarum Missal, after the words "Domine Fill unigenite, Jesu Christe", "Spiritus et alme orphanorum paracl3'te" is added; after " Filius Patris" is inserted " Primogenitus Maris virginis matris". Again: "Suscipe deprecationem nostram, ad Maris gloriam", and the end: "Quoniam tu .solus sanctus, Mariam sanctificans, Tu solus Domi- nus, Mariam gubernans, Tu solus altissimus, Mariam coronans, Jesu Christe" (ed. Burntisland, 1861-1883, col. 585-0). The following rubric says: "In omnibus aliis missis quando dicendum est, dicitur sine prosa"; that is, in other Masses than those of the B. V. M., the additional tropes — called prosa — are to be omitted. These tropes added to liturgical texts ad libitum were contained in special books, " Libri troparii". In spite of repeated commands to expunge them, they were still sung in places when the Missal was revised by order of Pius V in 1570. In the Bull "Quo primum" of that year (printed at the beginning of the Missal) the pope forbids anything to be added to, or changed in, the text of the books then published. The popu- larity of the forms about the Blessed Virgin accounts for the rubric in the Missal after the Gloria: "Sic dicitur Gloria in excelsis, etiam in missis B. Marls' quando dicendum est." Since then these "farced" forms have happily disappeared. It may be noted here that the Gloria, originally foreign to the Milanese and Mozarabic Rites, has displaced the older Trisagion in them since the seventh century — an obvious Roman importation (Duchesne, op. cit., p. 183 and note). The present law about the use of the Gloria is given by the " Rubricie generales" of the Missal, VIII, 3. It is to be said in Mass whenever the Te Deum is said at Matins — with two exceptions. It is therefore omit- ted on ferias (except in Easter-tide), Ember days, vigils, during Advent, and from Septuagesima till Easter, when the Mass is de tempore. The feast of Holy Innocents, but not its octave, is kept with purple vestments and without the Te Deum or Gloria. We have seen this already in the "Micrologus" (above). Nor is the Gloria said at Requiem or votive Masses, with three exceptions : votive Masses of the Blessed Virgin on Saturdays, of Angels, and those said " pro re gravi" or for a public cause of the Church, unless with purple vestments, have the Gloria. The two cases in which it occurs without the Te Deum in the Office are Maundy Thursday (when the whole Mass is an excep- tion in Passion-tide and has no correspondence with the canonical hours) and Holy Saturday in the first Easter Mass. The Gloria always involves " Ite missa est" at the end of Mass. When it is not said that vensicle is changed to " Benedicamus Domino" or, in Requiems, to " ijequiescant in pace. "

The manner of saying it is described in the " Kitus

celebrandi Missam", IV, 7. In the "Ordo Romanus I" (above) the celebrant turns to the people to say the first words. That is no longer observed. At high Mass as soon as the Kyrie is finished the celebrant, facing the altar in the middle, intones: "Gloria in excelsis Deo", raising, joining, and lowering his hands, and bowing his head at the word Deo. Meanwhile the deacon and subdeacon stand behind him in line. They then come to his right and left and with him continue the Gloria in a low voice. All bow at the holy name (it occurs twice) and at the words: "Adoramus te", "Gratias agimus tibi", "Suscipe deprecationem nos- tram", and make the sign of the cross at the last clause. They then go per viam breinorem (genuflecting first, according to the usual rule) to the sedilia and sit. Meanwhile the choir immediately continues: "Et in terra pax", and sings the text straight through. In the former Missal four chants were printed for the celebrant's intonation (for Doubles, Masses of B. V. M., Sundays, and Simples). This intonation ought to be in every way part — the beginning — of the melody continued by the choir; so in the new ("Vatican") edition of the missal, eighteen alternative chants are given, one for each Gloria in the Gradual. Obviously, when a plain-song Mass is sung, the celebrant should intone the Gloria to the same chant (and at the same pitch) as its continuation by the choir. The ideal is for the choir to go on at once without any sort of pre- lude by the organ; "Et in terra pax" etc. is the second half of the same sentence as " Gloria in excelsis Deo ". In a figured Mass so exact a correspondence is not possible. But in any case the choir may never repeat the celebrant's words. Every Gloria in a figured Mass must begin: "Et in terra pax". The custom — once very common — of ignoring the celebrant and beginning again " Gloria in exclesis" is an unpar- donable abomination that should be put down without mercy, if it still exists anywhere. While the Gloria is sung, the celebrant, ministers, and servers bow (or uncover) at the holy name and the other clauses, as above. During the last clause the celebrant and ministers rise and go to the altar per rium longiorem (genuflecting at the foot, according to rule) and go to their places for the " Dominus vobiscum" before the Collect. At a sung Mass the same order is observed by the celebrant alone. At low Mass he recites the Gloria straight through clara voce, making the sign of the cross during the last clause (In gloria Dei Patris. Amen).

Mystic and edifying reflexions on the Gloria will be found in Durandus and Gihr (see below). Durandus sees much symbolism in the fact that the Church (that is, men) continues the angels' hymn. By the birth of Christ who restores all things in heaven and on earth (Eph., i, 10), angels and men, separated by original sin, are now reconciled ; men may now hope some day to join in the angels' hymns. Gihr gives a devotional commentary on the text, word for word. He sees a mystic reason for the order of the words: Laudamus, benedieimus, adoramus, glorificamus. One may be edified by such considerations without attributing so much subtlety to the unknown subordinationist who apparently first arranged them. It will be noticed that 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. It does not occur in the text of the Apostolic Constitutions. It will also be seen that 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:

Qei Trdrep TravTOKpdruip,

Lastly, it would be difficult to find in any Litiu'gy a more beautiful example of poetry than our hymnus