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General News
The oldest non-scriptural hymn we have in our tradition is the Gloria. It is so ancient that the oldest Greek manuscripts of the Old Testament, which was the Bible used by the infant Greek-speaking Church, includes the Gloria in a book of scriptural songs and canticles. The most ancient of hymns is pure praise: “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you.” This pure praise is followed by beautiful, intimate praise of Jesus: “You alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord…”. It is the language of intimacy, the language of lovers. It is in praise to God that we move ourselves away from fixating on the idea of God to the experience of God. Singing about God and never singing to God is the musical equivalent of knowing about God and not having any personal knowledge of God, Surely at least once in a while, during Holy Communion, we can sing to Jesus himself rather than singing about him or about “the banquet”. The Eucharist is not an idea. It is not a thing. It is Jesus himself, not in the sacrament but as the Blessed Sacrament. This (and other) hymns of praise that move the heart help lead is into a personal encounter with Jesus. (Fr James Mallon “Divine Renovation” p130)
It would be difficult to find in any Liturgy a more beautiful example of poetry than our hymnus angelicus. The Gloria and the Te Deum are the only remains we now have of the psalmi idiotici (psalms composed by private persons instead of being taken from the Biblical Psalter) that were so popular in the second and third centuries. These private psalms easily became organs for heretical ideas, and so fell into disfavour by the fourth century (Batiffol, “Histoire du Bréviaire romain”, Paris, 1895, 9-12). 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. For more about the Gloria read here
The Hymn of the Angels
Historically, the Gloria is known as the “Angelic Hymn” because it contains the words sung from the Heavens by the angels on the night of Christ’s birth. Luke 2:13 reads: “And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” https://epicpew.com/gloria-history-mass-hymn/
The History of the Gloria
The History of the Gloria from its earliest roots through the 13th century
An Ancient and Complete Prayer
“We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory!” this is a five-fold invocation of praise, which emphasizes the majesty and amazing glory of God.
In Latin, the angelic Gloria not only sounds beautiful when sung, it is beautiful even when recited. It is the Church’s poem to God in rhythm, verse, and rhyme. It expresses each of the four purposes of prayer: adoration, Adoramus Te, glorificamus Te (We adore you, we glorify You); thanksgiving, Gratias agimus Tibi propter magnam gloriam Tuam (We give You thanks on account of the greatness of Your glory); supplication to the only-Begotten Son of God Jesus Christ, Suscipe deprecationem nostram (receive our prayer); and reparation, the double Miserere nobis offered in atonement to the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. Read more: http://catholicism.org/glory-to-god-in-the-highest.html
Our Tradition Each Sunday
“We are singing now for the same reason the angels sang; namely, that God has sent his Son among us born in our same flesh. Humble and lowly he comes among us , and so, struck with awe at this unexpected shape of the divine plan, as the angels themselves were, we cry out in a hymn to God’s glory,” writes Father Jeremy Driscoll O.S.B. in his book What Happens at Mass.
We sing the Gloria because it is a song of absolute joy and praise to God – what better way.
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
Present day Latin
Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te,
benedicimus te,
adoramus te,
glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis,
Deus Pater omnípotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Jesu Christe,
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris,
qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis;
qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus,
Jesu Christe, cum Sancto Spiritu: in gloria Dei Patris.
Amen
I am Theo Angelo April and I am on my journey towards the Priesthood. I am fourth year Theology Student at St. John Vianney National Seminary, located in Waterkloof, Pretoria for the Archdiocese of Cape Town. I am the second eldest of four children and I grew up in Elsies River. I am about to give a brief insight on what is called a Vocation story.
Upon reflecting my vocation story brings me indeed to deep reflection on what I consider to be a call from the Lord. To answer the Call of the Lord brings indeed many challenges and one is never comfortable with answering the Lord or to accept the offer that the He puts before you as the individual. For me to answer the Call in order to follow Jesus and to accept Him as the only love of my life indeed comes with many challenges. I remember when I realised that I wanted to become a priest or to enter seminary (the place where men goes who are interested in becoming priests stay and study) came as a surprise, because what comes to mind is the unworthiness to move to a supernatural life, here and now. This reality is not easy to take up and definitely it is not to be taken as a career but it is a CALL from the Master of the vineyard, Jesus. Going back before starting seminary formation I had a stable career in the corporate world, which means that financially and everything that comes with the state of life at that moment was secure. However, since leaving school and working there have been an ongoing yearning to discover what is it that I want out of life. Though, I had a career and lots of friends where I experience comfort and security nothing was and still is more securing than to be with the Lord. This was one of the experiences that made me many times ask the question,”What is the purpose of me being here?” I think the answer to this for me came especially in a three dimensional way that is, the scriptures, the preaching of the priests who have indeed been and still is remarkable role models and the people of God, my own community where I came from in Elsies River. To think about this ‘three dimensional’ voice of the Lord indeed is how our Mother Church defines the presence of Christ. However, it was not that easy to answer this call or to accept the invitation that the Lord offered me, in actual fact it took me ten years to answer the Lord on His invitation. However, the call of Jesus towards me was not a once off call; His call is an ongoing one. The older I am becoming the more this becomes a reality.
The next point in taking up the Lord’s invitation is that indeed it brings many challenges with it. Some of these challenges is when you enter the seminary there are a few factors that can shake you to the core of your being. A few I will mention, the first is that when you enter the seminary you will definitely live with other men who is going to journey this road with you. You will build a sense of fraternity with them as all of you are to journey to something common, the Priesthood. But even this can bring challenges because of the background where all of us come from. The next point is that of the academics, the sphere of academics indeed is highly demanding and this in many ways have made me to look at all Priests with so much respect and admiration and indeed urges me on to continue on this journey.
Lastly, to any young man who is thinking and hearing the voice of the Lord about the Priesthood I want to encourage you do not be afraid. Instead, take up the Lord on His offer on your life, think of the people who is thirsty for the Lord. It is through them that you will hear those profound words of the Lord, “I thirst.” (John 19, 28). Think of all these inspirations and listen to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit and let Him guide you on your journey in life.
