Gloria Patri

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Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto on the banner of an angel, Stiftskirche Schlägl (Upper Austria)

The Gloria Patri ( Latin for "honor [be] the father") or honor be the father is a trinitarian confessional formula which in the Christian liturgy praises the divine trinity in the form of a prayer ( doxology ). The designation is derived from their input words. The Gloria Patri dates from the 4th century. In contrast to the great doxology Gloria in excelsis Deo from the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 2.14  EU ), it is also called "small doxology".

Text and theological statement

Greek
Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι
καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Transliteration:

Doxa Patri kai Huiō kai Hagiō Pneumati
kai nyn kai aei kai ice tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn. Amen.
Latin
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto,
sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum, amen.
German
Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
as in the beginning, so also now and all time and in eternity. Amen.
  • Evangelical version:
Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, now and forever, and from eternity to eternity. Amen.

The first half-verse Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto is a statement that briefly and concisely expresses the identity of the three divine persons . It corresponds to the baptismal formula of Mt 28.19  EU . An early Christian doxology, Gloria Patri per Filium in Spritu Sancto , "Glory to the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit", which was originally shaped by the mediatorial thought, was abandoned because it could be misinterpreted in a subordinate way in the sense of the Arians , in that the deity of the father alone was predicted .

The second half verse ("eternity suffix") confirms the dogmatic statement about the Trinity on the temporal level. It was prescribed by the Synod in Vaison (559).

Liturgy and popular piety

The Gloria Patri has a permanent place in Christian denominations to this day. In the Liturgy of the Hours it closes the Psalms and Cantica . In the holy mass and in evangelical agendas since the 19th century it forms the end of the entrance psalm ( introitus ); in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite it is omitted in the Passion time and the Requiem , in the evangelical liturgy in Holy Week.

The Gloria Patri is prayed during the celebration of sacraments and sacramentals , blessings and ordinations. As a doxology, it is also part of many hymns and hymns and the prayer of the rosary . The first part appears in some of the responsories of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Traditionally it is customary to bow at the first half-verse; in the doxology of a hymn, bowing is maintained throughout the verse.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. a b Markus Eham: Gloria patri . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 4 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, Sp. 752 f .
  2. ^ Josef Andreas Jungmann: Missarum Sollemnia , Volume 1, 5th edition, Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1962, p. 423.
  3. Evangelical church service book. P. 306.