GLO'RIA (ante) is the designation given to the words and the music of.several dox ologies: 1. Gloria in excelsis, named from its first words, which are the Latin for Glory be to God on high. It is called the greater doxology, to distinguish it from the Glolia Patri; also the angelic hymn, •ecause the first part of it was sung at Bethlehem by the heavenly host. The authorship of the latter part is uncertain, though some havo ascribed it to Telessphorus, bishop of Rome, about 139 A.D. It has been used in tho eastern church more than 1500 years, and in the church of England more than 1200. It is placed at the beginning of the communion service in the Roman missal, and at the close of it in the rituals of the Anglican, Protestant Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal churches. 2. Gloria Patri, the manor doxology, named also from its first words, which are the Latin for Glory be to the Father. In .the earliest age of Christianity there was no general form of doxology, but each minister and church afered it in varied language, as occasion prompted, ascribing honor and glory to the Father only, to the Son only, or to both. With the rise of Arianism, attention was drawn to the advantage of pre.
vision and uniformity, and the formula, Glory be to the lather, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, became general. To this the western church added At it was in the begin ntng , is now, and ever shall be, world without end. A modification sometimes used by Unitarians is. Glory be to the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Ghost. For direct praise, and for a leading recognition of the oneness as well as of the trinity of God, the form has been suggested, Glory be to thee, 0 God ! the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. 3. Gloria tibi are the first words of a still briefer form, Glory be to thee, 0 Lord ! which is used at the end of sentences or psalms.