Adding the Gloria to Office of Readings on Easter?

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Tonight I plan to celebrate the Office of Readings for Easter, since I cannot attend the Easter Vigil Mass. The Office of Readings is the Liturgy of the Word for the Easter Vigil Mass. My question is, would it be permissible to add the Gloria, as is done at the Easter Vigil Mass, after the last Old Testament reading and its corresponding psalm and prayer?

I wish to retain the Office as the public prayer of the Church that it is. No. 247 of the GILOTH says:
“In the office for Sundays, solemnities, feasts of the Lord listed in the General Calendar, the weekdays of Lent and Holy Week, the days within the octaves of Easter and Christmas, and the weekdays from 17 to 24 December inclusive, it is never permissible to change the formularies that are proper or adapted to the celebration, such as antiphons, hymns, readings, responsories, prayers, and very often also the psalms.”
Does adding the Gloria mean changing the formularies?
 
gotDoug said:
My question is, would it be permissible to add the Gloria, as is done at the Easter Vigil Mass, after the last Old Testament reading and its corresponding psalm and prayer?
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I doubt it would be. The Gloria from the Mass is not used in the LOTH.
 
No. The appropriate Office hymn of praise is the Te Deum. For the Office of Readings by those who don’t attend the Vigil, the rubrics state:
The three following readings from the Vigil are said: Ex 14, Ez 36, Rm 6 with their responsorial chant and collect, then the Gospel of the year, followed by the Te Deum.
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(my translation from my French LOTH).
 
OraLabora said:
No. The appropriate Office hymn of praise is the Te Deum. For the Office of Readings by those who don’t attend the Vigil, the rubrics state:
The three following readings from the Vigil are said: Ex 14, Ez 36, Rm 6 with their responsorial chant and collect, then the Gospel of the year, followed by the Te Deum.
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Ah. I was planning on doing all nine readings (or at least as many OT readings as I can). If I am not mistaken, doing all nine is allowed, but only four are required?
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I think the Gloria can be sung as part of the Office of Readings. The rubric in the Divine Office translation is “The Easter Vigil takes the place of the Office of Readings: those, who have not attended the Solemn Vigil therefore should read at least four readings from it with chants and prayers.”
I think the Gloria is included by “chants and prayers”. Just as after the last reading from Old Testament there is a prayer (Roman Missal, The Easter Vigil, n. 30) there is also the Gloria. General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours, n. 73 also discusses the option of a Gospel reading. It is available at https://www.liturgyoffice.org.uk/Resources/Rites/GILH.pdf
[General Introduction on the Liturgy of the Hours English translation © 1974, the Hierarchies of Australia, England and Wales, Ireland. All Rights Reserved.]
 
No it says with their responsorial chants and prayers. The Gloria is later in the liturgy. The rubrics call for the Te Deum, the chant of praise proper to the Divine Office.
 
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OraLabora wrote “The Gloria is later in the liturgy.” He seems to disagree with me writing “Just as after the last reading from Old Testament there is a prayer (Roman Missal, The Easter Vigil, n. 30) there is also the Gloria.”
A rubric from the Roman Missal: “31. After the last reading from the Old Testament with its Responsorial Psalm and its prayer, the altar candles are lit, and the Priest intones the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the Highest), which is taken up by all, while bells are rung, according to local custom.”
Another rubric is: “33. Then the reader proclaims the reading from the Apostle.”
[Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal (c) 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.]
 
gotDoug said:
Tonight I plan to celebrate the Office of Readings for Easter, since I cannot attend the Easter Vigil Mass. The Office of Readings is the Liturgy of the Word for the Easter Vigil Mass. My question is, would it be permissible to add the Gloria, as is done at the Easter Vigil Mass, after the last Old Testament reading and its corresponding psalm and prayer?

I wish to retain the Office as the public prayer of the Church that it is. No. 247 of the GILOTH says:
“In the office for Sundays, solemnities, feasts of the Lord listed in the General Calendar, the weekdays of Lent and Holy Week, the days within the octaves of Easter and Christmas, and the weekdays from 17 to 24 December inclusive, it is never permissible to change the formularies that are proper or adapted to the celebration, such as antiphons, hymns, readings, responsories, prayers, and very often also the psalms.”
Does adding the Gloria mean changing the formularies?
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No. For the Office of Readings, it is the Te Deum.
 
as everyone said: the Te Deum is the correct chant/hymn for the office.

However, if you are dead set on praying/chanting the Gloria, you could do it AFTER the office is over.
 
The Gloria is not a responsorial chant. The rubric clearly states « the readings, their responsorial chants and their collects ». The Gloria is a hymn sung with alternated strophes between cantor(s) and laity (in the OF), and intoned by the Celebrant.

The Gloria had never been in the Divine Office in the Roman rite pre or post Council. It is basically sung at Mass on the days where the Te Deum is sung at the Office, i.e. Sundays, feasts and solemnities. With an exception, the Gloria is not sung in Advent but the Te Deum is.
 
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OraLabora wrote “The rubric clearly states « the readings, their responsorial chants and their collects ».”. It seems there is more than one approved translation. The text I quoted is from the Divine Office edition of 1974 which has "The Easter Vigil takes the place of the Office of Readings: those, who have not attended the Solemn Vigil therefore should read at least four readings from it with chants and prayers.”

OraLabora wrote “The Gloria is a hymn sung with alternated strophes between cantor(s) and laity (in the OF), and intoned by the Celebrant.” This is one way of doing it, but there are other ways, from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, n. 53: “It is intoned by the Priest or, if appropriate, by a cantor or by the choir; but it is sung either by everyone together, or by the people alternately with the choir, or by the choir alone. If not sung, it is to be recited either by everybody together or by two choirs responding one to the other.”

OraLabora wrote that the Gloria “is basically sung at Mass”. This is one celebration it may be sung at, but I think there are also others. Explicit permission is given in the Directory for Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest, of 2 June 1988.

“45. The thanksgiving may follow either one of the ways described here.
(a) After the general intercessions or after holy communion, the leader invites all to an act of thanksgiving, in which the faithful praise the glory and mercy of God. This can be done by use of psalm (for example, Psalms 100, 113, 118, 136, 147, 150), a hymn (for example, the Gloria), a canticle (for example, the Canticle of Mary), or a litanic prayer, together recite the thanksgiving.”

The Gloria is listed as one song among others. So I think it can be used in other ceremonies. For example, Book of Blessings has the rubric “723. It is preferable to end the celebration with a suitable song.” I think the Gloria is option here. Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass has: “95. During the exposition there should be prayers, songs, and readings to direct the attention of the faithful to the worship of Christ the Lord.” I think the Gloria is an option here.

OraLabora wrote about the Gloria in Mass being on “Sundays, feasts and solemnities”. But the General Instruction of the Roman Missal n. 53 also has: “and at particular celebrations of a more solemn character.”

[Excerpt from General Introduction on the Liturgy of the Hours English translation © 1974, the Hierarchies of Australia, England and Wales, Ireland. Excerpts from the English translation of the Roman Missal (c) 2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). Excerpt from Book of Blessings (c) 1987 ICEL. Excerpt from Holy Communion and the Worship of the Eucharist Outside of Mass (c) 1974 ICEL. All rights reserved.]
 
The Gloria is not a chant associated with the readings of the Easter Vigil. Again the rubric:
  1. The Easter Vigil takes the place of the office of readings. Those not present at the solemn celebration of the Vigil should therefore read at least four of its readings with the chants and prayers. It is desirable that these be the readings from Exodus, Ezekiel, St. Paul, and from the Gospel. The Te Deum follows, then the prayer of the day.
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There is no wiggle room for the Gloria. Again it is not in the Roman tradition to sing the Gloria at the Divine Office. It has always been associated to the Mass (or the other exceptions as you noted, but never the Divine Office). The Te Deum has historically been for the Office, and the Gloria mostly for the Mass but never the Office

Note though that the rubric allows one to do more readings than the 4 specified.

The General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours uses very precise language. We need to do the red, and say the black just like the priest does at Mass.
 
I think there is more to the liturgy than there mere literal meaning of the words of the rubrics.

OraLabora is a Benedictine oblate and I, for one, would take what he says about the Liturgy of the Hours/Divine Office over any other person on this forum.
 
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