The Gloria during Mass

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catholicman76

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The Gloria is not on of the highlights of mass for me… but this past weekend it dawned on me I may be missing something.

Say that average mass is 50 minutes, and although I do not sit there with a stop watch I have realized the Gloria is often 4 minutes of so (depending on the cantor).

Simple calculation, that is about 10 percent of the mass. I am not questioning the length of the mass, but the Gloria often takes up more time then almost any other part of the mass.

The length of something does necessary make it more\loss important, but should I be focusing more on the Gloria. Should I read more about the Gloria and understand more about the meaning behind it? If the Gloria consumes that much time during mass am I missing something?

Side note… I do feel some cantors use it to showcase the singing ability.
 
You’re on to something there, and of course we should always study more and understand the Mass, since it is the central act of worship and liturgy. The Gloria is also special because it is not always sung, depending on the season and day.
 
I would focus more on what and why the Gloria is rather than timing it and saying it’s not worthy of 10% of our time in the mass.
 
RedSparklyShoes said:
I would focus more on what and why the Gloria is rather than timing it and saying it’s not worthy of 10% of our time in the mass.
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That is most of the reason I am asking the questions, I do no really understand the significance of Gloria. Not in every case if you Google the parts of the mass and read about the parts of the mass, the Gloria gets the worst description.

I also mentioned, I am not complaining or questioning the length of it, I just wish to understand better the significance of the Gloria. But if something is longer than the gospel, it must be important.

I told a slight fib in my first post, my mass is almost always a 1 hour. It gives me a headache when co-workers, friends, family, complain a hour is too long for mass. I expect and plan for 1 hour and if I go to a different parish and it in about 45 minutes, I feel like I missed something.
 
Try this. Catholic Encyclopedia: Gloria in Excelsis Deo
The Catholic Encyclopedia is a great source, as long as you consider it is dated 1909, and so is not up-to-date with the current liturgies or Code of Canon Law. There is a lot of timeless information in there. The Gloria is an extremely ancient part of the Mass. We can’t live without it.
 
catholicman76 said:
That is most of the reason I am asking the questions, I do no really understand the significance of Gloria. Not in every case if you Google the parts of the mass and read about the parts of the mass, the Gloria gets the worst description.

I also mentioned, I am not complaining or questioning the length of it, I just wish to understand better the significance of the Gloria. But if something is longer than the gospel, it must be important.
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It’s not longer than the Gospel, assuming a typical length of a Gospel reading. It just seems longer because it’s usually sung and some of the popular arrangements include repeated “antiphonal” responses/refrains.

The Gloria is nothing more than a hymn of high praise to God.

And if you think the Gloria is long, the Credo is longer, if one uses the Nicene Creed and sung, as it ideally should be.
 
The Gloria is pure praise of the Triune God. What could possibly be better? It’s what I assume we will all be doing if we make it to Heaven. 🙂

–Jen
 
I have never been to a 50 minute Mass where the Gloria takes 4 minutes. If the Mass is that short, then almost invariably the Gloria is recited, which takes about 45 seconds. The sung Gloria averages between 2.5-3 minutes across most of the OCP pop settings. A 4 minute Gloria is something like this:

youtube.com/watch?v=MhKWwoAuuC8
 
On Easter Sunday, I was so very excited when the Gloria was being sung. We have a bell choir and hearing the bells ringing along with our voices is so transportive…as in, being transported to heaven.

I believe the Gloria comes from the choir of angels who sang at the birth of our Lord.

Whatever else it means, it certainly is a high praise to God on high.
 
As a recent convert I can honestly say I LOVE the Gloria! It’s my favourite part of a too short of Mass. Very beautiful way to glorify God.
 
my parish speaks the Gloria even though all masses have music. What bothers me is my pastor (only priest assigned there) every week uses the Apostles Creed instead of the Nicene Creed. the other parish I attend uses the Nicene creed and signs the Gloria
 
The Gloria is my* favorite* part of mass! I just feel so joyous when we sing. It truly is a praise of God. Of course our cantor does nothing fancy. I just love the words and melody. Anyone else love it???
 
Some of the contemporary, commercial-sounding Glorias from OCP last several minutes even at a quick tempo, but so do some of the polyphonic masterpieces. The shortest Glorias are those in simple chant form, English or Latin, which don’t repeat phrases or have musical interludes between segments.
 
Runner_grrrl said:
The Gloria is my* favorite* part of mass! I just feel so joyous when we sing. It truly is a praise of God. Of course our cantor does nothing fancy. I just love the words and melody. Anyone else love it???
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👋

I do! I miss it during Lent and when Easter comes, it’s like welcoming an old friend back to your home!

:love:
 
pnewton said:
I think he has a point though. Mass needs to be longer. 😉
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The Mass I attend is anywhere from 1:15 to an 1:30. There are those who flee after comunion. What would happen if it were longer? 😦

The only complaint I have is that the music used to sing is hard to follow as I notice most do not even try. There is simpler music that I love and wish they would use more.
 
Runner_grrrl said:
The Gloria is my* favorite* part of mass! I just feel so joyous when we sing. It truly is a praise of God. Of course our cantor does nothing fancy. I just love the words and melody. Anyone else love it???
Click to expand...
Yes!! Love singing praise to God. As a music minister who has played/sung many versions of the Gloria, both sung-through and with repeated antiphons, there are none I don’t enjoy. I do imagine it is a “rehearsal” for heaven, where i pray to join in singing God’s praises (with all of you!) 👍
 
The Gloria is one of my favorite parts of the Mass; if not my favorite; however, there are some really, really bad arrangements out there that are akin to torture.

So when Jesus was born the angels sang the Gloria. We sing the Gloria because Jesus is about to become present to us in Word and Sacrament. 😃 and it is the only fitting praise–to acknowledge what He has done for us and who He really is.

I would be upset if Mass were only 50 minutes. Christ hung on the cross for three hours (some Gospels have it at six hours.) We can’t celebrate his life, death and Resurrection for at least one hour?

What exactly are you going to be doing with your time that is better than spending it with the Lord?
 
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