Gloria

[Nick Baty]

I was particularly interested to read Aidan Rossiter's piece about the Gloria in Music and Liturgy (Vol 35, No1).

I've long had problems with it – I understand the history about how it came to be there but I don't really understand why it's there now.

And as we always send our children out to their own Liturgy of the Word with a song (often another verse of the gathering song) it really did feel for a while as though we had this huge musical traffic jam:
Gathering song
Children's procession
Penitential Rite
Gloria

So we've changed the order slightly and now keep the children with us for the Penitential Rite, and then send them out carrying their own Book of the Gospels aloft as the rest of us sings the Gloria.

A couple of years ago there were suggestions of offering several opening rites. One being penitential, another including the Gloria. This would have restored the hymn to the third (?) century practice of using it only on certain solemnities. And am I right in thinking that around the fourth century it was only used at Masses celebrated by a bishop?

I know one of two parishes where they always sing the Penitential Rite and then recite the Gloria which is something of an anti-climax. In our parish we now never sing the Penitential Rite unless there's no Gloria – this means that in Advent and Lent we can slow it down slightly, expand it, make more of it. We'll use items like Paul Inwood's Penitential Litany from Music for the Mass 1.

Whatever, it's now part of our liturgy and we're a liturgical church. But I'd be interested to hear from anyone who employs an alternative approach.

[Gabriel]

After some reflection we usually sing both Penitential Rite and Gloria (and Entrance Song). There can be a question of musical overload but I think that is a question of scale - if all three sung items are sung to more elaborate settings.

One of my concerns is that if you only sing the Penitential Rite in Advent and Lent you narrow people's understanding of both the seasons and the penitential rite. I would suggest you amplify the 'penitential' when Advent is not a penitential season and not all forms of the penitential rite have that as the main focus (c.f Penitential Rite c). I think one way of approaching the Introductory Rites is to see all the elements as facets of what it means to be the gathered Body of Christ and that includes a people of mercy who seek forgiveness.

One effect is that I usually have to ask visiting priests what form of Penitential Rite they are planning to use - to some this comes as a surprise.

[Nick Baty]

One of my concerns is that if you only sing the Penitential Rite in Advent and Lent you narrow people's understanding of both the seasons and the penitential rite.

Thanks, Gabriel. Totally understand (and agree with) what you are saying but, this gives us quite a bit of variety. Our PP is rather good at Penitential Rite III and weaves it rather well from his words of introduction, creating an almost tangible stillness – quite an achievement on a Sunday morning when there are loads of kids around. Then there are those Sundays when we have baptisms and we have the first part of that rite here. And those days when we have an Asperges rite. All-in-all there's quite a bit of variety which, of itself, helps to keep the rite fresh. At Evening Prayer we have something of an extended Penitential Rite and then we either have quite a bit of music or none at all – largely depending on the turnout.

However, I digress, as usual. It's information on approaches to the Gloria which I'm really after.