Glory to God in the highest

The angels’ song at Bethlehem, sung at Sunday Mass.

The Gloria begins with the words the angels sang over the fields outside Bethlehem, and the Church has been finishing their sentence ever since. It is sung at Mass on Sundays outside Advent and Lent, and on every solemnity and feast.

The Prayer

Glory be to God on high,
and on earth peace to men of good will.

We praise Thee, we bless Thee,
we adore Thee, we glorify Thee.
We give Thee thanks for Thy great glory,
O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.

O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son,
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;
who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

For Thou alone art holy,
Thou alone art Lord,
Thou alone art most high, O Jesus Christ,
together with the Holy Ghost,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

In Latin

Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

Laudamus te, benedicimus te,
adoramus te, glorificamus te,
gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam,
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.

About This Prayer

The English above is the traditional translation. The wording used at Mass today follows the 2011 Roman Missal, which renders the opening as Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will — the same prayer in more recent English.

It is one of the oldest Christian hymns still in use; the earliest full text appears in the Apostolic Constitutions around the year 380, and its origins are older still though hard to date precisely. Its shape is worth noticing: it praises before it asks, and it spends four verbs on adoration before making a single request.