Discover

A 'doxology' (from the Greek ''doxa'', glory + ''logos'', word or speaking) is a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives from a similar practice in the Jewish synagogue.^[1]

Contents

Trinitarian doxology

''Gloria Patri''

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow"

"Luwalhati!" (Glory!)

"Ang Doxolohiya"

Other doxologies

Derivations

Popular Culture

References

Links

Trinitarian doxology

''Gloria Patri''

:Main articles: Glory Be to the Father

By far the most common doxology (and often simply called "''the'' doxology"), used by Catholics, Orthodox, and many Protestants including Reformed Baptists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists, is the ''Gloria Patri'', so named for its first two words in Latin and addressed to the Trinity:
:''Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et in semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.''
:''Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and always, to the ages of ages. Amen.''
As well as praising God, has been regarded as a short declaration of faith in the co-equality of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
"Saecula saeculorum", here rendered "ages of ages", is the translation of what was probably a Semitic idiom, via Koine Greek, meaning forever. It is also rendered "world without end" in archaic English, which has the same meaning. It is present in the King James Bible (cf. Eph. 3:21; Isa. 45:17). Similarly, "et semper" is often rendered "and ever shall be", giving the more metrical English version
:''... As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.''
The common Liturgy of the Hours doxology, as approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, uses a different translation of the same Latin:
:''Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.''
The modern Anglican version (found in ''Common Worship'') is slightly different:
:''Glory to the Father and to the Son''
:''and to the Holy Spirit;''
:''as it was in the beginning is now''
:''and shall be for ever. Amen.''
The most commonly encountered Orthodox English version:
:''Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen''
In Greek this doxology runs:
:''

"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow"

Another doxology in widespread use in English, in some Protestant traditions commonly referred to simply as "The Doxology", is:
:''Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;''
:''Praise Him, all creatures here below;''
:''Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;''
:''Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.''
This text, which was originally the seventh and final stanza of "Glory to thee, my God, this night", a hymn for evening worship written by Thomas Ken in about 1674^[2], is usually sung to the tune Old 100th, but also to ''Duke Street'' by John Hatton, ''Lasst uns erfreuen'', and ''The Eighth Tune'' by Thomas Tallis, among others.

"Luwalhati!" (Glory!)

Ever since Christians first set foot in the Philippines in the year 1521 AD, the doxology among Filipinos has been and still is as follows:

"Luwalhati sa Ama,

"At sa Anak,

"At sa Espiritu Santo,

"Kapara ng unang-una,

"Ngayon at magpakailan man!

"Amen!"
In English, this Holy Trinitarian prayer is translated as:

Glory be to the Father

And to the Son

And to the Holy Spirit,

As it was in the beginning,

Is now and ever shall be!

Amen!

"Ang Doxolohiya"

This is the doxology used in Iglesia ni Cristo worship services.
:''Purihin natin ang ama''
:''Mabuhay sa pag-ibig ng anak''
:''Taglayin ang espiritung banal''
:''Ang Diyos ay lagi nating sambahin. Amen.''
: Approximate Translation:
:''Let us praise the Father''
:''Live in the love of the Son''
:''Carry [with us] the holy spirit''
:''Let us always worship God. Amen.''

Other doxologies

Doxologies do not all refer to a co-equal Trinity, and some do not refer to the Trinity at all. An early variation on the ''Gloria Patri'' ("''Glory be to the Father, with the Son, through the Holy Spirit''") was originally used by the Orthodox along with the more familiar wording, but this came to be used exclusively by the Arians and others who denied the divinity of the Son and Holy Spirit.
While also not specifically Trinitarian, another doxology sung to the tune of Old 100th is the familiar table prayer:
:''Be present at our table, Lord''
:''Be here and everywhere adored''
:''These mercies bless and grant that we''
:''May strengthened for Thy service be'' (or, alternatively, ''May feast in Paradise with Thee'')
:''Amen''
Yet another familiar doxology is the phrase at the end of the traditional Lord's Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:13 (not found in some ancient manuscripts; a possible allusion to 1 Chronicles 29:11-12): "''For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen''."
At Matins, Orthodox worship specifies a Great Doxology for feast days and a Small Doxology for ordinary days. (Both include the Gospel doxology ''Gloria in Excelsis'' of the angel's (Luke 2:14): ''Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill among men.'') A substantial portion of this doxology comprises the prayer ''Gloria in excelsis'' of the Roman Catholic mass.
In Unitarian Universalism, "the Doxology" refers to Curtis W. Reese's adaptation of "From all that dwell below the skies", an 18th-century hymn by Isaac Watts:
:''From all that dwell below the skies''
:''let faith and hope with love arise;''
:''let beauty, truth, and good be sung''
:''through every land, by every tongue.''
Sung to the tune of Old 100th, it occupies a place in a Unitarian service that would be filled by a Christian doxology in a Christian service.

Derivations

Because some Christian worship services include a doxology, and these hymns therefore were familiar and well-practiced among church choirs, the English word ''sockdolager'' arose, a deformation of ''doxology'', which came to mean a "show-stopper", a production number. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' considers it a "fanciful" coinage, and refers to an 1893 speculation reported in the ''Chicago Tribune'' as to the origin of the word as one of its early attestations:
:A writer in the March ''Atlantic'' gives this as the origin of the slang word "socdollager," which was current some time ago. "Socdollager" was the uneducated man's transposition of "doxologer, which was the familiar New England rendering of "doxology." This was the Puritan term for the verse ascription used at the conclusion of every hymn, like the "Gloria," at the end of a chanted psalm. On doctrinal grounds it was proper for the whole congregation to join in the singing, so that it became a triumphant winding up of the whole act of worship. Thus is happened that "socdollager" became the term for anything which left nothing else to follow; a decisive, overwhelming finish, to which no reply was possible.^[3]

Popular Culture

East of Eden by John Steinbeck. The name of one of Samuel Hamilton's horses.

In The Hold Steady's song, ''Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night,'' the band sings, "We dictate our doxologies and try to get sleeping kids to sit up and listen."

"Doxology" is the title of an experimental animation by filmmaker Michael Langan. The film's climax features the Doxology itself, sung by a congregation to the tune of The Old 100th.

References

1. Doxology - Catholic Encyclopedia article
2. "All praise to thee, my God, this night" in The Cyber Hymnal
3. 19 March 1893, ''Chicago Daily Tribune'', pg. 36

Links

Hymns of the Spirit Three Contains numerous "doxologies" to the tune OLD HUNDREDTH used in the Unitarian, Universalist and liberal Christian traditions, in English, Spanish and French.