Gloria Patri: The History and Theology of the Lesser Doxology

Preface

Preface In this book I intend to explore a short, familiar, but little re- flected upon prayer—the “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever.” Along with the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary, the socalled lesser doxology1 may be the most recited prayer in Christian devotion. Comprising the first three chapters, part one will give background and foundation—linguistic, theological, and historical— for understanding the lesser doxology as a prayer. In the first chapter I will introduce doxology as a recognition of the mystery of God. In the second chapter I will explain what the first word of the Gloria Patri implies. Amply understood, “glory” (to God) contains the whole prayer. A linguistic analysis of the Greek word doxa, which in English is rendered “glory,” will be given. A theological explanation of glory will complement the verbal analysis . In the third chapter I will outline the history of the lesser doxology . I will explain how it has been elaborated and modified in its wording and its usage in the liturgy throughout the centuries from the beginnings of Christianity. ix Comprising the remaining chapters, part two will further examine the prayer itself, phrase by phrase and word by word. In the fourth chapter, the meaning of the Trinitarian address to God is considered at length. The next several chapters consider separately the past, the present, and the future, that is, “in the beginning , is now, and will be forever.” These time frames amplify the comprehensive perspective of this succinct yet profound Christian prayer. The lesser doxology deserves examination word by word because it is a concentration of prayer that compresses in a few words a rich theology. Many scholars believe that the prayer life of the Church undergirds the theology of the Church, much as the faith itself supports the theology that seeks to understand it. The so-called lex orandi, lex credendi2 presumes that spirituality and theology are related and entwined, and to study one while oblivious of the other may well cause a distortion. Hence there is a meditative quality to the examination of this prayer that presumes a meditative context for its recitation. My audience is not neatly divided between scholars, who need not be believers, and believers, who need not be scholars. Theology proceeds at its peril when divorced from Church life. Most theologians would affirm that conclusion. In this brief book about a short but pivotal Christian prayer, I hope to show how theological examination can enrich praying, and how the Gloria Patri, inviting spiritual reflection , can ground and deepen a theology of glory. P R E FAC E x ...