The Gloria
In this ancient hymn, we join the heavenly choirs in offering praise and adoration to the Father and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Because the Gloria echoes the proclamation of the angels at Christ’s nativity, it is omitted from Sunday Mass during the season of Advent. Its rejoicing nature also means omission during the penitential season of Lent. However during this month, we will still hear the Gloria sung in December on the Marian Feasts on December 6th, 8th, and 11th and our patronal feast day December 16th, which is a solemnity for our parish.
Gregorian Chant is at the service of the text. Some chants are more melismatic in nature, meaning there are a lot of notes for one word or even one syllable. The Kyrie and Alleluias are great examples: lots of notes, few words. But when a chant has many words to get through, like the Gloria or the Credo, the text is sung efficiently and usually with one note per syllable, and 2 to 3 notes on stressed or accented syllables.