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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 1 Trinitarian doxology 1.1 Eucharistic Doxology 1.2 Gloria Patri 1.3 "Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow" 1.4 In Filipino 2 Other doxologies 3 Derivations 4 Popular Culture 5 References 6 Links

Among Christian traditions a doxology is typically a sung expression of praise to the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is common in high hymns for the final verse to take the form of a doxology. Doxologies occur in the Eucharistic prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, hymns and various Catholic devotions such as novenas and the Rosary.

In the Eucharistic Prayers I- IV of the Mass of Paul VI the doxology concludes the Eucharistic Prayer itself and precedes the Lord's Prayer and is typically sung by the presiding priest (accompanied by the concelebrating priests if there are any). The text of the Eucharistic Doxology:

Through Him, with Him, in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours Almighty Father, forever and ever. Amen.

-The Roman Missal, 2002

Main article: 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.

Gloria Patri setting by Henry Wellington Greatorex

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

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 ever shall be. 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:

Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

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. Many Mennonite churches, especially those comprised primarily of ethnic Mennonites, sing a longer and more highly embellished version of this doxology which more fully utilizes the a capella harmonizing for which such services are known.

This text was originally the eleventh and final stanza of "Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun"^[3], a hymn written by Thomas Ken in 1674. Ken wrote this hymn at a time when the es­tab­lished church be­lieved on­ly Script­ure should be sung as hymns—with an em­pha­sis on the Psalms. Some con­sid­ered it sin­ful and blas­phe­mous to write new lyr­ics for church mu­sic, akin to ad­ding to the Script­ures. In that at­mo­sphere, Ken wrote this and sev­er­al other hymns for the boys at Win­chest­er Col­lege, with strict in­struct­ions that they use them on­ly in their rooms, for pri­vate de­vo­tions. Iron­ic­al­ly, the last stan­za has come into wide­spread use as the Dox­ol­o­gy, per­haps the most fr­equent­ly used piece of mu­sic in pub­lic wor­ship. At Ken’s request, the hymn was sung at his fun­er­al, fit­tingly held at sun­rise.

Fran­çois H. Bar­thé­lé­mon wrote this mu­sic for these words, at the re­quest of an or­phan­age chap­lain in Lon­don; it was first pub­lished in A Sup­ple­ment to the Hymns and Psalms Used at the Asy­lum or House of Ref­uge for Fe­male Or­phans, print­ed for Wil­liam Gaw­ler, or­gan­ist to the Asy­lum (Lon­don: cir­ca 1785).

Filipino Protestants also sing this Doxology to the tune of Old 100th:

Ang Ama ay papurihan,
Anak, Espiritung mahal
Ng mga taong nilalang,
At ng tanang sanglangitan.
Amen!

This is the doxology used in Iglesia ni Cristo worship services:

"Ang Doxolohiya"

Purihin natin ang ama

Mabuhay sa pag-ibig ng anak

Taglayin ang espiritung banal

Ang Diyos ay lagi nating sambahin. Amen.

Approximate Translation:

Praise God, Our Father up above

Proclaim th love of His beloved Son

Receive the Holy Spirits Gift

Forever worship Our Almighty God. Amen.

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 (Or, alternatively, :Thy people bless and grant that we

May strengthened for Thy service be (Or, alternatively, May feast in Paradise with Thee. Also, May feast in fellowship with Thee. Also, May live in fellowship 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.

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.^[4]

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.

1. ^ Doxology - Catholic Encyclopedia article
2. ^ "All praise to thee, my God, this night" in The Cyber Hymnal
3. ^ "Cyber Hymnal"
4. ^ 19 March 1893, Chicago Daily Tribune, pg. 36

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.