My wife and I were forced by circumstance to attend Holy Mass in a small parish in southwestern Virginia a couple of weeks ago. This was our first, and, until there is an administrative change there, our last trip to this parish. After the collect, the celebrant said (paraphrased), "The text for our Gloria can be found in the front cover of the hymnal." Before we had a chance to even wonder what that could possibly mean, he began to intone the following, to the tune of Beethoven's Hymn to Joy:
Glory be to God the Father,
To our God who reigns above.
May he send his peace upon us
And his everlasting love.
Songs of praise and songs of blessing
To our God who reigns on high.
Let us raise our loud hosannas,
Let us raise our joyful cry.
Continue reading Gloria.
