used in the Greek and the Protestant
churches, is omitted in the Roman rite. It is used, however, more
definitely as the designation of two hymns distinguished by liturgical
writers as the Greater and Lesser Doxologies.

The origin and history of these it is impossible to trace fully. The
germ of both is to be found in the Gospels; the first words of the
Greater Doxology, or _Gloria in Excelsis_, being taken from Luke ii. 14,
and the form of the Lesser Doxology, or _Gloria Patri_, having been in
all probability first suggested by Matt. xxviii. 19. The Greater
Doxology, in a form approximating to that of the English prayer-book, is
given in the _Apostolical Constitutions_ (vii. 47). At this time (c.
375) it ran thus: "Glory to God on high, and on earth peace to men of
(his) goodwill. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we
glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory. O Lord God,
heavenly king, God the Father Almighty; O Lord, the only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest
away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us; Thou that takest away
the sins of the world, receive our prayer; Thou that sittest at the
right hand of the Father, have mercy upon us; For Thou alone art holy.
Thou only, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory
of God the Father. Amen." This is the earliest record of it, but it is
also found in the Alexandrine Codex. Alcuin attributes the authorship of
the Latin form--the _Gloria in Excelsis_--to St Hilary of Poitiers (died
367). The quotations from the hymn in the pseudo-Athanasian _De
Virginitate_, and in Chrysostom (_Hom. 69 in Matth._), include only the
opening words (those from St Luke's gospel), though the passage in
Athanasius shows by an _et caetera_ that only the beginning of the hymn
is given. These references indicate that the hymn was used in private
devotions; as it does not appear in any of the earliest liturgies,
whether Eastern or Western, its introduction into the public services of
the church was probably of a later date than has often been supposed.
Its first introduction into the Roman liturgy is due to Pope Symmachus
(498-514), who ordered it to be sung on Sundays and festival days. There
was much opposition to the expansion, but it was suppressed by the
fourth council of Toledo in 633. Until the end of the 11th century its
use was confined to bishops, and to priests at Easter and on their
inst