One of the things I teach future priests in my liturgical music class at VTS is the rule of 25-50-25.  It is a simple guide for the selection of music that states over the course of a year your music choices should reflect 25% “golden oldies,” 50% established repertoire of the parish, and 25% new music.  This rule is a helpful guide which keeps us anchored in our tradition, in the familiar, yet allows us to continually grow as we are created to do. It ensures we have familiar music to sing in worship and gives us space to learn new things.

The parts of our service that remains the same from Sunday to Sunday in our worship is known as the Mass Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei.  While the texts of the Ordinaries remain constant, we do change their musical settings each liturgical season so that we can hear these important texts afresh. Our selection of music for the ordinaries follows the 25-50-25 rule, too. During Epiphanytide, a time centered in Jesus’ teaching, it seems appropriate that we learn (or relearn) a new setting of the Gloria.

The Gloria, short for Gloria in excelsis, dates at least to the fourth century and has been used in eucharistic liturgy since the twelfth century.  Its text is the ancient ecumenical hymn of praise, the songs of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth.”  The Gloria is usually omitted from our liturgy during penitential seasons such as Advent and Lent and on occasion we use other canticles or hymns of praise in its place.

Our new (to some of us) Gloria for Epiphanytide was written in 1976 for the Church of England by the Welsh composer William Mathais.  Among many things, Mathais was a house composer for Oxford University Press and composed many works for royal occasions, including the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

I encourage you to give singing our new Gloria a try (and our Presentation hymn, too).  It is ok to make mistakes, la-la-la a long, or hum your way through at first as you smile and think uncharitable thoughts towards your organist.  The important thing is to give it a try each week. Hopefully, as we come to the last weeks of this season, you will find Mathais’ Gloria an exuberant and exciting expression of praise that enables you to hear the words of the angels in a new way.  And, perhaps, you will find new meaning in those words we know so well.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Ben Keseley, Minister of Music