Doxology

A doxology is a brief liturgical formula of praise to God, especially to the Trinity. The most common Western doxology is the Gloria Patri: "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." A second widely-used English doxology, the closing stanza of Thomas Ken's evening hymn ("Praise God from whom all blessings flow"), is sung as the offertory response in many Protestant congregations. The Greater Doxology ("Glory to God in the highest") is the Gloria sung at the Eucharist; the Lesser Doxology is the Gloria Patri.