![]() ![]() The Gloria continues with a confession of faith in Christ, “the only Son of the Father,” focusing especially on His saving work as the Lamb of God: “You take away the sin of the world.” And what clearer expression of the central truth of the Christian faith, of Christmas, is there than that? This is precisely what the angel announced to the shepherds when Jesus was born and what is still proclaimed to us today: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). ![]() ![]() So too we now do the same: “We worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory.” The shepherds, having heard the angel’s proclamation of the birth of the Saviour and having seen Him themselves, “returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them”(Luke 2:20). No wonder that the Christmas song of the angels has also become our hymn of praise to God. Just as Christmas celebrates the coming of God in the flesh for our salvation from sin and death, so that is also what we celebrate every week throughout the year as our Lord comes to us in His holy Word and in the blessed Sacrament. And yet, that is precisely what we are doing when we sing the Gloria in Excelsis. Now, it may sound strange to say that we observe Christmas year round. But why do we sing this Christmas song of the angels throughout the year? ![]() These words from the account of our Lord’s birth begin the canticle or hymn of praise known as the Gloria in Excelsis (Latin for “Glory in the Highest”). For centuries, the Christmas song of the angels has sounded forth week after week in the liturgy of Christ’s church: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth” (Luke 2:14). ![]()
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