Gloria Matri


This is a rewrite of the Gloria Patri that appears on p 356 of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, designed expressly to address and celebrate the Feminine God instead of the Masculine God.

For comparison, I have shown the text of the Gloria Patri first and the text of the Gloria Matri below.

In my rewrite, I have worked to reduce the emphasis on God’s power and kingship while increasing the emphasis on God’s love.

I am confident the rewrite works smoothly with the Robert Powell setting in the 1982 Episcopal Hymnal at S 280. Actually, it works a tad better than the original Gloria Patri, because it corrects a couple of instances of poor synchronicity between lyrics and music. To be fair, however, the rewrite leaves unchanged several other instances of poor synchronicity. I have not tried to evaluate whether the rewrite works with any other tune.

Gloria Patri as it appears in the BCP:

Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.

Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father:
receive our prayer.

For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Suggested Gloria Matri:

Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to her people on earth.

O God, Lord of Love,
almighty and inscrutable,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.

Lord Jesus Christ, precious child of our Mother,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are one with God and one with the saints’ communion,
receive our prayer.

For you are God and human too,
you can make God known to us,
you inspire us to share your love,
Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God our loving Mother. Amen.

I welcome others to use this rewrite text; I would appreciate notice of how you are doing so, along with credit to me, Lee Borden, in the product of your work. Thank you.