INTRO TO INTROITS – PART 4
By Alex Hill, Director of Music and Liturgy
In part 3, we discussed the structure of an Introit, with its Antiphon, Verse(s), and concluding “Doxology.”
“Doxology” is a composite word from two Greek roots, DOXA (δόξα) and LOGOS (λόγος). “Doxa” originally meant belief/doctrine, but after the 3rd century BC it came to also mean “glory” and “worship.” The Greek suffix “logos” means word/knowledge and is familiar to us in words like “theo+logy” (the study or knowledge of God) and “psycho+logy,” the study of the mind, thinking, etc.
So a “doxology” is a word of doctrine or word of praise/glory to God. Catholic worship in general, and Introits in particular, are doxological, oriented toward the praise and glorification of God. The Introits provided by the Church (usually from the Psalms) generally fall into these categories: 1) Acknowledging that God is great and powerful; 2) Admitting that we are small and weak; 3) Some combination of 1) and 2).
Here are a few recent examples from the past few Sundays of Ordinary Time:
2nd: “All the earth shall bow down before you, O God.” (Ps. 66)
3rd: “O sing a new song to the Lord, all the earth.” (Ps. 96)
4th: “Let hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; seek the Lord and his strength.” (Ps. 105)
5th: “O come, now let us worship God, bow low before his throne.” (Ps. 95)
6th: “Be my protector, O God, a mighty stronghold to save me.” (Ps. 31)
In the decades following the 2nd Vatican Council, there was a tendency among liturgists to overemphasize the human rather than divine orientation at the beginning of Mass, focusing on the joy of gathering and welcoming – important, to be sure – but in songs more anthropological (about Man) than doxological.
By singing the Proper Introit, we truly prepare our minds for humble worship, especially when we add a “doxology” to the end: “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.” This familiar text is called the Lesser (or Minor) Doxology because it is brief.
Following the Introit, we have the Penitential Act (indicating that we are and in need of mercy). Then, in most seasons of the year, we launch into a great doxological hymn of praise, “Gloria in excelsis Deo” or “Glory to God in the highest.” Like the Lesser Doxology, this hymn glorifies Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but in greater length. For this reason, it is called the Greater Doxology.
In her wisdom, Holy Mother Church places on our lips the Lesser Doxology (after the Introit, the Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours, and following a decade of the Rosary) and the Greater Doxology (early in the Mass) to remind us of the primary purpose of right worship - the praise and glorification of God, not of ourselves. We worship to be sanctified (made holy). Giving glory to God in right worship is just one means of our temporal sanctification on earth, so we might be glorified eternally in heaven.