Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Glory to God in the Highest
The Greater Doxology, the angels' hymn at Bethlehem taken up and continued by the Church, sung at Mass in seasons of joy.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.
Laudamus te. Benedicimus te.
Adoramus te. Glorificamus te.
Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam.
Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, Deus Pater omnipotens.
Domine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe.
Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.
Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram.
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis.
Quoniam tu solus Sanctus.
Tu solus Dominus.
Tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe.
Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. Amen.
Glory be to God on high.
And on earth peace to men of good will.
We praise thee. We bless thee.
We adore thee. We glorify thee.
We give thee thanks for thy great glory.
O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father almighty.
O Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son.
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Who takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer.
Who sittest at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For thou only art holy.
Thou only art the Lord.
Thou only art most high, O Jesus Christ.
Together with the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Translation source: www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Trinitas/Gloria.html
About this prayer
Gloria in Excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, opens with the very song the angels sang over Bethlehem on the night of Our Lord's birth: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will" (Saint Luke 2:14). To the angels' words the early Church joined a hymn of praise and petition to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and so it has come down from the Christian East, where it was sung at Morning Prayer, into the Mass of the Roman rite.
It is a hymn of pure joy: the Church praises, blesses, adores, and glorifies God for His great glory, then turns to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and confesses Christ alone as holy, alone as Lord, alone as Most High. For this reason the priest intones it at Mass on Sundays and feasts; yet it falls silent in the penitential seasons of Advent and Lent, and at Masses for the dead, returning with greatest splendour at the Easter Vigil, when the bells are rung once more.