DOXOLOGY. - A Greek word, from δόξα = glory and λόγος = discourse, denoting a liturgical formula for glorifying either God (as often occurs in Sacred Scripture and by means of a phrase that almost always contains the word δόξα), or Christ (and this in very varied forms frequently recurring throughout early Christian literature [Rom. 9, 5; Apoc. 5, 12 etc.]), or the Most Holy Trinity (among these are distinguished the minor d., or Gloria Patri, which as early as the 4th century was added at the end of the Psalms; the major d., or Gloria in excelsis of the Mass; and the d. of the final stanzas of hymns).
Often the d. is merely the verse paraphrase of the Gloria Patri; at other times it takes the form of a supplication, in accordance with what has been asked in the course of the Hymn. Very often the conclusion is proper, since the d. is connected with the particular content of the Hymn, as happens, for example, in Eastertide.
The feasts of Christ have a d. of a special Christological-Trinitarian form, insofar as it recalls the event commemorated and then mentions the other two persons of the Trinity. At times, moreover, the d. is exclusively Christological. The proper d. is used in Hymns of the same metre at all the hours on feast days and throughout the octave.