Glory

The word glory shows up like clockwork at Christmas-time in holiday refrains that slip off our musical tongues: “Angels from the Realms of Glory,” “Glory in Excelsis Deo,”  “Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Glory to the Newborn King.” We trill these carols with well-practiced voices, echoing harmonious, treasured traditions from year to year.  They also sometimes become rote, and as such can easily be sung without thought.  

Glory is a word more-or-less from the past, but one that fills carols with holiday sparkle.  Otherwise, we don’t use glory very often in common speech these days. Some might agree that it seems antiquated and outdated.  Perhaps we’ve even forgotten its true meaning.  We’re contemporary, after all, with slang words and texting abbreviations that reside in some linguistic aperture apart from words like glory.

And yet the word calls to me.  It entices me to come closer, to let it sink in and teach me to worship God.

When I have a solitary day by myself, like today, with nothing on the schedule and no interruptions, I find great solace in sitting at the piano and plinking out the melody to refrains that accompany the Akathist of Thanksgiving (credited sometimes to Archpriest Gregory Petroff but evidently written by Metropolitan Tryphon - Boris Petrovich Turkestanov, 1861-1934).  I speak the stanzas aloud and sing the refrains solo, without human audience, to the God of Glory!!  Sometimes surprising surges of emotion choke me – squeeze out common preoccupations to make more room for Him. I’ve found this simple exercise sets aside the ordinary and mundane, and transports me to a holier place.

The entire work is powerful in its entirety.  Although lengthy, I am including the "glory" portions here.  I invite you to read and pray them, knowing they could open closet doors that have been long closed - doors that reinstate glory in its rightful place as an attribute of God, doors that lead to a mysterious but broadening path to His Presence.

Glory to You, Who called me to life, 


Glory to You, Who have shown me the beauty of the universe, 


Glory to You, Who have opened before me the sky and the earth as an eternal book of eternal wisdom, 


Glory to the eternity of You, in the midst of the world of time,


Glory to You, for Your hidden and evident goodness,  


Glory to You, for every sigh of my sadness,   


Glory to You, for every step of my life, for every moment of joy,


Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, for the festival of life,

Glory to You, for the fragrant lilies of the valley and the roses,

Glory to You, for the delectable variety of berries and fruits,

Glory to You, for the morning dew, shining like diamonds,

Glory to You, for the smile of awakening enlightenment,

Glory to You, for all that is heavenly, foreshadowing eternal life,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, Who brought out of the earth’s darkness diversity of color, taste, and fragrance,

Glory to You, for the warmth and caress of all nature,

Glory to You, for surrounding us with thousands of Your creatures,

Glory to You, for the depth of Your wisdom reflected in the whole world,

Glory to You, I kiss reverently the footprint of Your invisible tread,

Glory to You, Who kindled before us the bright light of eternal life,

Glory to You, for the hope of immortal, ideal, incorruptible beauty,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, in the stillness of the evening,

Glory to You, Who have bestowed great peace to the world,

Glory to You, for the last rays of sunlight,

Glory to You, for rest and the gift of sleep,

Glory to You, for Your presence in darkness, when the world is so remote,

Glory to You, for prayer from the depth of a heart touched by You,

Glory to You, for the promise of awakening to the joy of the eternal, unending day,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, for Your constant care of me,

Glory to You, for providential encounters with people,

Glory to You, for the love of relatives, the devotion of friends,

Glory to You, for the gentleness of animals who serve me,

Glory to You, for the luminous moments of my life,

Glory to You, for the bright joys of my heart,

Glory to You, for the happiness of living, of moving and contemplating,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, beyond the limit of the highest human dream!

Glory to You, for our tireless thirst for You,

Glory to You, Who have inspired in us dissatisfaction with earthly things,

Glory to You, Who have enveloped us in the delicate rays of Your light,

Glory to You, Who have broken the power of the spirits of darkness, and Who have doomed the annihilation every kind of evil,

Glory to You, for Your revelations, and for the happiness of feeling Your presence and living with You,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, Who have manifested the unfathomable force of the laws of the universe,

Glory to You, all of nature is full of the laws of Your being,

Glory to You, for all that has been revealed to us through Your goodness,

Glory to You, for all You have kept hidden in Your wisdom,

Glory to You, for the genius of the human mind,

Glory to You, for the life-giving strength of work,

Glory to You, for the fiery tongues of inspiration,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, Who grant my wishes when they are good,

Glory to You, Who watch over me day and night,

Glory to You, curing hardships and losses with the healing course of time,

Glory to You, for Whom there is no such thing as a hopeless loss; You give eternal life to all,

Glory to You, Who have made immortal all that is good and lofty, Who have promised our desired reunion with those who have died,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, Who have transfigured our life with the good things that we do,

Glory to You, Who have imprinted an unutterable sweetness on every precept of Yours,

Glory to You, Who clearly abide where there is kindness and generosity of heart,

Glory to You, Who send failures and sorrows to us so that we might be sensitive to the sufferings of others,

Glory to You, Who have placed a great reward on the value of goodness in itself,

Glory to You, Who accept our moments of soaring,

Glory to You, Who have raised love higher than anything on earth or in heaven,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, for providential coincidences,

Glory to You, for the gift of premonitions,

Glory to You, for the guidance of a secret inner voice,

Glory to You, for revelations in dreams and when awake,

Glory to You, Who destroy our useless plans,

Glory to You, Who sober us from the heat of passions with suffering,

Glory to You, Who humble pride of heart o save us,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, for the unfathomable, life-giving power of grace,

Glory to You, Who have raised up Your Church as a refuge of peace for an exhausted world,

Glory to You, Who breathe new life into us with the life-giving water of Baptism,

Glory to You, inexhaustible abyss of forgiveness,

Glory to You, for the cup of life, for the bread of eternal joy,

Glory to You, Who led us to heaven,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.

Glory to You, Who have shown us light,

Glory to You, Who have loved us with love immeasurable, deep, Divine,

Glory to You, all Holy Son, the Way, the Truth, and the Life,

Glory to You, all Holy Spirit and life-giving sun of the future age,

Glory to You for everything, O Divine Trinity, all bountiful,

Glory to You, O God, unto ages of ages.