Q: I was wondering if you could give me some insight about singing the Gloria during Advent or Lent. Yesterday, our parish dedicated a new altar and there was a lot of going back and forth about whether or not the Gloria should be sung. Also during the first week of Advent our parish celebrates her Feast day, a big ‘fiesta’ here. We use the Sunday’s mass. Should the Gloria be off limits during these celebrations?
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A: The appearance of the Gloria depends on which mass is being celebrated. It is not sung during Sunday Masses of Advent and Lent. If you dedicated the altar on a weekday of Lent, then you use the Mass for the Dedication of an Altar in the missal, which does call for the Gloria, just as St. Joseph and the Annunciation do when they fall during Lent on March 19 and March 25. If you are celebrating your parish feast on a Sunday in Advent, you must use the mass for the Sunday in Advent, which does not include the Gloria. But if you celebrate on a weekday in Advent, you may use the mass of the patron, and you do include the Gloria.