Q: The General Instruction on the Liturgy of the Hours, n. 174, states:*
174. A hymn follows the traditional rule of ending with a doxology, usually addressed to the same divine person as the hymn itself.
*copied from
<https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/general-instruction-on-the-liturgy-of-the-hours-2175>
My question is, Does this mean that the hymn that is sung at the beginning of an Hour is to conclude with some type of doxology, such as the Glory, unless the hymn itself ends with a doxology, such as does “Firmly I believe and truly”? How are we to treat this doxology in general?
Thank you.
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A: That paragraph refers to the hymns supplied in the typical edition in Latin. Their concluding stanza is a doxology. This will be clearer when the new English translations of those hymns become available.
Paragraph 178 allows conferences of bishops to allow “fresh compositions,” and these need not conclude with a doxology.
“Firmly I believe and truly” actually includes one in its final stanza, but if a doxology is missing from a vernacular hymn, it is not added.