<P> "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest") is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology (as distinguished from the "Minor Doxology" or Gloria Patri) and the Angelic Hymn . The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria . </P> <P> The hymn begins with the words that the angels sang when the birth of Christ was announced to shepherds in Luke 2: 14 . Other verses were added very early, forming a doxology . </P>

What is the meaning of gloria in excelsis deo