On most Sundays and many feasts, the Gloria comes next. The word means "glory" and in it we give glory and praise to God, the same way that the angels did when Jesus was born on Christmas.
In Holy Mass, Christ our God comes to us in a special way. Just as at Christmas, He will be "born" on our altars when the bread is changed into His Body, and the wine into His Blood. They will become the SAME Body and Blood that was born on Christmas Day over 2,000 years ago.
But Our Lord is never alone. He is always praised and glorified with the Father who sent Him to us, and with the Holy Ghost whom both the Father and the Son send to us to be our strength and inspiration. So the Gloria mentions all Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
Because the Gloria is a song of joy, we do not say or sing it during times when we should think of the sadness of our sins, such as during Septuagesima and Lent; or the sufferings of the souls in Purgatory, as at a Requiem Mass; or when we are preparing for Christmas during Advent. The Gloria is also not said at Masses during weekdays of lower rank. In this last example, it is the day that is of lower rank, not the Mass. In ALL Masses, the awesome Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, with all Its graces and blessings, is made present again for us!
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