Doxology at the Nunc Dimittis
Date: September 6, 2026
Author: Fr. Edward McNamara, LC
Question: There’s a rubric directing that after each canticle there should be a doxology, but I noticed that after the Nunc Dimittis, the Gospel canticle at compline, the doxology is not said. Is this proper? The other two Gospel canticles, the Magnificat and the Benedictus, conclude with a doxology. — C.N., Port Harcourt, Nigeria
Answer: Indeed, there are two rubrics that offer this direction.
In the section of the Divine Office on "Frequently Occurring Texts," immediately before the four-week psalter, the Gospel canticles are presented. After presenting the Benedictus, which is printed with the "Glory be to the Father," there are several practical rubrics, the concluding one being:
"The Glory be to the Father is said after every canticle unless expressly noted to the contrary."
Then follows the text of the Magnificat and that of the Nunc Dimittis:
"At last, all-powerful Master, you give leave to your servant to go in peace according to your promise ... (Lk 2, 29-32)."
Both texts are printed in the book without the "Glory be to the Father," as one presumes that the above-mentioned rubric will be fulfilled.
This is corroborated by another rubric at the beginning of the four-week cycle of psalms and canticles. After the first psalm of Evening Prayer I of the first week (Psalm 140 [141] 1-9) the "Glory be" is printed in the book followed by the following rubric:
"This doxology is said after each psalm and canticle unless otherwise noted."
From that moment on, the "Glory be" is no longer printed after any psalm or canticle in the office.
The origin of these rubrics is probably that of a now-discontinued custom by which, the minor doxology of the "Glory be to the Father" was omitted totally on the last three days of Holy Week and in part on the other days of Passiontide. It was also omitted in the Office of the Dead where it was substituted by the versicle "Requiem Aeternum."
Indeed, in the current breviary, after the first psalm of the Office of the Dead there is a rubric to clarify this change of custom:
"The ‘Glory be to the Father’ is said after all psalms and canticles."
In the current Liturgy of the Hours, the only case in which the "Glory to the Father" is omitted after a psalm or canticle is the case of the "Canticle of the Three Young Men" in the furnace (Daniel 3:57-88, 56), used for morning prayer on the first Sunday of the cycle and frequently used for all feasts and solemnities. Church Tradition has added a doxology to the Trinity at the end of this canticle even though it does not form part of the biblical text. For this reason, we find the following rubric after the canticle:
"The ‘Glory be’ is not said after this Canticle, as it contains a doxology."
There are no other indications in the Divine Office to omit the "Glory be" after any other text.
Thus, we must conclude that our correspondent's experience of the doxology's omission at the Nunc Dimittis was a case of error or misunderstanding of the rubrics. There is no reason why this should occur.
We have seen that many printed editions of the Office save considerable space by not printing the "Glory be" after each text where it would correspond, leaving it to the reader's prudence to read and apply the relevant rubrics.
Several online editions of the Office, unworried by space constraints, have conveniently included the "Glory be" after every psalm and canticle, including the Nunc Dimittis.
It is not certain that the Nunc Dimittis entered night prayer from the very beginning, for it is apparently absent from the hours cycle organized by St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547) for his monks.
However, it certainly entered shortly afterward, perhaps under Pope St. Gregory the Great (reigned 590-604). The medieval liturgist Bishop Amalarius of Metz (775-850) already deemed it as a traditional text.
* * *
Readers may send questions to zenit.liturgy@gmail.com. Please put the word "Liturgy" in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.