Glory Be to the Father, also known as Gloria Patri, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology (Doxologia Minor) or Lesser Doxology, to distinguish it from the Greater Doxology, the Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

The Greek original

The original Greek wording is as follows:

Δόξα Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι,
καὶ νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
Both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

This is the form used in the early Church, both East and West, and which continues to be used by the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Eastern Catholic Churches.

The later Latin version

Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

In 529 the Second Synod of Vasio (Vaison in the province of Avignon) said that the additional words Sicut erat in principio are used in Rome, the East, and Africa as a protest against Arianism, and orders them to be said likewise in Gaul (can. v.). As far as the East was concerned, the synod was mistaken. These words have never been used in any Eastern rite and the Greeks complained of their use in the West [Walafrid Strabo (9th century), De rebus eccl., xxv].

The doxology in its current form has been used in the West since about the seventh century.

English version

This doxology in the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches is most commonly found in the following form:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost/Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Strictly speaking, the translation of 'semper' as 'ever shall be', and 'in saecula saeculorum' as 'world without end' are mistranslations, and most commonly found in Roman Catholic. traditional Lutheran, and Anglican usage.

Usage

In the Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Eastern Catholic Churches, it is frequently used at diverse points in services and private prayers.

In Catholicism, it is frequently chanted or recited in the Liturgy of Hours, or Divine Office, used by the clergy, principally at the end of psalms and canticles and in the responsories. It also figures in the introit and other prayers of the liturgy of Tridentine Mass. The prayer figures prominently in non-liturgical devotions, notably the rosary. The Glory Be prayer is prayed during the Rosary on the large beads which separate the five sets of ten smaller beads, called decades, upon each of which a Hail Mary is prayed.

Also, Lutherans have historically added the Gloria Patri after the recitation or chanting of the Psalm during the Service of the Word and at various times in the Daily Office.

In Methodism, including the United Methodist Church, the Gloria Patri is found in #70 of the United Methodist Hymnal.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen. Amen.

Similar wording is found in many other Protestant Hymnals.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Patri