This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, VULTUS CHRISTI
Illustration: VULTUS CHRISTI
"Te Deum".
Fifth-Century A.D. Monastic Chant (Solemn).
In The Night Office, it is The Abbot who intones "The Te Deum".
Available on YouTube at
From Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.
The Te Deum (also known as Ambrosian Hymn or A Song of the Church) is an
Te Deum laudamus, rendered as "Thee, O God, we praise".
The Hymn remains in regular use in The Catholic Church in The Office of Readings found in The Liturgy of The Hours (The Divine Office), and in Thanksgiving to God for a special Blessing such as the Election of a Pope, the Consecration of a Bishop, the Canonisation of a Saint, a Religious Profession, the publication of a Treaty of Peace, a Royal Coronation, etc.
It is sung either after Mass or The Divine Office or as a separate Religious Ceremony. The Hymn also remains in use in The Anglican Communion and some Lutheran Churches in similar settings.
In The Traditional Office, The Te Deum is sung at the end of Matins on all days when the Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays outside Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide; on all Feasts (except The Triduum) and on all Ferias during Eastertide.
Before the 1961 Reforms of Pope John XXIII, neither the Gloria nor the Te Deum were said on The Feast of The Holy Innocents, unless it fell on Sunday, as they were Martyred before The Death of Christ and, therefore, could not immediately attain The Beatific Vision.
A Plenary Indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions,
How The Night-Office Is To Be Said On Sundays.
On Sunday, let The Brethren rise earlier for The Night-Office, which is to be arranged as follows.
When six Psalms and a Versicle have been sung (as already prescribed), all being seated in order in their Stalls, let four Lessons, with their Responsories, be read from The Book, as before; and to the last Responsory, only, let The Reader add a Gloria, all reverently rising as soon as he begins it.
After The Lessons, let six more Psalms follow in order, with their Antiphons and Versicle as before; and then let four more Lessons, with their Responsories, be read in the same way as the former.
Next, let three Canticles from the Prophets be said, as the Abbot shall appoint, which Canticles are to be sung with an Alleluia. After the Versicle, and the Blessing given by the Abbot, let four more Lessons from The New Testament be read as before; and, at the end of the fourth Responsory, let the Abbot begin the Hymn, Te Deum laudamus.
The "Te Deum" Stained-Glass Window,
at Saint Mary's Church, Ware, Hertfordshire.
Date: 2009.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Author: Barking Tigs.
(Wikimedia Commons)
After the Hymn, let the Abbot read the Lesson from the Gospel, while all stand in awe and reverence.
The Gospel, being ended, let all answer Amen. Then, let the Abbot go on with the Hymn, Te decet laus; and, after the Blessing hath been given, let them begin Lauds. This order for The Night-Office is always to be observed on Sunday, alike in Summer and in Winter, unless per chance (which, God forbid) they rise too late, in which case the Lessons or Responsories must be somewhat shortened. Let all care, however, be taken that this do not happen; but, if it should, let him,, through whose neglect it hath come to pass, make satisfaction for it in the Oratory.
The Chanting of The Holy Gospel constitutes the summit of Sunday Matins; it is the moment that all anticipate after three long Nocturns (Night Watches) of Psalmody, Lessons, and Responsories. It is the παρουσία (Arrival and Presence) of “The Lord Christ, our True King” (Prologue: 3). At the Chanting of The Holy Gospel, all stand cum honore et timore (with honour and fear); it is The Voice of The Lord, the Vox Domini of Psalm 28.
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