The Prayer Book Explained Part 10

Need of Redemption Te Deum Magnificat laudamus

N. T. The Coming of Christ Benedictus Nunc dimittis

The Spread of the Gospel Jubilate* Deus misereatur*

* Added in 1552.

THE TE DEUM PRINTED SO AS TO SHOW ITS STRUCTURE.

[Transcriber's note: In the original book, each of the following 13 items was printed on a single line. In this e-book, they have been split at a logical point, usually a colon (:).]

1. TE Deum[1] laudamus, TE Dominum confitemur: TE Aeternum Patrem[1] omnis terra veneratur.

2. TIBI omnes angeli, TIBI caeli et universae potestates: TIBI Cherubim et Seraphim[2] incessabili voce proclamant.

3. SANCTUS SANCTUS SANCTUS DOMINUS DEUS SABAOTH[2]: PLENI SUNT CAELI ET TERRA MAJESTATIS GLORIAE TUAE[2].

4. TE gloriosus Apostolorum chorus, TE Prophetarum laudabilis numerus: TE Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.

5. TE per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur ecclesia: Patrem immensae majestatis.

Venerandum tuum verum et unic.u.m Filium.

Sanctum quoque Paracletum Spiritum.

6. TU Rex gloriae, Christe: TU Patris sempiternus es Filius.

7. TU ad liberandum suscepturus hominem non horruisti Virginis uterum: TU devicto mortis aculeo aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

8. TU ad dexteram Dei sede(n)s in gloria Patris: Judex crederis esse venturus.

9. TE ergo quaesumus famulis tuis subveni quos pretioso sanguine redemisti: Aeterna fac c.u.m sanctis tuis in gloria munerari.

10. Salvum fac populum tuum Domine et benedic haereditati tuae[3]: et rege eos et extolle illos usque in aeternum[3].

11. PER SINGULOS DIES BENEDICIMUS TE[4]: ET LAUDAMUS NOMEN TUUM IN SAECULUM ET SAECULUM SAECULI[4].

12. Dignare Domine die isto sine peccato nos custodire: miserere nostri Domine, miserere nostri[5].

13. Fiat misericordia tua Domine super nos quemadmodum speravimus in TE[6]: in TE Domine speravi, non confundar in aeternum[7].

[1] Isaiah ix. 6.

[2] Isaiah vi. 3, cf. Rev. iv. 8.

[3] Psalm xxviii. 9.

[4] Psalm cxlv. 2.

[5] Psalm cxxiii. 3.

[6] Psalm x.x.xiii. 22.

[7] Psalm x.x.xi. 1 and lxxi. 1.

_Note_. Some readers will at first sight be afraid of the Latin form of the Te Deum. It is however so important to the clear understanding of this beautiful Hymn that we hope they will piece together the English words and their Latin equivalents.

The task will not be really difficult, for most of the words are almost English already.

It will not surprise them to find that _Tu_ is Thou, and _Te_ Thee, that _Tibi_ is To Thee, and _Dominum_ Lord, and so on. We think that most of the words will be understood by any one who is familiar with the English.

_Aculeo_, in line 7, means _sting_, and _crederis esse venturus_ means _Thou-art-believed to-be about-to-come_.

_To face_ p. 65]

{65}

CHAPTER VIII.

PRAISE.

IV. Te Deum laudamus.

This ancient Latin Hymn of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has in many Service-books been attributed to S. Ambrose and S. Augustine.

One of the stories is that they sang it in alternate verses when the latter was baptized by the former, A.D. 386. We shall presently show that it is composed on a very elaborate plan, and is very far from being an extempore Hymn. Its earlier verses are founded on expressions in Isaiah (vi. 3, ix. 6).

Its concluding part has not always been in the form which has become familiar to us: in its present shape it may be regarded as the survival of the best of the different forms. The verses of this part as they now stand are obviously taken chiefly from the Psalms (xxviii. 9, cxlv.

2, cxxiii. 3, x.x.xvi. 22, x.x.xi. 1 or lxxi. 1).

The following lines of an early morning hymn, found in the Alexandrine MS. of the Bible, are very similar to the verses which we have numbered 11 and 12:

"Day by day will I bless Thee and praise Thy name for ever, and for ever and ever. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin."

{66} There is a sentence in S. Cyprian also (_De Mortalitate_, p. 166, ed. Fell) quoted in the notes in ill.u.s.tration of line 4, which must have been borrowed from the Te Deum, or lent to it.

It is not easy to determine whether an elaborate composition of this description, designed evidently for wors.h.i.+p, is more likely to lend or to borrow any particular phrase. The Psalm verses, and verses &c. from Isaiah, are evidently borrowed by the Hymn. Perhaps this suggests that the composer was likely to have borrowed, rather than lent, the other pa.s.sages. On the other hand, a Hymn founded on Scripture, carefully composed, and well known in wors.h.i.+p, is precisely the source most likely to be quoted in other Hymns and in books.

We said that _Te Deum_ is a Hymn of the Incarnation, and that it is an elaborate composition.

It is necessary to examine these points at some length. And first we must get rid of the modern way of printing it out in 29 verses. Many of them are half-verses quoted from the Psalms and Isaiah: and when we have begun to restore these with their colons, we find that the other verses answer to the same treatment. In short, most of the verses should be read two together with a colon to separate them for singing purposes. Having thus restored the Hymn to its original lines, we find that it consists of 13 verses in 3 Stanzas, the first and third having five lines each, and the middle Stanza having three lines. The three lines of the Middle Stanza correspond to the three divisions of our Saviour's Existence--(1) before He was made Man--(2) when He {67} lived on Earth--(3) after His Ascension (see the Latin Form). The Saviour's Existence, from the Eternal Beginning on to the Eternal Future, is the central thought of the Hymn. The dual form of each line in this Middle Stanza proves it to be a separate Stanza. The Incarnation is its theme--The Incarnation and its Antecedents and Consequences.

Tu Rex ... ... ... . Tu Filius ... ...

Tu non horruisti ... . . Tu aperuisti ... .

Tu in gloria ... ... . Judex venturus ...

The prominent place, in each line, of the p.r.o.noun Tu--Thou--is here to be noticed. It is characteristic of this middle Stanza that each of the three phases of the Saviour's existence is expressed by _two_ thoughts which are included in one line. The p.r.o.noun Tu introduces each of the thoughts in each line, except the last of the three. The completeness of the summary of the Lord's Existence is a strong argument for treating these three lines as a Stanza: and the use of the p.r.o.noun _Tu_ confirms the argument.