THE TE DEUM, A GREAT INTERNATIONAL

ANTHEM

HE most famous hymn of the Church is that great hymn which is a confession in song and which has come down to us from the fourth century, namely, the Te Deum, written by Ambrose,

Bishop of Milan, A. D. 387.

Tradition brings to us an interesting story of the birth of the Te Deum. According to this tradition it was composed on Easter Sunday, the honor of its composition being divided in the tradition between Ambrose and his eminent convert, Augustine.

According to the story it was the day when the bishop baptized Augustine in the presence of a vast congregation that crowded the Basilica of Milan. With a prophetic vision, realizing the eminent career which was before the candidate for baptism as one of the ruling stars of Christendom, Ambrose lifted his hands to heaven and chanted in a holy rapture—

"We praise Thee, O God! We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord;

All the earth doth worship Thee, the Father everlasting.

As he paused from the lips of the convert Augustine came the response―

"To Thee, all the angels cry aloud: the heavens and all the powers therein.

To Thee cherubim and seraphim continually do cry,

'Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of Thy glory!""

In this manner the two continued until stave by stave, in alternating strains from the lips of these two, Ambrose and Augustine, there sprang on that Easter Day from the lips of Ambrose and Augustine, the great "Te Deum," the unquestioned standard anthem of Christian. praise.

Whether this is only tradition or the actual story of the manner in which this great hymn came into being we do not know. Excellent and reliable authorities question its probability. The tradition nevertheless adds a charm to the prevalent use which brings out with greatest effect both the music and the meaning when the hymn is sung antiphonally.

Antiphonal singing compels attention and participation and adds beauty and impressiveness to the many chants of the church. This ancient method of singing is again coming into favor in an increasing number of the churches. The practice dignifies worship and adds a charm to the singing which carries choir and congregation together to the loftiest heights nearest to God which are the privilege of those who still abide in the flesh. How thankful we should be that it is our privilege to make use of this ancient method of chanting the praises of God.

Commenting on the traditional story of the writing of the Te Deum, Hezekiah Butterworth, an eminent authority, says, "Whatever the foundation of the story, we may at least suppose the first public singing of the great chant to have been associated with the baptism of Augustine."

We see in this tradition and evidence of fact, new significance for the Te Deum as a special anthem for Easter and other Festival occasions. The real beauty and effectiveness of much that is used in worship is only fully appreciated when we associate its use with its origin and

observe the times and seasons in making words, melody and occasion blend in complete harmony.

The wide use of the Te Deum is evidenced by the numerous translations into many languages, including not only English and German, but also French, Russian and other tongues, so that it may be said of the Te Deum, like it was of the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost, that it is heard by men of all nationalities in their own tongues in which they were born.

It is well said of the Te Deum that it is the most Catholic of hymns, one of the oldest and one of the most universally used by the entire Western Church. What the National hymn is to America the Te Deum is to Christendom, a hymn known and loved and used as a great confessional hymn of loyalty by men of all varying forms of Christendom.

The Te Deum was chanted at the baptism of Clovis; it was sung at Queen Victoria's great Jubilee, as also at the coronation of Czar Nicholas II, at Moscow, Russia. Since the beginning of the sixth century it has been especially assigned as a hymn for regular use in the Sunday morning service, a distinction which is peculiar to this hymn which is also especially set apart as the supreme expression of the overflowing gratitude of the human heart.

In the Roman Catholic Church the ritual expressly prescribes that the Te Deum must be sung at the consecration of a bishop, the coronation of a king and the consecration of a virgin, the election of a pope, the canonization of a saint, the publication of a treaty of peace or of an alliance in favour of the church. These latter uses indicate the manner in which the Roman church intrigues in civil affairs at the same time that they reflect the

character and value of this great and ancient hymn of the church.

Protestant countries have of their own volition, without ecclesiastical decree recognized the merit of this great hymn by using it in connection with the coronation of Protestant rulers, as also as a song of thanksgiving on the occasion of great victories, such, for example, as Agincourt and Waterloo. The fact that the lofty expressions of praise and thanksgiving of the Te Deum, used in national festivals as the full-hearted expression of a nation's trust and faith and gratitude in so many instances and on so many occasions, is striking proof of the communion of saints, as it is so beautifully linked with our confession of faith in the church itself in the language of the Apostles' Creed.

The use of such a hymn on every occasion is not proper. It is travesty on praise and faith to use it as a sort of Christian war-whoop over fallen foes, as Napoleon used it when he came fresh from the massacres of the Bouevards, and as it was chanted at Rome in honor of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. This incident suggests the words of the ancient heathen poet

"Unholy is the sound.

Of loud thanksgiving over slaughtered men."

May it never again be sung because of triumphs of armies on fields of blood; but instead may the whole world sing this international anthem of thanksgiving to God for His influence in making the nations of the world to be at peace and to have the principle of Divine Love emphasized in a universal brotherhood which will overcome all international hatreds and make war impossible. What a

Te Deum would this be echoing around the world and mingling the voices of millions in thousands of tongues singing the International Anthem of praise in a chorus so large and loud as to echo and re-echo through all heaven. What a Te Deum, the climax of song which has blended in one through ages the voice of prayer and praise from the lips of believing men and women, and sent it ringing through the arches of the temples of men on earth and re-echoing through the heaven of heavens as the mighty sound of sweetest harmony to the ear of a listening God.

"THE TE DEUM LAUDAMUS"

We praise Thee, O God: we acknowledge Thee to be the LORD.

All the earth doth worship Thee: the Father everlasting. To Thee all Angels cry aloud: the heavens, and all the powers therein.

To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim: continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy: LORD God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty: of Thy Glory.
The glorious company of the Apostles: praise Thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets: praise Thee.

The noble army of Martyrs: praise Thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world: doth acknowledge Thee;

The Father: of an infinite Majesty;
Thine adorable, true: and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost: the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory: O Christ.

Thou art the everlasting Son: of the Father.

When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man: Thou didst humble Thyself to be born of a Virgin.

When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death: Thou didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Thou sittest at the right hand of God: in the glory of the Father.

We believe that Thou shalt come: to be our Judge.