Te Deum laudamus

Te Deum laudamus, Latin hymn to God the Father and Christ the Son, traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing. According to legend, it was improvised antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine at the latter’s baptism. It has more plausibly been attributed to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in the early 5th century, and its present form—equal sections devoted to the Father and Son, a half-clause to the Holy Spirit, followed by a litany—fits in historically with part of the Arian controversy (over the nature of Christ) of the 4th century. Much of the text is composed of traditional statements of belief, and, unlike most hymns, it is prose. The melody derives from various pre-Gregorian and Gregorian melodic styles. It has been set polyphonically by the British composers Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten, as well as by George Frideric Handel, Hector Berlioz, Zoltán Kodály, Anton Bruckner, and Antonín Dvořák.

Following is the Latin text and an English translation of the Te Deum. Numerous English translations have been made; the version given here was prepared from a manuscript version dated 909 by the International Consultation on English Texts, an ecumenical committee of scholars, and was published in The Liturgy of the Hours (1975).

Te deum laudamus te dominum confitemur

Te aeternum patrem omnis terra veneratur

Tibi omnes angeli Tibi caeli et universae

potestates

Tibi cherubim et seraphim incessabili voce

proclamant

Sanctus sanctus sanctus dominus deus sabaoth

Pleni sunt celi et terra maiestatis gloriae tuae

Te gloriosus apostolorum chorus

Te prophetarum laudabilis numerus

Te martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus

Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur

ecclesia

Patrem inmense maiestatis

Venerandum tuum verum unicum filium

Sanctum quoque paraclytum spiritum

Tu rex gloriae christe

Tu patris sempiternus es filius

Tu ad liberandum suscepisti hominem non

horruisti virginis uterum

Tu devicto mortis aculeo aperuisti credentibus

regna caelorum

Tu ad dexteram dei sedes in gloria patris

Iudex crederis esse venturus

Te ergo quaesumus tuis famulis subveni quos

pretioso sanguine redemisti

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria munerari

Salvum fac populum tuum domine et benedic

hereditati tuae

Et rege eos et extolle illos usque in aeternum

Per singulos dies benedicimus te

Et laudamus nomen tuum in saeculum et in

saeculum saeculi

Dignare domine die isto, sine peccato nos

custodire

Miserere nostri domine miserere nostri

Fiat misericordia tua domine super nos

quemadmodum speravimus in te

In te domine speravi non confundar in

aeternum

You are God: we praise you;

You are the Lord: we acclaim you;

You are the eternal Father:

All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

Cherubim and Seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord, God of

power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.

The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.

The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church

acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,

your true and only Son, worthy

of all worship,

and the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,

the eternal Son of the Father.

When you became man to set us free

you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

You overcame the sting of death,

and opened the kingdom of heaven

to all believers.

You are seated at God’s right hand in glory.

We believe that you will come, and

be our judge.

Come then, Lord, and help your people,

bought with the price of your own blood,

and bring us with your saints

to glory everlasting.

Save your people, Lord, and bless

your inheritance.

Govern and uphold them now and always.

Day by day we bless you.

We praise your name for ever.

Keep us today, Lord, from all sin.

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.

Lord, show us your love and mercy;

for we put our trust in you.

In you, Lord, is our hope:

and we shall never hope in vain.