Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB

O come, let us worship, and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is the Lord our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts: as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;

When your fathers tempted me my works.

proved me, and saw

Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways.

Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

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.

Then shall follow the Psalms in order as they are appointed. And at the end of every Psalm throughout the Year, and likewise at the end of Benedicite, Benedietus, Magnificat, and Nune dimittis, shall be repeated,

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost;

Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen.

[graphic]

Then shall be read distinctly with an audible voice, the First Lesson taken out of the Old Testament, as is appointed in the Calendar, (except there be proper Lessons assigned for that day :) He that readeth so standing, and turning himself, as he may best be heard of all such as are present. And after that shall be said or sung in English, the Hymn called, Te Deum Laudamus, daily throughout the Year.

Note, That before every Lesson the Minister shall say, Here beginneth such a Chapter, or Verse of such a Chapter of such a Book: And after every Lesson, Here endeth the First, or the Second Lesson.

Te Deum Laudamus.

[graphic]

E praise thee, O God: we

To thee Cherubin, and

acknow

ledge 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.

Seraphin: continually do cry, Holy, Holy, Holy: Lord God of Sabaoth;

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy Glory.

"Then shall be read," &c.-The wisdom and piety of the Protestant Reformers were eminently shown in their directions respecting the Scriptures. They desired that the doctrine which they preached might be submitted to the test of heavenly truth; that the institutions which rose under their auspices might obtain permanency only as they appeared sanctioned by the Word of God. In every Protestant church, therefore, the reading of Scripture becomes a broad and essential characteristic of its services. To secure to the people at large the benefit of divine teaching the Bible must be read publicly, and it must be read, not according to the will of individuals, or partially, but by such a rule that the whole scheme of God's providence and the plan of salvation shall be laid before mankind in the language of the Holy Spirit.

"We praise thee," &c.-It is a general tradition, that this beautiful hymn was composed by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. The latter of these eminent fathers, after having been long bewildered by the errors of Manicheism, took up his abode at Milan, of which city the venerable Ambrose was then bishop. Moved by his preaching, and at length converted by his powerful arguments, Augustine sought baptism at his hands. Some writers report that this hymn was the spontaneous effusion of these holy men as they were proceeding in solemn procession to the font. Such a statement has nothing incredible in it. The ideas and language of the hymn must have been familiar to the minds of all devout believers in those days, and it was no unusual thing for the more distinguished ministers of the church to allow their thoughts to assume the lofty language here employed. But there are stronger objections to the credit of the tradition than

9

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 honourable, 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 not abhor the Virgin's womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death: thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

any intrinsic improbability. It rests originally on the statement of a writer whose authority is of little worth. Even those, therefore, most desirous of promoting the fame of St. Ambrose have given up his claim to the authorship of this hymn, which is now generally ascribed to Nicetus, an ecclesiastic who lived a century later than the celebrated bishop of Milan.

But to whomever we attribute its composition, few will dispute the appropriateness of its introduction into the service of the church. The caution of our reformers was particularly shown in their not admitting into the Liturgy any hymn but this, and the Canticle which follows, which had not the seal of divine inspiration. As many hymns were used in the ancient churches which had only the sanction of their holiness and beauty to justify their use, the compilers of the Prayer Book could not be charged with doing aught for which they had not the example of universal Christendom. But this argument is no more needed in modern times to sanction the use of the two uninspired hymns contained in our Liturgy, than it was in those when they first began to be used. At present every class of Christians claims the liberty of employing, in congregational worship, numerous uninspired hymns, and it would be well if none had been introduced which have not the characteristics of this sublime composition, rendered additionally sacred by its use in the Christian church for thirteen centuries.

The Te Deum, like the Magnificat, and other similar portions of the service, derives its name from the words with which it begins in the Latin original. It is worthy of observation, that the sublime language of this hymn is peculiarly fitted to express the feelings of those who, having first contemplated the ways of God, under the old covenant, are anxiously awaiting the fuller revelation of his love, under the New Testament. Thus, in the commencing verses, the power, majesty, and dominion of the Father, so awfully manifested in the creation, and the giving of the law, form the theme of the believer's praise. Carried forward by the spirit of the prophets, admitted with the enraptured Isaiah to contemplate the skirts of the divine glory, the soul rises in its song. Sublimer visions press around it. Heaven and earth shine resplendent with the fulness of the outflooding light. The innumerable hosts of created beings, characterized by their several powers and acts, range themselves round the altar of the Eternal-the holy church, throughout all the world, acknowledges his glory and his sovereignty. Exalted by these sublime contemplations, the heart reverts to its own natural state, and trembling at the awful distance at which it stands from the source of good, surveys with new thoughts the glory of divinity. The benignant attributes of the Son re-awaken its joy. It views the unfolded chart of redemption. The Holy Spirit occupies it with the heavenly benediction of its comfort; and, subdued by the mingling visions of the love in which the whole began, of the glory in which it shall be consummated, but also of the solemn series of sufferings and trials which intercept the beginning and the end, it concludes its song with a humble prayer for mercy, Lord, in thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded!'

6

:

Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the Glory of the Father.

We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants : whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people and bless thine heritage.
Govern them and lift them
:
up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee;

And we worship thy Name: ever world without end.
Vouchsafe, O Lord: to keep us this day without sin.
O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us as our trust
is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted : let me never be confounded.

Or this Canticle,

Benedicite, omnia Opera.

ALL ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Heavens, bless ye the Lord:

[graphic]

praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Waters that be above the Firmament, bless ye Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

the

O all ye Powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Sun, and Moon, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

"O all ye works," &c.-The officiating minister is allowed to adopt the Benedicite, if he see fit, in place of the Te Deum. This it is considered may properly be done when the occasion, or the Lesson of the day, directs our particular attention to the works of God's hands.

[ocr errors]

ye Stars of Heaven, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Showers, and Dew, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Winds of God, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Fire and Heat, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Winter and Summer, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Dews, and Frosts, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Frost and Cold, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for ever.

[ocr errors]

ye Ice and Snow, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Nights, and Days, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Light and Darkness, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Lightnings, and Clouds, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O let the Earth bless the Lord: yea, let it praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Mountains, and Hills, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O all ye Green Things upon the Earth, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Wells, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify

him for ever.

O ye Seas, and Floods, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

O ye Whales, and all that move in the Waters, bless ye the Lord praise him, and magnify him for

ever.

O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord: praise him, and magnify him for ever.

« AnteriorContinua »