Te Deum Laudamus

Ancient tradition tells us that the early Christian creedal hymn, Te Deum Laudamus, originated spontaneously with Sts. Ambrose and Augustine at the latter's baptism near the end of the 4th century. It was more likely written in the early 5th century by Nikitas, bishop of Remesiana, whose feast day is today.

The Te Deum is sung in Latin below by the Schola Gregoriana Mediolanensis of Milan, Italy. Anyone wishing to learn to read mediaeval musical notation, which is easier than one might think, will find it instructive to watch this.



Below the Concordia Oakland Choristers sing the Te Deum in English translation:



Many Christians will be aware of metrical versions of this hymn, the best known of which is probably Holy God, We Praise Thy Name, a translation of the German Großer Gott wir loben dich, written around 1774 by Ignaz Franz for the Ka­thol­isch­es Ge­sang­buch.



In 1696 Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady included a versification of the Te Deum for their "New Version" Psalter. Some years ago I adapted their three stanzas and added three of my own to complete the hymn: O God, we praise you, we confess that you alone are Lord. In whatever form it is sung, the Te Deum deserves to be better known and more widely used amongst English-speaking evangelical Christians.

Crossposted at First Things: Evangel

St. Barnabas

“Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 4:36-37).

“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’” (Acts 13:2).

All Saints

St. Basil the Great

Today is the feast day of St. Basil the Great, who lived from approximately 330 to 379 and was bishop of Caesarea. In the Orthodox tradition he is grouped with Gregory the Theologian (Nazianzus) and St. John Chrysostom as the Three Holy Hierarchs, and with Gregory the Theologian and St. Gregory of Nyssa as one of the Cappadocian Fathers.

Among other things he is known for his battles against the Arian heresy and his defence of the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, in use during Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, is named for him, in recognition of his activities "in formularizing liturgical prayers and promoting church-song."

Amongst the Greeks, St. Basil brings gifts to children on 1 January, in a tradition mirroring that of St. Nicholas in the west. In fact, a Google image search of Άγιος Βασίλης brings up surprisingly familiar images.

St. Stephen the Protomartyr

Today is the feast of St. Stephen the Protomartyr in the eastern church. The western churches celebrated his feast day yesterday. His story is told in Acts 6-8:1. One element of this episode has always puzzled me. Verses 2-4 of Acts 7 tells us:

And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, "It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty."

However, there is no further mention of Stephen "serving tables." In fact, "Stephen, full of grace and power, [performed] great wonders and signs among the people" and spoke to the people with wisdom through the Holy Spirit (7:8,10). It is highly unlikely that Stephen would have been stoned to death if he had stuck to his original job description. The Spirit seems to have had other plans for him.

St. Andrew

There are any number of nations that count St. Andrew the Apostle, Jesus' first disciple and brother of Simon Peter, as their patron, and many of these have a tradition that he visited them during his missionary journeys. Now writer George Alexandrou believes he can reconcile these disparate traditions and is persuaded that St. Andrew travelled very far indeed during his long lifetime, as reported in the Orthodox journal Road to Emmaus: The Astonishing Missionary Journeys of the Apostle Andrew. Here at least is one apostle who took seriously the gospel mandate to spread the good news of the kingdom to the ends of the earth. One hopes that Alexandrou's book, He Raised the Cross on the Ice, will one day be translated from Greek into English.

St. John Chrysostom

Today marks the 1,600th anniversary of the death of St. John Chrysostom, the "golden tongued" (Χρυσόστομος) Archbishop of Constantinople who lived from c. 349 to 407. A native of Antioch, John was educated by the pagan Libanius and went on to study theology under Diodoros of Tarsus. He was an ascetic who disliked the conspicuous consumption of the wealthy classes. When he was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople, the imperial capital, he reluctantly became an official of the highest rank, with privileges approaching those of royalty. Nevertheless, he opposed the lavish lifestyles of the city's élite and spoke with courage against abuses in high places. He preached regularly on the duty to care for the poor, among whom he was well-loved.

He is known as the greatest preacher of the early church. The Orthodox Church's Divine Liturgy is named for him, in recognition of his contribution to the liturgy by revising its prayers and rubrics. His famous paschal homily is often read in churches on Easter, as it has been in our church. St. John is honoured by both eastern and western churches, including those of the Reformation. For example, John Calvin admired his straightforward interpretation of scripture, as opposed to Augustine's more allegorical approach. St. John died in exile in the Caucasus, with these words on his lips: "Glory be to God for all things!"

Here is a final word for us from St. John Chrysostom:

Even if we have thousands of acts of great virtue to our credit, our confidence in being heard must be based on God's mercy and His love for men. Even if we stand at the very summit of virtue, it is by mercy that we shall be saved.

Later: Coinciding with the anniversary comes this story out of Cyprus: Thousands queue outside Cyprus church after reports of miracle-working relic. St. John Chrysostom's skull is in the island and two miracles are being attributed to its presence.

All Saints

St. David's Day

In the Greek-speaking world people do not generally celebrate their own birthdays; instead they observe the feast day of the saint for whom they were named. We do not follow this custom in our own family, but if we did, today would be my day. St. David is the patron of Wales. I have Welsh ancestry on my mother's side, going back several centuries to the early pre-English princes of Wales. (Then again, so do most, if not all, the readers of this blog.) There are a few other saints named David in especially the eastern church calendar, and these are mostly associated with the ancient kingdom of Georgia. Happy St. David's Day, everyone.

St. Barnabas' Day


St. Barnabas Church, Ottawa

Today is the feast day of St. Barnabas, native and patron of the island of Cyprus.