Te Deum Laudamus
We were feeling the need for a more rhythmic and chant-worthy rendering of the Te Deum in English. Certain emphatic repetitions were deemed necessary. This is our text as it now stands:
Thee God do we praise, * Thee Lord do we confess.
Thee, O Father Everlasting, * all the world doth hold in awe.
To Thee all the Angels, * Thee the Heavens and all the celestial Powers,
To Thee Cherubim and Seraphim, * proclaim with ceaseless voice:
Holy!
Holy!
Holy! * Lord God of Sabaoth!
Full the heavens and full the earth * of the Majesty of Thy glory.
Thine the praise * of the glorious choir of the Apostles,
Thine the praise * of the Prophets’ worthy throng.
Thine the praise * of the Martys’ shining army.
To Thee goeth up the praise of Holy Church * from every place in this round world:
To Thee, O Father * of immeasurable Majesty;
To Thine only Son, * adorable and true;
And to the Holy Ghost, * our Advocate and Comforter.
Thou, O Christ, * art the King of glory!
Thou, O Christ * art the Father’s ageless Son.
Thou, to bear mankind upon thy shoulders, * the Virgin’s womb didst not disdain.
Thou, death’s bitter sting didst vanquish; * to believers heaven’s kingdom opening wide.
Thou sittest now at God’s right hand, * in the glory of the Father.
Thou shalt come to be our Judge; * this we do believe.
We bid Thee help Thou, then, Thine own * whom with Thy precious Blood Thou hast redeemed.
Number Thou them among Thy saints * in glory everlasting.
Salvation for Thy people, O Lord, * and blessings upon Thine inheritance!
Be Thou their King * and raise them up forever.
Day by day, * shall we bless Thee.
And praise Thy Name forever, * yea, even unto the ages of ages,
Deign Thou, this day, O Lord, * to keep us safe from sin.
Mercy upon us, O Lord, * mercy upon us.
Upon us be Thy mercy, O Lord, * for upon Thee have we fixed our hope.
In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; * let me not be put to shame in the age to come.
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A most beautiful translation, Father Mark!
Those I had in my little prayer books were so inadequate that I know/say it in Latin only.
(Agnieszka)
Dear Father,
Thank you for sharing your translation…it’s quite good! Reminiscent of the great Oratorians, like Fr. Caswall, Bl. Newman.
On that note, there is an Anglican Ordinariate group at my parish. They have had Morning Prayer before, which included a very nice English translation of the Te Deum, including solemn chant notation.
I thought maybe their chant notation or translation might be of interest to you. Here is a link to one of their booklets:
http://stjoearimatheasociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Sung-Morning-Prayer.pdf
God bless,
David >