Te Deum laudamus Te Dominum confitemur Te aeternum Patrem omnis terra veneratur Tibi omnes Angeli Tibi coeli et universae potestates Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim incessabili voce proclamant Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth Pleni sunt coeli et terra majestatis gloriae Tuae Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus Te per orbem terrarum sancta confitetur Ecclesia Patrem immensae majestatis Venerandum Tuum verum et unicum Filium Sanctum quoque Paracletum 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 coelorum Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes in gloria Patris Judex crederis esse venturus Te ergo quaesumus Tuis famulis subveni quos pretioso sanguine redemisti Aeterna fac cum Sanctis Tuis gloria numerari[50] Salvum fac populum Tuum Domine et benedic haereditati 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. In the Prayer-book version we miss the apostles’ ‘glorious choir,’ the martyrs’ ‘white-robed’ army; and the close would, I think, have been even more impressive as well as more literal had the last lines read— O Lord, let Thy mercy be showed upon us, even as we have hoped in Thee. O Lord, in Thee have I hoped; let me not be ashamed for ever.[51] In the primitive days, before the rise of the mediæval Papacy, before the time of Breviary and Mass-book, the singing of hymns was well established alike in the East and West. In almost every language in which the gospel was preached, hymns were written, and were used not only to aid the devotion of the devout worshipper in the services of the Church, but to arrest and teach the careless wayfarer. Thus Bishop Aldhelm of Sherborne ‘would sit on the bridge, as the people came out from Mass to loiter gossiping on their way home, and sing them sacred lays, teaching them their faith, as it were, in chance verses, and enlisting in God’s service the national love of music and song. It was Alfred, himself a singer, who preserved this tale.’[52]