By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.
Happy New Year! As 2022 fades into the distant past and 2023 makes itself known, we find ourselves in the midst of the first few days of the New Year. We are still in the midst of the Christmas Season when we celebrate the Incarnation, that moment when Christ the Light dispelled the darkness of night. We celebrated the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1, and commonly, this is the time when we embark on the custom of making those “new year’s resolutions” that are supposed to carry us through the year ahead.
Sometimes we succeed in fulfilling these, but most often we stumble and fall. Why does this happen, you may be asking? Mainly because these “new year’s resolutions” are connected to earthly things, and they fail to invoke within us real growth.
Instead of struggling with these “new year’s resolutions” and the downward spiral effect that causes us to lose hope, maybe we should return the ancient custom of beginning the New Year with the Lord! For centuries Christian’s have celebrated what we call the Te Deum. The Te Deum, is the first words of an ancient Latin hymn that begins by saying: Te Deum laudamus, which we can translate to mean “God, We Praise You!”
This hymn primarily invokes the names of God the Father and Christ the Son, as a means of offering thanksgiving for the celebration at hand. Traditionally it is sung on occasions of public rejoicing in the life of the Christian. Tradition holds that the Te Deum was sung antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine on the day of St. Augustine’s Baptism. Occasions like Baptisms, Weddings, First Holy Communions, the Ordination of Priests and Bishops, the election and installation of the Pope, the dedication of a new church building, and also at the beginning of the New Year are all moments when we can sing this hymn of praise.
Actually, every significant moment in the life of the Christian can be celebrated with this divine hymn of praise.
It has more plausibly been attributed to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in the early fifth 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 fourth 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 like Henry Purcell, Ralph Vaughn Williams, and Benjamin Britton. Other composers have also included George Frideric Handel, and Antonin Dvorak, and many others.
It is customary on December 31 to celebrate an evening Eucharistic Holy Hour where the Te Deum is sung in thanksgiving for blessings received in the past year and in anticipation of the blessing we will receive in the year ahead. Sadly, this beautiful devotion has like many others lost its place in the life of the Christian. I do know of many parishes where this custom has been revived and is celebrated each year.
In particular, the Archdiocese of Boston continues this honored devotion each year on December 31 just before midnight at St. Leonard of Maurice Parish on Hanover Street, in Boston’s North End. The Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception Province have invited His Eminence, Sean Patrick Cardinal O’Malley, archbishop of Boston to celebrate this each year. It is a way for the entire archdiocese to celebrate the New Year’s beginning.
In her great love for us, Holy Mother Church has provided great devotional opportunities for us to grow in our life of faith. This devotional hymn, and other devotional acts, need to find their way back into our lives of faith. Considering the world in which we live, we need all the help we can get in living the Catholic faith.
It is my hope and prayer for all our readers, that as we begin this new year we can join with all of Christendom in giving thanks and praise to God the Father, through Christ the Son, by singing this hymn together. Let this be our “new year’s resolution” thanking the Lord for past and present, as we look to His Second Coming, allowing God to journey with us in the new year.
And so, as a way of helping us to participate in this great hymn of devotion, I have included it below in the English translation. May you have a Blessed and Happy New Year!
O God, we praise you; O Lord, we acclaim you.
Eternal Father, all the earth reveres you.
All the angels, the heavens and the Pow’rs of heaven,
Cherubim and Seraphim cry out to you in endless praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts,
heaven and earth are filled with the majesty of your glory.
The glorious choir of Apostles sings to you,
the noble company of prophets praises you,
the white-robed army of martyrs glorifies you,
Holy Church throughout the earth proclaims you,
Father of boundless majesty,
with your true and only Son, worthy of adoration,
and the Holy Spirit, Paraclete.
You, O Christ, are the King of glory,
you are the Father’s everlasting Son;
when you resolved to save the human race,
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb;
you overcame the sting of death
and opened wide the Kingdom of Heaven
to those who put their faith in you.
You are seated at the right hand of God
in the glory of the Father.
We believe you are the Judge who is to come.
And so we beg you, help your servants,
redeemed by your most precious blood.
Number them among your saints in eternal glory.
[added later, mainly from Psalm verses:]
Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance.
Shepherd them and raise them to eternal life.
Day by day, we bless you
and praise your name for endless ages evermore.
Be gracious, Lord, on this day,
and keep us from all sin.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy.
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