Te Deum.--The Latin title of the hymn beginning "We praise Thee, O
God," sung after the First Lesson at Morning Prayer. It is one of
the oldest of Christian hymns. The old tradition that it was first
sung impromptu and antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine at
the Baptism of the latter in A.D. 386, is not now accepted, as
there is evidence to show that the Te Deum is much older than the
time of St. Ambrose. So early as A.D. 252, we find St. Cyprian
using almost the same words as occur in the Te Deum. It is now
generally believed that this noble canticle in its present form, is
a composition of the Fourth or Fifth Century and that it represents
a still more ancient hymn. The Te Deum is sung in the Church service
every day except during Advent and Lent when the _Benedicite_ is
sung instead.