Te decet laus

Te decet laus. A short prose hymn, called a ‘[canticle]’* in some early sources, and having the form of a doxology*: ‘Te decet laus, te decet hymnus, tibi gloria Deo Patri et Filio, cum Sancto Spiritu, in saecula saeculorum. Amen’ (‘Honour is yours, praise is yours, to you be glory, God the Father and Son, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen’). It appears in the 4th-century Apostolic Constitutions; the Latin version was in existence by the 6th century, when it was prescribed for use at Matins in the Rule of Benedict*. In the medieval monastic office of Matins (also known as Vigils or Nocturns) on Sundays and Feast Days, the sequence of blessings, lessons and responds was followed...