Reg. Lat. 11, fol. 230v (
Frankish Hymnal, mid-8th century) ) Authorship of the hymn is traditionally ascribed to
Saint Ambrose (died 397) or
Saint Augustine (died 430). In 19th-century scholarship,
Saint Hilary of Poitiers (died 367) and
Saint Nicetas of Remesiana (died 414) were proposed as possible authors. In the 20th century, the association with Nicetas has been deprecated, so that the hymn, while almost certainly dating to the 4th century, is considered as being of uncertain authorship. Authorship of Nicetas of Remesiana was suggested by the association of the name "Nicetas" with the hymn in manuscripts from the 10th century onward, and was particularly defended in the 1890s by
Germain Morin. Hymnologists of the 20th century, especially
Ernst Kähler (1958), have shown the association with "Nicetas" to be spurious. The Te Deum has structural similarities with a
eucharistic prayer and it has been proposed that it was originally composed as part of one. The hymn was part of the
Old Hymnal since it was introduced to the
Benedictine order in the 6th century, and it was preserved in the
Frankish Hymnal of the 8th century. It was, however, removed from the
New Hymnal which became prevalent in the 10th century. It was restored in the 12th century in hymnals that attempted to restore the praiseful intent of the Rule of St. Benedict, Chap. 12: How the Morning Office Is to Be Said. In the
traditional office, the
Te Deum is sung at the end of
Matins on all days when the
Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays outside
Advent,
Septuagesima,
Lent, and
Passiontide; on all
feasts (except the
Triduum) and on all
ferias during
Eastertide. Before the 1961 reforms of
Pope John XXIII, neither the
Gloria nor the
Te Deum were said on the feast of the
Holy Innocents, unless it fell on Sunday, as they were martyred before the death of Christ and therefore could not immediately attain the
beatific vision. In the
Liturgy of the Hours of
Pope Paul VI, the Te Deum is sung at the end of the
Office of Readings on all Sundays except those in Lent, on all solemnities, on the octaves of Easter and Christmas, and on all feasts. It is also used together with the standard
canticles in
Morning Prayer as prescribed in the
Anglican Book of Common Prayer, as an option in Morning Prayer or
Matins for
Lutherans, and is retained by many churches of the
Reformed tradition. The hymn is in regular use in the
Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church and Methodist Church (mostly before the Homily) in the Office of Readings found in the
Liturgy of the Hours, and in thanksgiving to God for a special blessing such as the election of a pope, the consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, a
religious profession, the publication of a treaty of peace, a royal coronation, etc. It is sung either after Mass or the Divine Office or as a separate religious ceremony. {{cite web ==Music and text==