Among ancient liturgical hymns the Te deum should be mentioned. It is attributed to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana in Dacia, and dated from the end of the fourth century. It appears to be a combination of three distinct parts. The first thirteen verses, or parts one and two, probably originated earlier than the fourth century and may have been inspired by Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, 200-258, who wrote in terms almost identical with the phrases of this early section, used of prophets, apostles and martyrs.[34]
Biblical sources, especially the canticles, now appear as liturgical hymns, either in their original form or in an enlarged version.[35] The use of canticles, more particularly in their variations, is of supreme interest to the hymnologist, because it offers a theory of the origin of Christian hymnody apart from liturgical interpolations or from the psalms. Clement of Rome urged the Corinthians to unite in the spirit of praise as expressed in the seraphic chorus of Isaiah’s vision,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts:
the whole earth is full of his glory,
associating it with the praise of the angelic ministrants, “ten thousand times ten thousand,” beheld by Daniel (Dan. 7:10). The same hymn had been heard in the apocalyptic mysteries of the Book of Revelation. Very early it was incorporated in the liturgy of the eucharist, continuing an ageless form of the praise of God from the old dispensation into the new.
The evolution of the Great Doxology from the words of the angelic song,
Glory to God in the highest,
to the Gloria in excelsis illustrates the expanding thought of the Church, corresponding to the growth of the Christian body within the culture of the Roman Empire. Again, the Gloria illustrates Hellenistic features of poetic style, bespeaking the oriental influences which had entered into Greek literature.[36] Note the repetition of the clauses,
We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory,
of the invocation,