Yesterday, December 31, I ended the old year with a new tradition. Today, January 1, I will begin the new year with another one. These are both old traditions in the Catholic Church, but they are new to me and full of beauty and meaning.
First tradition. In the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, the Te Deum is sung at the end of Mass on the last day of the year, December 31, in thanksgiving to God for the many favors He has given us throughout the entire past year. This hymn of joy and thanksgiving is accredited to Nicetas, Bishop of Remesiana, fourth century. It begins with five simple but glorious words that say everything: "O God, we praise Thee!" What a lovely and proper way to close the old year! Remembering God's utter goodness and merciful love, our only possible response is to raise a hymn of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving as we "adoring, bend the knee." Those of us who pray the Divine Office sing the Te Deum regularly at the conclusion of Matins on Sundays outside Lent, daily during the Octaves of Christmas and Easter, and on Feast Days. In spite of my long familiarity with this hymn, I was truly thrilled as we sang it this morning after Father gave us the final blessing, and I felt as though I was praying it for the first time ever. Many people don't know this, but the hymn "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name," sung at the close of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, is a modern translation of the Te Deum. All eight verses of "Holy God" (yes, eight!) can be found here about halfway down the page.
Second tradition. Today, January 1, the first day of the year, the Veni Creator is sung, imploring God's divine assistance for the whole of the coming year. This is another very old hymn of the Catholic Church, attributed to Rabanus Maurus, 776-856. It is used at Vespers, Pentecost, Dedication of a Church, Confirmation, and Holy Orders and whenever the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. What a grand way to begin the new year! Filled with the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit, "the finger of God's hand," we begin anew in bold confidence and certain hope. This "sweet anointing from above" seals our hearts with "the promise of the Father" and assures us that every day of the new year will be a blessed one in which we will find many reasons to make Te Deum our daily theme song.
"Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift!"
~2 Corinthians 9:15
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