Te Deum

The Te Deum is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Church with other parts of the Ambrosian Rite of Milan in the 6th to 8th centuries. It is sometimes known as the Ambrosian Hymn, although authorship by Saint Ambrose is unlikely. The term Te Deum can also refer to a short religious service that is based upon the hymn.