Hey Michelina -
Side note.
I have been actually listening periodically to the Ambrosian Rite chants, and the "Te Deum Laudamus" is on it, with slightly different words. I absolutely adore it. It goes like this, as far as memory serves me..
Te laudamus Domine omnipotens,
qui sedes super cherubim et seraphim.
Quem benedic unt angeli et archangeli:
et laudant prophetae et apostoli.
Te laudamus Domine, orando,
qui venisti peccata solvendo.
Te deprecamur magnum Redemptorem,
quem Pater misit ovium pastorem.
Tu es Christus Dominus salvator,
qui de Maria virgine es natus.
Hunc sacrosanctum calicem sumentes,
ab omni culpa libera nos semper.
Isn't that BEAUTIFUL?
The Ambrosian Rite has also one of the most touching fraternal hymns I have ever read...it far surpasses "they will know we are Christians by our love."
Nunc, Frater (responsorium cum infantibus)
Nunc, frater, quo progrediar, quove convertar?
Bos bovem requirit, et frequenti mugitu pium testatur affectum;
R. Et ego non requiram te, frater, cum quo vitae huius aratra sustinui,
labore inferior, amore coniunctior.
V. Latus enim meum tuo latere sepiebas: caritate ut frater, cura ut pater.
R. Et ego non requiram te, frater.....
Translation for non-Latin..
Now Brother, where shall I go, or where shall I turn?
Ox seeks ox, and shows his feeling by often lowing:
R. And shall I not seek you, brother, with whom I have worked the fields of this life,
the lesser in toil, the more joined in love.
V. For you guarded my side with your side: In charity as a brother, in care as a father.
R. And shall I not seek you, Brother..?
When I read that, I could hardly breathe. Just magnificent.