Praise (Prayer)

Loving worship of God in prayer. We may respond with praise for God's mighty deeds throughout salvation history. The Canticle Te Deum laudamus (Canticle 21, BCP, pp. 95-96), begins, “You are God: we praise you.” It recalls that Christ “became man to set us free,” he “did not shun the Virgin's womb,” he “overcame the sting of death,” and he “opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.” The people's response to the proclamation of the gospel is, “Praise to you, Lord Christ” (BCP, p. 358). The Prayer Book Catechism identifies praise as one of the seven principal kinds of prayer (p. 856). The Catechism notes that “We praise God, not to obtain anything, but because God's Being draws praise from us” (p. 857). Except during Advent and Lent, the Gloria in excelsis or another song of praise precedes the salutation and collect in the entrance rite of the eucharist (p. 356). The Hymnal 1982 includes a section of hymns of Praise to God (Hymns 372-433).