" Esteem for it has never been entirely lacking,
however, as its prominence in the P.B. shews.
In a Prymer of circ. 1400, as given by Maskell (_Mon. rit._ 1882, Vol.
III. p. 21), _Benedicite_ occurs in Matins, beginning "Alle werkis of
the Lord, bless ye to the Lord: herie ye and overhize ye him in all
time." On the same page, note 49, he gives a quotation from _Gemma
animae_, II. 53, "canticum trium puerorum est festivius et ideo in
omnibus festis dicitur." Also in his _Append, to Prymer_, p. 243,
another version is given, from Bodl. Douce MS. 275, fol. 9b: "Alle
werkes of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise and overheie ye him in to
the worldes." There was an authorized translation into Welsh early in
the 14th century, according to H. Zimmer (_Urtext und Uebersetz_,
Leipzig, 1897, p. 172), together with _Magnificat, Benedictus_, and
several Psalms, evidently for liturgical purposes.
In the P.B. of 1549 the use of the _Benedicite_ as a substitute for the
_Te Deum_ was confined to Lent "all the which time" its recital was
obligatory.
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