Editing Canticle (section)

{{Short description|Type of Christian song of praise}}
{{About||other uses||"Canticles" or "Canticle of Canticles"|Song of Songs}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2017}}

In the context of [[Christian liturgy]], a '''canticle''' (from the [[Latin]] ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a [[psalm]]-like song with [[biblical]] [[lyrics]] taken from elsewhere than the [[Book of Psalms]], but included in [[psalter]]s and books such as the [[breviary]].<ref>The ''Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music'' (1978) says "a scriptural text", though Anglican usage seems to be wider, including [[Te Deum]] &c. There is no entry for "canticle" in the 1906 [https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/directory/C/3878?page=4 Jewish Encyclopedia].</ref> Of special importance to the [[Canonical hours|Divine Office]] are three [[New Testament]] Canticles that are the climaxes of the Offices of [[Lauds]], [[Vespers]] and [[Compline]]; these are respectively [[Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)|Benedictus]] (Luke 1:68-79), [[Magnificat]] (Luke 1:46-55) and [[Nunc dimittis]] (Luke  2:29-32). There are also a number of Canticles taken from the Old Testament.