Every time the bishop comes to our place, we sing the Elgar setting. Its really nice, very easy and time wise works for us. And he loves it.

Just saying....

You mention Te Deum in English. This brings immediately to mind a cappella settings by Gibbons or Byrd, etc. These are superb works with a liturgical ethos. Probably, though, you couldn't use the Old Church English text? Also, settings with organ by Howells or Britten, etc., come to mind, but again, the Anglican English may be a problem? The best Catholic Te Deum (English) I know of is Paul Ford's, in his By Flowing Waters. He beautifully has crafted the Catholic translation and the historic Te Deum chant together as one.

...something like this.

This just goes to show that alternatim (though it was supposedly suppressed in the early XXth century) is not dead. It lives on in the great churches of France, where one can hear Gloria sung this way at mass on great feasts. The people are quite accustomed to it and sing their part heartily. Pity, though, that the organ doesn't offer any improvisation of genuine music - just full organ blasting away for the entire Te Deum.

Excuse me Fr. Krisman, but that is not the reason he loves it. He loves it because we read the ritual and do what it asks. He knows this and furthermore, we are the only parish in our diocese according to him who actually does it. That is the antiphon for the procession of the Bishop and we follow the rite. I imagine if we sang another setting he would be happy also. Its about the rite, not my or his personal taste. I like the Elgar for many reasons, not least of which that for our procession, it is the good length. I have done the Bruckner, the Singenberger and two other settings. Elgar works well for us.

Geez....you assume.

My clarification stands.

I've seen it listed as the antiphon for the reception of a bishop

Where is it listed? Is it in some postconciliar liturgical book? Is there even a "rite of reception of a bishop" in any postconciliar liturgical book? It's certainly not in the rites of ordination; there's none in the Book of Blessings; and there's none in The Dedication of a Church and an Altar. So where is this "reception of a bishop" found? What "ritual" is Kevin referring to in his comment above?

It is certainly understandable that the Church uses "ecce sacerdos magnus" in the postconciliar Roman Missal's Common of Pastors. But in this day and age, with its myriad instances of unbridled clericalism, it appears to be the height of unseemliness that a bishop would want to be called a "great priest" while he is still alive. He should have the humility to wait for that judgment - one way or the other - after his death. That's why the great majority of bishops today - thank God! - would not want to have an "Ecce sacerdos magnus" sung when entering a church, even if it were to be found in a postconciliar liturgical book (which I don't think it is).

CGZ, you have not addressed my point. Where is this text found in postconciliar liturgical books (other than the Common of Pastors in the Roman Gradual and Roman Missal)?

Fr Krisman,

I didn't address that point, and I'm still looking to find the answer. Since you raised clericalism in passing, and since I could (semi-)intelligently comment on that, I did so.

On the subject of the reception of a bishop, I'm inquiring of my expert source, a human being to whom I am related, who had the task of finding servers for every Mass said by a visiting bishop for 3 years.

Chonak, Fr. Krisman,

My source confirms the substance of what Chonak posted.
Then he added this:

As much as it pains me to say this, in the Novus Ordo in this ceremony one "Goes with the flow", which often means that there is no official greeting of the Bishop. The "no greeting" approach has two causes in my opinion, one of which is poor indeed. 1st, Many bishops don't want the fuss and ceremony. 2nd, many bishops are so busy, especially in the US, that they do not have time for a prolonged greeting and vesting ceremony in addition to the liturgy they are celebrating.

Jackson,

The person writing that to me isn't a bishop.

Holy yikes, can we just all realize once and for all that "Ecce sacerdos" and other such liturgical texts are praising God raising up the OFFICE OF BISHOP and not praising an individual?

@Jared Ostermann let me look at our Te Deums. We do one yearly-ish here, and it's been different every time. You can always do K. 141! :)

Yes but currently at least, the Church only uses it in Masses celebrating particular exemplary canonized bishops.

Ummm... no. Not in the EF, which uses the rubrics of 1962. The EF is current usage, too.

Here is my template for making choices for episcopal ordinations.

Thanks everyone! I broke my rule about posting before the weekend, which sometimes leads to a firestorm (I mean, civil discussion) that I don't see or participate in.

My source for the liturgical use of Ecce Sacerdos is CPDL - I won't pretend otherwise. I see that there are two versions listed there - 1 as the "antiphon at second vespers for the common of a confessor bishop" (Elgar) and 2 as the "responsory used at the reception of a bishop" (Bruckner and others). To be honest, I'm not sure what the "reception of a bishop is" liturgically. I find interesting that the one for the reception of a (living) bishop does not include the line "et inventus est justus" ("and was found righteous"). That, to me, goes to the heart of the whole discussion above. The living bishop has been chosen for a great responsibility and office, but the sainted confessor bishop has been "found righteous" in an ultimate sense. So I wouldn't judge anyone who uses the Elgar (and it's a lovely setting), but that would be my doctrinal quibble with using that text rather than the antiphon text for a living bishop.

And I can understand (and share somewhat) the general discomfort with a triumphal "behold a great priest" being sung as a living bishop enters the church or takes on his office. I think it's fine for the Church to hold up that shining ideal, but it does make me a bit uncomfortable. Similarly, the entrance antiphon in the Roman Missal for the ordination of priests says: "I will appoint over you shepherds after my own heart, who will shepherd you wisely and prudently." It's the expression of an ideal and a hope, even though we have all seen cases where the free will of a particular priest thwarts the intent of the antiphon (and the grace of ordination as a whole). In both cases, we have to understand the implicit "and it is hoped that you will live up to this great calling." On the flipside, sometimes priests and bishops today need to be reminded that they have a great and dignified office to fulfill - they have to be shocked out of their own banality. Sometimes outward humility is a cover for a person's unwillingness to step up to the plate and do the hard work necessary to fill an important role.

OK enough rambling.

I am looking through various other suggestions above. Thank you all! The Stopford "The Spirit of the Lord" is definitely a contender, either as the entrance antiphon (as it is in the Missal) or as an Offertory Anthem. It's right on the edge of too much schmaltz, but in a way only the British can get away with. The Elgar is glorious (and the Stopford bears more than a passing resemblance to it), but I think does not translate as well to organ accompaniment.

I'm leaning toward just singing the Latin Te Deum itself, with organ accompaniment, rather than a choral setting of it.

Keep the ideas coming if you have more. I will be sure to share what I come up with.

I always thought that the "Ecce" was speaking about Christ primarily and therefore holding up the up the one to be ordained to the standard of Christ (how badly we need that nowadays.)
Also, I think it has been said before that there are many settings of the Ecce. Simple ones can be found in older hymnals such as the St. Gregory and there is a Bruckner setting that is wonderful.