Definition of "A Hymn" according to St. Augustine: QUOTE

Definition of "A Hymn" according to St. Augustine

"Song with praise of God: If you praise God and do not sing, you do not utter a hymn. If you sing and do not praise God, you do not utter a hymn. If you praise anything other than God, and if you sing these praises, still you do not utter a hymn.  A hymn therefore has three things: song, and praise, and God."

excerpt from Martin Gerbert, De Cantus et Musica Sacra, I (St. Blasien, 1774), 74. Trans.R.T.