The use of canticles in liturgical monody goes back to the early Middle Ages when the practice of canonical hours began to be used extensively. The canticles of the Gospel (Benedictus, Magnificat and Nunc dimittis) were successively incorpora- ted into the structure of the canonical hours and became in time the most important chants of the Liturgy of the Hours (Laudes, Vesperae, Completorium).

Some shorter canticles of the Old Testament books were also included in the Divine Office but it was only after the Second Vatican Council that shorter canticles of the New Testament books came into Vespers. They replaced the final (i.e. the third) psalm.

The designation „song" which was used to describe „canticle" in the Polish translation of the revised Liturgy of the Hours appeared to be highly controversial and inadequate. Thus, it was necessery to explain such definitions as: canticle, psalm, hymn, song. Based on the studies it is possible to definitely determine that a return to the original designation (canticle) is necessary and inevitable, in order to avoid confusion in terminology. Benedictus and Magnificat have received the primary thrust of poetic translations of canticles into Polish. In the latter case there are as many as five different Magnificat translations in Polish church song-books; only two versions of the Benedictus have been found. These canticles have a wide liturgical application; their use is not limited to the Divine Office alone.

They have been introduced into the Roman Catholic Order of Mass as the chants after Communion, or as the responsorial psalms, or as the verses sung before Gospel. Some of them have become independent processional chants for Mass, especially the ones intended for Lent. As far as the number of musical settings is concerned, it can be said that the Magnificat canticle seems to be highly favored. Nevertheless the melodies connected to other canticles, including the ones with the texts from „non-Gospel" biblical books, deserve attention as well. The melodies originated either in the Gregorian chant, or in the ecclesiastical songs, or in foreign sources, or, finally, in indigenous pieces of original compositions.

Thus, the repertoire of the New Testament canticles exhibits itself as a rich resource of new chants which have been included in the official liturgy in Poland since the Second Vatican Council. Clearly, further research is required in the aera.

The paper concerns biblical heritage in Polish medieval and early modern literature. In it's first section the author presents the first Polish psalters and their influence upon religious poetry of the time. The second part focuses on the development of biblical scholarship in medieval and Renaissance Poland, presents the most important old translations of the Bible and shortly discusses their impact on Polish literary culture. The last part of the study shows how various types of biblical plots and characters were present in old Polish drama and theatre, in religious hymns and epics, how biblical patterns inspired certain literary genres; it also stresses cer- tain significant differences between Protestant and Catholic authors of the time. The conclusion of the paper points out serious need for more systematic researches and studies in the subject of biblical tradition in old Polish literature.