The Psalms of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary
To read the commentary on today's Psalm, click on the following link: 👉 Psalm 84
Previous Psalms
👈 Taken from a book of hours, this is an image of King David, author of the Psalms, by Willem Vrelant (early 1460s), Bruges, Belgium.
Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The following prayers follow the model for consecration written by St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and are recited in preparation for the renewal of our family's consecration to Lord Jesus, Christ our King, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the Feast of the Annunciation.
+ + +
The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.
I have for some time been closing my posts with a triple seal:
* the beautiful icon of the Holy Mother of God known to many as the Vladimirskaya Icon;
* the Sub tuum præsidium, said to be the oldest prayer to Our Lady; and
* a short prayer of consecration to the Immaculate heart of Mary.
Over the coming weeks, I shall include a short commentary on one or other of these prayers, (recalling that holy icons are traditionally said to be written like prayers rather than painted).
The Vladimirskaya Icon : Mercy and Truth, Justice and Peace
In the icon, as we contemplate the faces of the Holy Infant and His Blessed Mother, touching cheek to cheek, we notice their lips. How touching it is to contemplate the Mother's Immaculate Heart as she lavishes tender kisses on her baby Jesus and later receives His first kiss, the first of many.
This reflection recalls the words of today's Psalm:
Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.Misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi; justitia et pax osculatae sunt.[Psalm lxxxiv. 11]
On one level, in this verse we may ponder on Holy Mary's title as Mother of Mercy (Mater Misericordiæ) [1] and her divine Son's own words revealing Himself as the Truth:
I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
Ego sum via, et veritas, et vita.[John xiv. 6]
Holy Mary is also known as the Queen of Peace (Regina Pacis) [2] whilst her Son is acclaimed as the Sun of Justice (Sol Justitiæ):
But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise;Et orietur vobis timentibus nomen meum sol justitiæ.[Malachi iv. 2]
[1] In the antiphon Salve regina.
[2] In the Litany of Loreto.
Mary, the Mother of Mercy has met and embraced the very Truth; her Son, as the Sun of Justice enlightens His Mother, warming her heart with His love so that she becomes the Queen of Peace.
Psalm lxxxiv concludes with the following:
Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven. For the Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit. [Psalm lxxxiv. 12-13]
Truth is sprung out of the earth: that is, the Lord God has sprung out of a creature; earth is a fitting image for the Blessed Virgin, for did she not say herself: He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid? [Luke i. 48] And is not the word humility derived from a root meaning earth?
our earth shall yield her fruit: Earth's fruit is the fruit of Mary's womb. The word fruit is echoed by Mary's kinswoman Elizabeth who declared: blessed is the fruit of thy womb [Luke i. 42], words echoed countless millions of times in the Ave Marias prayed by Catholics everywhere.
justice hath looked down from heaven. The Sun of Justice looked down from heaven, upon the humility of his handmaid, who was to become His Mother and our own gentle Queen and Mother.
+ + +
Fr Taunton explores further levels of meaning in his 1903 work: The Little Office of Our Lady: A Treatise Theoretical, Practical, and Exegetical.
Man, says St. Bernard, lost Justice when Eve obeyed the serpent’s voice, and Adam the woman’s rather than the Divine One. He lost Mercy, in that Eve, to satisfy her desires, spared neither herself, her husband, nor posterity, but bound all alike under the curse : and Adam, in that he exposed the woman, for whom he had sinned, to the Divine Wrath, trying to shun the arrow, as it were, behind her back. Woman and Man lost Truth, the first by perverting the warning, thou shalt die the death.[3], into the milder, lest perhaps we die. [4] ; while Adam offered a vain and false excuse. And lastly, they lost Peace, for saith the Lord : There is no peace to the wicked [5] .
Hence, after the Fall there was, as it were, a serious conflict between the four virtues ; for Truth and Justice were for punishing the wretched sinner, while Peace and Mercy were for sparing him. How these four virtues, parted in the First Man, met again in the Second, we may readily learn. For Christ showed Mercy in healing the sick ; Truth in teaching and speaking ; Justice when He reproved sinners, and praised the godly ; and Peace in His meekness and gentleness. Further, the Divine Nature of Christ may be called Mercy, for it forgives sins ; and His Human Nature Truth, because no guile was found in Him.
They have met each other, that is, they were united in the Hypostatic Union. Justice also is taken for the Divine
Nature ; for God alone is the righteous Judge. Peace, on the other hand, stands for the Human Nature, on account of our Lord’s noble and innate meekness. Again, Mercy and Truth met together in the Incarnation, because it was Mercy which drew the Lord down to His creatures, that the Truth of the promises might be fulfilled, that Justice might be satisfied by a Divine Victim, and that Peace might be re-established between God and Man. If we lay stress on the words met and kissed, they will denote that the union of persons coming from opposite directions is expressed ; we may therefore take the verses as signifying the reconciliation of God and Man.
God’s Mercy encourages man to confess his sins, and so to meet Mercy with Truth. God’s Justice in fulfilling His promises gives the comfort of Peace to the conscience of His people.
[3] Gen. ii. 17[4] Gen. iii. 3[5] Is. xlviii. 22
+ + +
Prayer
Remembering the great blessings of marriage and children, let us offer to God through Mother Mary our most heartfelt thanks; let us pray in all fervour for the salvation of the souls of all those little innocents entrusted to us by our Heavenly Father; and let us beg forgiveness for our many and serious failings in honouring this trust, offering a contrite and humbled heart. Miserere nobis.
+ + +
SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.
WE fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all dangers always Glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
No comments:
Post a Comment