The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 11

St Bonaventure Receiving the Banner of St Sepulchre
from the Madonna, by Francesco Solimena (1710). The 
Cathedral of San Paolo in Aversa, Italy. Public domain.

The following posts present the text of The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its authorship is generally attributed to St Bonaventure (1221-15 July 1274) who studied at the University of Paris where in 1243 he joined the Franciscan Order. In 1254, he was made a Master of Theology and took over the leadership of the Franciscan School in Paris. Bonaventure was officially confirmed as seventh Minister General of the Franciscans in 1257. He later wrote a life of St Francis and has been called the second founder of the Order. Appointed Cardinal the year before his death in 1274, he was canonised in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588 with the title of Seraphic Doctor.

I offer this annotated presentation of St Bonaventure’s Psalter as a small gift to our gentle Queen and Mother in gratitude for her many graces and favours, praying for her continued help and protection for the author and his family.

This presentation of St Bonaventure’s Marian Psalms will include: an English translation based upon that of Sr Mary Emmanuel O.S.B. in the 1932 edition published by Herder; the Latin text as published in the Psalterium B. Virignis Mariæ of 1679; the text of the Douay-Rheims Psalms; with footnotes and occasional notes translated from Fillion’s Bible (1900 edition).

Psalm 11

“Thou art clothed with the sun . . . resplendent with a lustrous crown
of twelve stars.” Patrona Hungariae (1896) by Ferenc Szoldatits.
Dezső Laczkó Museum, Hungary. Public domain.

1. Save me[1], O Mother of fair love[2]: fount of clemency and sweetness of piety.

2. Thou alone makest the circuit of the earth: that thou mayst help those that call upon thee[3].

3. Beautiful are thy ways[4]: and thy paths are peaceful.

4. In thee shine forth the beauty of chastity, the light of justice, and the splendour of truth.

5. Thou art clothed with the sun as with a vestment: resplendent with a lustrous crown of twelve stars[5].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Salvum me fac Mater pulchræ dilectionis : fons clementiæ, et dulcor pietatis.

2, Gyrum terrae sola circuis : ut subvenias invocantibus te.

3. Pulchræ sunt viæ tuæ : et semitæ tuæ pacificæ.

4. In te refulget species castitatis : lumen iustitiæ, et splendor veritatis.

5. Amicta solari lumine, sicut vestimento : duodecim stellarum corona rutilans radianti.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] The Psalm opens with the same words as the Davidic Psalm XI (see verse 2 below).

[2] Cf. “I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope:” Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 24.

[3] Looking forward to the image of the woman clothed with the sun in the last line of the Psalm, this verse speaks of  “the circuit of the earth.” Cf.: “He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way: His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.” Psalm. XVIII. 6-7.

[4] Cf. “Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable:” Prov. iii. 17.

[5] Cf. “And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”: Apoc. xii. 1.

Davidic Psalm XI 

1 Unto the end; for the octave, a psalm for David.  2 Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men.  3 They have spoken vain things every one to his neighbour: with deceitful lips, and with a double heart have they spoken.  4 May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.  5 Who have said: We will magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?  

6 By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety; I will deal confidently in his regard.  7 The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth refined seven times.  8 Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us: and keep us from this generation for ever.  9 The wicked walk round about: according to thy highness, thou hast multiplied the children of men.

Notes

Verse 1: “for the octave”: see Notes on verse 1 of Ps. VI.

In this Psalm David pleads for divine protection against powerful and arrogant enemies; this protection is promised to him and he brings out its full value. It was probably composed about the time of Saul’s persecution. Cf. I Kings xxiii. 11, 19 et seq.; xxvi. 19. The Psalm is divided into two equal halves which deal respectively with prayer (in verses 2 to 5) and the promise (in verses 6 to 9).

Verse 2: “for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men”: according to the Hebrew, the faithful  (meaning upright and conscientious people who can be trusted), have disappeared. This sort of lament is commonly found in the Prophets: cf. Is. Lvii. 1; lix. 14 et seq.; Jer. v. 1 et seq.; vii. 28; Os. iv. 1; Mich. vii. 2, etc.

Verse 3:“They have spoken vain things”: meaning falsehoods, (empty and hollow words that have no correspondence to reality).

“deceitful lips”: (verses 3 & 4): flattering lips; flattering on the outside but filled with cunning deceit.

Verse 3: “with a double heart”(Lat. in corde et corde): a common Hebraism referring to a double heart which is false, thinking one thing but doing something different. Cf. Swelling lips joined with a corrupt heart, are like an earthen vessel adorned with silver dross. An enemy is known by his lips, when in his heart he entertaineth deceit. Prov. xxvi. 23-4.

“our lips are our own”: literally, “with us.”  We are the masters and no one has the right to control the use we make of them.  This is an entirely diabolical arrogance and an allusion to the unscrupulous lords by whom Saul was surrounded and whom he favoured out of hatred towards David.

Verse 7: “as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth refined seven times”: Silver is a metal which by reason of its whiteness is a natural symbol for all that is pure. In order to render the comparison even more striking, he speaks of silver which has passed through the fire and has been purified up to seven times, this being the number representing perfection.The words purged from the earth may signify that which has been placed in the earth or in the crucible, or perhaps separated from any earthly or foreign elements which might have tainted it. The Hebrew specifically mentions the crucible.

Verse 9: “according to thy highness”:  this is an obscure line in the Vulgate. It is usually interpreted as referring to the mysterious working of Divine wisdom which in certain epochs seems to permit the wicked to multiply disproportionately on earth. The meaning is very clear and very beautiful in the Hebrew: the wicked walk around everywhere when baseness reigns among men: that is to say, when the wicked are in power. The poem concludes in this way with the thought which had served as its preamble.

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The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.

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. 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me shall not sin. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) xxiv. 30-31.30-31.