The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 10

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 10

“Do not turn away from us thy glorious countenance.” 
The Coronation of the Virgin (1635-6), by Diego Velázquez.
Museo del Prado, Madrid. Public domain.

1. In our Lady I put my trust[1] : because of the sweetness of the mercy of her name[2].

2. Her eyes look upon the poor : and her hands are stretched out to the orphan and the widow[3].

3. Seek after her from your youth : she will glorify you before the face of the peoples.

4. Her mercy will deliver us from the multitude of our sins : and will bestow on us fruitfulness of merits.

5. Stretch out to us thy arm, O glorious Virgin : and do not turn away from us thy glorious countenance[4].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. In Domina confido : propter dulcedinem misericordiæ nominis sui.

2. Oculis eius in pauperem respiciunt : et manus eius ad pupillum, et viduam sunt extentæ.

3. Exquirite illam a iuventute vestra : et glorificabit vos ante faciem populorum.

4. Misericordia illius nostrorum auferat multitudinem peccatorum : et fœcunditatem nobis conferat meritorum.

5. Extende ad nos brachium tuum, Virgo gloriosa : et ne avertas a nobis gloriosum vultum tuum.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] This reflects the opening of Psalm X (see below) : In the Lord I put my trust.

[2] Cf. the opening line of the Salve Regina (commonly attributed to Hermannus Contractus, 11th century) : “Hail holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope.” 

[3] Cf. what is said of the valiant woman in Proverbs xxxi. 20: She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hands to the poor.

[4] Cf. Ps. XLIII.4: For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them. Note too how the last verse in Psalm 10 echoes the image in the last verse of Psalm X: his countenance hath beheld righteousness.

Davidic Psalm X 

“Fire and brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion
of their cup.” The flight of Lot, (Gen. xix. 24-26), one of
Gustave Doré's illustrations for La Grande Bible de Tours 
(1866). Public domain.

1 Unto the end. A psalm for David.  2 In the Lord I put my trust: how then do you say to my soul: Get thee away from hence to the mountain like a sparrow?  3 For, lo, the wicked have bent their bow; they have prepared their arrows in the quiver; to shoot in the dark the upright of heart.  4 For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made: but what has the just man done?  5 The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes look on the poor man: his eyelids examine the sons of men.  6 The Lord trieth the just and the wicked: but he that loveth iniquity hateth his own soul.  7 He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone and storms of winds shall be the portion of their cup.  8 For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: his countenance hath beheld righteousness.

Notes

The holy king finds himself in a desperate situation, with his own life in danger. His friends are at their wit’s end and advise him to flee quickly to a secure location, but he robustly but poses their advice and proclaims aloud his total confidence in God, the supreme and just Judge of the world. We do not know the exact time of its composition : some commentators place it at the time of Absalom’s revolt, as in the case of Psalms III and IV; others with greater probability, place it in the time of Saul’s persecution.

I put my trust (Lat. confido): The Hebrew equivalent of confido is hâsiti : “I have hidden myself, I have sought refuge.”

Get thee away...like a sparrow: The preposition is missing in the Hebrew which reads : Get thee away, sparrow. Timid and defenceless birds are a perfect image of men who are persecuted and whose only hope lies in flight (cf. I Kings xxvi. 20; Lam. Iii. 52.).

Verse 3:  the description here is vivid:  the bow is bent and the arrow has already been inserted (according to the Hebrew text, unlike the words in pharetra (in the quiver) which are found in the Vulgate). Not only is the enemy ready to shoot and to strike, but he is hiding in the dark which makes even more dangerous.

Verse 5: his eyelids examine the sons of men: The Hebrew verb bâhan literally refers to the purification of metal by fire ; figuratively it refers to the act of scrutinizing something in order to know it in the most intimate aspect of its being. The eyelids are not mentioned without reason, for when we wish to see something clearly, we close them slightly in order to concentrate on the rays we see.

Verse 6: but he that loveth iniquity hateth his own soul : a more literal reading of the Hebrew gives: he that loveth iniquity, his own soul hateth him.

Verse 7: fire and brimstone and storms of winds: Similar to what consumed Sodom and the other cities of the Pentapolis (Gen. xix. 34; cf. Deut. xxix. 23; Ez. xxxviii. 22 etc). A violent wind (spiritus procellarum), the devastating simoom, kindles and spreads this fearful fire.

shall be the portion of their cup: the punishments which the wicked are destined to receive are, so to speak, a terrible potion which they are forced to drink to the last drop.

Verse 8: For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: meaning acts of justice, good and holy works.

his countenance hath beheld righteousness: H e sees it and rewards it; but the Hebrew has another meaning: “The just will see his face” – which means, in the language of the East, that the just will be admitted into the presence of God and will receive a thousand signs of benevolence. Cf. Ps. IV 6; XV 11, etc. Despite the sadness of the present moment, David is therefore sure of being saved.

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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.