The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 6

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 6

Mary with her protective mantle, c1480.
From the Church of Our Lady in  Ravensburg.
 Now  in Bode-Museum, Berlin. Public domain.

1. Lady, let me not be chastised in God’s indignation[1]: nor be judged by Him in His anger.

2. For the honour of thy name, O Lady: may the Fruit of thy glorious womb be propitious to us.

3. From the gate of hell and from the depths of the abyss: by thy holy prayers deliver us.

4. May the eternal gates be opened unto us: that we may declare forever thy wondrous works.

5. For it is not the dead, nor those in hell, who will praise thee, O Lady[2]: but those who by thy grace will obtain eternal life.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Domina, ne in furore Dei sinas corripi me : neque in ira eius iudicari.

2. Propter honorem nominis tui Domina : propitietur nobis fructus gloriosi ventris tui.

3. De porta inferi et de ventre abyssi : tuis sanctis precibus libera nos.

4. Aperiantur nobis ianuæ sempiternæ : ut enarremus in æternum mirabilia tua.

5. Quia non mortui, neque qui in inferno sunt, laudabunt te Domina : sed qui tua gratia vitam æternam obtinebunt.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] See Psalm. VI. 2: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath.

[1] See Psalm. VI. 6: For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell?

Davidic Psalm VI 

Have mercy on me, O Lord. David in prayer, by 
Willem Vrelant (1460s). Getty Center, L.A.
Open Content Program.

1 Unto the end, in verses, a psalm for David, for the octave. 2 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 4 And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how long? 5 Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy mercy's sake. 6 For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell? 7 I have laboured in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears.  8 My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old amongst all my enemies.  9 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. 10 The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer. 11 Let all my enemies be ashamed, and be very much troubled: let them be turned back, and be ashamed very speedily.

Notes

1: for the octave : contrary to what certain commentators have believed, this does not refer to an instrument with eight strings but rather to what is known in music as the ottava bassa, instructing the singer to adopt a lower pitch of the voice. This sober and mournful tone is well suited to Psalms VI and XI where the subject is sorrowful.

First of the Penitential Psalms:This Psalm opens the series which are known as the Penitential Psalms: Ps. XXXI, XXXVII, L, CI & CXLII. This is quite appropriate because it shows us a sinner who, recognising his grievous fault and severely punished, experiences powerful contrition at having offended God;  broken in body and heart, he implores the Lord to have mercy on him and to forgive him. The language is that of a truly penitent man. It is highly likely that David composed this song at roughly the same time as the Miserere, (Psalm L), When hearing the words of the Prophet Nathan, he awoke from his moral lethargy and came to understand the full extent of his crime. See II Kings xii. 1 et seq. We see him surrounded by enemies (verse 8): this is doubtless an illusion to the beginning of Absalom’s revolt. 

Verses 2-4:  the poet begs for divine mercy and, the better to obtain it, he describes the extreme affliction he is suffering at the thought of having aroused against himself the wrath of the LORD. Acknowledging his guilt in no way refuses His punishment But he once got to punish him as a repentant Sinner whom he has pardoned and like an enemy on whom his is exercised without knowing any limits. Cf. Job xvii; Prov. iii. 11-12; & Jer. x. 24.

5-8:  God had turned aside and distanced himself from David because of his sin; may He deign to come back as soon as possible to the repentant monarch and make His graces available to him.

9-11: Suddenly, without the least sign of transition, the poet’s hymn which had been so distressed up until this point, takes on a note of triumph and joy. The gloomy description of his anxieties gives place to a lively and proud address which he directs to his enemies, a sudden inspiration of faith revealing to him in reply to his prayer that they will soon be confounded. 

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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.