The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 19

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 19

“Hear us, O Lady, in the day of tribulation.” The Virgin of
Mercy (1798-1803), by Vicente López Portaña.
Museum of Fine Arts, Valencia. Public domain.

1. Hear us, O Lady, in the day of tribulation[1] : and by our prayers turn to us thy merciful countenance.

2. Cast us not off in the time of our death : but help the soul[2], when it shall have left the body.

3. Send an Angel to meet it : by whom it may be defended from the enemy.

4. Show unto it the most serene Judge of ages : who on account of thy grace will bestow pardon.

5. Let it feel thy refreshment in its torments : and grant to it a place among the elect of God.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Exaudias nos Domina in die tribulationis : et precibus nostris converte clementem faciem tuam.

2. Ne projicias nos in tempore mortis nostræ : sed succurre animæ cum deseruerit corpus suum.

3. Mitte Angelum in occursum eius : per quem ab hostibus defendatur.

4. Ostende ei serenissimum Iudicem sæculorum : qui ob tui gratiam veniam ei largiatur.

5. Sentiat in pœnis refrigerium tuum : et concede ei locum inter electos Dei.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation:” Davidic Psalm. XIX. 2.

[2] Cf. “May he send thee help:” Ibid. 3.

Davidic Psalm XIX

1 Unto the end. A psalm for David.  2 May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee.  3 May he send thee help from the sanctuary: and defend thee out of Sion.  4 May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burnt offering be made fat.  5 May he give thee according to thy own heart; and confirm all thy counsels.  6 We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we shall be exalted.  7 The Lord fulfill all thy petitions: now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is in powers.  8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God.  9 They are bound, and have fallen; but we are risen, and are set upright. 10. O Lord, save the king: and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee.

Notes

This Psalm and the one which follows are closely united by their subject matter: the King of Israel, for whom the whole of his people addresses in the first place an urgent prayer to the Lord God on the occasion of a dangerous war that he was on the point of launching against powerful enemies (Ps. XIX), and in the second heartfelt thanksgiving after victory (Ps. XX). the war in question was, most probably, the one waged by David in person against the Ammonites and the Syrians who had joined forces against him (cf. Kings X-XII). The title of Psalm XIX in the Syriac version reveals this quite expressly and several parts of the two Psalms coincide in a striking manner with the account written by the Sacred Historian. Compare in particular Ps XIX 7 with II Kings X.18; and Ps. XX 3 & 9 with II Kings XII 30-31. David composed this prayer, therefore, and the “Te Deum,” either before or after the campaign and had them sung in the Temple as part of the impetratory and Eucharistic sacrifices.

First part: prayers  of the people for the safety of the king. Verses 2-6.

“protect thee”: the literal meaning in the hebrew is: may he place thee on high; Meaning May he be for assure and inaccessible refuge. Compare this with Ps. IX 9 and XVII 2   where God was called a tower of refuge, a high place.

“thy sacrifices”: Hebr. minhôt,    the word in verbally used to denote unbloody sacrifices. The reference here along with the hollow cowstone, Is to the special offerings david consecrated to the LORD as he prepared to undertake a war against the Ammonites, according to the received usage in Israel. Cf. I Kings vii. 9-10; xiii. 9-12.

“be made fat”: in the Hebr.: May He consider thy holocaust precious. The fatter the victims, the more they were considered as worthy of being immolated to the Lord.

Second part: A prayer of trust in God, praying for victory. Verses 7-10. “ the Lord hath saved his anointed”: the suppliant nation considers the prayer as already granted because it concerns him who is the anointed one of God – “his anointed” (Lat. “christum suum”) – whom He consecrated to be His representative on earth and whom He is bound to protect. 

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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.