The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 13

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 13

“Thy beauty astonishes the sun and the moon . . . He whom
 the whole world cannot contain was enclosed within thee.”
Santa Maria del Sol, artist n/k (15th century). Catedral de
 Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, Córdoba
Sharon Molleus, CC by 2.0.

1. Our foolish enemy hath said in his heart[1]: I will follow after and take him, and my hand shall slay him.

2. Arise, O Lady, and prevent him, and supplant him: destroy all his machinations[2].

3. Thy beauty astonishes the sun and the moon : the angelic powers serve and obey thee[3].

4. By thy gentle touch the sick are healed: by thy rose-sweet fragrance the dead revive.

5. Virgin Mother of God, He whom the whole world cannot contain : was enclosed within thee, being made Man[4].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Dixit insipiens adversarius noster in corde suo : persequar, et comprehendam, et interficiet eum manus mea.

2. Exurge Domina, et præveni eum,et supplanta eum : destrue omnes conatus eius.

3. Tuam pulchritudinem Sol et Luna mirantur : tibi Angelicæ potestates serviunt et famulantur.

4. Tuo tactu lenissimo sanantur infirmi : tuo odore roseo mortui reviviscunt.

5. Virgo Dei Genitrix, quem totus non capit orbis : in tua se clausit viscera factus homo.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “The fool hath said in his heart”: Davidic Psalm XIII. 1.

[2] Cf. “Arise Lord, prevent him, and supplant him : deliver my soul from the impious, thy sword”: Ps. XVI. 13.

[3] Cf. “Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” Cant. vi.9.

[4] Cf. “The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN:” Jerem. Xxi. 22. Cf. “Hail, O Mary, Mother of God, who enclosed the One Who cannot be encompassed in your sacred womb:” from the prayer by St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444).

Davidic Psalm XIII

 “The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God; They are
corrupt, and are become abominable in iniquities.” (Ps. LII).
From the Psalter of Bonne de Luxembourg (14th. century). 
Met Cloisters, NYC. Public domain.

1 Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.  2 The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God.  3 They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre: with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes.  4 Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my people as they eat bread?  5 They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. 6 For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man, but the Lord is his hope.  7 Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.

Notes

Cf. Ps. LII. where the ideas and vocabulary of this Psalm are repeated in a slightly modified form. The opening words of Ps. LII feature in the 14th century illumination above.

The Psalmist describes the profound and universal corruption in the world, indicating at the outset the cause : which is that men deny God, or at least in practice they forget Him. as a special example of this corruption, He points to cruel treatment inflicted on the theocratic Nation. But the Lord will come unto the aid of Israel and will restore peace and happiness.

It is not clear when this Psalm was composed but the details suggest it may well have been at the time of Absalom’s revolt. 

Verse 1:  The Royal Psalmist goes straight to the main point which explains what follows. By “the fool” (Lat. insipiens, Hebr. nâbal), he is referring, following the custom of the Sacred Scriptures, to the wicked and to sinners, who are the worst amongst the fools and the senseless. Cf. “Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people?” (Deut. xxxii. 6.); “Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly. For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel;” (II Kings xiii. 12-13; “For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty.” (Isai. xxxiii. 6). Wickedness is moral folly, especially when it goes so far as to deny God whose existence is so easily discernible through the world of nature and that of conscience. The singular serves as a collective noun and denotes all the wicked.

They are corrupt: This is powerful language which refers to all the abominations of which a corrupted nature is capable when it is no held in check. Cf. “And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times:” (Gen. vi. 5.) and “the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity:” (Gen. vi. 11.). The words do not refer only to the atheists mentioned previously but to humanity in general.

Verses 4-6: The Lord will have his vengeance upon thee perverse men who dare to commit outrageous against his people. It is God in person who speaks here and cries out in indignation when he sees the extent of perversity crawl on the wickedness had spread even into the theocratic race where the great oppress the weak and the poor   

Verse 7: Jacob:  a collective noun synonymous with Israel, and given to the Hebrew people in remembrance of their glorious ancestor.

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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.