The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 21

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 21

“Let all the families of the peoples venerate thee.” Mother of Mercy (c. 1435), 

by Spinelli. Museo Nazionale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna, Matera. Public

domain : Parri Spinelli (CC BY-SA 3.0.)

1. O God, my God : let Him look at thy merits in me, ever Virgin Mary[1].

2. O my Lady, I have cried to thee by day and by night[2] : and thou hast done mercy with thy servant[3].

3. Because I have hoped in thy mercy : thou hast taken away from me everlasting reproach.

4. Mine enemies have mocked me on every side[4]: but thou under the shadow of thy hand[5] hast bestowed good refreshment on me.

5. Let all the families of the peoples venerate[6] thee[7] : and let all the orders of the Angels glorify thee.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Deus Deus meus : respiciat in me meritis tuis Virgo semper Maria.

2. Domina mea clamavi ad te per diem et noctem : et fecisiti cum servo tuo misericordiam tuam.

3. Quia ego speravi in misericordia tua : sempiternum a me opprobrium abstulisti.

4. Deriserunt me inimici mei undique : tu autem sub umbra manus tuæ contulisti mihi refrigerium bonum.

5. Adorent te familiæ gentium : et glorificent te omnes ordines Angelorum.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “O God my God, look upon me”: Davidic Psalm. XXI. 2.

[2] Cf. “O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me:” Davidic Ps. XXI. 3. Cf. “O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee:” Ps. LXXXVII. 1.

[3] Cf. “Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word.” Ps. CXVIII. 65.

[4] Cf. “All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn”: Davidic Psalm. XXI. 8.

[5] Cf. “in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me;” Is. Xlix. 2. Cf. “Protect me under the shadow of thy wings.” Ps. XVI. 8.

[6] The author wrote “adorent” but with the sense of hyperdulia and not latria. To avoid misunderstandings amongs modern readers, however, I have opted for “venerated” to denote hyperdulia here. See Aquinas S.T. III Q25 A5.

[7] Cf. “Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour;” Ps. XCV. 7.

Davidic Psalm XXI

“They have opened their mouths against me,
as a lion ravening and roaring.” Scene of
the Crucufixion by Tissot (1886-94).
Booklyn Museum, NY. Public domain.

1 Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David.  2 O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins.  3 O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me.  4 But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel.  5 In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them.  6 They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.  7 But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.  8 All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head.  9 He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him.  10 For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother.  11 I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God, 12 Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me.  13 Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me.  14 They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring.  15 I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels.  16 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death.  17 For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet.  18 They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me.  19 They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots.  20 But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence.  21 Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog.  22 Save me from the lion’s mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns.

23 I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.  24 Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him.  25 Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face from me: and when I cried to him he heard me.  26 With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him.  27 The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever.  28 All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight.  29 For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations.  30 All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him.  31 And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him.  32 There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made.

Notes

This magnificent poem begins with cries of anxiety, uttered in the of the most profound distress by a soul which God seems to have abandoned despite its innocence and the supplications it addresses to the Lord in order to obtain help. Then the hymn changes into an act of triumphant thanksgiving, anticipating the deliverance which the supplicant is confident of obtaining. The Psalm is divided into two parts which are quite distinct : the first, verses 2-22, may be given the title of “the afflicted one” and it is an elegiac hymn; the second, verses 23-32, can be entitled “the saved one,”a joyous hymn of thanksgiving. The unity of the hymn remains perfect despite the difference in tone and thought predominating in the two parts, for the poet has brought together the opposing ideas in one life.

This Psalm has always been infinitely dear to the Church. This is because, with a beauty and power of language truly unsurpassable, it describes on the one hand the most poignant mysteries in the life of the Messiah, the humiliations and the sufferings of His passion; and on the other hand, the glorious mystery of His resurrection. There can be no doubt on this point since ecclesiastical tradition is unanimous, relying upon several passages from the New Testament where we see not only Jesus Christ referring Himself to this Psalm but also the Apostles and the Evangelists applying various its texts to Him. Cf. Matt. xxvii 35, 39, 43, 46; John xix 23, 24, 28; Hebr. ii 11-12. Its fulfilment occurred in such a precise and striking manner that an ancient writer was able to say: “Ut non tam prophetia quam historia videatur” : “So that it appears not so much as prophecy, but rather as history.” (Cassiodorus). Even the synagogue, when it still accepted the teaching about a suffering Messiah, based its belief upon this Psalm. How could the words of the Psalm, by turn so painful and so glorious, apply to anyone other than Christ? Neither to David, no matter what period of his life is considered, nor to Ezechias, nor to Jeremias, nor to the people of Israel considered as a whole. No man but only the God-Man could ever have endured a martyrdom so dreadful and so abundant in the fruits of salvation for the whole world, or could have manifested in His person such a combination of the most atrocious suffering and of the most perfect sanctity. Once this is seen, we consider the poem as directly and exclusively concerned with the Messiah, both in  its details and in its totality.

First part: verses 2-22. In this first part, which is the more interesting and the more important, The Psalm is, so to speak, the programme for the Divine tragedy of which the Gospel presents the execution. the August victim describes at length and in varied terms his terrible agony; the description is interrupted here and there only to give way to a sigh expressing hope and trust, or to an ardent prayer. Verses 2-12 show in particular the complete abandonment of the hero; verses 13-22 speak of His other sufferings.

Second part: Vers. 23-32. the prayer of complaint changes suddenly into a prayer of thanksgiving. Certain that his prayers are heard, the Hero of the Psalm offers thanks in advance to His Divine deliverer and sets forth in magnificent language the glorious results of his humiliations and his sufferings. The description of His hopes slowly increases in the same way as in the case of His sufferings: Jews and gentiles become in turn the docile subjects of the triumphant Christ.  

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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.