The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 23

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 23

“Thou art clothed with glory and beauty.” The Virgin
of Guadalupe (c. 1700) with added crown.[6]
Indianopolis Museum of Art. Public domain.

1. The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof[1]: but thou, O most holy Mother, reignest with Him forever[2].

2. Thou art clothed with glory and beauty: every precious stone is thy covering and thy clothing[3].

3. The brightness of the sun is upon thy head: the beauty of the moon is beneath thy feet[4].

4. Shining orbs adorn thy throne: the morning stars glorify thee forever[5].

5. Be mindful of us, O Lady, in thy good pleasure: and make us worthy to glorify thy name.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Domini est terra et plenitudo eius : tu autem sanctissima Mater cum eo regnas in æternum.

2. Gloriam et decorem induisti : omnis lapis pretiosus amictus et operimentum tuum.

3. Splendor solis super caput tuum : lunaris pulchritudo sub pedibus eius.

4. Sidera micantia ornant sedile tuum : astra te glorificant iugiter matutina.

5. Memento nostri Domina in beneplacito tuo : et fac nos dignos glorificandi nomen tuum.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof”: Davidic Psalm XXIII, 1.

[2] Cf. “Because the Virgin Mary was raised to such a lofty dignity as to be the mother of the King of kings, it is deservedly and by every right that the Church has honoured her with the title of ‘Queen’.” the words of St Alphonsus Ligori (S. Alfonso, The Glories of Mary, p. I, c. I, §1.) quoted by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam (11 Oct. 1954).

[3] Cf. “The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety,” “All the glory of the king’s daughter is within in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties”: Ps. XLIV. 10 & 14-15.

[4] Cf. “Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?” Cant. vi. 6; “And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”: Apoc. xii.1.

[5] Cf. Mary as stella matutina / morning star par excellence: “Ave, Stella matutina / Peccatorum medicina / Mundi princeps et Regina.” – “Hail, morning Star / Medicine of sinners / Ruler and Queen of the world;” from the Carmelite Antiphon attributed to St Simon Stock (13th century) or Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny (12th. Century).

[6] Note in the image how the Virgin wears a crown (“thou...reignest with Him forever”); she is “clothed with glory and beauty”; “the beauty of the moon is beneath thy feet”; and her mantle shows how the “stars glorify thee forever.”

Davidic Psalm XXIII

“David danced with all his might before the Lord.” For details of the above scene,
 see II Kings (II Samuel) vi, 14-16. From the illustrated Bible commissioned
 by St Louis (13th c.). Morgan Library and Museum, N.Y. Public domain.

1 On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.  2 For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.  3 Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?  4 The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.  5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour. 6 This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.  7 Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.  8 Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.  9 Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.  10 Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

Notes

A triumphal hymn for the translation of Ark of the Covenant to Mount Sion.

“On the first day of the week,” :  These words are missing in the Hebrew text but it is believed that the translators of the Septuagint added them in accordance with the Jewish tradition. They indicate the liturgical place of this Psalm which was to be sung on the first day of the Hebrew week, namely Sunday. It seems evident that it was composed on the occasion of the solemn translation of the Ark into the Tabernacle prepared by David on mount Sion, one of the most important events in the history of Israel. Cf. II Kings vi. Since the Ark symbolised the presence of God in the midst of His people, He was considered to be entering personally with the Ark on the Holy Hill. He enters in with glorious triumph for it was thanks to Him that David had succeeded in his recent conquest of the Jebusite Citadel. Cf. II Kings v, 6-10.

The Psalm is made up of two parts. The first, in verses 1-6, describes the holiness called for from the Israelites by the Lord’s intimate presence amongst them ; it would appear that it was sung whilst the procession accompanying the Ark made its way up Mount Sion. The second (in verses 7-10), sung at the top of the hill in front of the very gates of Sion, sets forth a magnificent eulogy of the Lord as God of armies.

Commentators have for a long time noted the changes of voice in the Psalm, or its form as a dialogue. Here is a summary:

     verses 1b-2 : the choir;

     verse 3 : another voice;

     verse 4 : a second voice;

     verses 5-6 : the choir;

     verse 7 : the choir again, after a pause between the two parts of the Psalm;

     verse 8a : a voice coming from the gates;

     verses 8b-9 : the choir;

     verse 10a : the voice coming from the gates;

     verse 10b : the choir.

Verse 7 : “Lift up your gates”:  the procession has now arrived before Sion. According to the Septuagint and the Vulgate, the poet addresses firstly the Princes of the city or of the people, calling upon them to open wide the gates; but the Hebrew is slightly different : “Lift up, ye gates, your heads.” This poetic anthropomorphism may at the same time be an allusion to the way that the gates of fortified cities were frequently constructed: in order to open them, they were drawn up in grooves set in the gateway ; they would then be lowered again in order to close the entrance. The gates are here apostrophized in a sublime manner: “Make yourselves higher and greater, so as acknowledge (if it were possible) the majesty of such a great king and to place no obstacle in his way.” This commandment has something majestic about it and is admirably suited to the pomp of a triumphal procession where the victorious King is normally mounted high in a chariot and accompanied by a great multitude of warriors and followers.

“the King of Glory shall enter in” : The Ark symbolised God Himself, “the Lord of hosts . . . the King of Glory.”

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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.