The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 37

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. Virginis Mariæ of 1679; the text of the Douay-Rheims Psalms; with footnotes and occasional notes translated from Fillion’s Bible (1900 edition).

Psalm 37

“Enlighten my blindness with thy brightness.”

Madonna of Humility (1430-50) [7]. Fra Angelico.
Galleria Sabauda, Turin. Public domain.

1. O Lady, let not the Lord rebuke me in His indignation[1]: obtain for us pardon for our sins.

2. Let all our desire be in thy sight[2]: our hope and our confidence.

3. My heart is troubled within me: light departs from within me[3].

4. Enlighten my blindness with thy brightness[4]: pour the balm of thy sweetness into my contrite heart.

5. Forsake us not[5], O Lady, Mother of God: let thy grace and thy power be at my right hand[6].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Domina ne in furore tuo arguat me Dominus : nobis veniam obtine de peccatis.

2. In conspectu tuo sit omne desiderium nostrum : spes nostra et confidentia nostra.

3. Cor meum conturbatum est in me : recessit lux de visceribus meis.

4. Illumina splendore tuo cæcitatem meam : dulcifica dulcore tuo contritionem meam.

5. Ne derelinquas nos Domina Mater Dei : gratia tua et virtus sit a dextris meis.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.” Davidic Ps, XXXVII, 2.

[2] Cf. “Lord, all my desire is before thee:” Davidic Ps, XXXVII, 10.

[3] Cf. “My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.” Davidic Ps, XXXVII, 11.

[4] Cf. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John viii, 12; “The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.” Eph. i, 18.

[5] Cf. “Thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us, forsake us not:” Jer. xiv. 9.

[6] Cf. “For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee.” Is. xli, 13.

[7] The text on the scroll reads: Ego sum lux mundi / I am the light of the world (John viii, 12) et vitis vera / and the true vine (John xv, 1).

Davidic Psalm XXXVII

1 A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath.  2 Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.  3 For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me.  4 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins.  5 For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.  6 My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness.  7 I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long.  8 For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh.  9 I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart.

10 Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee.  11 My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.  12 My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off:  13 And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long.  14 But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth.  15 And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproofs in his mouth.

16 For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God.  17 For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.  18 For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me.  19 For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think for my sin.  20 But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 21 They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness.  22 Forsake me not, O Lord my God: do not thou depart from me.  23 Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.

Notes

A prayer to obtain the forgiveness of great sins and help against powerful foes.

This is the third of the penitential psalms. According to the most commonly held opinion and that which is most probable, David composed the Psalm after his great sins, during the period of Absalom’s revolt. The subject is basically the same as such of Psalm VI but the ideas are here further developed. The psalmist is experiencing painful suffering in his body and in his soul; his friends have abandoned him, his enemies insult him and threaten him; but he humbly recognises in these afflictions of various kinds a most just punishment for his sins and he resigns himself patiently to suffer still more. He nevertheless has recourse to God with his customary trust, imploring him to have mercy on him.

Structure: the Psalm may be divided into three parts :

    • verses 2-9: a description of the supplicant’s physical and spiritual sufferings;

    • verses 10-15: a picture of the state of abandonment in which his enemies have left him and the terrible threats they are making to him; and

    • verses 16-23: a prayer to obtain his deliverance. 

First part: a description of the violent sufferings the Lord inflicted on David to punish him for his guilt. Verses 2-9.

2: cf. An almost identical opening to Ps. VI.

5: The psalmist compares his sins to a great flood which is bearing him away and overwhelming him: cf., “Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up.  Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable;” Ps. CXXIII, 4-5; and to a great weight which is crushing him: cf., “He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows:” Is. Liii, 4.

6: “sores”: In Hebr., the weals left by scourging. Cf. Is. i, 6: “From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores.”

8: “my loins are filled with illusions”: this line as it appears in the Vulgate has been interpreted in various ways. According to the majority of the ancient commentators, it refers to the disordered and humiliating effects of concupiscence. According to certain other interpreters, it refers to a shameful disease which David’s enemies referred to in mocking terms. The Septuagint, St Ambrose, and St Augustine have read the text as meaning: my soul, (instead of my loins) is filled with illusions. But the Hebrew provides a perfectly clear meaning: “My loins are filled with a burning fire.” The innermost parts, therefore, are consumed by a burning fever which from there invades the whole body.

Second part:  David’s abandonment by his friends and the threatening insults of his enemies. Verses 10-15.

11: “the light of my eyes itself is not with me.” his eyes are as if extinguished by weeping, vigils and sorrows.

12: His friends approach but then suddenly stop, struck with horror at the sight of him and refusing to help him. In the Hebrew, it says: My friends and my acquaintances draw back from my wounds, and my nearest distance themselves from me. He is being treated thus like a leper.

14-15: his patient resignation. A beautiful passage applied by the holy Fathers to our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Divine silence He maintained during His Passion.

Third part: a prayer for delivery. Verses 16-23.

17: “whilst my feet are moved:” A metaphor Frequently employed to denote misfortune. Cf. Ps. XII, 5: “They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved:”

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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.