The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 46

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 46

“All ye nations . . . sing in jubilee to the glorious Virgin.”
The Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1607), by Guido Reni.
National Gallery, London. Public domain.

1. All ye nations, clap your hands: sing in jubilee to the glorious Virgin.[1]

2. For she is the gate of life, the door of salvation[2], and the way of our reconciliation.

3. The hope of the penitent: the comfort of those that weep[3]: the blessed peace of hearts, and their salvation.

4. Have mercy on me, O Lady, have mercy on me[4]: for thou art the light and the hope of all who trust in thee.

5. By thy saving fruitfulness let it please thee : that pardon of my sins may be granted unto me.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus : psallite in jubilo virgini gloriosæ.

2. Quoniam ipsa est porta vitæ, janua salutis et via nostræ reconciliationis.

3. Spes pœnitendum, solamen lugentium: pax beata cordium, atque salus.

4. Miserere mei, Domina, miserere mei: quia tu es lux et spes omnium confidentium in te.

5. Per tuam salutarem fœcunditatem placeat: ut peccatorum venia mihi concedatur.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of Joy”: Davidic Ps. XLVI, 2. Cf. “The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together”: Ps. XCVII, 8; “all the trees of the country shall clap their hands”: Is. lv, 12.

[2] Cf. “And he brought me back to the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary, which looked towards the east: and it was shut. And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it, and it shall be shut. The prince himself shall . . .enter in by the way of the porch of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.” Ezech. xliv, 1-3.

[3] Cf. Consolatrix afflictorum / Comforter of the afflicted: Litany of Loreto (Paris, 1150-1200).

[4] “Miserere mei / Have mercy on me ”: an expression found seventeen times in the Davidic psalms.

Davidic Psalm XLVI

1 Unto the end, for the sons of Core.

2 O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of Joy,  3 For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.  4 He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet.  5 He hath chosen for us his inheritance the beauty of Jacob which he hath loved.

6 God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet.  7 Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye.  8 For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely.  9 God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne. 10 The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.

Notes

A hymn in honour of God, King of all the earth and of all the nations.

1: The title: The author is a Coraite (one of the sons of Core).

This psalm, like the preceding one, is a hymn of victory. It celebrates God who has overcome the enemies of His chosen people and it declares that the whole earth will one day accept His rule. It is, therefore, Messianic since it is only through our Lord Jesus Christ that the pagan peoples are to be converted to the religion of the one true God. Because of verse 6, Christian tradition has frequently applied this psalm in a special way to the Saviour’s Ascension. It is characterised by lyrical enthusiasm and it may well be the case that it too was composed on the occasion of the victory gained by the Israelites against the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Idomeans without fighting – thanks to a spectacular intervention by the Lord. Cf. II Par. xx, 1 et seq.

Structure: the Psalm may be divided into two parts :

‣the poet invites all the nations to sing in praise of the God of Israel, verses 2-5;

‣he foretells their future conversion, verses 6-10.

First part:

2-3:  the theme of the Canticle.

“all ye nations”:  All the Pagan nations and especially those in and around Palestine who had witnessed the miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews.

“clap your hands”: a vivid physical image  incorporating an action which has throughout all history expressed wonderment and happiness. Cf. Ps. XCVII, 8; Nah. Iii, 19.

3: “For the Lord is high, terrible”: fear is not incompatible with a joy based upon respect . Cf. Ps. LXIV, 5; LXVII, 35, etc.

4-5: “He hath subdued”: This is written in the prophetic preterite tense, since the pagans were far from being subject at that point to the Hebrew people. In any event, the domination which is here promised to the Jews was to be above all moral and spiritual since it consisted in the conversion of the pagan world to God.  

5:  “He hath chosen for us his inheritance”: referring to the Holy Land, in which God settled the Israelites in an altogether loving manner.

Second part: the poet foretells the future conversion of the pagans . Verses 6 -10.

6: “God is ascended”: God had in a certain manner come down to earth in order to defend the holy nation; He then returns to His celestial abode after the victory. This passage may also contain an allusion to the Ark of the Covenant which, after it had been carried onto the battlefield, was carried in procession straight back to the sanctuary. Cf. Par. xx, 28. There is also a foreshadowing of the glorious ascension of Jesus into heaven. Cf. “Ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he gave gifts to men. Now that he ascended, what is it, but because he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended above all the heavens, that he might fill all things”: Eph. iv, 8-10.

7: Note the fourfold repetition of the verb psallite / sing praises in verse 7, showing a wonderfully animated spirit.

10: “The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham” : in fulfilment of the prophecy in Gen. xii, 2-3: “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed.”

“the strong gods of the earth”: These words refer to the princes of the people already mentioned and the psalmist adds that, through their conversion, they are raised to a most high degree 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.