The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 35

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 35

“O Lady, in heaven is thy mercy : and thy grace is spread over the earth.”
Banner of Our Lady of Mercy (1784), by Pereira Pegado bros.
Museu de São Roque in Lisbon. Public domain.

1. The unjust man said that he would sin in secret[1] : by thee let him depart from his impious purpose, O Mother of God.

2. Incline towards us the countenance of God[2] : impel Him to have mercy on sinners.

3. O Lady, in heaven is thy mercy : and thy grace is spread over the earth[3].

4. Power and strength are in thy arm: vigour and fortitude in thy right hand[4].

5. Blessed be thy empire over the heavens: blessed be thy magnificence upon the earth[5].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Dixit iniustus, ut peccet in abscondito : per te a malo proposito discedat, Mater Dei.

2. Inclina vultum Dei super nos : coge illum peccatoribus misereri.

3. Domina in cœlo misericordia tua : et gratia tua diffusa est super terram.

4. Potentia et virtus in brachio tuo : robur et fortitudo in dextera tua

5. Benedictum sit imperium tuum super cœlos : benedicta sit magnificentia tua super terram.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin”: Davidic Ps. XXXV, 1.

[2] Cf. “Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend” in Davidic Ps. CXLIII, 5.  “bow down” translates the Latin inclina which features nine times in the Psalms, of which eight are in the form: “incline thy ear unto me.”

[3] Cf. “O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth, even to the clouds.” Davidic Ps. XXXV, 6.

[4] Cf. “Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:” Davidic Ps. LXXXVIII, 14.

[5] Cf. “Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.” Davidic Ps. LVI, 12.

Davidic Psalm XXXV

1 Unto the end, for the servant of God, David himself.  

2 The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes.  3 For in his sight he hath done deceitfully, that his iniquity may be found unto hatred.  4 The words of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would not understand that he might do well.  5 He hath devised iniquity on his bed, he hath set himself on every way that is not good: but evil he hath not hated.  

6 O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth, even to the clouds.  7 Thy justice is as the mountains of God, thy judgments are a great deep. Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord:  8 O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! But the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings.  9 They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure.  10 For with thee is the fountain of life; and in thy light we shall see light.  

11 Extend thy mercy to them that know thee, and thy justice to them that are right in heart.  12 Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me.  13 There the workers of iniquity are fallen, they are cast out, and could not stand.

Notes

The perversity of the wicked; the infinite goodness of God to the just.

Verse 1, the title: the meaning is more clearly apparent in the Hebrew: A Psalm of the servant of God, David.

This beautiful canticle consists in a contrast carefully developed between the malice of the wicked, whether internal or external, and the inexhaustible goodness of God towards all His creatures.

It consists of three distinct parts:

    • a description of a wicked, in verses 2-5;

    • a picture of the infinite goodness of the Lord, in verses 6-10; and

    • a prayer for the grace of remaining ever faithful to God, in verses 11-13. 

It is generally agreed that David composed this Psalm during Saul’s persecution. He draws upon his own experience during this difficult time and presents this for the benefit and consolation of the good.

First part: a portrait of the wicked. Verses 2-5.

Verse 2: Cf. Rom. iii, 18: “There is no fear of God before their eyes,” which he says by way of summary and conclusion to his lugubrious description of the perversity  taking hold of a fallen man’s soul.

Verse 3: the sense of the Vulgate translation is that the wicked man has so multiplied his crimes in God’s eyes that they have provoked the vengeful hatred of the sovereign Judge.  an alternative translation of the Hebrew is : wickedness is so attractive to the wicked man’s own eyes that it deceives him into thinking his wickedness will not be discovered and hated, (meaning punished by God).

Second part: a picture of Divine goodness towards all creatures, especially towards the Just. Verses 6 -10.   There is no transition between this and what preceded it. Suddenly leaving the painful spectacle of human perversity, the psalmist takes refuge in a respectful and loving contemplation of the character of God, infinite source of life and light.

Conclusion: a prayer in which the psalmist ask God for a continuation of His benevolence and His protection against the wicked. Verses 11-13.

Verse 12: a vivid image. The persecuted young king prays he may not be crushed under the feet of his proud oppressors.

Verse 13: “and could not stand.” Their ruin will be final, for they will no longer be able to rise once God has struck them down. 

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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.