The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 31

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 31

“The beauty of thy grace will never see corruption.”
Virgin and Child in Glory, by Murillo (1673). 
Walker Art Gallery, Liverool.

1. Blessed are they whose hearts love thee, O Virgin Mary : their sins will be mercifully washed away by thee[1].

2. Holy, chaste, and flowering are thy breasts : which blossomed into the flower of eternal greenness[2].

3. The beauty of thy grace will never see corruption : and the grace of thy countenance will never fade.

4. Blessed art thou, O sublime Rod of Jesse[3] : for thou hast raised thyself unto Him who sits in the highest.

5. O Virgin Queen, thou thyself art the way[4] : by which salvation from on high hath visited us[5].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Beati, quorum corda te diligunt Virgo Maria : peccata ipsorum a te misericorditer diluentur.

2. Sancta, casta, et florigera ubera tua : quæ florem viriditatis perpetuæ eruperunt.

3. Decor pulchritudinis tuæcorruptionem non videbit : et vultus tui gratia in perpetuum non marcescet.

4. Benedicta tu virga Jesse sublimis : quæ te usque ad sedentem in throno dilatasti.

5. O Virgo Regina, ipsa es via : per quam nos salus de supernis sedibus visitavit.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. the two verses using the words “Blessed are they” in verses 1 & 2 of the Davidic Ps. XXXI.

[2] Cf. “I said: I will go up into the palm tree, and will take hold of the fruit thereof: and thy breasts shall be as the clusters of the vine: and the odour of thy mouth like apples.” Cant. vii, 8. This is but one of twelve references to breasts in the Canticle of Canticles.

[3] Cf. “And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.” Is. xi, 1.

[4] Cf. “I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go.” Davidic Ps. XXXI, 8.

[5] Cf. “Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us:” Luke i, 78.

Davidic Psalm XXXI

1 To David himself, understanding. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.  2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile.  3 Because I was silent my bones grew old; whilst I cried out all the day long.  4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: I am turned in my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened.  5 I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have not concealed. I said I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin.  

6 For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee in a seasonable time. And yet in a flood of many waters, they shall not come nigh unto him.  7 Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed me: my joy, deliver me from them that surround me.  8 I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go: I will fix my eyes upon thee.  9 Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding. With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near unto thee.  10 Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord.  11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right of heart.

Notes

This is the second of the penitential Psalms. David would appear to have composed it at the time of the “Miserere,” after his double crime of adultery and murder but a little later, after the Prophet Nathan had indicated to him that God had deigned to absolve him of his sin; in fact the pardon which he seeks in Psalm L was obtained in this Psalm.The great benefit of a clear conscience, in contrast to the great evil leading to remorse, provides the subject matter for this poem (Patrizi) as is summed up in the well known words from Proverbs  : “He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper: but he that shall confess, and forsake them, shall obtain mercy.” (Prov. xxviii, 13). It would be difficult, as has been remarked with a great deal of justice, to portray more powerfully and more fittingly the internal misery of a broken heart followed by the noble joy of this same heart once healed and forgiven.  St Augustine frequently read this Psalm in tears and, before his death, he caused it to be written on the wall opposite his bed so that he could have it constantly before his eyes and in his thoughts.

It consists of two parts. In the first, verses 1-5, David describes according to his own experience the happiness felt by a great sinner when, having passed through the torments of remorse, he obtains the certainty that God has pardoned him his sin; in the second part, verses 6-11, he addresses other men and encourages them to learn and profit from his misfortunes and not to become hardened in the practice of evil.  

Verse 1: “understanding”: this in the genitive case with the word psalm understood. The Hebr. text has “rendering intelligent,” found at the head of a dozen other Psalms (XLI, XLIII, XLIV, LI-LIV, LXXIII, LXXVII, LXXXVII, LXXXVIII, CXLI). it is most probable that the word indicates these psalms are “didactic.”

First part: teaching. Verses 1-5; verse 1,: Cf. Rom. iv, 6-8.

3: “Because I was silent”: refusing as a result of pride, Self deception and passions to recognise his crimes , whether before God or before his own conscience. God then increase the punishments on the guilty king  to make him reflect and to open his eyes ; and this was soon like hell itself within David’s soul.

“ I cried out”: The Hebrew employ here, as in other passages the word “roaring.”

4. “I am turned in my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened.” The poor man was writhing in pain whilst the divine punishments penetrated ever more deeply into his flesh like thorns. The Hebrew makes use of a different image but one equally beautiful: My sap has been changed as by the summer heat. His vital sap and the fluids of his body had been dried up as if by the  burning rays of the summer sun. Cf. Ps. XXI, 15; Prov. xvii, 22. 

5. The remedy for this evil is for David resolved to confess his crime, to put an end to this intolerable torment.

“I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord:”: without any pity for himself and without trying to spare anything. He sees and now he understands.

Second part: Application. David would like to make all men learn and profit from his terrible experiences. Verses 6-11.

6: “ And yet in a flood of many waters”: this inundation of the great waters represents the avenging punishment that God launches from time to time upon particular individuals or on peoples who are blameworthy, like waves which cannot be withstood. Cf. Ps. XVII, 12; Is. XXVIII, 2, 17, etc. The Saints however escape this punishment thanks to special protection.

11: “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right of heart.” Three expressions which are synonymous and most fittingly describe the depth and the perfection of this holy joy. 

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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.