The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 81

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).

Reminder: I began posting an annotated and illustrated version of St Bonaventure's Life of St Francis on the 4th October (his feast day) this year, the 800th anniversary of his death in 1226. To read these posts, please click on our sister blog:

St Bonaventure’s Life of St Francis

Psalm 81

“As a rose from thorns...thou who art ever resplendent in purity.”
Madonna in the Rose Garden, by Bernardino Luini (early 16th century).
Brera Art Gallery, Milan. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

1. God is in the congregation of the Jews[1]: from whom, as a rose[2] from thorns[3], has come forth the Mother of God.

2. Wipe away my stains[4], O Lady: thou who art ever resplendent in purity.

3. Make the fountain of life flow into my mouth: whence the living waters take their rise and flow forth[5].

4. All ye who thirst, come to her[6]: she will willingly give you to drink from her fountain.

5. He who drinketh from her, will spring forth unto life everlasting: and he will never thirst[7].

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Deus in synagoga Judæorum: de qua, ut rosa de sentibus, progressa est Mater Dei.

2. Terge fœditatem meam Domina: quæ semper rutilas puritate.

3. Fontem vitæ influe in os meum: ex quo viventes aquæ profluunt et emanant.

4. Omnes sitientes, venite ad illam: et de fonte suo gratanter vos potabit.

5. Qui hauriet ex eo, saliet in vitam æternam: et qui bibet ex eo, non sitiet unquam.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “God hath stood in the congregation of gods”: Davidic Ps. LXXXI, 1.

[2] Cf. Mary’s title of “Rosa mystica / Mystical Rose” in the Litany of |Loreto (Paris 1150-1200).

[3] Cf. “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters”: Cant. ii, 2.

[4] Cf. “Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin”: Ps. l, 4.

[5] Cf. “If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink.  He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”: John vii, 37-8. Cf. “For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land: I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy stock”: Is. xliv, 3.

[6] Cf. “All you that thirst, come to the waters”: Is. lv, 1

[7] Cf. Christ’s words to the Samaritan woman by the well: “Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again; but he that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever”: John iv, 13.

Davidic Psalm LXXXI

1 A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods.

2 How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of the wicked?  3 Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble and the poor.  4 Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner.  5 They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved. 6 I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High.  7 But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes.

8 Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit among all the nations.

Notes

The Judgement of God against iniquitous Judges.

Title: 1: The author is Asaph, or at least one of his descendants if (as many interpreters believe) this dates from the reign of Josaphat. This is a beautiful poem with language which is sober, energetic and at the same time solemn where we hear God Himself, in His capacity as sovereign Judge, address severe rebukes to the iniquitous judges of Israel, reminding them of the sacred duties which they are shamelessly violating and threatening them with terrible reprisals. Jesus Christ cited verse 6 to demonstrate to the Jews that he had the right to call himself the Son of God (cf. John x, 34-36). 

Structure: the psalm may be divided into three parts:

1. a prelude which sets the scene : verse 1;

2. the words of the Lord: verses 2-7; and

3. a conclusion. 

The Divine words are framed by two reflections of the Psalmist.  

2-4: reprimands and exhortation. God is forceful in his condemnation of the iniquitous decrees of these judges and their disgusting partiality: paying attention to the status and power of people and to the presence they offer, rather than law and justice so that the poor and the weak are always condemned, even when innocent. Cf. Ex. xxiii, 2; Lev. xix, 15 etc.

5-7: the threat of punishment.

5: “in darkness”: moral and spiritual. Cf. Prov. ii, 13 etc.

“all the foundations of the earth shall be moved”: justice is the foundation of order amongst men ; once it disappears, everything collapses and Israel was therefore under threat of just such a cataclysm on account of the magistrates’ iniquity.

6: “I have said: You are gods . . .”: our Lord Jesus Christ made this verse famous by using it to demonstrate to the unbelieving Jews his right to call himself the Son of God. Cf. John x, 32-38: Jesus answered them: “Many good works I have shewed you from my Father; for which of these works do you stone me?” The Jews answered him: “For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, maketh thyself God.”Jesus answered them: “Is it not written in your law: ‘I said you are gods?’  If he called them gods, to whom the word of God was spoken, and the scripture cannot be broken; Do you say of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world: Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though you will not believe me, believe the works: that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

8: “Arise, O God . . .”: the Psalmist calls ardently upon the Lord to exercise His powers of sovereign Judge in order to put an end to the iniquity of the magistrates. He prays that the Lord will come to dispense justice since the judges on earth are doing it so badly. The reference is to the whole world and not just to Israel ; God has the right, adds the poet, since all peoples belong to Him as His inheritance. 

 +       +        +

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.