The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 64

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 64

“He hath set a resplendent crown upon thy head.”
The Mother of fair love[6] (18th. c., anon).
 Museo de San Francisco, Ecuador. Public domain.

1. A hymn becometh thee, O Lady, in Sion: praise and jubilation in Jerusalem.[1]

2. The Lord hath given thee the blessing of all nations[2]: praise and glory in the sight of all peoples.

3. The Lord hath blessed thee in His mercy: and hath set thy throne above all the orders of angels.[3]

4. He hath placed grace and beauty in thy lips: and with a mantle of glory he hath clothed thy body.[4]

5. He hath set a resplendent crown upon thy head[5]: and hath adorned thee with the jewels of virtues.

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Te decet hymnus, Domina nostra, in Sion: laus et jubilatio in Hierusalem.

2. Benedictionem omnium gentium dedit tibi Dominus: laudem et gloriam ante conspectum populorum.

3. Benedixit te Dominus in misericordia sua: et thronum tuum constituit super ordines angelorum.

4. Gratiam et decorem posuit in labiis tuis: et pallio gloriæ induit corpus tuum.

5. Coronam radiantem posuit in capite tuo: et virtutum monilibus te decenter ornavit.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “A Hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.” Davidic Ps. LXIV.

[2] Cf. “Behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” Luke i, 48.

[3] Cf. God’s words to the serpent: “She shall crush thy head” (Gen. iii, 15), correcting the proud and inverted presumption of the latter when he dared to say “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God” (Is, xiv, 13).

[4] Cf. “The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety”: Ps. XLIV, 10.

[5] Cf. “And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”: Apocalypse (Revelation) xii, 1; “Never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother's solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.” Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical proclaiming the queenship of Mary, Ad Caeli Reginam (1954).

[6] Cf. “I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. My memory is unto everlasting generations.They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. 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, 24.

Davidic Psalm LXIV

1 To the end, a psalm of David. The canticle of Jeremias and Ezechiel to the people of the captivity, when they began to go out.

2 A Hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem.  3 O hear my prayer: all flesh shall come to thee.  4 The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt pardon our transgressions.  5 Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be filled with the good things of thy house; holy is thy temple,  6 Wonderful in justice. Hear us, O God our saviour, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off.

7 Thou who preparest the mountains by thy strength, being girded with power:  8 Who troublest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves. The Gentiles shall be troubled,  9 And they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful.

10 Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it; thou hast many ways enriched it. The river of God is filled with water, thou hast prepared their food: for so is its preparation.  11 Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits; it shall spring up and rejoice in its showers.  12 Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and thy fields shall be filled with plenty.  13 The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the hills shall be girded about with joy, 14 The rams of the flock are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they shall shout, yea they shall sing a hymn.

Notes

Thanksgiving to God for the benefits he has bestowed and especially to thank him for an extraordinary harvest.

Title, verse 1: This is a true canticle by David which is in fact remarkable for its lyrical verve, its vivid colours , its bold  changes of direction, its concision, its depth,  its elegance and its delicacy, as well as containing a variety of sentiments. The last verses partake of idyllic sweetness.

The king is speaking in the name of the entire people whom he pictures reunited in front of the Tabernacle on Mount Sion. The words “of Jeremias and Ezekiel . . .  when they began to go out” were added by the Vulgate and in certain Septuagint manuscripts. They are most probably apocryphal. According to those interpreters who believe in their authenticity, they indicate that the prophets Jeremias and Ezekiel invited their fellow citizens to sing this song at the end of the captivity, when the Israelites exiled in Egypt or deported into Chaldea were starting to leave the foreign country in order to return to Palestine.

This is a hymn of thanksgiving to celebrate in a general way the benefits received from the Lord by His chosen people and, most particularly, to thank God for an extraordinarily abundant harvest.

Structure: God is praised 

1. for his mercy and his goodness: verses 2-6; 

2. for his infinite power : verses 6-9; and 

3. his recently demonstrated generosity shown in a rich harvest: verses 10-14. 

First part: verses 2-6.

2: according according to the most common translation of the Hebrew, this means: For Thee praise is silent, Oh God, in Sion. This makes the point once more that the most worthy praise for God consists in the silent meditation of His infinite attributes, this being more expressive than words. Cf. Hab. ii, 20; Zach. Ii, 13.

4: a humble confession and an appeal to God’s mercy. The supplicants declare that they allowed themselves to be seduced by the lying words of the wicked. The Hebrew says more simply: iniquities overwhelmed me. They feel as though crushed beneath the weight of their sins.

Second part: verses 6-9. a eulogy celebrating the divine omnipotence which has preserved Israel despite the repeated attacks by pagan nations.  

9: These miracles do not produce only fear but, adds the poet, they also have a gracious side which gives rise to joy.

“of the morning and of the evening”: according to the Hebrew: the places where dawn rises and the sun sets.

Third part: a eulogy celebrating the generosity of the Lord towards his people, as evidenced by a magnificent harvest. Verses 10-14.

10-11: How God irrigated the earth through abundant rainfall.

12-14: A description of the miraculous harvest.

“the crown of the year”: as shown by the details which follow, all the agricultural products of the country.

“The rams of the flock are clothed”: they are clothed with wool or with plumpness. The Hebrew expresses a much more poetic thought: The pastures are clothed with sheep. The prairies being very rich in glass during this year of blessing, all the flocks are taken out to pasture, so that the fields are clothed in white.  

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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.