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| 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. |
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 58
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| “Arise to meet me, O Queen of piety. The purest gold is thy ornament.” Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, 1630–1650 (artist n/k). Public domain. GiW. CC BY 2.0. |
2. The purest gold is thy ornament[2]: the sardius stone and topaz are thy diadem.[3]
3. Jasper and amethyst are in thy right hand: beryl and chrysolite in thy left.
4. Jacinths are on thy breast: shining carbuncles are the jewels of thy bracelets.[4]
5. Myrrh, frankincense, and balsam are on thy hands: sapphire and emerald on thy fingers.[5]
Glory be to the Father etc.
1. Eripe me de inimicis meis, Domina mundi: exurge in occursum meum, Regina pietatis.
2. Aurum obryzum in ornamentis tuis: sardius et topazius in diademate tuo.
3. Jaspis et amethystus in dextera tua: beryllus et chrysolithus in sinistra tua.
4. Hyacinthus et achates in pectore tuo: carbunculi scintillantes in monilibus tuis.
5. Myrrha, thus et balsamum in manibus tuis: sapphirus et smaragdus in digitis tuis.
Gloria Patri, etc.
Footnotes
[1] Cf. “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me.”: Davidiv Ps. LVII, 2.
[2] Cf. On the Temple: “And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold [auri obrizi] throughout”: 2 Para. iii, 5.
[3] There are four references to sardius stone in the Vulgate, e.g., when speaking of the holy vestments for Aaron and his sons: “And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones: in the first row shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald”: Exod. xxviii, 17. Sardius is better known as carnelian.
[4] Cf. “In the second a carbuncle [deep red stone], a sapphire and a jasper. In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst: In the fourth a chrysolite [gold stone], an onyx, and a beryl”: Exod. xxviii, 18-20.
[5] Cf. “The foundations of the wall of the city [the new Jerusalem] were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper: the second, sapphire: the third, a chalcedony: the fourth, an emerald: The fifth, sardonyx: the sixth, sardius: the seventh, chrysolite: the eighth, beryl: the ninth, a topaz: the tenth, a chrysoprasus: the eleventh, a jacinth: the twelfth, an amethyst.”: [Apoc. xxi, 19-20]
Davidic Psalm LVIII
1 Unto the end, destroy not, for David for an inscription of the title, when Saul sent and watched his house to kill him.
2 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me. 3 Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 4 For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed in upon me: 5 Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity have I run, and directed my steps. 6 Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. Attend to visit all the nations: have no mercy on all them that work iniquity. 7 They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city. 8 Behold they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips: for who, say they, hath heard us? 9 But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the nations to nothing. 10 I will keep my strength to thee: for thou art my protector:
11 My God, his mercy shall prevent me. 12 God shall let me see over my enemies: slay them not, lest at any time my people forget. Scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord, my protector: 13 For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and lying they shall be talked of, 14 When they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth. 15 They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city. 16 They shall be scattered abroad to eat, and shall murmur if they be not filled. 17 But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the morning. For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of my trouble. 18 Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my defence: my God my mercy.
Notes
A prayer to obtain help against cruel enemies.
The title: 1: “destroy not...”: see Ps. LVI and note. Hebr. miktam (a didactic poem) of David.
Historic background: “when Saul sent…”: comp. I Kings xix, 9 et seq. Saul, desperate to be rid of his rival, placed his guards around the house he was occupying with the intention of putting him to death the next morning. David owed his escape only to the ingenious intervention of his wife Michol. He was able to avoid his murderers despite their vigilance and went to seek refuge with the Prophet Samuel. This Psalm goes back therefore to the earliest days of Saul’s persecution and it is thus one of the most ancient in the psaltery.
The subject matter is in perfect harmony with the situation in which the Psalmist found himself. David is plunged into fearful anxiety because his very life is in danger. His enemies are keeping watch so as to seize hold of him ; or else they scour the city in every direction, looking for him and threatening him with death. Reduced to this extremity, he calls upon the Lord to help him and to punish his unjust persecutors. He promises canticles by way of thanksgiving after his deliverance. This poem is notable for its extraordinary vehemence, a rapid coming and going of emotions and vivid descriptions.
Structure: Considerable art is discernible in the way it is structured. It is divided into two equal parts (vers. 2-20 & 11-18) marked by a refrain (vers. 10 & 18). Each part is divided into two strophes by the Hebrew sélah, at the end of verses 6 and 14. In each part, the second strophe begins in an identical manner (compare verses 7 and 15).
First part: The supplicant's troubles and worries. Verses 2-10.
4: “the mighty have rushed in upon me”: without divine protection, what chance did he have on his own against them all, especially if we remember that the first of them was the king?
6: “Attend to visit all the nations”: He calls upon God to punish not only his immediate persecutors but all the wicked whom he signifies here under the name of nations or pagans (Hebrew, goïm) because of their criminal intentions and because they had broken the theocratic covenant.
Second part: anxieties are calmed; the anger and the hopes of David. Verses 11-18.
11: “His mercy shall prevent me”: note the exquisite delicacy of the Divine goodness which prevents (i.e., comes before) the needs of David in his oppression.
15-18: Whilst his enemies will see their plans frustrated, David, having been miraculously saved, will praise his Divine Liberator.
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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.
The Virgin of Tenderness. >12th century.
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.
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