The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St Bonaventure : Psalm 57

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 57

“Sing in concert to her, all ye sons of God.” The Vision
of St Francis by Vincenzo Carducci (1631).
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest). Public domain.

1. If indeed you will truly speak justice[1]: honour the Queen of justice and mercy.

2. For this belongs to the praise and the glory of the Saviour: whatever of honour is bestowed upon the Mother.[2]

3. The roses of martyrs surround thee, O Queen: and the lilies of virgins encompass thy throne.[3]

4. Praise ye her, all together, ye morning stars : sing in concert to her, all ye sons of God.[4]

5. Glorify her, heavens and earth : sea and rivers, and the foundations of the world.[5]

Glory be to the Father etc.

1. Si vere utique justitiam loquimini: justitia et misericordiæ honorate Reginam.

2. Ad laudem enim et gloriam pertinet Salvatoris: quidquid honorificum suæ impensum fuerit Genitrici.

3. Rosæ Martyrum te circumdant, o Regina: et lilia virginum ambiunt thronum tuum.

4. Laudate eam simul, astra matutina: concentum illi facite, omnes filii Dei.

5. Glorificate eam, cœli et terra: mare et flumina, ac fundamenta orbis.

Gloria Patri, etc.

Footnotes

[1] Cf. “If in very deed you speak justice”: Davidic Ps. LVII, 2.

[2] For whatever honour is bestowed upon His Mother redounds to the praise and glory of the Saviour.

[3] Cf. “My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed;” Cant. iv, 12; “Where there is integrity, chastity, piety, faithful silence of secrets, the radiance of angels, there are the violets of confessors, the lilies of virgins, the roses of martyrs;” Ambrose of Milan Commentaries on Luke xii (377-89, Milan). 

[4] Cf. “When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody”: Job xxxviii, 7.

[5] The 1932 English translation has only four verses, the last of which reads: “Praise ye her, all together, ye morning stars: the seas and the rivers and the foundations of the world.” The Latin text (Psalterium B. Virginis Mariæ of 1679) has five verses, and I have translated these for this post.

Davidic Psalm LVII

1 Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title, when he fled from Saul into the cave.

2 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee. And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.  3 I will cry to God the most High; to God who hath done good to me.  4 He hath sent from heaven and delivered me: he hath made them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent his mercy and his truth,  5 And he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled. The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.  6 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth.

7 They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul. They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it.  8 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and rehearse a psalm.  9 Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.  10 I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations.  11 For thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and thy truth unto the clouds.  12 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.

Notes

Prayer and thanksgiving at a time grave danger.

The title: “inscription of a title”: See Note for Ps. XV. “ destroy not”: a literal translation of the Hebrew ‘al-tashet: this is an obscure expression which is also found at the head of psalms LVII, LVIII and LXXIV. According to some commentators this is a reference to the general theme of these psalms: Lord, save me ; according to others, these are the first words of a song  indicating the melody was to be used for the four psalms in question.

Historical background: “when he fled from Saul into the cave”: There are two possible events : in Odollam, I Kings xxii, 1 et seq.; and in Engaddi, I Kings xxiv, 1 et seq. It is commonly supposed that this song is dealing with events in Engaddi where David found himself in greater danger.

The subject matter is very similar to that of Psalm LV and fully reflects the circumstances indicated in the title. The psalmist, moved by a lively spirit of trust in God who has always wondrously delivered him from all his troubles, implores Him to come unto his aid in this new danger. Then he celebrates his anticipated deliverance by a Canticle of Praise.

Structure: The psalm may be divided into two halves, separated by a refrain which has been described as grandiose: see verses 6 and 11.

1. a prayer replete with faith, to obtain a swift deliverance: verses 2-6;

2. the psalmist’s act of thanksgiving in anticipation, confident that victory is assured: verses7-12. 

verses 8-12 are found reproduced at the beginning of Psalm CVII.

First part: an urgent prayer to obtain deliverance. Verses 2-6.

2-3:  “Have mercy…”:  this is the third of the Psalms which begin with these words (cf, Psalm L and Psalm LV). 

5: “young lions”: David compares his enemies to the most terrible of wild beasts. Cf. Ps. VII, 3.

6: “Be thou exalted, O God…”: this verse is the refrain. Here is the most sublime and most effective way for a man to obtain a blessing from God: namely, that He Himself is to be glorified, and proposing for himself this divine glory as his unique end in the prayers which are addressed to Him to obtain the blessing.  This is indeed David’s objective when he prays that before all else God may be glorified in heaven and on earth by granting the deliverance that is requested.

Second part: An act of thanksgiving in anticipation. Verses 7-12.

7-9: Although his enemies are still threatening him and drawing closer, David tells himself to praise God, whose salvation he awaits with complete confidence. The psalmist supposes that his night of troubles is coming to an end and already he sings joyfully to his Liberator.  

9: “I will arise early”: in Hebrew the sense is even more poetic: literally, “I wish to awaken the dawn.”

10: “I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations”:  far beyond the frontiers of the Holy Land, as far as the Pagan peoples. The Psalms of David are today sung throughout the whole world. 

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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.