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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 54
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| “Hear my prayer, O Lady : I will look for thy consolation.” Our Lady of Consolation (1385, rest. in 1465). Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione, Rome. Public domain. Fallaner (CC BY-SA 4.0). |
2. I am become sad in my thoughts[2]: because the judgments of God have terrified me.
3. The darkness of death has overtaken me: and the fear of hell has invaded me.[3]
4. But in solitude I will expect thy consolation: and in my chamber I will wait for thy mercy.
5. Glorify thy arm and thy right hand[4]: that our enemies may be cast down by us.[5]
Glory be to the Father etc.
1. Exaudi, Domina, orationem meam : et ne contemnas deprecationem meam.
2. Contristatus sum in cogitatione mea : quia judicia Dei perterruerunt me.
3. Tenebræ mortis venerunt super me : et pavor inferni invasit me.
4. Ego autem in solitudine expecto consolationem tuam : et in cubili meo attendo misericordiam tuam.
5. Glorifica manum et dexterum brachium tuum : ut prosternantur a nobis inimici nostri.
Gloria Patri, etc.
Footnotes
[1] Cf. “Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:” Davidic Ps. LIV, 2.
[2] Cf. “I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled:” Ibid. 3.
[3] Cf. “The fear of death is fallen upon me. Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.”: Ibid. 5, 6.
[4] Cf. “Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted”: Ps. LXXXVIII, 14.
[5] Cf. “But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction”: Davidic Ps. LIV, 2.
Davidic Psalm LIV
1 Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.
2 Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication: 3 Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled, 4 At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me. 5 My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me. 6 Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me. 7 And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest? 8 Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness. 9 I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm.
10 Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city. 11 Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour, 12 And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets. 13 For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him. 14 But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar, 15 Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent. 16 Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them. 17 But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.
18 Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice. 19 He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me. 20 God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God: 21 He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant, 22 They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts. 23 Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever. 24 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.
Notes
David, surrounded by powerful enemies and betrayed by a close friend, calls upon God to rescue him.
It is generally accepted that this canticle was composed during the first period of Absalom’s revolt at a time when everything seemed to be conspiring to bring about David’s ruin. The principal details correspond closely to this painful time and especially the treachery of a devoted friend, namely Achitophel ( verses 14-15; cf. Kings xv, 12 & 31). Betrayed in this manner, abandoned and threatened in his life no less than in his dignity, David addresses himself to God, his only help, and implores Him to come unto his aid. By way of reasons for the prompt granting of his requests, he points out his profound distress, the malice of his foes, the perfidy and ingratitude of his friend and his perfect trust in God despite everything. This is a beautiful psalm emanating from the very depths of David’s heart. Here, Achitophel foreshadows the traitor Judas, as we saw previously in Psalm XL, 10.
Structure: The Psalm may be divided into three parts:
‣ an appeal to God based upon the supplicant’s anxieties : verses 2-9;
‣ the king gives free rein to the indignation he feels against his enemies: verses 10-17; and
‣ he speaks of his trust in God: verses 18-24.
First part: an appeal to God based on the extreme distress of the supplicant. Verses 2-9.
2-4: Prelude: His urgent prayer and his reasons are briefly indicated.
5-6: A vivid and painful description of the anxieties into which the supplicant has plunged.
7-9: His passionate desire to escape from this terrible situation. The beauty of this passage has been frequently admired.
9: “pusillanimity”: interior discouragement. There is a significant variation in the Hebrew : “I would make haste to escape the raging storm, the tempest.”
Second part: The king gives free rein to the indignation he feels against his enemies: verses 10-17.
Third part: The king’s feelings of perfect trust in God. Verses 18-24.
David is certain that the Lord will grant his prayer and deliver him from his enemies. The tone has suddenly changed starting from verse 17 and will continue in the gentle but at the same time solemn manner until the end of the canticle.
18: “Evening and morning, and at noon”: these are the three principle parts of the day, signifying therefore “all the time.” The Hebrews considered that the civil day began and concluded in the evening ; we have accordingly twenty-four complete hours indicated here.
24: “but I will trust in thee, O Lord”: a feeling replete with sweetness concludes this beautiful canticle.
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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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