Canticle for Our Lady: Sirach 39:17-21

la Vierge au buisson de roses Schongauer,
Gardner Museum

Over the last few Sundays I've been looking at the canticle used at Matins in the Benedictine Office.

Today being the feast of the Purification, the 1962 Monastic Breviary specifies the use of the Common of Our Lady.

Accordingly, the three canticles of the day are Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 39:17-21; Isaiah 61:1011, 62:1-3; and Isaiah 62:4-7.

Here is the text of the first one, from Sirach, with versification as used in the liturgy.

Common of Our Lady Canticle 1: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 39:17-21

Canticum Ecclesiastici (39:17-21)

Obaudíte me, divíni fructus, * et quasi rosa plantáta super rivos aquárum fructificáte.	Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters.
Quasi Líbanus * odórem suavitátis habéte.	Give ye a sweet odour as frankincense.
Floréte flores, quasi lílium, et date odórem, † et frondéte in grátiam; et collaudáte cánticum, * et benedícite Dóminum in opéribus suis.	Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works.
Date nómini eius magnificéntiam, † et confitémini illi in voce labiórum vestrórum, * et in cánticis labiórum, et cítharis;	Magnify his name, and give glory to him with the voice of your lips, and with the canticles of your mouths, and with harps;
Et sic dicétis in confessióne: * Opera Dómini univérsa bona valde.	And in praising him, you shall say in this manner: All the works of the Lord are exceeding good.
Glória Patri, et Fílio, * et Spirítui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, * and to the Holy Ghost.
Sicut erat in princípio, et nunc, et semper, * et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, * and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The imagery of roses and lilies (verses 1-3) have long been associated with Our Lady in iconography, presenting Our Lady as the fulfillment of this injunction.  Verses 4-5 clearly presage the Magnificat.

More generally, these verses can perhaps be seen as a call to imitate Our Lady in holiness and thanksgiving to God for his works of creation and salvation, hence its use for female saints more generally. Challoner for example comments that: "He speaks to the children of Israel, the people of God: whom he exhorts to bud forth and flourish with virtue."