Showing posts with label Ps 24. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ps 24. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Psalms 20 to 31: Psalms of the Passion or Resurrection?

In my recent series over at Saints Will Arise on the structure of the Benedictine Office, I suggested that St Benedictine started Sunday Matins at Psalm 20 rather than Psalm 1 in order to give more of a Resurrection focus, in keeping with the nature of Sundays.

Joshua of Psallite Sapienter however, argues that we should view Psalms 21 to 30 as particularly focusing on the Passion, and hence an appropriate Lenten devotion.  He points to the suggestion by William of Autun (765-812) and Durandus (1237-1296) and  that Our Lord said all of these psalms while on the Cross.

Psalms of the Resurrection or psalms of the Passion?

There is certainly Scriptural warrant for viewing Psalm 21 in this way: Scripture puts its opening line (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me) on Our Lord's lips, and this is taken as impliedly a reference to the whole psalm. 

And I certainly have no doubt about the value of saying these psalms as a group as a devotion. 

But they should they really be viewed primarily as psalms of the Passion?

Psalm 21

In fact a large part of the point of the implied reference to the whole of Psalm 21 by Our Lord is as a prophesy of the Resurrection. 

While the first half of the psalm speaks very literally of the suffering Our Lord underwent, as Pope John Paul II pointed out in a General Audience on the psalm, its ending is one of triumph:

"On the other hand in quoting the beginning of Psalm 22, which he perhaps continued to recite mentally during the passion, Jesus did not forget the conclusion which becomes a hymn of liberation and an announcement of salvation granted to all by God. The experience of abandonment is therefore a passing pain which gives way to personal liberation and universal salvation. In Jesus' afflicted soul this perspective certainly nourished hope, all the more so since he had always presented his death as a passage to the resurrection as his true glorification. From this thought his soul took strength and joy in the knowledge that at the very height of the drama of the cross, the hour of victory was at hand."

Psalm 20

The key to the interpretation of this set of psalms surely has to be the opener of the group, Psalm 20, which features this key verse:

4  Vitam pétiit a te: * et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.
5 He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.

The Fathers invariably interpret this as a reference to the Resurrection.

St Irenaeus, for example asked:

"Why does the Psalmist say: "Life you have asked for', since Christ was about to die? In this way, the Psalmist proclaims his Resurrection from the dead and his immortality after rising from the dead. In fact, he entered life in order to rise again, and through the space of time in eternity, so as to be incorruptible" (Esposizione della Predicazione Apostolica, 72, Milan, 1979, p. 519).

Similarly, St Augustine commented:

"He asked life; and You gave Him: He asked a resurrection, saying, Father, glorify Your Son; John 17:1 and You gave it Him, Length of days for ever and ever. The prolonged ages of this world which the Church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end."

The rest of the set

St Benedict, I think, was undoubtedly influenced by the Fathers' view of this group of psalms as having more of a Resurrection focus than a Passion one.

In the Septuagint text, four of them have titles rendered into Latin as 'in finem', which is invariably interpreted by the Fathers to be a reference to the Resurrection and/or Second Coming.

Several others have equally suggestive, upbeat titles: Psalm 23, for example, is labelled 'for the first day after the Sabbath', and Cassiodorus comments on it:

"A psalm of David on the first day of the week. Let us with the Lord's help eagerly remove the veil of this title, so that the inner sanctum may become clearer to us. The first day of the week indicates the Lord's day, the first after the sabbath, the day on which the Lord rose from the dead. It is rightly called the Lord's day because of the outstanding nature of the miracle, or because on that day He stabilised the world, for by rising again on it He is seen to lend succour to the world and is declared also its Maker. Because the whole psalm is sung after the resurrection, this heading has been set before it to inform the hearts of the faithful with the appropriate indication."

Similarly, let's look at what St Augustine has to say about the opening and closing of Joshua's proposed set of psalms:

Psalm 21 (My God, my God why have you forsaken me): St Augustine opens his commentary on this Passion psalm as follows:

To the end, for His own resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself speaks. John 20:1-17 For in the morning on the first day of the week was His resurrection, whereby He was taken up, into eternal life, Over whom death shall have no more dominion."

Psalm 30 (In you have I hoped): St Augustine comments:

To the end, a Psalm of the joy of the Resurrection, and the change, the renewing of the body to an immortal state, and not only of the Lord, but also of the whole Church. For in the former Psalm the tabernacle was finished, wherein we dwell in the time of war: but now the house is dedicated, which will abide in peace everlasting."

What about the content of these psalms?

Take a look too, at a couple of  key verses in this set, and you will similarly see why they can be seen as much as hymns of the Resurrection as the Passion.

Psalm 22 (The Lord is my shepherd): ends with the verse: "And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days".

Psalm 23 (The earth is Lord's): Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in", made famous by Handel's setting of it, is the quintesential Resurrection verse.

In fact pretty much all of these psalms have some verses that are generally interpreted as references to heaven and/or the Resurrection.

Psalms 21 to 30 in the Office

Nonetheless, there seem to have been an intriguing development in thinking about these psalms, reflected in their liturgical use. 

In the oldest form of the Roman Office, Psalms 1 to 26 were said at Sunday Matins, and 27 to 31 as part of Monday Matins.  This arguably simply reflects the older 'running cursus' approach to the Office.

As I noted above, Psalms 20 to 31 were shifted to Sunday Matins by St Benedict.  That seems to me to reflect a deliberate design decision, reflecting the Resurrection focus on Sunday.  That is consistent with St Benedict's firm focus on heaven: you will be hard-pressed to find an explicit reference to the Cross in his Rule!

But there was an interesting Reformation development in the Roman Office: under Pope Pius V, psalms 21 to 25 were taken out of Sunday Matins and reallocated to Prime, but not in numeric order. 

Instead, Psalm 21 (My God, my God why have you forskaen me) moved to Friday, giving that day an obvious Passion focus.  Psalm 22 (The Lord is my shepherd) was allocated to Thursday, perhaps to reflect its eucharistic connotations; Psalm 23 was placed on Monday; Psalm 24 on Tuesday; and Psalm 25 to Wednesday.

The Pius X reorganisation of the Psalter retained those allocations for Prime, but further shuffled the Matins psalms so that the remaining psalms of  Psalm 20 to 31 were now said on Monday at various hours.

St Benedict revisited

To go back to my rather upbeat view of these psalms, suffice it to note that St Benedict's set of Sunday Matins psalms starts with a psalm of the Incarnation (Psalm 20), and ends on one of the seven penitential psalms.   But is a penitential psalm that starts "Blessed are those...", and ends with an injunction to "Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you just, and glory, all you right of heart. "

In the end I suspect your focus is depends on your particular school of spirituality....

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Propers for the First Sunday of Advent: Psalm 24(25)



The psalm propers for the First Sunday of Advent in both the Ordinary (in theory at least; in practise they are mostly displaced by five hymn sandwich and responsorial psalm) and Extraordinary Forms draw on two psalms: Psalm 24 (25), which expresses our spiritual longing for Christ and need for repentance to prepare for his coming, and Psalm 84, which is a psalm of thanksgiving, anticipating our deliverance.

I want to take a brief look today at the first of these, Psalm 24, not least because it particularly fits my November theme of the Office of the Dead, in which it is said at Matins.

Psalm 24: The Introit, Gradual and Offertory

Selections from the first four verses of Psalm 24 are used in the Introit, Gradual and Offertory for this Sunday, but in fact the overall theme is perhaps best summarized by its last verse, which asks God to ‘Deliver Israel, O God, from all his tribulations’.  It is an alphabetical psalm in the Hebrew, and it touches on many of the key themes of Advent, including our need for guidance, forgiveness of sins, and salvation.

Here are the first four verses of the psalm:

Ad te, Dómine, levávi ánimam meam. Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam.
To you, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In you, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed

Neque irrídeant me inimíci mei: * étenim univérsi, qui sústinent te, non confundentur. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on you shall be confounded.

Confundántur omnes iníqua agéntes * supervácue.
Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause.

Vias tuas, Dómine, demónstra mihi * et sémitas tuas édoce me.
Show, O Lord, your ways to me, and teach me your paths.

The text I’ve given above for the Latin is the (Clementine) Vulgate, but in fact the liturgical text uses an older version of the Latin (the ‘Itala’) in places, substituting ‘expectant’ in verse 2 for ‘sustinent’ and ‘notas fac’ for ‘demonstra mihi’ in the Gradual text.



The Gospels and the psalm…

In the Extraordinary Form, the psalm text has a direct and obvious links to both the Gospel and the Epistle. St Luke Chapter 21 includes the instruction to ‘lift up your heads for your redemption is at hand’; while Romans 13:11-14 tells us to arise from sleep, put on the armour of light that withstands all enemies, and walk in the ways of the Lord.

In the rotating texts of the Ordinary Form, this year the connections between the texts are far less obvious, save perhaps for the Old Testament reading from Isaiah, which talks about those who wait for the Lord…

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Lectio notes on the Propers: Psalm 24 (25), Offertory



St Albans Psalter, c12th

Today's meditation notes focus on the Offertory for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Ad te Domine levavi.

This text actually gets several runs at Mass during the liturgical year: as an Offertory it is also used on the first Sunday of Advent, the Thursday after Ash Wednesday, on Wednesday during the second week of Lent; the text also gets a few runs as an Introit and in a tract.

A paradoxical text

The opening verse of the Offertory, 'Ad te, Domine, levavi animam meam', or 'To you, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul', actually seems at first blush an odd choice to go with a Gospel that honours keeping one's eyes looking at the ground, as St Benedict instructs in his Rule, to show one's humility, in contrast to the over-bold Pharisee.

But in fact the line reflects the idea that the just man lifts up his soul, conscious of his sinfulness, rather than thinking, as some protestant sects do, that once saved always saved!

The text then goes on to make the connection to the Gospel clearer, pointing to the fact that though the Pharisee may sneer at the publican now, in the future, when our hope is realized in heaven things will be different: 'Deus meus, in te confido' (My God, I put my trust), non erubescam, neque irrideant me inimici mei (let me not be ashamed, neither let my enemies laugh at me), etenim universi, qui te expectant non confundentur (for none of them that wait on you will be confounded). Our faith, in other words, may bring forth derision now, but we must persevere in the hope of ultimate vindication.

The verses of the Offertory point to the whole psalm...

The longer setting of the Offertory in the Offertoriale Triplex offers a few extra thoughts to consider: first a plea for God to direct us in truth and teach us (Dírige me in veritáte tua, et doce me: quia tu es, Deus, salutaris meus, et te sustínui tota die), and secondly to look down upon us and have mercy (réspice in me, et miserére mei Domine...).

The really key verse of this psalm though in the context of today's Gospel is one not actually included in the chant setting, namely, 'Vide humilitátem meam, et labórem meum: et dimítte univérsa delícta mea', or 'See my abjection and my labour; and forgive me all my sins'.

The message of today's Gospel, and of this psalm, is that the difference between the just and unjust man is acknowledgement of our continuing sinful state, and willingness to keep trying to do better. St Robert Bellarmine commented:
"...For, though a soul fearing God may be grievously afflicted, and take great pains in resisting concupiscence, still the just man falls seven times; and yet, from his fall, he may be proved to be just; because, at once, by his tears, his prayers, and his contrition, he quickly wipes away the filth and dirt into which he had incautiously fallen..."

Other Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references
Lk 6:35(9); Mt 22:16 (10); Lk 18:13 (12); Jn 1:17(11); Jn 6:45 (15)
RB cursus
Sunday Matins
Monastic/(Roman) feasts etc
All Souls/Office of Dead, II, 2;
Roman pre 1911
Sunday Matins (post Tridentine, Prime Tuesday)
Roman post 1911
1911-62: Prime Tuesday.
Mass propers (EF)
Advent I, OF (1-2);
Thurs after Ash Wed, OF (1-2);
Lent Ember Wed IN (1-2, 6, 23), GR (18-19); TR (18-19, 1-3);
Lent Ember Friday, IN (18-19,1);
Lent 2 Wednesday, OF (1-2),
Lent 3 Sunday, IN (1, 16-17);
Passion Tuesday, CO (23);
Sacred Heart, GR (9-10);
PP3, IN (17-18, 1);
PP10, OF (1-2)


Psalm 24


Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David.

Ad te, Dómine, levávi ánimam meam: * Deus meus, in te confído, non erubéscam.
O you, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In you, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed.
Neque irrídeant me inimíci mei: *  étenim univérsi, qui sústinent te, non confundentur.
Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on you shall be confounded.
Confundántur omnes iníqua agéntes * supervácue.
Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause.
Vias tuas, Dómine, demónstra mihi * et sémitas tuas édoce me.
Show, O Lord, your ways to me, and teach me your paths.
Dírige me in veritáte tua, et doce me: * quia tu es, Deus, Salvátor meus, et te sustínui tota die.
Direct me in your truth, and teach me; for you are God my Saviour; and on you have I waited all the day long
Reminíscere miseratiónum tuárum, Dómine, * et misericordiárum tuárum, quæ a sæculo sunt.
Remember, O Lord, your bowels of compassion; and your mercies that are from the beginning of the world.
Delícta juventútis meæ, * et ignorántias meas ne memíneris.
The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember.
Secúndum misericórdiam tuam meménto mei tu, * propter bonitátem tuam, Dómine.
According to your mercy remember me: for your goodness' sake, O Lord.
Dulcis et rectus Dóminus: * propter hoc legem dabit delinquéntibus in via.
The Lord is sweet and righteous: therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way.
10Diriget mansuétos in judício: * docébit mites vias suas.
He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways.
Univérsæ viæ Dómini, misericórdia et véritas, * requiréntibus testaméntum ejus et testimónia ejus.
All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies.
Propter nomen tuum, Dómine, propitiáberis peccáto meo: * multum est enim.
For your name's sake, O Lord, you will pardon my sin: for it is great.
Quis est homo qui timet Dóminum? * legem státuit ei in via, quam elégit.
Who is the man that fears the Lord? He has appointed him a law in the way he has chosen.
Anima ejus in bonis demorábitur: * et semen ejus hereditábit terram.
His soul shall dwell in good things: and his seed shall inherit the land
Firmaméntum est Dóminus timéntibus eum: * et testaméntum ipsíus ut manifestétur illis.
The Lord is a firmament to them that fear him: and his covenant shall be made manifest to them.
Oculi mei semper ad Dóminum: * quóniam ipse evéllet de láqueo pedes meos.
My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare.
Réspice in me, et miserére mei: * quia únicus et pauper sum ego.
Look upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor.
Tribulatiónes cordis mei multiplicátæ sunt: * de necessitátibus meis érue me.
The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities.
Vide humilitátem meam, et labórem meum: * et dimítte univérsa delícta mea.
See my abjection and my labour; and forgive me all my sins.
Réspice inimícos meos quóniam multiplicáti sunt: * et ódio iníquo odérunt me.
Consider my enemies for they are multiplied, and have hated me with an unjust hatred.
Custódi ánimam meam, et érue me: * non erubéscam quóniam sperávi in te.
Deepen my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, for I have hoped in you.
Innocéntes et recti adhæsérunt mihi: * quia sustínui te.
The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: because I have waited on you.
Líbera, Deus, Israël: * ex ómnibus tribulatiónibus suis.
Deliver Israel, O God, from all his tribulations.

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