Traditional Benedictine Office Ordo - 2023-2024

 

This is to let you know that the Ordo for the coming liturgical year (starting from December) is now available for purchase on Lulu. in both paperback and PDF form.

Ordo for the Benedictine Office according to the '1962' books

As usual, the Ordo provides detailed instructions on the Office according to the General Calendar and Rubrics of the Benedictine Confederation, which I have, in the past, shorthanded as 1962.

But to be technically correct, they should perhaps be referred to as those of 1960, when they were approved  - or perhaps 1961, since they came into effect on 1 January 1961 (and later also published in the Monastic Breviary of 1963)!

The Monastic Calendar is broadly aligned to that of the 1962 Roman, but there are differences in both the feasts included, and the rubrics.

Contents of the Ordo

The core of the Ordo is a detailed guide to the seasons, days and feasts of the monastic Office as set out in the Monastic Diurnal published by St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, with cross-references to the Antiphonale Monasticum for those who wish to chant the Office (or follow podcasts of monasteries such as le Barroux). 

This year the Ordo also contains some quick reference guides to pages in the Diurnal for the day hours for reference purposes.

A new feature of this years Ordo is the inclusion of references to the Nocturnale Monasticum published by Le Barroux earlier this year.

Although the Ordo is primarily based around the General Calendar and rubrics for the Benedictine Confederation (with modifications permitted by more recent decrees such as Cum Sanctissima), the Ordo also contains cross-references to:

• the 1962 Roman Extraordinary Form calendar of 1962 (where this differs to the Benedictine);
• feasts specific to some monasteries and congregations, including the newer feasts of the 1975 Benedictine Congregation calendar;
• pre-1962 practices revived by some monasteries, such as I Vespers for Saturday of Our Lady and Class II feasts, with rubrical notes to aid those following these;
• older feasts, octaves and days removed from the 1960 calendar but revived by some monasteries;
• selected feasts of saints canonised (or in the case of Benedictines, beatified) since 1962 for whom optional Class III feasts can be said; and
• updated national calendars for the USA, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand.

The liturgical calendar online

I have also made a liturgical calendar for the Benedictine Office according to the 1960 calendar with brief notes on the day hours, including the key page references for the Monastic Diurnal,  available on the Saints Will Arise Blog via the 'pages' widget at the top of the blog.

The version on the blog though, is the barebones version - if you want more detailed instructions on how to say the Office on feasts and special days, or notes on where Le Barroux, Gower and others follow alternative rubrics, you will need to consult the full Ordo!

Book review: Latin Prayer by David Birch

This is a very belated review, for which my deepest apologies, of a book I flagged well over a year ago on the Saints Will Arise Blog, but which I think will be of interest to many readers.

David Birch, Latin Prayer Aspects of Language and Catholic Spirituality, Rivo Torto@Drouin: Pax et Bonum, 2022. $US 27.95 (paperback); also available on kindle.

Latin, private devotion and the liturgy

There is a growing genre of books that focus on the reasons for retaining both Latin, rather than using the vernacular, and the traditional forms of the liturgy, in the face of the antipathy to the tradition that led to the revolution in worship post-Vatican II, and is currently in high favour.

This book though, tackles the problem from a rather different perspective, namely the Latin language's importance in conveying the truths of the faith; its deep integration into the spiritual infrastructure of the Western Church; and its importance to the very nature of prayer in the Catholic tradition.

Although it draws on numerous liturgical texts, including the office hymns, psalms and more, its primary focus is actually the relevance of Latin to public and private devotional prayer.

It is also almost unique in that rather than being polemical in character, it is clearly both the product of lectio divina, and a potential source for it.

The book provides a rich source of liturgical, devotional and other material to meditate on from all ages of the Church's history, and is surely meant to be read slowly; savoured and pondered, rather than read right through quickly in one go.  

The problem of translation

A key focus of the book is the problems associated with trying to translate theologically dense concepts from Latin into English. 

For most of the Church's history, prayers, litanies, theological formulas were normally composed in Latin: capturing all of the nuances of them in a single English translation is virtually impossible.  

Early on the text, the book points out that most the translations in Missals and other sources do not even attempt to convey the underlying grammatical structures of the original, but rather focus on trying to convey the meaning in terms a person speaking today would understand. 

This leads to two key threads running through the book. 

Layers of meaning

First, Dr Birch, a retired academic linguist, provides a lot of explanation of the differences between the way the two languages work, and the alternative possible translations of many Latin prayers that should ideally co-exist in our minds as we read or pray them.  

There are of course quite a number of books that explore similar ground for students of Latin, but rather fewer that do so in an ecclesiastical context, or in such a systematic way. 

As such, the book will be extremely helpful for those with a knowledge of Latin but who want to gain a greater depth of understanding of it, as well as for those with little or Latin but who want to understand the way the language works in the context of the liturgy. 

And on this topic the book is also a very useful bibliography for liturgical Latin, which includes links where texts are available online.

The book will also, I think, hopefully serve to inspire those with no Latin to actually learn the language.

Retention of Latin as a liturgical and theological language

The second thread running through the book, though, is a plea, based on these issues, to retain Latin as the language of the church (regardless of the form of the Mass) since without it, the tradition is all too easily distorted.  

The book avoids entering into judgments on the reasons for the anti-Latin push, but the cynics amongst us (and that means pretty much all traditionalists these days) would say that that is precisely why so many church leaders today are intent on eradicating the use of Latin even in the Novus Ordo Mass. 

 How, after all, can one possibly justify so many novel propositions if people are constantly assailed with traces of the tradition!

The spiritual infrastructure of the church

The second, and perhaps equally important theme of the book is that the liturgy - in the form of the Mass, Office and sacraments - does not exist in isolation from either public devotional or private prayer, rather it is part of a much broader spiritual infrastructure that also needs to be preserved.

Litanies and other prayers, the book argues, provide important distillations of theological truths that both build on and support our understanding of the liturgy and faith more generally, and we need to pay deep attention to them.

Prayer and 'grammar'

The third key theme, and perhaps the most difficult for the non-linguist (such as myself!) to grasp, is on the nature of prayer, where Dr Birch categorizes types of prayer not by their purpose (thanksgiving, intercession, etc), but by linguistic, functional categories.

The terminology used - nominative prayer, vocative prayer, sociative prayer and so forth - though sometimes requiring some effort to grasp, need not necessarily be a barrier, since they are all carefully explained.  

And there certainly is some value, I think, to be gained from thinking about analysing prayer from a linguistic perspective, though these categories wouldn't be my ultimate choice for regular use.

Competing approaches to exegesis and contemplation

That said, the book's emphasis on grammar and textual analysis as a way to prayer and contemplation (albeit not with these particular grammatical categories) is not entirely novel: as the book points out, an emphasis on the tools of the linguist to draw out meaning has a long genealogy in the Church, going back to influential writers such as Origen amongst others.

But it has to be said that the emphasis on grammatical analysis, even if only as a starting point for exegesis, has long been the subject of considerable debate, with the pendulum swinging back and forth, both within the Benedictine Order and more widely in the Church. 

St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus, for example, sought desperately to preserve the Classical grammatical  tradition in his Monastery of the Vivarium, but St Gregory the Great was directly critical of his approach, instead lauding St Benedict's rejection of the liberal arts, and proclaiming that the Bible was superior to the rules and analytical methods of the grammarians.

My own perspective is that while this type of analysis can certainly provide a useful starting point, it shouldn't be an end-point - and personally I see more gain from the study of typological and other allegorical approaches to meaning in Scripture and liturgy than deep grammar. But that is just my own personal preference!

Moreover, the book provides a rich selection of hymns, litanies, prayers, Magisterial documents, Scriptural and other liturgical texts that will be useful fodder for lectio divina, and the dimensions of them drawn out in the text will certainly repay the reader's effort.

It is worth noting too, that the royalties from the book go to Colebrook (Notre Dame) Priory, a traditional Benedictine foundation in Australia.

Book alert: Jewel of the Soul by Honorius Augustodunensis

Augustodunensis, Honorius, Jewel of the Soul, Zachary Thomas and Gerhard Eger (ed and trans), 2 vols, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 2023 (US $34 per volume).

I wanted to alert readers, in case you haven't already come across it, to the availability of a newly published translation of a wonderful twelfth century commentary on the liturgy, Jewel of the Soul.

Jewel of the Soul (Gemma Animae) is one of a number of medieval liturgical commentaries which now becoming more accessible through either Latin editions or translations (or in this case both).  Others available in English include Dunbarton Oakes edition of Amalarius of Metz' On the Liturgy, and William Durand's Rationale (from the Corpus Christianorum in translation series).

Liturgy as Scriptural interpretation

Most of these texts share a common approach to the Mass and Office, namely that the liturgy is a form of Scriptural and theological interpretation, embodying deep symbolic meanings.

The traces of the idea that the various forms of the Office, for example, are not simply mechanistic constructions (as most twentieth century liturgists would suggest) but rather reflect particular theological ideas (and in the case of monastic offices, particular distinctive charisms) can be found in many early Patristic and monastic sources, as well as several Western and Eastern saints' lives.  

The fourth century pilgrim-nun Egeria, for example, commented on the particular aptness of the psalms chosen for the weekly Jerusalem Resurrection of Office which spanned Saturday night into Sunday morning. St Cyprian (and many others) provided assorted rationales for the timing of particular hours of the Office, and the number and choice of at least some of the psalms said at them.  And a number of early medieval saints lives from both the East and West draw attention to the reasons for the choice of particular forms of the Office and related psalm practices. 

Most of the surviving early descriptions of various forms of the Office though, such as the Rules of St Augustine, Shenoute, Caesarius of Arles, Benedict and the Master, are more concerned with providing instructions on what to say and when, rather than setting out a rationale for the particular choices made.

Jewel of the Soul

Jewel of the Soul, and other texts like it, then, represent later attempts to fill in this gap, and help the reader understand the deeper meanings implicit in the design of the liturgy.

Like Amalarius' wonderful work, Jewel of the Soul covers both the Mass and Office (as well as related topics), and while primarily focused on the Roman Office, includes quite a bit of commentary on the Benedictine.

Jewel builds on, but goes rather further than Amalarius in his allegorical explanations.  To illustrate this, here is an extract on the Benedictine Office (Bk I, ch 65, On the Monastic Cursus):

One may ask why St. Benedict ordered the hours for monks in a way that differs from the custom of the Church, and why the eminent pope Gregory approved this order with his authority. In my opinion, what is intended in this most wise distribution of the Psalms made by that man “full of the spirit of all the saints,” is that the contemplative life should be distinguished from the active life by office just as by habit, and by this privilege the observance of monastic discipline is to be commended. So St. Gregory, endowed with all wisdom, seeing that that “man full of God” had ordered all these things by this principle, duly confirmed them by his own authority. Though he altered the psalms, he ordered the office with the same meaning in mind. For because we work for six days in this life, just as mankind has worked for six ages in the vineyard, and just as we rest on the Lord’s day, so in the seventh age we will receive the denarius of eternal life. For this reason he is thought to have instituted the psalms of Prime for the six days of the week which tell of the just men], who worked in the Lord’s vineyard throughout six ages of the world, as if for various hours of the day (Matthew 20).

The particular allegorical meanings the Jewel ascribes to the liturgy are of course, entirely contestable: many will seem a stretch to modern minds!  Nonetheless, their spiritual value, I think, comes from helping us get into a mindset of meditating on the liturgy and all of its components.

The new translation

The new translation of the Jewel of the Soul can actually be found in draft form on the excellent Canticum Solomonis blog (though you will have to search for the sections covering the Office, as it is not well-indexed there), but having it in print form is a wonderful step forward. 

The Dumbarton Oaks editions are generally very nicely put together, and this is no exception.  They also have the enormous advantage of providing the Latin and English texts in parallel.

The limitations of the work are that it is not, unfortunately based on a critical edition, but rather largely based on a choice of one manuscript, and the text notes (provided at the end) identify most of the Scriptural references, but not (in the main) the other sources it draws on.  

But these are minor quibbles - I'd far rather have an accessible edition of the Latin (beyond Patrologia Latina) and translation of this and other similar works than wait  many more years for someone to map out variants in the seventy two or more surviving manuscripts! 

Please do consider buying it.

The design of the Benedictine Office and Thursday Vespers Part 4: Days of creation

In today's post, the focus is the days of creation, as Patristic interpretations of the 'fifth day' can, I think, provide a helpful interpretative lens for the psalms St Benedict placed on the fifth day of the week at Vespers. 

The Vespers hymns

The idea that there might be a connection between the of particular to each day of the week and the days of creation is at least implied by the set of hymns assigned to Vespers throughout the year, long attributed to St Gregory the Great.

Each of these hymns (with the exception of the hymn of Saturday), takes as its starting point the day of creation, and then includes some prayers and lessons linked to the particular day of creation.

The hymn for Thursday, for example, is Magnae Deus Potentiae, which in the English translation by Edward Caswell begins as follows:

Lord of all power, at whose command, the waters, from their teeming womb, brought forth the countless tribes of fish, and birds of every note and plume.

Who didst, for natures link’d in birth, far different homes of old prepare; sinking the fishes in the sea; lifting the birds aloft in air.

Lo! born of thy baptismal wave, we ask of thee, O Lord divine, keep us, whom thou hast sanctified in thy own blood, for ever thine.

 The psalms of the day and the days of creation

The idea that at least one of the psalms each day contains a reference to the relevant day of creation, though, is not obvious on a simple reading of the psalms with modern eyes.

There is, it is true, one quite literal references to the relevant day of creation in the Vespers psalms: Psalm 135, said on Wednesday at Vespers, contains a fairly straightforward paraphrase of the days of creation up to the fourth day in its litany:

Who made the heavens in understanding...Who established the earth above the waters...Who made the great lights...The sun to rule the day...The moon and the stars to rule the night...

One such reference alone though, could be simply coincidence.

In reality, there are, I believe, allusions to the relevant day of creation on each day at Vespers (Saturday excepted, since the seventh day has no evening in the Scriptural account).  

Most of these allusions, though, depend on the allegorical interpretations of the psalms beloved of the Fathers, but long been out of favour with modern exegetes.

The first group of such allusions depend on typological readings of inanimate events as symbolic, both following an established pattern, and foreshadowing something yet to come.   

Just as on day two of creation, God divided the firmament, separating the sky from the waters below it, for example; so too the Red Sea and river Jordan were divided at key points in salvation history, allowing the people to pass through, and pointing us to the sacrament of baptism.  And both these events are referred to in Psalm 113, said on Monday (feria secunda, or day two of the week) at Vespers in the Benedictine Office.

A second group of allusions depend on a purely allegorical interpretation of the days of creation in reference to people. 

St Ambrose, for example, drawing on St Basil the Great, made a connection between the gathering together of the waters into one place on the third day of creation, and the gathering together of Christians into the Church.  Psalm 132, said at Tuesday Vespers, with its reference to 'brothers living together as one' can be seen as reflecting exactly this typology.

 Day 5 of creation: fish, sea animals, birds

When it comes to the fifth day of creation, and the creation of sea creatures and birds, there are at least a few references in Psalm 138 that could perhaps be interpreted as typological references to the fifth day of creation, most notably in the verse 'If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea'.

This verse fits rather better though, if read in the light of the broader allegorical interpretation of the fifth day as a whole, and since most later interpretations of the day (including those of SS Basil, Ambrose and Augustine) were heavily influenced by that of Origen, so I start from his sermon on the topic to tease out the basic approach and concepts.

Sea creatures and birds as good and evil thoughts

Origen introduced his commentary by arguing that at the allegorical level, the creation of sea creatures and birds is akin to bringing our thoughts, both good and evil, out into the open:

According to the letter "creeping creatures" and "birds" are brought forth by the waters at the command of God and we recognize by whom these things which we see have been made. But let us see how also these same things come to be in our firmament of heaven, that is, in the firmness of our mind or heart.  

I think that if our mind has been enlightened by Christ, our sun, it is ordered afterwards to bring forth from these waters which are in it "creeping creatures" and "birds which fly," that is, to bring out into the open good or evil thoughts that there might be a distinction of the good thoughts from the evil, which certainly both proceed from the heart. For both good and evil thoughts are brought forth from our heart as from the waters. 

Creeping creatures of the sea, he goes on to suggest, represent our evil thoughts and actions; the birds our thoughts when we flee from temptation and sin towards heaven, and thus escape the snares set for us by the devil.

It is noteworthy then, that the three of Thursday Vespers all contain references to both good and evil thoughts, and our hearts and minds.

Psalm 138 opens with the recognition that God scrutinises the psalmist's thoughts, and concludes with his condemnation of all evil ones; Psalm 139 focuses on the evil plans concocted in the 'hearts' of evildoers; and Psalm 140 includes pleas for God to guard our hearts from the temptation to evil in Psalm 140.

God's scrutiny and guidance

The allegorical connections, though, go deeper than this, for Origen goes on to argue that the reason that these things are brought forth is firstly so that we can place our thoughts before God, and obtain his guidance and judgment in order to separate the good from the evil:

 But by the word and precept of God let us offer both to God's view and judgment that, with his enlightenment we may be able to distinguish what is evil from the good, that is, that we may separate from ourselves those things which creep upon the earth and bear earthly cares... I think impious thoughts and abominable understandings which are against God are indicated in those great whales. All of these, nevertheless, are to be brought forth in the sight of God and placed before him that we may divide and separate the good from the evil, that the Lord might allot to each its place...

This idea is surely reflected also in several verses of Thursday's psalms. Psalm 138, for example, concludes:

Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way

Similarly, Psalm 140 contains pleas to help the psalmist stay on the right track, and for him to be corrected when he falls off it, and avoid pride, in contrast to the fate of those false judges, dashed against the rocks.

Note then, the final verse of Thursday's Vespers hymn:

Ut culpa nullum déprimat: Nullum levet iactántia: Elísa mens ne cóncidat: Eláta mens ne córruat.

Caswell's translation of it reads:

Safe from all pride, as from despair; Not sunk too low, nor raised too high: Lest raised by pride, we headlong fall; Sunk in despair, lie down and die.” 

We grow through adversity

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Origen's analysis is his discussion of how God could say that the creations of the day 'were good' if the things created represent evil thoughts as well as good.  

The answer he supplies is that we grow in holiness by facing up to and overcoming adversity:

But someone asks how the great whales and creeping creatures are interpreted as evil and the birds as good when Scripture said about all together, "And God saw that they were good." Those things which are opposed to the saints are good for them because they can overcome them and when they have overcome them they become more glorious with God. Indeed when the devil requested that power be given to him against Job, the adversary, by attacking him, was the cause of double glory for Job after his victory. What is shown from the fact that he received double those things which he lost in the present is that he will, without doubt, also receive in the same manner in the heavenly places. 

And the Apostle says that "No one is crowned except the one who has striven lawfully."" And indeed, how will there be a contest if there not be one who resists? How great the beauty and splendor is of light would not be discerned unless the darkness of night intervened. Why are some praised for purity unless because others are condemned for immodesty? Why are strong men magnified unless weak and cowardly men exist? If you use what is bitter then what is sweet is rendered more praiseworthy. If you consider what is dark, the things which are bright will appear more pleasing to you. And, to put it briefly, from the consideration of evil things the glory of good things is indicated more brilliantly. 

The three psalms of Thursday Vespers, I would suggest, all echo this theme strongly, in dwelling on the persecution of, and traps set for the good.

Indeed, St Augustine stretches the analogy even further to suggests that God's instruction to multiply and increase can be indirectly linked to the multiplication of sins that necessitated Christ's Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection:

Here we should, of course, note that God blessed those animals, when he said, “Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the flying things multiply above the earth.”  For, from the time of their dispersal among the nations, the nation of the Jews really grew greatly in number. The evening of this day, that is, of this age, is the multiplication of sins among the people of the Jews, who became so blind that they could not recognize even the Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Psalm 140 v 11: Christ in his Passion

 The final verse of Psalm 140 reminds of the certainty of God's justice. 

Looking at the Latin

11	V	Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres: * singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.
	OR	cadent in retiaculo eius peccatores singulariter sum ego donec transeam.
	NV	Cadent in retiacula sua peccatores simul, ego autem ultra pertranseam.
	JH	Incident in rete eius impii simul: ego autem transibo.
	Sept	πεσοῦνται ἐν ἀμφιβλήστρῳ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοί κατὰ μόνας εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἕως οὗ ἂν παρέλθω

[Key: V=Vulgate; OR=Old Roman; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

St Jerome's translation captures the Masoretic Text sense of the text, that once they have been caught in their own traps, I can pass on.  The Septuagint version, though, which says I am alone until I pass, was given a Christological interpretation by the Fathers, so should not lightly be dismissed.

 Phrase by phrase

Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.

[they] shall fall in his net: The wicked I am alone until I pass.

 Word by word 

Cadent (they shall fall) in retiáculo (in the net) ejus(their) peccatóres (sinners): singuláriter (alone) sum (I am) ego (I) donec (until) tránseam (I have passed on by [safely]) . 

Key vocabulary 

cado, cecidi, casum, ere 3  to fall, esp. in battle; to bow down, fall down, prostrate one's self; to happen, fall, befall.
retiaculum i n a net
singulariter, adv.  alone, only
donec, conj., till, until
transeo, ivi and ii, itum, ie,  pass by, on, or away visit, to go to a place; to pass over as waves; to go through, 

Selected translations 

DR	The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.
Brenton	Sinners shall fall by their own net: I am alone until I shall escape.
MD	Let the sinners be caught in their own net: whilst I alone shall pass unharmed.
RSV	Let the wicked together fall into their own nets, while I escape.
Cover	Let the ungodly fall into their own nets together, and let me ever escape them.
Knox	Into their own net, sinner upon sinner, may they fall, and I pass on in safety.
Grail	Let the wicked fall into the traps they have set while I pursue my way unharmed.

  [Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; RSV=Revised Standard Version; Cover=Coverdale]

God's net

The first half of the verse is a statement that justice will ultimately prevail.  As Theodoret put it:

The sinners will fall in his net, that is, God's: those who set traps for others will be caught up in divine retribution like a kind of netting, will have to bear whatever they commit, and will suffer what they inflict on others. 

There is in this life, though, always hope of conversion, and so St John Chrysostom interprets the net to be more all-encompassing:

Whose net will they fall into? God's very own. That is to say, they will be snared, they will be caught: the righteous, to the point of correction and awakening their sound values; sinners, suffering incurable ailments as they are, to the point of punishment and retribution. 

Preserving our souls until we reach our true home

The sense of the second half of the verse is, according to St Robert Bellarmine, that by observing the precepts listed out in the psalm - shunning worldly gatherings, and keeping guard of heart, mind and words and so forth - we will eventually pass over into our true home, heaven:

 I will keep aloof from the whole world, until I should have passed all snares and stumbling blocks. Though I may be kept an exile for a time in this world, I will not belong to it. “I am alone,” until I shall have passed to my country, where I shall have no shares or stumbling blocks to encounter.

Christ reopens the way 

The final phrase, though, surely refers above all to Christ in his Passion, as St Augustine pointed out: 

Pascha, as they say who know, and who have explained to us what to read, means Passover. When then the Lord's Passion was about to come, the Evangelist, as though he would use this very word, says, When the hour had come that Jesus should pass over to the Father.  We hear then of Pascha in this verse, I am alone, until I pass over. After Pascha I shall no longer be alone, after passing-over I shall no longer be alone. Many shall imitate me, many shall follow me...Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it die, it bears much fruit...

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David.	A psalm of David.
1 Dómine, clamávi ad te, exáudi me: * inténde voci meæ, cum clamávero ad te.	I have cried to you, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to you.
2  Dirigátur orátio mea sicut incénsum in conspéctu tuo: * elevátio mánuum meárum sacrifícium vespertínum.	2 Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
3  Pone, Dómine, custódiam ori meo: * et óstium circumstántiæ lábiis meis.	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
4  Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: * ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.	4 Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
5  Cum homínibus operántibus iniquitátem: * et non communicábo cum eléctis eórum	With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them
6  Corrípiet me justus in misericórdia, et increpábit me: * óleum autem peccatóris non impínguet caput meum.	5 The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
7  Quóniam adhuc et orátio mea in beneplácitis eórum: * absórpti sunt juncti petræ júdices eórum.	For my prayer shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: 6 Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
8  Audient verba mea quóniam potuérunt: * sicut crassitúdo terræ erúpta est super terram.	They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: 7 As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground:
9  Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: * quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.	Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. 8 But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
10  Custódi me a láqueo, quem statuérunt mihi: * et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.	9 Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
11  Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres: * singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.	10 The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

Ps 140 v 10 - Fix your eyes on heaven

 Verse 10 of Psalm 140 provides a link to the previous psalm's references to traps, snares and the plots of evil men. 

 Looking at the Latin

10	V	Custódi me a láqueo, quem statuérunt mihi: * et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.
	OR	custodi me a laqueo quem statuerunt mihi et ab scandalis operantibus iniquitatem
	NV	Custodi me a laqueo, quem statuerunt mihi, et a scandalis operantium iniquitatem.
	JH	Custodi me de manibus laquei quod posuerunt mihi, et de offendiculus operantium iniquitatem.
	Sept	φύλαξόν με ἀπὸ παγίδος ἧς συνεστήσαντό μοι καὶ ἀπὸ σκανδάλων τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν

[Key: V=Vulgate; OR=Old Roman; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

 Phrase by phrase: 

Custódi me a láqueo quem statuérunt mihi et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.

Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.

 Word by word 

Custódi (guard) me a (from) láqueo (the trap) quem (which) statuérunt (they have set) mihi (for me) et (and) a (from) scándalis (the traps) operántium (the workers) iniquitátem (of sin). 

Key vocab 

custodio, ivi or ii, itum, ire to guard, watch, keep;to maintain, to hold steadfastly
laqueus, ei, m., a noose for capturing animals; a snare, trap
statuo, ui, utum, ere 3 to set, place, establish; to change, still, calm; to be determined, resolved
scandalum, i, n. lit., a trap, snare, that which causes one to stumble, a stumbling-block
opero are avi atum – form of operor, to work; operantium= plural genitive participle
iniquitas, atis, f iniquity, injustice, sin. 

Selected translations 

DR	Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
Brenton	Keep me from the snare which they have set for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
MD	Preserve me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the pitfalls of evil men.
RSV	Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me, and from the snares of evildoers!
Cover	Keep me from the snare that they have laid for me, and from the traps of the wicked doers.
Knox	Preserve me from the ambush they have laid for me, from the snares of the wrong-doers.
Grail	From the trap they have laid for me keep me safe: keep me from the snares of those who do evil.

  [Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; RSV=Revised Standard Version; Cover=Coverdale]

What are the snares and stumbling blocks?

Today's verse can be read in multiple ways.

First, if we can see it as a prayer of the agony in the garden, both for the knowledge for himself and for grace for his disciples, in facing the upcoming traps set by his persecutors.

Secondly, it can be read more broadly as a request for grace for us all as we face the trials and temptations of this life.

St Augustine, for example, argues that the trap referred to here is the pleasures of this world:

What was the trap? If you consent, I spare you. In the trap was set the bait of the present life; if the bird love this bait, it falls into the trap: but if the bird be able to say, The day of man have I not desired...

 Other commentators interpret the verse more generally.  St Jerome, for example, points to the dangers of heresy, demonic influence, and most especially the temptation to pride, which can undermine even our attempts at Lenten penances:

Vice is certainly the next door neighbor to virtue. A trap is set for me in almsgiving if I stretch out my hand in order to be seen by men and, while appearing to do a good work, I fall into imperfection and sin. If I give away an undergarment to a brother for the benefit of those who are looking on, a demon has laid a snare for me...therefore, in the very path in which we are striving to walk, that is, in the virtues, in almsgiving, that we may perform these acts to be seen by men and win their vain applause, in fasts, in prayer, in haircloth that we may show off ourselves. The man who wears haircloth ought to be lamenting his sins and not pluming himself in the sight of others. 

The need for grace in facing the unexpected

There are some temptations and traps though, we can readily guard ourselves against; others though, can be unexpected, and it is for these that we especially need God's help, St John Chrysostom argued:

Here he is not referring simply to schemes but to hidden traps of the kind not easy to guard against and detect; hence they require in particular even grace from on high. For this reason, then, he brings his theme to a close with a prayer, concluding with it as he had opened with it, showing that on the one hand what is his to offer is this - hope in God, always looking to God, shunning their gatherings, hating their evil desires - and on the other hand what comes from God help, assistance, rendering him proof against wiles difficult to detect. This is what virtue consists of, in fact: both application of our zeal and support from God's assistance. 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David.	A psalm of David.
1 Dómine, clamávi ad te, exáudi me: * inténde voci meæ, cum clamávero ad te.	I have cried to you, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to you.
2  Dirigátur orátio mea sicut incénsum in conspéctu tuo: * elevátio mánuum meárum sacrifícium vespertínum.	2 Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
3  Pone, Dómine, custódiam ori meo: * et óstium circumstántiæ lábiis meis.	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
4  Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: * ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.	4 Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
5  Cum homínibus operántibus iniquitátem: * et non communicábo cum eléctis eórum	With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them
6  Corrípiet me justus in misericórdia, et increpábit me: * óleum autem peccatóris non impínguet caput meum.	5 The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
7  Quóniam adhuc et orátio mea in beneplácitis eórum: * absórpti sunt juncti petræ júdices eórum.	For my prayer shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: 6 Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
8  Audient verba mea quóniam potuérunt: * sicut crassitúdo terræ erúpta est super terram.	They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: 7 As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground:
9  Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: * quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.	Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. 8 But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
10  Custódi me a láqueo, quem statuérunt mihi: * et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.	9 Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
11  Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres: * singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.	10 The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

For notes on the final verse of Psalm 140, continue on here.

Ps 140 v9 - Fix your eyes on Christ

 Verse 9 of Psalm 140 is a request for the grace of perseverance and fortititude.

  Looking at the Latin

9	V	Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: * quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.
	OR	dissipata sunt ossa nostra secus infernum quia ad te Domine Domine oculi mei in te speravi ne auferas animam meam
	NV	dissipata sunt ossa eorum ad fauces inferni. Quia ad te, Domine, Domine, oculi mei; ad te confugi, non effundas animam meam.
	JH	sic dissipata sunt ossa nostra in ore inferi.  Quia ad te, Domine Deus, oculi mei: in te speraui ; ne euacues animam meam.
	Sept	διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην ὅτι πρὸς σέ κύριε κύριε οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου ἐπὶ σὲ ἤλπισα μὴ ἀντανέλῃς τὴν ψυχήν μου

[Key: V=Vulgate; OR=Old Roman; NV=Neo-Vulgate; JH=St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

Note that the Neo-Vulgate opts for an alternative text tradition (not, in this case, the Masoretic) in relation to whose bones are in question here: most of the earlier versions suggest that it is ‘our’ bones that are scattered: it is our soul that we are asking God to preserve.  But the neo-Vulgate,  prefers to interpret the verse as referring to ‘their’ (sinners) bones, and make the request to preserve our lives. 

Phrase by phrase 

Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.

Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.

 Word by word 

Dissipáta sunt (they have scattered) ossa (bones) nostra (our) secus (alongside of) inférnum (hell): * quia (for, but) ad (to) te (you), Dómine (O Lord), Dómine (O Lord), óculi (eyes) mei (my) [=my eyes are on you]: in te (you) sperávi (I have hoped), non (not) áuferas (you take away/destroy) ánimam (soul) meam (my). 

Key vocabulary 

dissipo, are avi, atum,  scatter, disperse; frustrate, bring to naught; break, annul, make void
os, ossis, n., a bone, mostly pi. ossa, lum.  a member of the body, or, the members, one’s whole being, one's spirit, strength
secus, prep, with acc. by, beside, along, near, on
infernus, i, m. Sheol; the nether world, the underworld, the grave, the kingdom of the dead, hell
aufero, abstuli, ablatum, auferre to take or bear away; to destroy. 

English translations 

DR	Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
Brenton	our bones have been scattered by the [mouth of] the grave. For mine eyes are to thee, O Lord God: I have hoped in thee; take not away my life.
MD	So their bones are scattered on the brink of hell: But to you, O Lord, my Lord, I turn my eyes, in Thee I hope, take not away my life.
RSV	so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol. But my eyes are toward thee, O LORD God; in thee I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!
Cover	Our bones lie scattered before the pit, like as when one graveth and diggeth up the ground. But mine eyes look unto thee, O Lord God; in thee is my trust. O cast not out my soul.
Knox	a people whose bones lie scattered at the grave’s mouth, [like seed when the earth is cloven into furrows].To thee these eyes look, my Lord, my Master; in thee I trust; let not my life be forfeit.
Grail	so their bones were strewn at the mouth of the grave. To you, Lord God, my eyes are turned: in you I take refuge; spare my soul!

  [Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; RSV=Revised Standard Version; Cover=Coverdale]

The blood and bones of the saints

There are several ways of interpreting this verse, and one offered by St Augustine is that the blood and bones of the righteous lying on the ground ties to the farming analogy of the previous verse, and suggests that the death of the martyrs acts as the fertiliser that brings forth the Church: 

We know that everything that is refuse is the fatness of the earth. The things which are, as it were, contemptible to men, enrich the earth....Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. 

As it is contemptible to the world, so is it precious to the husbandman. For he knows the use thereof, and its rich juice; he knows what he desires, what he seeks, whence the fertile crop arises; but this world despises it. 

Do you not know that God has chosen the contemptible things of the world, and those which are not, like as those which are, that the things which are may be brought to nought?  From the dunghill was Peter lifted up, and Paul; when they were put to death, they were despised: now, the earth having been enriched by them, and the cross of the Church springing up, behold, all that is noble and chief in the world, even the emperor himself, comes to Rome, and whither does he hasten? To the temple of the emperor, or the memorial of the fisherman?

The virtue of fortitude

But bones are also seen as the strongest part of the body, and so often representing strength and courage.

In this verse then, the reference to our bones lying on the bring of hell can also be interpreted as saying that so oppressed are we, that we are on the brink of falling into hell. St Augustine pointed out that the path of the martyr is not easy, and not all succeed in reaching the crown thus we must focus on Christ as our model and help:

For they were tortured in persecutions, and many failed. It occurs to him that many have failed, many have been in hazard, and as it were in the midst of the tribulation of persecution is sent forth the voice of one praying;

Trust in God

The key point of the verse then, is that in the face of difficulties and persecution, or even martyrdom, we must keep our eyes focused on Christ.

St John Chrysostom says:

Even if countless troubles beset us, he is saying - wars, battles, deaths, gates of Hades -we do not let go the holy anchor; instead, we cling to the hope of your assistance, and abandoning weapons and strategies we look to freedom from that source, your grace. In you I hoped: do not blot out my soul

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Psalmus David.	A psalm of David.
1 Dómine, clamávi ad te, exáudi me: * inténde voci meæ, cum clamávero ad te.	I have cried to you, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to you.
2  Dirigátur orátio mea sicut incénsum in conspéctu tuo: * elevátio mánuum meárum sacrifícium vespertínum.	2 Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.
3  Pone, Dómine, custódiam ori meo: * et óstium circumstántiæ lábiis meis.	Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.
4  Non declínes cor meum in verba malítiæ: * ad excusándas excusatiónes in peccátis.	4 Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins.
5  Cum homínibus operántibus iniquitátem: * et non communicábo cum eléctis eórum	With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them
6  Corrípiet me justus in misericórdia, et increpábit me: * óleum autem peccatóris non impínguet caput meum.	5 The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head.
7  Quóniam adhuc et orátio mea in beneplácitis eórum: * absórpti sunt juncti petræ júdices eórum.	For my prayer shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: 6 Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up.
8  Audient verba mea quóniam potuérunt: * sicut crassitúdo terræ erúpta est super terram.	They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: 7 As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground:
9  Dissipáta sunt ossa nostra secus inférnum: * quia ad te, Dómine, Dómine, óculi mei: in te sperávi, non áuferas ánimam meam.	Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. 8 But to you, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in you have I put my trust, take not away my soul.
10  Custódi me a láqueo, quem statuérunt mihi: * et a scándalis operántium iniquitátem.	9 Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work iniquity.
11  Cadent in retiáculo ejus peccatóres: * singuláriter sum ego donec tránseam.	10 The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

For notes on the next verse of this psalm, continue on here.