Masterpost: The daily psalms of the Benedictine Office

St Benedict, in his Rule, makes it clear that he wanted all of the psalms to be said every week by his monks.  The vast majority of the psalms are, of course, said but once each week.  

A select few, however, are given a more privileged place in his Office, and it is at some of those that I propose to take a look at over the next few weeks.

This post will provide something of an overview; I will then look go back and take a more detailed look at each of them (skipping fairly quickly past those I've previously discussed in detail).  

I plan to get through those for Matins and Lauds over May and June.  At that point I'll decide whether to take a break from the repeated psalms (and perhaps look at Thursday Vespers), or continue on (feel free to provide me with feedback on your preferences at any point).  

THE REPEATED PSALMS

It is worthwhile, firstly, just to list out what the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office are.

First, some individual verses (Psalm 50:16 and Psalm 69:1) are used as opening prayers for the hours, and are thus repeated every day, or even, in the case of the Deus in adjutorium verse, at almost every hour for most of the year.  

Secondly, a number of psalms repeated every day at particular hours, namely:

•  Matins (Ps 3 & 94)
•  Lauds (Ps 66, 50, 148-150); and 
• Compline (Ps 4, 90 & 133). 

And thirdly, nine of the Gradual Psalms (Psalms 119-127) are said on five days of the week from Terce to None.

History, speculation and spirituality

In ordering the psalter, St Benedict evidently took his cue from traditions that saw certain psalms as particularly fitted to particular hours, and thought some so important as to warrant daily repetition. 

In some cases, his choices reflected ancient traditions - the use of Psalm 50 and the Laudate psalms at Lauds for example seems to have early universal very early on.

In other cases though, the choices seem to have been more deliberate.

One popular theory is that St Benedict actually started from the ordering of the psalter used by Roman Churches of his time, adjusting it to give it more variety.  It is certainly a plausible theory, but essentially unprovable since there are no surviving Office books or psalter schemas that survive from that era.   Nonetheless, the Roman Office as it has come down to us shares at least some of the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office in common, namely Psalm 94 at Matins; Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 at Lauds; and Psalms 4, 90 and 133 at Compline.  The Roman Office, however, at least until it was thoroughly 'updated' under Pope St Pius X in 1911, contained far more repetitions than the Benedictine, for Psalms 118, 53 and 30 were all said daily in the older form of the Roman Office.

These differences, I would suggest, are important, for what things are or aren't regularly repeated surely help develop a particular spiritual mindset.  Some modern Benedictines, though retaining the weekly psalter, have sought to eliminate many of the repetitions, taking their permission from Chapter 18.  It seems to me, however, more consistent with the Vatican II direction to retain the patrimony of religious orders (Perfectae Caritatis 2b), to devote some consideration to just why St Benedict decided that certain psalms (and certain verses) were so important and/or so appropriate to a particular hour that they should be repeated frequently.

The comments below consider the reasons for the repetitions in the context of the particular hours in which they occur.  

MATINS: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

"At midnight I rose to give praise to thee." (Psalm 118:62, quoted in RB 16)

St Benedict made it clear, in his Rule, that the symbolism of light and darkness were extremely important to him.  In particular, he devotes an entire chapter to the timing of the Divine Office at night (Matins, or Vigils), in order to ensure that the monks rose early enough to enable Lauds to be said at first light.   

The long night Vigil, however, in which the monk keeps watch through the darkness of the literal and metaphorical night, reflects the particular Office of the monk in dispelling the darkness on behalf of us all.  Unsurprisingly then, Matins is the workhorse of the Benedictine Office, easily the longest 'hour' of the day, almost as long,  most days of the week, as all the other hours combined due to its twelve variable psalms to be said each day.

St Benedict manages to pack a lot of symbolism though, into the repeated psalmody of the hour.  Firstly, the start of Matins marks the end of the overnight 'great silence' that starts after Compline.  How appropriate then, that the first words the monk or nun says each day is a plea for God to allow him to speak in praise of him:

16  Dómine, lábia mea apéries: * et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.

O Lord, you will open my lips: and my mouth shall declare your praise.

The first full psalm of the hour, Psalm 3, also includes a verse that can be taken very literally - though it also has an important spiritual meaning as we shall see  - in a reference to waking from sleep:

6  Ego dormívi, et soporátus sum: * et exsurréxi, quia Dóminus suscépit me.

I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me

Psalm 3, though, is primarily a call to take up the spiritual warfare at the start of the new day, a reminder that the battle will not end until we are in heaven.  It is not accidental, in my view, that St Benedict's Rule also opens with a call to become spiritual warriors for Christ.

The second invitatory, Psalm 94, is a joyful invitation to worship our creator, redeemer and protector, but also contains an important warning not to put off repentance, but to respond to God’s call here and now should we here it.  It is worth noting that this psalm features in the Prologue to St Benedict's Rule, so it's appearance here too, is unlikely to be a coincidence.  

The psalm may also be significant for another reason: its verse recalling the forty years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert before being allowed to enter the Promised Land is mirrored in the forty psalms said each in the Benedictine Office (assuming you count the Laudate psalms individually).

You can find detailed notes on the daily psalms of Matins through the links below.

Psalm 3: 

Five reasons why St Benedict makes Psalm 3 a daily invitatory
Introduction to Psalm 3
Psalm 3:v1
Psalm 3:v2
Psalm 3:v3
Psalm 3:v4
Psalm 3:v5
Psalm 3:v6
Psalm 3:v7 
Psalm 3:v8

Notes on the Latin:
Notes on Psalm 3 grammar and vocab Pt 1
Notes on Latin of Psalm 3 Pt 2
Notes on the Latin of Psalm 3, Pt 3

Psalm 94:

Introduction to Psalm 94
Psalm 94 v1-2
Psalm 94 v3-4
Psalm 94 v5-7
Psalm 94 v8-9
Psalm 94 v 10-11

LAUDS: THE HOUR OF LIGHT

"May God cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us" (Psalm 66)

 In the Roman Office, Lauds is very closely linked to Matins, and often said effectively as one hour.  In the Monastic Office, however, St Benedict envisages there being a break between the two hours.  In winter he envisages this break being quite long, providing time for study of the psalms and lessons for those who needed it (RB8); in summer it is just a break for 'the necessities of nature'. The reason for the break is simple: Lauds was to be carefully timed so that it begins at first light, and thus take in dawn.  The rising of the sun, then, symbolises the Resurrection of the Son.  So important is the connection with the time of day for this hour that St Benedict even instructs his monks to cut short the readings of Matins if necessary in order to ensure that Lauds is said at its proper time.

In keeping with this symbolism, both the psalms and the proper canticle for the hour, the Benedictus (from St Luke), link the hour symbolically to the 'almost/but not yet' time we live in - after the Coming of Our Lord, but before the Kingdom is fully realised on earth with his return in glory to judge the earth. 

The hymns and psalms of Lauds focus on preparing for and rejoicing at the coming of the sun/Son, and its hymns and psalms contain many references to the dawn and the morning, and the coming light.  Overall, the flavour of the hour is one of anticipation and joy at the coming dawn. 

Lauds is the longest of the day hours in the Benedictine Office, with seven psalms and two canticles assigned to it.  The hour itself is somewhat unusual compared to the rest of the Office in that five of those psalms - Psalms 66, 50, 148, 149 and 150 - are repeated every day.  The fixed psalms are, therefore, obviously very important in setting the flavour of this hour.

The repeated psalms of Matins, I would suggest, are essentially ones of preparation, seeking to inculcate the right attitude to the coming day in us.  The repeated psalms of Lauds, though, have more of a focus on action.

The hour always starts (after the Deus in Adjutorium) with Psalm 66, a beautiful psalm asking for God's blessing to come upon us.   Psalm 66 is though, above all a prayer for the mission of the Church, the blessing requested is for our work so that 'all peoples may confess God's name'.

The second psalm, the Miserere acknowledges our sinful state, and begs God's forgiveness of our sins.  The Miserere is the most famous of the penitential psalms, and also the most beautiful, not least for its glimmers of light as it begs God to 'give us back the joy of salvation'.  But again, as well as being a call to repentance it also has a focus on mission, for example asking for the grace to 'teach thy ways to evil-doers'.

The psalmody of Lauds always ends on a joyful note, with the Laudate or ‘rejoicing’ psalms, from the very end of the psalter, which have always been interpreted by Christians as our response to the Resurrection.  The really key verse, I would suggest, comes right in the middle, in Psalm 149:6, which teaches that the mission of the faithful is twofold: firstly to worship God, and secondly to advance the Gospel in the world (the sword is the word of God, its two edges the Old and New Testaments):

6  Exaltatiónes Dei in gútture eórum: * et gládii ancípites in mánibus eórum.

6 The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands:

You can find detailed notes on the daily psalms of Lauds through the links below.

Psalm 69: 

Deus in adjutorium meum intende: Psalm 69

Psalm 66:

Introduction to Psalm 66
Psalm 66 v1-2
Psalm 66 v3-4
Psalm 66 v5-6

Psalm 50:

Introduction to Psalm 50
Psalm 50: verses 1-4
Psalm 50: verses 5-6
Psalm 50: verses 7-9
Psalm 50: verses 10-12
Psalm 50: verses 13-15
Psalm 50: verse 16
Psalm 50: verses 17-18
Psalm 50: verses 19-20
Psalm 50 in the daily Office 

Psalm 148:

Introduction to Psalm 148
Psalm 148 v1-4
Psalm 148 v5-6
Psalm 148 v7-10
Psalm 148 v11-12
Psalm 148 v13-14

Psalm 149:

Introduction to Psalm 149
Psalm 149 v1-3
Psalm 149 v4-6
Psalm 149 v7-9

Psalm 150:

Introduction to Psalm 150
Psalm 150 v1-2
Psalm 150 v3-5a
Psalm 150 v5b


TERCE TO NONE: THE ASCENT OF GRACE

One of the most distinctive features of the Benedictine Office is the use of nine of the Gradual Psalms (Psalm 119-127) at Terce to None from Tuesday to Saturday.  St Benedict's use of the Gradual Psalms is interesting, because they fit particularly well with the other psalmody of Tuesday, the first day of the week on which they are said, but also form part of the repeated framework of the day hours.

These psalms are thought to have been sung liturgically as the pilgrims ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple in Jerusalem on major feasts, as well as being pilgrim songs.  The Fathers saw them, though, as tracing the mystical ascent of the Christian in the spiritual life in imitation of Christ, who shows us how to climb Jacob’s ladder to heaven and grow in virtue.

You can find links to detailed notes on the Gradual Psalms, together with a commentary on the reasons for their positioning in the Benedictine Office here.

COMPLINE: INTO GREAT SILENCE

Compline is the only hour in the Benedictine Office that remains the same every day (the Marian antiphon aside).  Said last thing in the evening, it teaches us how to deal with the darkness that inevitably surrounds us in this world, as well as the darkness and dangers of the literal night itself.

The structure of Compline is described in St Benedict’s Rule in Chapters 17 and 18, however over time the hour has been elaborated somewhat with the addition at the beginning of a new ‘opening section’ that includes a short reading warning of the dangers of the night and an examination of conscience and confession of sins; at the end with a Marian antiphon and prayer.   The three psalms set for it are Psalms 4, 90 and 133.  

Like Psalm 3 that opens the day, Psalm 4 contains verses that makes it particularly appropriate to the hour, indeed one that is in effect response to the verse on rising from sleep in Psalm 3:

9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;	In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
10 Quóniam tu, dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.	For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.

The psalm calls upon us to repent of the sins of the day; asks God to grant us forgiveness and the grace to do better in future; and asks for God’s blessing on our sleep.  

Psalm 90 is most commonly associated with Our Lord's temptation in the desert in the Gospels, and provides reassurance of God’s protection of the just against all the dangers that can arise.  The first section of the psalm sets out the promise of divine protection that God grants to the faithful.  It closes with words put in the mouth of God.  One particular reason its use may have appealed to St Benedict is the allusion to God as our 'susceptor' or sustainer, upholder, a word (which also appears in Psalm 3) that was particularly important in the monastic tradition, not least for its associations with the Suscipe verse (Psalm 118:116) used in the monastic profession ceremony.

The last psalm of the each day, Psalm 133 is also the last of the Gradual psalms, and at the literal level, this psalm is a summons to worship at night, and give God thanks for the blessings of the day.  Spiritually though, it points to our ultimate destination in heaven, where the worship of God never ends.   It concludes by requesting a blessing from God on us. 

You can find links to notes on the daily psalms of Compline through the links below.

Ps 4:

Psalm 4 in the context of Tenebrae
Psalm 4 - Short summaries
Psalm 4  - verse by verse notes (to come)

Ps 90:

Ps 90 - Short summaries
Ps 90 - verse by verse notes (to come)

Ps 133:

Introduction to Psalm 133
Psalm 133 verse1
Psalm 133 verse 2
Psalm 133 verse 3
Psalm 133 verse 4

In a monastery, the hour is traditionally followed by the abbot or abbess sprinkling the monks or nuns with holy water, usually while verses of Psalm 50 (from ‘Asperges me…’) are chanted.  And then the Great Silence falls, lasting until those first words of Matins are spoken again.

Masterpost: The Seven Penitential Psalms

The Seven Penitential Psalms

The listing of the penitential psalms - Psalm 6, Psalm 31 (32), 37 (38), 50 (51), 101 (102), 129 (130) and 142 (143) - was firmed up by Cassiodorus, a sixth century contemporary of St Benedict.  You can find the full text of all of the set here.

The Penitential Psalms were traditionally prayed communally each day during Lent - indeed, Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) ordered them to be prayed at this time.

You can find them with the antiphon normally used in most missals, or in the Monastic Diurnal.

Introduction to the series

Psalm 6
Psalm 6 as a penitential psalm
Introduction to Psalm 6
Psalm 6 Pt 2: On God's anger (v1)
Psalm 6 pt 3: God the physician (v2)
Psalm 6 pt 4: In death no man remembers you (v3-5)
Psalm 6 pt 5: A baptism of tears (v6)
Psalm 6 pt 6: praying for our enemies (v7-10)

Psalm 31

Introduction to Psalm 31
Psalm 31 Pt 2: The grace of forgiveness (v1)
Psalm 31 Pt 3: Admitting our faults (v6)
Psalm 31 Pt 4: On being as stubborn as a mule (v11-12)

Psalm 37

Introduction to Psalm 37
Psalm 37 verse 6
Psalm 37 v14&15
Psalm 37 v18

Psalm 50

Introduction to Psalm 50
Psalm 50: verses 1-4
Psalm 50: verses 5-6
Psalm 50: verses 7-9
Psalm 50: verses 10-12
Psalm 50: verses 13-15
Psalm 50: verse 16
Psalm 50: verses 17-18
Psalm 50: verses 19-20

Psalm 101

Introduction to Psalm 101
Psalm 101 verses 1-3
Psalm 101 v7-8
Psalm 101 v12-14
Psalm 101 v 26-29

Psalm 129

Introduction to Psalm 129 as a penitential psalm pt 1
Intro to Psalm 129 Pt 2
Psalm 129: Hear my plea (verses 1-2)
Psalm 129: God's great mercy (v3-5a)
Psalm 129: The virtue of hope (v5b-6)
Psalm 129: The promise of redemption (v7-8)

Psalm 142

Introduction to Psalm 142 as a penitential psalm
Psalm 142: verses 1-4
Psalm 142 v5
Psalm 142: verses 6-7
Psalm 142: verses 8-9
Psalm 142 v10-12
Psalm 142 v13-14

Psalm 118: Masterpost

Psalm 118 (119), at 176 verses, is the longest in the psalter, and an important one, devoted to the praise of the law.

It is neatly divided into twenty-two stanzas of eight verses, and in Hebrew it is one of the alphabetic psalms, presumably to facilitate memorization.

Psalm 118 in the Office

In the older form of the Roman Office, it was said daily, from Prime to None.

St Benedict, however, spreads it over Sunday and Monday in his form of the Office.  One can perhaps view this as in juxtaposition to his use of the Gradual Psalms for the remainder of the week: the law (Psalm 118) is a necessary foundation for the ascent of grace (Psalms 119-133).

Many verses of the psalm are used in Mass propers, and it has much in it that makes it worth meditating on at any time, as well as in the context of the Office.

As a Lenten devotion

The series below, however, was written as a Lenten series.

Saying Psalm 118 daily as a Lenten penance has some tradition behind it, for a letter found in a medieval manuscript purporting to be from St Scholastica to a fellow abbess, which details the Lenten practices at her monastery says that:

"Nonna Marcellina asked me if she might pray the Beati immaculati (Psalm 118) daily through Lent. She knows it by heart, of course."

The links below show how the psalm is allocated between the hours of the Benedictine Office.

SUNDAY

Prime

(Introduction to Psalm 118 Pt 1, Part II, Part III & Part IV)

Psalm 118 (Aleph) - Beati immaculati
Psalm 118 (Beth) - In quo corrigit
Psalm 118 (Ghimel) - Retribue servo tuo
Psalm 118 (Daleth) - Adhaesit pavimento anima mea &vs 32 (cum dilatasti cor meum)

Terce

Psalm 118 (He) - Legem pone mihi
Psalm 118 (Vau) - Et veniet super misericordia tua Domine
Psalm 118 (Zain) - Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo & Vs 52-56:Cantabiles mihi

Sext

Psalm 118 (Heth) - Portio mea Domine & Verses 63&64: Particeps ego sum
Psalm 118 (Teth) - Bonitatem fecisti cum servo tuo Domine
Psalm 118 (Jod) - Manus tuae fecerunt me

None

Psalm 118 (Caph) - Deficit in salutare tuum anima mea
Psalm 118 (Lamed) - In aeternum Domine
Psalm 118 (Mem) - Quomodo dilexi legem tuam Domine

MONDAY

Terce

Psalm 118 (Nun)
Psalm 118 (Samech v116) and Part 2
Psalm 118 (Ayin)

Sext

Psalm 118 (Phe)
Psalm 118 (Sade)
Psalm 118 (Coph)

None

Psalm 118 (Res)
Psalm 118 (Sin)
Psalm 118 (Tau)

Wednesday in the Benedictine Office

Duccio: The betrayal of Judas

Wednesday is, I think, a challenging day in the Benedictine Office.

There are a number of reasons for this.

First it is quite a long day - Vespers in particular is the longest of the week, at 69 verses all up.

Secondly, it contains some of the more challenging psalms of the psalter, particularly at Vespers, with assorted bits of smiting (in Psalms 134&135) and bashing of babies (Psalm 136, By the Rivers of Babylon), all normally sung to Tone 3 which I always find rather disconcertingly cloying given the words.

Above all, though, the psalms of the day dwell on themes that are deeply confronting and counter-cultural, even (perhaps especially) within contemporary Catholicism, including the reality of malice and betrayal; the closing off of the Old Testament and the election of the Church; and punishment for sin.

So it is a hard day, I think, for us to meditate on.  But an extremely necessary one.

We are all Judas's

The key theme of the day is, I think, man's malice, most particularly as manifested in the councils of the Jews plotting to kill Our Lord and the betrayal of Judas.

In the liturgy of Holy Week, Wednesday is called 'Spy Wednesday' because of its association with these events.  It was a fast day throughout the year for this reason, and St Benedict certainly follows this very ancient tradition in his own prescriptions on fasting, making Wednesday one of the two days a week with only one meal for most of the year.

Does he echo the theme liturgically however?

Contemporary Orthodox (and former Trappist) theologian Patrick Reardon certainly thinks so in the case of Lauds at least, arguing that:

“Wednesday’s relationship to the betrayal of Jesus seems to be the major reason that Psalm 63 (Hebrew 64) has been associated with that day for many centuries.  The Rule of St Benedict, in the sixth century, already testifies to what appears to have been the older custom of praying this psalm on Wednesday mornings at Matins.” (Christ in the Psalms, p125)

I agree, and think that the other psalms of the day can be prayed as a meditation on the rejection of Jesus by his own, and the consequences all this has had for salvation history.  And of course this meditation must be applied to our own lives and times as well, for in our day many once again reject the Gospel; for we are all Judas's, crucifying Jesus through our sins; and we must all decide whether to accept God's choice of us for his own.

The consequences of betrayal

One of those uncomfortable, unfashionable truths Wednesday's Office confronts us with is not just the reality of our own betrayals of God, the sins we all continue to commit that crucified Christ, but also the consequences of those choices.

Several of the psalms of the day deal with the punishments God meted out to his people as punishment for their sins.  The day opens, for example, at Matins, with Psalm 59, which describes a defeat suffered by the Israelites at the hands of the pagans because God is angry with them.

Indeed, the very opening verse of the first Nocturn at Matins sets the scene with these words: O God, you have cast us off, and have destroyed us; you have been angry...

The old and new covenants

The most immediate consequences of the rejection of God represented by Judas' betrayal though, was surely the fate of Jews of the time following their rejection of Christ.

The situation of modern Jews when it comes to the Church is sensitive territory these days, for many in the Church, swayed by the desire to promote inter-religious unity, advocate ideas that are at odds with both Scripture and tradition.  But the traditional view, which as Fr Hunwicke has recently carefully set out (do go read his series of posts on this subject) is not contradicted by Vatican II's teaching on the subject, is that because the Jews of his time mostly rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the old covenant is closed off: the Jews are no longer the chosen people, for they are displaced by the Church.

The Church is based on the faithful remnant of the Jewish people of course, consisting of the apostles and disciples and their subsequent converts.  But the Mosaic Covenant has been closed, and the Jewish people have been dispossessed just as the Canaanites were in their time, and their inheritance given to the new Israel, the Church, which is open to gentiles and Jews alike.

In fact Hbrabanus Maurus' early medieval monastic commentary on the Office Canticles reminds of us St Paul's discussion of those famously barren women of the Old Testament granted a child who is preferred over that of a hated rival as foreshadowing the closing off of the old covenant with the Jewish people, and the opening of the new to all nations (Galatians 4).  Maurus says:

“But on Wednesday the Canticle of Anna the prophetess is sung, in which the expulsion of the perfidious Jews is set out, and the election of the Church of the gentiles is demonstrated.” 

God's choices

The idea that God chooses individuals and peoples as his own, and intervenes in history to advance his plan for them is something our egalitarian, aggressively secularist, society tends to shy at, but is repeated over and over in today's psalms.

The sentiments of the canticle of Hannah, with her rejoicing at becoming pregnant at last and bearing a son meant for great things is clearly the direct source of many of the verses of Our Lady's Magnificat, her own song of exaltation at being chosen to be the Mother of God.

And the first two psalms of Vespers celebrate God's interventions to choose the Jewish people out of all the nations of the world, to bring them out of Egypt, and bring them into the Promised Land.  We can see them as foreshadowing the establishment of the Church.

A Redemption triptych?

In fact these two psalms of Vespers seem to me to form something of a deliberate triptych with the opening psalms of Vespers on Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday, Psalm 113  rehearses the parting of the Red Sea and Jordan as a type of our baptism, and the rejection of idolatry and election of Israel as a type of the Church.

On Tuesday, Psalm 129's concluding verse promises redemption through Christ.

Psalm 134 repeats Psalm 113's verses on the impotence of false idols, and takes us through the key events of salvation history.

Psalm 135 covers virtually identical ground, but concludes with a verse on God providing food to 'all flesh' that can be interpreted as the opening of the covenant to the gentiles.

They can also usefully provide a meditation for us on the nature of God, a theme continued in the opening psalm of Thursday (with Psalm 139 as a meditation on his omniscience and omnipotence).

Babylon or Jerusalem?

A key point to note is that Wednesday's psalms are strongly at odds with the modern idea that pretty much everyone will be saved, regardless of whether or not they have actually sought to follow Christ.  Rather, they contain a clear message: stay faithful to God, and he will aid you; reject him, and he will reject you.

The Prime psalms in particular point to the need for prayers and grace, for heroic perseverance at a time when heresy, indifference and atheism are rife.  Nowhere, though, is the choice that we must each make - between the city of God or the city of men - made clearer, perhaps, than in Psalm 136, By the rivers of Babylon, sung at Vespers.

Wednesday in the Office is, I think, something of a 'tough love' day, reminding us that just as evil men constantly circled around Jesus trying to trap him and find the moment to bring him down, so can we expect the same treatment.  Worse, we can all be tempted to utterly betray Christ through our sins.

This hard message is, though, always tempered by the constant reminder that repentance is always possible: God's punishments are meant to cause amendment.

Out of death comes life: the seed must die

A second thread to the day is, I think, that God intervenes in history in order to bring good out of evil: our sufferings are for a purpose, and have meaning.

In particular, the Wednesday Office reminds us, as part of the weekly cycle on the life of Christ, that what is to come - Jesus' suffering and death - was a necessary sacrifice, made to reopen to way the heaven for us.

Psalm 64, a harvest hymn said at Lauds, and Psalm 137, the closing psalm of Vespers both reflect this theme, with Psalm 64 telling us that the Lord has ‘visited the earth, and have plentifully watered it; you have many ways enriched it’, such that the streams are full, and everything is set for a ripe harvest, surely a fitting image for the day on which Scripture tells us that Christ spoke to his disciples of the necessity of the wheat seed dying so that the new harvest could be planted.

Our Lord on Spy Wednesday

Yet in many ways the overarching image for the day is provided, I think, by the last verses of the last psalm of Prime, which describes evil men circling, waiting for the moment to attack, just as they did Christ throughout his ministry, but most especially on that final Wednesday before the first Triduum.

In keeping with these challenging themes, Wednesday's variable psalms end on a somewhat ambivalent note, with the words of Psalm 137 echoing Psalm 23 (the Lord is my shepherd), in speaking of the trust we can all have in God when things look dire - but also, perhaps, foreshadowing the abandonment that Christ faced on the Cross:

"Though affliction surround my path, thou dost preserve me; it is thy power that confronts my enemies’ malice, thy right hand that rescues me. My purposes the Lord will yet speed; thy mercy, Lord, endures for ever, and wilt thou abandon us, the creatures of thy own hands?" (Knox translation)

THE PSALMS OF WEDNESDAY

Matins

(Note: Psalm 3 &Psalm 94 said daily)

Psalm 59
Psalm 60
Psalm 61
Psalm 65
Psalm 67 (divided)

Psalm 68 (divided) (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 69 (Mass propers; in context of Tenebrae
Psalm 70 (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 71 (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 72 (in the context of Tenebrae)

Lauds

(Note: Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 are said daily)

Introduction to Psalm 63 (Psalm 63 in the context of Tenebrae)
Introduction to Psalm 64

Canticle of Anna (Hannah) (1 Kings 2: 1-10)
or
Canticle of Judith (Judith 16: 15-21) (festal)

Prime

Introduction to Psalm 9 (Pt 2 aka Psalm 10)
Introduction to Psalm 10
Introduction to Psalm 11

Terce to None: as on Tuesday

Vespers

Introduction to Psalm 134 (with links to verse by verse notes)
Introduction to Psalm 135 (with links to verse by verse notes)
Introduction to Psalm 136 (with links to verse by verse notes)
Introduction to Psalm 137 (with links to verse by verse notes)

Compline: same psalms said daily: 4, 90, 133

Psalms for this week and blog tidy up progress

Those of you have been following this blog for a while and have been waiting for me to get back to my series on the psalms of Vespers may have thought  I've been dragging my heels on getting started on the psalms of Wednesday.

I have.

And there is a reason for this, namely that I always find the psalms of Wednesday very uncomfortable, dealing, as I think they do, with man's betrayal of God and the consequences thereof.

But I do plan to get to it very very soon (viz next week).

This week

This week though, I thought I'd just complete my gap filling exercize by providing some introductory notes on those psalms of Prime of Monday and Tuesday that I haven't already covered (ie Psalms 1, 2, 8 and 9/1), so that as we go forward I'll have covered at least by way of introductory notes, all of the variable psalms of a particular day of the week in the Office.

I will then devote the next month or so to the psalms of Wednesday (mainly Vespers).

Getting ready for Lent!

Lent starts on March 5 this year, and I normally do a psalm series appropriate to the season, and plan to do so again this year.

In past years I've looked at the psalms of Holy Week Tenebrae and Psalm 118 (in honour of a possibly apocryphal letter of St Scholastica noting that one of her nuns was saying it daily as her Lenten penance) on this blog, and before that, the Penitential Psalms over at my Australia Incognita blog.

I'm thinking of looking at the Penitential Psalms here this year, with the aim of importing and updating my previous notes from Australia Incognita blog, as well as providing a more complete set of notes on individual psalms, as my previous series just picked out a few key verses from each one.

But another option would be to look at the Gradual Psalms (Psalm 119-133), the saying of which is another traditional Lenten penance.

So if you have a preference, do let me know!

Canticles at Matins

One of the unique features of the traditional Benedictine Office is the use of three canticles - psalms from Scriptures outside the book of psalms - as the third Nocturn at Matins.

The number of nocturns and canticles on Sunday is not an accident, but rather a use of the numerological symbolism of which the Fathers were so fond.

Sundays are, above all, a celebration of the Resurrection, which occurred 'on the third day' after Christ's death on the Cross.  The inclusion of a the third nocturn 'resurrection vigil' to reinforce this idea may have been something taken over by St Benedict from the early Eastern cathedral tradition.

In the modern form of the Office, there are sets of canticles for use on particular feasts, as well as for the Commons of saints.

CANTICLES FOR THE TEMPORAL CALENDAR

The most often used canticles though, are for the liturgical season, and are as follows:

Advent

Isaiah 40:10-17**updated
Isaiah 42:10-16
Isaiah 49: 7-13

Nativitytide (and Epiphanytide)

Introduction to Isaiah 9:2-7
Introduction to Isaiah 26:1-12
Introduction to Isaiah 66:10-16

Time throughout the year

Introduction to Isaiah 33:2-10
Introduction to Isaiah 33:13-18
Introduction to Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 36:14-19

Lent and Passiontide

Jeremiah 14:17-21
Lamentations 5:1-7, 15-17, 19-21
Ezekiel 36:24-28

Eastertide

Isaiah 63:1-5
Hosea 6:1-6
Zephaniah (Sophronias) 3:8-13

CANTICLES FOR THE SANCTORAL CALENDAR

In addition to the canticles for the liturgical seasons, particular sets of canticles are also used on Class I&II feasts.

Common of the BVM/Virgin Martyrs/Virgins/Holy Women

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 39:17-21
Isaiah 61:10-11, 62:1-3
Isaiah 62:4-7

Common of Apostles/Evangelists

Isaiah 61:6-9
Wisdom 3:7-9
Wisdom 10: 17-21

Common of Popes/one martyr/confessor bishop/confessor

Ecclesiasticus 14:22, 15:3-4, 6
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Ecclesiasticus 31:8-11

Common of several martyrs/Feast of All Saints

Wisdom 3:1-6
Wisdom 3:7-9
Wisdom 10: 17-21

Common of the Dedication of a Church

Tobit 13:10-17
Isaiah 2:2-3
Jeremiah 7:2-7

Other feasts

1 Chron 29: 10-13 (Christ the King no 1)

Tuesday in the Benedictine Office

St Mary's Church, Lewisham, UK

I'm currently running a series on the psalms of Vespers, and we have now reached Tuesday at that hour. Before looking at the individual psalms of Tuesday Vespers, though, I thought it might be helpful first to consider the context of the Office of Tuesday as a whole.

The public ministry of Christ, the true Temple

Monday in the Benedictine Office, I've previously suggested, can be seen as a meditation on the life of Christ from his birth to baptism and temptation in the desert.

Tuesday, I want to suggest, is an appropriate time to meditate on the public ministry of Christ, and particularly the growth in the spiritual life and holiness that comes from the imitation of Christ, as we stand in the footsteps of the disciples, hearing his preaching.  In fact, the first very first psalm of Matins, Psalm 45, supports that idea quite nicely, asserting that 'God is in the midst of us',  'doing wonders on the earth' (Deus in médio ejus… Veníte, et vidéte ópera Dómini, quæ pósuit prodígia super terram).

Above all though, the day's key theme is, I think, Christ as the true Temple.

The psalms of Matins and Lauds are full of references to the city of God, the heavenly temple, psalms which Christians have long interpreted as being about the desire for Christ himself.  Indeed, Psalm 42, which is said at Lauds, forms the basis of the prayers at the foot of the altar in the traditional Mass.

Gradual Day

One of the most distinctive features of the Benedictine Office, though, is the use of nine of the Gradual Psalms at Terce to None from Tuesday to Saturday (the older form of the Roman Office used Psalm 118 at these hours).

And on Tuesday, St Benedict goes further, arranging it so that all of the 'psalms of ascent' (Psalms 119-133), save for Psalm 128 (said on Monday) are said in order.

These psalms are thought to have been sung liturgically as the pilgrims ascended the fifteen steps of the Temple in Jerusalem on major feasts.  

These psalms can also be viewed as pilgrim songs, appropriate perhaps for Christ's wanderings around the region as he preached.  

But above all, the Fathers saw them as tracing the mystical ascent of the Christian in the spiritual life in imitation of Christ, who shows us how to climb Jacob’s ladder to heaven and grow in virtue.

The first of the group, Psalm 119, presents us with the image of an exile, a stranger living amongst antagonistic peoples, who has ‘lived too long in exile’.  Hebrews 11 nicely summarises the story line that then develops:

“These all died in faith…having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

Hebrews contrasts the story of the Old Testament figures who set out on this journey, but were not able to arrive at the destination because heaven was closed to them by Original Sin, with our situation, whereby the gates to heaven have been reopened by our Lord. But it also points to the key orientation of the Christian: living in the world, but not being of it; and focusing on laying up treasure in heaven, not in the here and now:

"Why then, since we are watched from above by such a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of all that weighs us down, of the sinful habit that clings so closely, and run, with all endurance, the race for which we are entered. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the origin and the crown of all faith, who, to win his prize of blessedness, endured the cross and made light of its shame, Jesus, who now sits on the right of God’s throne." (Hebrews 12)


Indeed, Christ is the 'third temple', as St John's Gospel asserts in a text that many of the Fathers regarded as the key to the interpretation to the Gradual psalms:

"Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again. At which the Jews said, This temple took forty-six years to build; wilt thou raise it up in three days? But the temple he was speaking of was his own body; and when he had risen from the dead his disciples remembered his saying this, and learned to believe in the scriptures, and in the words Jesus had spoken." (John 2: 19-22).

Vespers on Tuesday

Vespers on Tuesday features four of the gradual psalms, Psalms 129-132.  Two of these (Psalms 130 and 132) are very short indeed - only three verses as they appear in Scripture, though lengthened somewhat in their liturgical presentation.   

There is, arguably, a particular logic to the split between the gradual psalms used at the little hours and those at Vespers: Cassiodorus, St Benedict’s contemporary, suggests that the first nine of the group refer to our life on earth, while the next group look to heaven.

But there is perhaps a deeper logic to them in terms of their specific content and Christ's message to us:

• Psalm 129, De Profundis, is a hymn to God's saving mercy, for God looks not at our sins and merits but instead redeems us through his mercy;
• Psalm 130, Domine non est exaltatum cor meum, urges us to meditate on the necessity of humility, which Christ taught us by his willingness to take human form and die a dreadful death;
• Psalm 131, Memento Domine David, can be interpreted as an ode to the Real Presence and the importance of worship; and 
• Psalm 132, Ecce quam bonum praises the unity of community life, urging us to love and serve one another.

The psalms of Tuesday, masterlist with links to posts

Matins

(Psalm 3 &Psalm 94 said daily)

Psalm 45
Psalm 46
Psalm 47 (In Mass propers: Pt 1& Pt 2)
Psalm 48
Psalm 49 (In Mass propers)
Psalm 51

Psalm 52
Psalm 53 (in context of Tenebrae, as Mass propers)
Psalm 54
Psalm 55
Psalm 57
Psalm 58 (in context of Tenebrae)

Lauds

(Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 are said daily)
Psalm 42 (Judica me)
Psalm 56 (Miserere mei)

Canticle of Ezekiel (Is 38)
or
Canticle of Tobit (Tobit 13:1-10)

Prime

Introduction to Psalm 7
Introduction to Psalm 8
Introduction to Psalm 9 (Pt 1)

Terce 

Ps 119 (Psalm 119 in the context of Vespers of the Dead)
Ps 120 (in Vespers for the Dead)
Ps 121 (Introit for 18th Sunday PP)

Sext

Psalm 122
Psalm 123
Psalm 124

None

Psalm 125
Psalm 126
Psalm 127

Vespers

Psalm 129 (De Profundis) (as a penitential psalm/1, Penitential/2, Alleluia and Offertory for last Sunday after Pentecost)
Psalm 130
Psalm 131 (Chrysostom on verse 1)
Psalm 132

Compline (same psalms said daily)

Psalm 4 (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 90
Psalm 133

Notes on the psalm notes

The psalm notes on this blog generally include an overview of each psalm, particularly with a mind to praying it in the context of St Benedict's schema for his Office.

In addition, there are some posts on particular psalms in other liturgical contexts, such as the Office for the Dead, or the Mass.

The verse by verse commentaries are intended to provide a basis for the deeper penetration of the meaning of the psalm through lectio divina on them based on the commentaries of the Fathers and Theologians.

Praying the Office with St Benedict

The first focus for the notes on this blog is to encourage those using the Benedictine Office to consider the deeper structure of that Office.

St Benedict devotes almost a third of his Rule to specifying the particular order of the psalms to be said in the form of the Divine Office to be followed by his monks.  And it is clear that he exercised great care and deliberation in selecting the pattern of repetitions and particular groupings he specified for each hour and day.

It is true that St Benedict does give permission for other (weekly) orderings of the psalter to be adopted.  Yet for centuries - up until the most recent one in fact - the overwhelming majority of his monks and nuns treasured the patrimony handed to them, and allowed themselves to be formed by the distinctive Office St Benedict bequeathed to them.

It is often suggested by modern liturgists that there is no underlying programmatic content to St Benedict's Office.  It is true of course, that liturgy - at least when it is the product of a process of organic development over centuries - rarely runs in clear straight lines.  Instead, as the theologian Catherine Pitstock argued in After Writing, it stutters and stops, re-beginnings and repeats in patterns borne of its cultural context.  Nonetheless, I believe that there is considerable internal and external evidence that St Benedict did in fact seek impose a particular implicit program on his Office.

It is generally agreed that St Benedict's starting point was the old Roman Office of his time.  He made many changes to it, however, and I would argue that those changes are spurred by three objectives: to give greater shape the nature of the particular hours; to emphasize particular aspects of his spirituality through repetition; and above all, a desire to give greater emphasis each day to the themes set out in the traditional (ferial) Office canticles set for Lauds each day.

In approaching this task, St Benedict, I would suggest, takes advantage of some of the distinctive sub-groupings of psalms as they appear in Scripture in order to give a more thematic feel to his Office.

Some of these linkages are horizontal, giving a thematic unity to particular hours of a particular day, or across the psalms of Prime and Vespers for example.

But there is also, in my view, a vertical unity, for I think that, taking its cue from the Lauds Canticles, the Benedictine Office is deeply Christological in character, tracing the life of Christ  - and its implications for us - in each day of the week.  In particular:

• Monday covers the Incarnation to his baptism (Vespers) and the Temptation in the Desert, with a    particular focus for the nun or monk on the renewal of monastic vows;
• Tuesday reflects on the public mission of Jesus, whereby he teaches us how to live the Christian life and thus ascend the steps towards the heavenly Temple (reflected in the use of the Gradual Psalms from Terce to Vespers);
• Wednesday focuses on his betrayal;
• Thursday to Saturday provides recapitulates the events of the Triduum; and
• Sunday celebrates the Resurrection.

Whether or not you agree with the arguments I develop for the existence of this particular mystical seven days of the remaking of the world in the notes provided herein, I hope you will nonetheless find meditation on the life of Christ in the context of the psalms worthwhile.

Praying the Office in Latin

The notes are also intended to assist those who wish to learn to pray the Office in Latin, particularly since there is no officially approved English version of the traditional Benedictine Office, and the translations that are included for study purposes in editions such as the Farnborough Monastic Diurnal do not always mirror the Latin Vulgate.

In general, the English translations provided (unless otherwise indicated) are from an updated version of the Douay-Rheims (previously on the New Advent site), since this is generally the most literal translation from the Latin Vulgate.  Text comments will often focus on the reasons for variations in the translations most commonly used for reference purposes for those saying the Office, viz Coverdale and the early twentieth century Collegeville translation used in the Farnborough edition of the Monastic Diurnal, as well as variations adopted by the 1979 Neo-Vulgate (used in the Novus Ordo Divine Office).

The vocabulary lists are generally derived from Dom Matthew Britt, A Dictionary of the Psalter (Preserving Christian Publications 2007 reprint of Benziger Brothers, 1928), supplemented by others sources such as Cassell's Latin Dictionary and Lewis and Short.

Where other translations are provided (note that the selection is limited by copyright considerations), the abbreviations used are as follows:

V            =Vulgate (available on the New Advent website)
NV         =Neo-Vulgate (available on the Vatican website)
JH          =St Jerome's translation from the Hebrew
Sept       =Septuagint (available on the New Advent website)
DR         =Douay-Rheims (generally the version previously on the New Advent website)
MD        =Monastic Diurnal published by Farnborough Abbey (Collegeville translation)
Brenton  =Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation from the Septuagint
NETS    =New English Translation from the Septuagint, available here
RSV       =Revised Standard Edition
Cover    =Coverdale
Knox      =Ronald Knox's translation available from the New Advent site
Grail      =Grail Psalter

The Hebrew, with links to Strong's Concordance, can be found (along with numerous other translations) at Blue Letter Bible.

The word by word translations, text notes and commentary are my own, but draw heavily on the commentaries of the Fathers and Theologians (on whom overview notes can be found elsewhere on this blog), Magisterial teaching, and other psalm commentaries.  As well as these, the next notes draw heavily on the following sources:

TE Bird, A Commentary on the Psalms 2 vols, (London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne, 1927)
Msgr Patrick Boylan, A Study of the Vulgate Psalter in the Light of the Hebrew Text, 2 vols (Dublin: M H Gill and Son, 2nd ed 1921)
David  J Ladouceur, The Latin Psalter Introduction, Selected Text and Commentary (London: Bristol Classical Press, 2005)

Suggestions, comments and queries

Comments, questions or suggestions on the content or presentation of these notes are always welcome.

In terms of content and layout, I've tried out several different formats in these notes and am currently moving to a slightly different one, and I'm always keen to get any feedback on issues such as whether the commentary notes are too long or not (I'm planning on shortening them henceforth) and so forth.

I'm also open to requests to look at particular psalms as a priority.

Monday (feria secunda) in the Benedictine Office, masterpost

Monday in the Benedictine Office

Monday for us today represents the start of the working week; liturgically however, it is labelled 'feria secunda', for Sunday is both the first day of creation, and, for Christians, the eighth day, or day of the Resurrection.   That inherent tension between beginnings and endings is certainly reflected in St Benedict's Office.

The start of the week?

Liturgically, Sunday represents the start of the week in many ways: a new collect is allocated to the week from the Sunday Mass for example.  St Benedict's structuring of his Office in part reflects this new start too, by commencing the recitation of that great foundational psalm of the law, Psalm 118 on that day.

Yet in many ways, it is Monday that really represents the start of the liturgical week in the Benedictine Office.

My contention is that St Benedict made a number of judicious changes to the structure of the Office he started from, namely the old Roman one, in order to provide a more thematic approach to the Office.  In fact, I want to suggest, taking his cue from the customary (ferial) Office canticles, each day in the Benedictine Office traces the journey of Christ's life, from the Incarnation, public ministry, through his crucifixion, death and up to the Resurrection.

The beginnings of our salvation: from the Incarnation to the Temptation in the Desert

That early medieval monks understood his Office this way is, I think, suggested nicely captured by the summations of the message of these canticles provided by the Hrabanus Maurus (780-856).  In the case of Monday, Maurus argues that the canticle for Lauds focuses on those events of Christ's life prior to the start of his public ministry:

On Monday [feria secunda], truly the second day, the canticle of Isaiah, in which the coming of the Saviour and the sacrament of baptism is preached, is decreed to be said, because these are the beginning of our salvation.” Hrabanus Maurus, Commentary on the Canticles

Many of the psalms of the day, and particularly the changes St Benedict made to the ordering of the day work well to fit this focus.

At Matins, many of the psalms of the day contain phrases that were incorporated in the New Testament Benedictus and Magnificat canticles, or are redolent of its promises.

Prime contains the two psalms that are generally regarded as both an introduction to the entire psalter and a summation of it, in Psalms 1 and 2.  Psalm 1 presents the picture of Christ, the perfect man, and the choice we must all make between walking in his way, or the way of evil.  Psalm 2 chronicles the history of his coming, particularly  with the verse used in the Introit of Christmas Day: the Lord said to me: you are my son, this day have I begotten thee (Dóminus dixit ad me: fílius meus es tu, ego hódie génui te).

At Vespers, one can perhaps see the psalms as a meditation on the baptism of Christ, his forty days of fasting and prayer in the desert, and his temptation by Satan.

A call to conversion of life

All of these events have deep implications in the life of the Christian.

The Incarnation is not just the coming of God to earth, not just the birth of a baby, but the fulfillment of specific promises made to our forefathers in faith that affect us in the here and now.  One of the most important of these promises is that God will raise up the poor and humble, and confound the proud.  The day's hours constantly come back to this theme, with each of the hours concluding the variable psalms with a reiteration of or plea for this promise to be fulfilled: at Lauds, Psalm 35; Prime, Psalm 6; at Vespers Psalm 128 (which can also be seen as echoing Jesus' final dismissal of Satan after his temptation in the desert).

There is a call to action implicit in this for us to, for Christ's baptism in the Jordan by St John comes with the message that we must all repent and be converted anew: we all have past sins to be ashamed of our past sins, and need to be washed anew in the waters of baptism so that we can be reborn with Christ.  Accordingly, the whole day constitutes an invitation 'turn away from evil and do good' (Ps 33 at Matins), to open ourselves to grace, to taste and see that the Lord is good.  And, as we shall see, the psalms of Vespers in particular provide an opportunity for us to renew our baptismal promises: to affirm that God is our creator and saviour, and reject Satan and all his works.

The Benedictine Office though, is above all a Monastic Office, intended to be said by monks and nuns who have deepened their baptismal promises through the vows made at solemn profession.  St Benedict's ordering of the Office, I think, provides a weekly opportunity for the religious to renew those vows afresh.  At Lauds the psalms summon us to a preparatory examination of conscience, and many of the other psalms of the day could be used to prompt meditation on commitment to the Benedictine way of life.

The high point of the day for the monk, though, is surely the recitation of the Suscipe verse (of Ps 118) used in the profession ceremony at Terce, for if the birth of Christ and our rebirth in him are key focuses for the day, the concrete realisation of our own baptismal promises is, for the monk, nun or oblate, the living out of the Benedictine Rule.

THE PSALMS OF THE DAY

Matins

(Psalm 3 &Psalm 94 said daily)

Psalm 32
Psalm 33
Psalm 34
Psalm 36 (divided)
Psalm 37 (in the context of Tenebrae)

Psalm 38
Psalm 39 (in context of Tenebrae)
Introduction to Psalm 40 (in the Office of the Dead)
Introduction to Psalm 41(in the Office of the Dead)
Psalm 43
Psalm 44

Lauds

(Psalms 66, 50 and 148-150 are said daily)

Introduction to Psalm 5
Ps 5:v1-4a
Ps 5:v4b-7a
Ps 5: v7b-9
Ps 5: v10-12
Ps 5:v 13-15

Introduction to Psalm 35  (see also Ps 35 in the context of Tenebrae of Holy Thursday)

Ferial Canticle: Isaiah 12 (Confitebor tibi Domine) (Introduction)

or Festal Canticle: Canticle of David (1 Chron 29: 10-13)

Prime

Introduction to Psalm 1 (see also  Commentary of St Basil on Psalm 1)
Introduction to Psalm 2 (see also Psalm 2 in the context of Tenebrae for Good Friday)
Psalm 6 (Series with introduction and verse by verse notes)

Terce

Psalm 118 (Nun)
Psalm 118 (Samech) and Part 2
Psalm 118 (Ayin)

Sext

Psalm 118 (Phe)
Psalm 118 (Sade)
Psalm 118 (Coph)

None

Psalm 118 (Res)
Psalm 118 (Sin)
Psalm 118 (Tau)

Vespers

Monday at Vespers (overview notes)

Psalm 113 (In exitu) Introduction and series providing verse by verse notes.
Psalm 114 (Dilexi) Introduction and series providing verse by verse notes.
Psalm 115 (Credidi) Introduction and series providing verse by verse notes.
Psalm 116 (Laudate Dominum)
Psalm 128 (Saepe expugnaverunt)

Compline (same psalms said daily)

Psalm 4 (in the context of Tenebrae)
Psalm 90
Psalm 133