Psalm 113 Verse 2

Verse 2 of Psalm 113:

Facta est Judæa sanctificátio ejus, * Israël potéstas ejus.

Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 

Lectio

Facta est (it has been made) Judæa (Judah) sanctificátio (sanctuary/shrine) ejus (his)

sanctificatio, onis, f. Holiness; a holy place, shrine, sanctuary (ie the Temple)

St John Chrysostom asks what the meaning of this phrase and provides this explanation:

"A people serving him, a people dedicated to him, a people belonging to him. "Sanctuary" is properly used of the Temple, the innermost cham­ber, the Holy of Holies, as Zechariah also introduces some peti­tioners asking, "Has the sanctuary entered here, or are we to fast?" meaning the Ark and all the other things. Judah became his sanctu­ary: before this it was a place impure and accursed, but when the people returned, the city became his sanctuary - that is, it was made into a sanctuary through observation, through sacrifices, through worship, through the other rituals."

Israël (Israel) potéstas (dominion/territory) ejus (his) = Israel his strength/dominion

potestas, atis, f power, strength, might, dominion, the Powers

Again, Chrysostom explains:

"What is the meaning of Israel his dominion? Under his control, he is saying. All the world, admittedly, was un­der his control, but it was also by another relationship that this people were, since they were the beneficiaries of inspired compo­sition, he spoke to them and managed their affairs to a greater ex­tent."

Meditatio

St Chrysostom goes on to explain God's care for his people, working wonders for them, and directing history.  And in Christ too, we can see this Providential care for the Church and us within it:

"Hence Christ also said of "the good shepherd," not that he is honored and served, but that he "lays down his life for his sheep." This is the meaning of leadership, this the art of being a shepherd, ignoring one's own concerns and being preoccupied with those of one's people. What a physician is, after all, so is a leader - or, rather, more than a physician. While the physician, you see, procures people's welfare through skill, the leader does it through risk to himself. Christ also did this, being scourged, crucified, suffering countless torments. Hence Paul, too, said, "Christ, after all, did not please himself; rather, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me."

In this verse, therefore, he cites two, or rather three things, plus innumerable kindnesses: his free­ing them from savages, rescuing them from a foreign land, liberat­ing them from slavery, eliminating their hardships and difficul­ties, working countless wonders; then deeming them worthy to become his sanctuary and subjects. This, you see, is no insignifi­cant form of kindness, enrolling them amongst his subjects."

Oratio

Thank you Lord for the great gift of your saving grace.

Through your good grace and mercy, you have made me a member of your Church; you feed and nourish me; guide me and heal me.

Let me always be sanctified through you, and consecrate myself afresh in our cleansing waters of confession.

Let me offer myself anew, as I join myself to your sacrifice in the Mass.

Let me never turn aside from where you would lead.

Let me ever praise you O Lord for all you have done for me.

Contemplatio

St Augustine invites us to reflect on the prophecy in the psalm, and ensure that we are Christians in truth:

"..You who know yourselves to be Israelites according to Abraham's seed, you who are of the house of Jacob, heirs according to promise, know that even you have gone forth from Egypt, since you have renounced this world; that you have gone forth from a foreign people, since by the confession of piety, you have separated yourselves from the blasphemies of the Gentiles. For it is not your tongue, but a foreign one, which knows not how to praise God, to whom you sing Allelujah. For Judah has become His sanctuary in you; for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and by circumcision of the heart. Romans 2:28-29 Examine then your hearts, if faith has circumcised them, if confession has cleansed them; in you Judah has become His sanctuary, in you Israel has become His dominion. For He gave unto you the power to become the sons of God. John 1:12 ..."

The psalm so far...

1  In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, * domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro:	When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:
2  Facta est Judæa sanctificátio ejus, * Israël potéstas ejus.	2 Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3  Mare vidit, et fugit: * Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum.	3 The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.
4  Montes exsultavérunt ut aríetes, * et colles sicut agni óvium.	4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.
5  Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugísti: * et tu, Jordánis, quia convérsus es retrórsum?	5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled: and you, O Jordan, that you were turned back?
6  Montes, exsultástis sicut aríetes, * et colles, sicut agni óvium.	6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams, and you hills, like lambs of the flock?
7  A fácie Dómini mota est terra, * a fácie Dei Jacob.	7 At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob:
8  Qui convértit petram in stagna aquárum, * et rupem in fontes aquárum.	8 Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters.

And the next set of notes on the verses can be found here.

Psalm 113: Verse 1

David Roberts c1830
The Israelites leaving Egpyt

The first verse of Psalm 113 positions the psalm in salvation history:

In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, * domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro:

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people

Lectio

In (in, at the time of=when) éxitu (coming out of, departure from) Israël (Israel) de (from) Ægýpto (Egypt)

exeo, ivi or li, ltum, ire, to go out or forth, to depart; to come out

domus (the house) Jacob (Jacob) de (from) pópulo (the people) bárbaro (foreign/strange)

barbarus, a, um  foreign, strange.

The Hebrew for 'barbaro' implies speaking indistinctly, or stammering.  Accordingly, some translators make the emphasis of the second phrase on those who speak a strange language.  Mgr Knox for example makes the verse 'When Israel came out of Egypt, and the sons of Jacob heard no more a strange language'.  

The Greek (and the Hebrew) do however use a word for people here (laos in the Greek), so the RSV's attempt 'When Israel went forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language', is perhaps closer to the sense of the Hebrew at least.  The Fathers, moreover, tend to interpret the word in a way entirely consonant with the English meaning of the word barbarous.

It is worth noting too, that 'the house of Jacob' is just a synonym for Israel, as St Robert Bellarmine points out:

"Before they went to Egypt, they were a family, not a people, but during their sojourn in Egypt they multiplied greatly, but were still mixed up with the Egyptians, to whose king they were subject; but, on their departure from Egypt, they began to assume the form of a state of their own, Moses, as being God's vice-regent and rep­resentative, having supreme authority; and that is what he alludes to when he says, "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob, from a barbarous people." Israel means here the people of Israel, who were descended of him, the house of Jacob being only a repetition of the same."

Meditatio

This first verse of the psalm takes us to a concrete reference point in the history of Israel: when God liberated the people of Israel from slavery and suffering in Egypt.  

For Christians this is an event that foreshadows our liberation from the slavery of the law and the end to the suffering of a people who had been excluded from entry to heaven, through the action of Christ.

And in this verse of the psalm, we should relive again that call to repentance and conversion issued by St John the Baptist as he prepared the way for Our Lord.

Cassiodorus explains:

"We must here interpret departure as the time when we emerge from the chains of sins. We are freed from the mob of the Egyptians—in other words, of the demons—when we no longer en­dure the sovereignty of their barbaric harshness, when the ostentation of this world has begun to be banished from our minds."

Oratio

How great a gift you give us O Lord in your son, who comes to free us from the slavery of sin.

How great a gift you have given us O Lord, in washing us free of sin in baptism, breaking the fetters of sin that bound us.

How great a gift you have given us O Lord, in making us your people, Israel, one Church to serve so great a God.

How great a gift you give us O Lord, in freeing us from the slavery of the devil, and healing us again and again when we fall.

Lead me always O Lord, out from the dominion of sin to your promised land.

Contemplatio

St Augustine reminds us that this verse teaches that we must always be of the world, not in it:

"But Egypt, since it is said to mean affliction, or one who afflicts, or one who oppresses, is often used for an emblem of this world; from which we must spiritually withdraw, that we may not be bearing the yoke with unbelievers.  For thus each one becomes a fit citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem, when he has first renounced this world; just as that people could not be led into the land of promise, save first they had departed from Egypt." 

The Psalm (Pt 1)

1  In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, * domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro:	When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:
2  Facta est Judæa sanctificátio ejus, * Israël potéstas ejus.	2 Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3  Mare vidit, et fugit: * Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum.	3 The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.
4  Montes exsultavérunt ut aríetes, * et colles sicut agni óvium.	4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.
5  Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugísti: * et tu, Jordánis, quia convérsus es retrórsum?	5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled: and you, O Jordan, that you were turned back?
6  Montes, exsultástis sicut aríetes, * et colles, sicut agni óvium.	6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams, and you hills, like lambs of the flock?
7  A fácie Dómini mota est terra, * a fácie Dei Jacob.	7 At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob:
8  Qui convértit petram in stagna aquárum, * et rupem in fontes aquárum.	8 Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters.

And you can find notes on the next verse here.

Introduction to Psalm 113

Today I want to start my consideration of the first psalm of Monday Vespers, Psalm 113.

Because it is very long, I plan to split my consideration of it into three parts, namely 1-8, 9-16 and 17-27, with an introduction to each followed by analysis of the individual verses.

Psalm 113 in Scripture

Psalm 113 is the major contributor to the length of Monday Vespers.  Included in the Hallel, those psalms said on major festivals such as the Passover, in the Hebrew Masoretic Text (and modern neo-Vulgate) it is actually split into two separate psalms.

There is, however, a fair amount of evidence to favour the joining of the two psalms over the split as the more ancient tradition.

Regardless, in the Septuagint, however, and hence Vulgate, it is counted as one psalm, and thus provides one of the points of difference in psalm numbering schemes between the traditional Catholic psalter and the Protestant one.  The split comes at Verse 9, Non Nobis Domine, a verse that has become very well-known indeed in the setting used for a film version of Shakespeare's Henry V.

Overview of the psalm

Indeed, more than a few commentators see the psalm as falling into three sections rather than two, and I subscribe to that view.

The first section, verses 1-8, focuses on the impact of a theophany, the manifestation of God in the world: God parts the Red Sea and the Jordan; in his presence the earth both exalts and trembles.

The second section, verses 9-16, contrasts the reality of our God with the powerless idols we make ourselves.

The final section, verses 17-27,...

Verses 1-8

The next set of posts will look in more detail at verses 1-8, but first an overview.

Psalm 113 opens with a reference to the Exodus from Egypt, and the parting of the Jordan:

"When Israel came out of Egypt, and the sons of Jacob heard no more a strange language, the Lord took Juda for his sanctuary, Israel for his own dominion. The seas fled at the sight they witnessed, backward flowed the stream of Jordan..." (Knox translation).

Like many psalms, this one can be read at a number of different levels.

At the literal level, the first half of the psalm reminds us of key moments in salvation history, starting from the exodus, and seeks to teach us the proper response of the awe and thanksgiving we should feel at God's wondrous workings.

It also though, points to key events that foreshadow Our Lord's life and the salvation history of the New Testament, for Moses is a type of Christ, and the crossing of the Jordan, referred to in verses is a type of baptism, as the famous hymn Through the Red Sea Brought at Last by Ronald Knox proclaims.

As such, the first half of the psalm speaks of the Church, the new people of Israel, rescued from slavery by Christ who first calls us to repentance and rebirth in baptism.  The theophany at his baptism is echoed in the awestruck reaction of nature described in the psalm, that signals our redemption, though we may yet have forty years or more of wandering in the desert before we enter into it!

Pope John Paul II on the first section of the Psalm

In the (Novus Ordo) Liturgy of the Hours, the first section of Psalm 113 (aka Psalm 114) retains a place in Sunday Vespers.  Here are some extracts from Pope John Paul II's catechesis on it in that context, from 2003:

"The joyful and triumphant song we have just proclaimed recalls Israel's Exodus from the oppression of the Egyptians. 

Psalm 114[113A] belongs to the collection that Jewish tradition has called the "Egyptian Hallel". These are Psalms 112-117[113-118], a selection of songs used especially in the Jewish Passover liturgy. 

Christianity has taken Psalm 114-[113A] with the same paschal connotation, but opened it to the new interpretation derived from Christ's Resurrection. The Exodus celebrated by the Psalm becomes, therefore, the symbol of another, more radical and universal liberation. 

Dante, in his Divine Comedy, places this hymn, in its Latin Vulgate version, on the lips of the souls in Purgatory:  "In exitu Israël de Aegypto / they all sang together with one voice..." (Purgatory II, 46-47). In other words, he saw in the Psalm the song of expectation and hope of those who are on the way, after purification from every sin, towards the final goal of communion with God in Paradise. 

Let us now follow the thematic and spiritual line of this short, prayerful composition. It opens (cf. vv. 1-2) by recalling the Exodus of Israel from Egyptian oppression until its entry into that Promised Land which is God's "sanctuary"; that is, the place of his presence in the midst of his people. In fact, land and people are fused together:  Judah and Israel, terms with which the Holy Land or the Chosen People were designated, come to be considered as the seat of the presence of the Lord, his special property and inheritance (cf. Ex 19: 5-6). 

After this theological description of one of the fundamental elements of faith of the Old Testament, that is, the proclamation of the marvels God worked for his people, the Psalmist reflects more profoundly, spiritually and symbolically on the constitutive events. 

The Red Sea of the Exodus from Egypt and the Jordan of the entry into the Holy Land are personified and transformed into witnesses and instruments that have a part in the liberation wrought by God (cf. Ps 114[113A]: 3, 5). At the beginning in the Exodus, the sea rolls back to allow Israel to pass, and at the end of the journey through the desert, it is the Jordan which turns back in its course, leaving its bed dry so that the procession of the children of Israel can cross over (cf. Jos 3-4). 

At the centre there is a reference to Sinai:  it is now the mountains that participate in the great divine revelation which takes place on their summits. Likened to living creatures such as rams and lambs, they skip and exult. 

With a very vivid personification, the Psalmist now asks the mountains about the reason for their confusion:  "[Why is it]... you mountains, that you skip like rams? You hills, like the lambs of the flock?" (Ps 114[113A]: 6). Their response is not mentioned:  it is given indirectly through an injunction, subsequently addressed to the earth, so that it too should tremble "before the Lord" (cf. v. 7). 

The confusion of the mountains and the hills, therefore, was a startled adoration in the presence of the Lord, God of Israel, an act of glorious exaltation of the transcendent and saving God. 

This is the theme of the last part of Psalm 114[113A] (cf. vv. 7-8), which introduces another important event of Israel's march through the desert, that of the water that gushed from the rock of Meribah (cf. Ex 17: 1-7; Nm 20: 1-13). God transformed the rock into a spring of water which becomes a lake:  at the root of this miracle is his fatherly concern for the people. 

This gesture acquires, then, a symbolic meaning:  it is a sign of the saving love of the Lord who sustains and regenerates humanity as it advances though the desert of history. St Paul was known to use this image and, on the basis of a Jewish tradition which claims that the rock accompanied Israel on its journey through the desert, he re-read the event in a Christological key:  "All drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ" (I Cor 10: 4). 

In this wake, commenting on the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt, a great Christian teacher such as Origen conceived of the New Exodus undertaken by Christians. Indeed, this is what he says: "Do not think that it was only then that Moses led the people out of Egypt:  now too we have Moses with us..., that is, the law of God wants to bring you out of Egypt; if you listen to it, it wishes to distance you from Pharaoh.... It does not want you to remain in the dark actions of the flesh, but to go out into the desert, that you reach a place apart from the upheavals and instability of the world, that you reach stillness and silence.... So when you have arrived in this place of calm, there you can sacrifice to the Lord, recognize the law of God and the power of the divine voice" (Omelie sull'Esodo, Rome, 1981, pp. 71-72). 

Taking up the Pauline image that calls to mind the crossing of the sea, Origen continues: "The Apostle calls this a baptism, realized in Moses in the cloud and sea, so that you too, who have been baptized in Christ, in water and in the Holy Spirit, may know that the Egyptians are pursuing you and want to reclaim you to serve them:  namely, the rulers of this world and the evil spirits to whom you were first enslaved. They will certainly seek to follow you, but you will go into the water and escape unharmed, and having washed away the stains of sin, you will come out as a new man ready to sing the new canticle" (ibid., p. 107). 

The text

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluja.	Alleluia
1  In éxitu Israël de Ægýpto, * domus Jacob de pópulo bárbaro:	When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people:
2  Facta est Judæa sanctificátio ejus, * Israël potéstas ejus.	2 Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3  Mare vidit, et fugit: * Jordánis convérsus est retrórsum.	3 The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back.
4  Montes exsultavérunt ut aríetes, * et colles sicut agni óvium.	4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock.
5  Quid est tibi, mare, quod fugísti: * et tu, Jordánis, quia convérsus es retrórsum?	5 What ailed you, O you sea, that you fled: and you, O Jordan, that you were turned back?
6  Montes, exsultástis sicut aríetes, * et colles, sicut agni óvium.	6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams, and you hills, like lambs of the flock?
7  A fácie Dómini mota est terra, * a fácie Dei Jacob.	7 At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob:
8  Qui convértit petram in stagna aquárum, * et rupem in fontes aquárum.	8 Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters.

9  Non nobis, Dómine, non nobis: * sed nómini tuo da glóriam.	9 Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to your name give glory.
10  Super misericórdia tua, et veritáte tua: * nequándo dicant gentes: Ubi est Deus eórum?	10 For your mercy, and for your truth's sake: lest the Gentiles should say: Where is their God?
11  Deus autem noster in cælo: * ómnia quæcúmque vóluit, fecit.	11 But our God is in heaven: he has done all things whatsoever he would.
12  Simulácra géntium argéntum, et aurum, * ópera mánuum hóminum.	12 The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men.
13  Os habent, et non loquéntur: * óculos habent, et non vidébunt.	14 They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not.
14  Aures habent, et non áudient: * nares habent, et non odorábunt.	14 They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not.
15  Manus habent, et non palpábunt: pedes habent, et non ambulábunt: * non clamábunt in gútture suo.	15 They have hands and feel not: they have feet and walk not: neither shall they cry out through their throat.
16  Símiles illis fiant qui fáciunt ea: * et omnes qui confídunt in eis.	16 Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them.
17  Domus Israël sperávit in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est,	17 The house of Israel has hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
18  Domus Aaron sperávit in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est,	18 The house of Aaron has hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
19  Qui timent Dóminum, speravérunt in Dómino: * adjútor eórum et protéctor eórum est.	19 They that fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector.
20  Dóminus memor fuit nostri: * et benedíxit nobis:	20 The Lord has been mindful of us, and has blessed us.
21  Benedíxit dómui Israël: * benedíxit dómui Aaron.	He has blessed the house of Israel: he has blessed the house of Aaron.
22  Benedíxit ómnibus, qui timent Dóminum, * pusíllis cum majóribus.	21 He has blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great.
23  Adjíciat Dóminus super vos: * super vos, et super fílios vestros.	22 May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children.
24  Benedícti vos a Dómino, * qui fecit cælum, et terram.	23 Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
25  Cælum cæli Dómino: * terram autem dedit fíliis hóminum.	24 The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men
26  Non mórtui laudábunt te, Dómine: * neque omnes, qui descéndunt in inférnum.	25 The dead shall not praise you, O Lord: nor any of them that go down to hell.
27  Sed nos qui vívimus, benedícimus Dómino, * ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.	26 But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for ever.

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references	Heb 12:26 (v7); 1 Cor 10:4 (8); Acts 12:21-23 (9); Acts 19:26 (14)
RB cursus	Monday Vespers+AN (3960, v11)
Monastic feasts etc	AN 2427 (v1), 2837, 3413 (v2), 4139 (v11)
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Vespers
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Sunday Vespers . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	PP21, AL (1) PP22, AL (19)

And for the first set of notes on the individual verses, go here.

Monday at Vespers

I want to move next, to the psalms of Vespers of  Monday in the Benedictine Office.

First though, in this post I want to make a few general points about Monday Vespers.

In the next post, I'll start taking a look at Psalm 113.

The structure of Monday at Vespers

Normally, the Benedictine Office has four psalms at Vespers.

Monday, however, is the exception, with five (or even six depending on which version of the bible you use), namely Psalms 113 (114-115 in the Neo-Vulgate), 114 (116), 115 (117), 116 (118) and 128 (129).

While Psalm 116 is the shortest in the psalter, at two verses, and is said under the same Gloria as Psalm 115, that still adds up to some 63 verses to be said, making it the second longest day (after Wednesday) at Vespers.

There are, on the face of it, two curious features in the selection of psalms for this day that need to be explained, namely the move of Psalm 113 from its place on Sunday Vespers in the Roman Office to Monday in the Benedictine; and the jump in the numerical sequence to Psalm 128.

The puzzles of Psalm 113 and Psalm 128

In the older form of the Roman Office which St Benedict almost certainly used as his starting point, Psalm 113 closes Sunday Vespers.  St Benedict, however, shifted it to Monday.

There are, I think, two main reasons why he chose to do so.

First, it makes Sunday Vespers a lot shorter.   Given that the monks had to rise earlier on Sundays in order to say the much longer than usual Matins, perhaps St Benedict felt his monks deserved a break by this point!

He could though, have achieved this objective in other ways.  He could for example, have treated Psalm 116 (the shortest psalm in the psalter) as a separate psalm: instead he attaches it under the one Gloria, to Psalm 115.  Alternatively, he could have split Psalm 113 in two, and shifted the second half of it only to Monday - after all, he certainly didn't hesitate to split other psalms set for Vespers later in the week in order to spread the load more evenly.  That he didn't do so, helps support the view, I think, that there is actually a program underlying the structure of the Benedictine Office.

A similar point can be made about the inclusion of Psalm 128 in Monday Vespers.  In the Roman Office, the 'Gradual psalms', Psalms 119-133, are all said at Vespers save for the last, which is reserved for (Sunday) Compline.  Psalm 128 is said on Wednesday in the Roman arrangement.

But St Benedict shifts Psalms 119-127 to Terce, Sext and None on Tuesday (and repeated each day thereafter until Sunday), and sets Psalms 129-132 at Tuesday Vespers, so that the whole set bar Psalm 128 are said on that day.  Why place Psalm 128 on Monday then, why not keep it in the numerical sequence on Tuesday?

Monday: From the incarnation to the temptation in the desert

St Benedict's main reason for these shifts, I would argue, lie in their particular relevance to what I think is the key theme of the day, namely the life of Christ from the Incarnation to his baptism, and our response to it in our own baptism and monastic vows/oblation.

My view is that St Benedict has arranged the psalms in his psalter to follow the life of Christ, picking up from the themes of the ferial canticle set for the day.  And Monday, in this arrangement, takes as its text the largely hidden life of Christ, from the Incarnation to his baptism and temptation in the desert, or the period of his life on earth up until the commencement of his public mission.

Consider the summary of the theme of the canticle set for the day by the tenth century monastic commentator Hrabanus Maurus:

 “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 (PL  )

The psalms set for the day, I think, contain many allusions to the events of the Incarnation and baptism, and those things that prefigure these events in the Old Testament.  Psalm 113 is particularly important in this regard, with its opening words, "When Israel came out of Egypt" taking us directly to Christ's saving action: just as the Israelites were baptised through that crossing of the Red Sea, and of the Jordan, so too are we.

And the psalms of the day keep coming back to the key message of the day, namely the promise that through the Incarnation, the enemy will be confounded.  Psalm 6’s (set at Prime) conclusion, Erubéscant, et conturbéntur veheménter omnes inimíci mei : convertántur et erubéscant valde summarises this  perfectly. Variants on this phrase echo throughout the day, starting from Matins.  And Psalm 128's ‘confundántur et convertántur retrórsum omnes, qui odérunt Sion’ gives us one last reminder of the theme.

The nature of liturgy

St Benedict could, of course, have reordered all of the psalms of each day so as to provide a straightforward linear program obvious to all.  But liturgy, it should be remembered, at least when it develops on a natural path, rarely operates a straightforward, linear narrative.  Rather, it stutters and stops, reminds, restarts and recapitulates and so gradually builds up the liturgical walls of the city within us.  

Consistent with this, St Benedict, I think, he makes more subtle approach, maintaining the traditional running cursus of psalms where possible, altering here and there to give his formulation a particular focus, going back to fill in a hole, or add an extra layer to the wall where it needs restoring.

As we say the day's psalms then, we should open ourselves to the mystery of the Incarnation, renew our commitment afresh to our baptismal vows in Psalm 113, rejecting all false gods; give thanks again for the grace that rescues us from the assaults of the enemy, in Psalm 114; recall again our oblation and other promises regarding fidelity to our state of life in Psalm 115; and remember that ultimately, Christ's victory will prevail, in Psalm 128.

Finally, just a reminder that you can listen to Monday Vespers being sung by going to the sites for the monasteries of Le Barroux or Norcia.

Psalm 112, verse 8: Making disciples through his Church

Hannah and Samuel

The last verse of Psalm 112 gives us the image of the barren woman granted the children she desperately desires, a typology that is repeated for us several times in Scripture, for it prefigures for us the spiritual children granted to the Church:

Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo, matrem filiorum lætantem

Who makes a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful mother of children

Lectio

Qui (who) habitare (to live)  facit (he makes) sterilem (the barren [woman]) in (in) domo (the house)

matrem (the mother) filiorum (of sons/children) lætantem (rejoicing) 

Note: laetantem is the part sg pres fem acc of laetor, to rejoice

sterilis, e  unfruitful, barren.

domus, us, f. a house, structure; a house, abode, dwelling place; Temple; ;a race, people, nation; the priesthood.

mater, tris, f.  mother.

filius, ii, m. a son, child

laetor, atus sum, ari,  to rejoice, be joyful, take delight in

Meditatio

These days, many, instead of trusting God, seek to defy him through the use of immoral reproductive technologies.  Yet this verse reminds us of God's miraculous cure of the sterility of many women in Scripture who put their trust in him, including Hannah, Sara, Rebecca, Rachel and Elizabeth. 

But there is also a less literal meaning of this verse, St Robert Bellarmine points out, for their fertility prefigures the establishment of the Church:

"With mankind a low and contemptible position is consid­ered a misfortune, while barrenness is looked upon in the same light by womankind; but, as God looks down on the humble man so as to raise him from the lowest to the highest position, he also looks down on the humble woman, thereby changing her barrenness into fertility. This is quite applicable to several females, such as Sara, Rebecca, Rachel, Anne, and others; but it applies, in a higher sense, to the Church gathered from the Gentiles, that remained barren a long time, but ultimately begot many children, as the apostle has it, "Rejoice thou barren, that bearest not; break forth and cry out, thou that travailest not: for many are the children of the desolate, more than that of her that hath a husband."

Oratio

Lord through your death and resurrection you invite us to be your sons and daughters, to become members of the spiritual family you have called to yourself; for this great grace we praise your name forever.

Make us, too spiritual mothers and fathers of many, working to bring all into your kingdom.

Contemplatio (Psalm 112)

1 Laudate, pueri, Dominum; laudate nomen Domini.

2 Sit nomen Domini benedictum ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

3 A solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile nomen Domini.

4 Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus, et super cælos gloria ejus.

 5 Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit in cælo et in terra?

6 Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem:  

7 ut collocet eum cum principibus, cum principibus populi sui.

8 Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo, matrem filiorum lætantem.

Psalm 112, verses 6-7: Strive to become great saints

Job on the dungheap

The next two verses of Psalm 112 remind us of God's promises of what he will do for those who believe in him:

6 Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem:

Raising up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill:

7 ut collocet eum cum principibus, cum principibus populi sui.

That he may place him with princes, with the princes of his people.

Lectio

Suscitans( lifting up/reviving/raising up) a (from) terra (the earth)  inopem (the needy)

et (and) de (from) stercore (the dung heap) erigens (lifting up) pauperem (the poor)

ut (in order to) collocet (place/set) eum (him) cum (with) principibus (princes) cum (with)  principibus (the princes) populi (of the people) sui (his)

suscito, avi, atum, are, to raise up, set up; to raise up, revive; to raise up, exalt.

inops, opis, without means or resources; poor, needy, indigent, destitute

stercus, oris, n., dung, the dunghill as a symbol of destitution and miser; dust, mire, filth.

erigo, rexi, rectum, ere 3  to raise, lift or set up, raise, place upright.

pauper, eris, adj., poor, needy, indigent, helpless, destitute, wretched.

colloco, avi, atum, are  to set, place, put; to lie down, to rest.

princeps, cipis, m.  prince, ruler, sovereign.

populus, i, people.  the chosen people; a heathen nation

Meditatio

These verses have both a literal and metaphorical meaning. It points us first especially to the poor and lowly; those God raises up from the lowest to the highest of positions - figures such as David and Mary.  Indeed, the words are echoed in 1 Kings 2, the Song of Hannah, and of course in the Magnificat.

Yet they potentially apply to us all, as Cassiodorus explains:

"Those in need and want should not claim this benefit solely for themselves, for anyone who through God's grace is raised from this blemished body, is exalted from the dunghill and from pov­erty. In fact, even a king in this world is empty of God's gifts and rolls in the dung, for vices of the flesh are his master. So the Lord raises up those of any rank or age when He bestows the gifts of His mercy."

The dung heap, St Robert Bellarmine explains, is the mire of original sin; the 'princes of the people' are not earthly princes, but rather the citizens of heaven:

".. our Savior said, "Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom." Now, mankind lay prostrate on the earth, wallowing on the dunghill of original sin, and its consequent evils, and yet God, who is seated in heaven, looked down on the earth, and raised up the needy, that is, the man despoiled by the robbers, who was lying on the dunghill of misery, to "place him with princes;" not in the general acceptation of the word; but with "the princes of his people," the possessors of the heavenly Jerusalem, the citizens of the kingdom of heaven...the ele­vation from a state of sin and death to that of glory and immortality, to an equality with the angels, to share in that happiness that forms a part of God's own happiness, that, indeed, is the true, the truly great, and the most to be sought for elevation."

Oratio

Look upon us with mercy O Lord and free us from our mire of our sin.  Grant that through your Son we may put off this earthly raiment and be worthy of the white robes of salvation.

Contemplatio

How are we to be worthy of this honour?  We must strive to be great saints, working to make disciples of all men.  Cassiodorus explains:

"But you are not to believe that the preeminence mentioned here is the distinc­tion sought by human aspirations; rather, it is the preeminence granted by the Lord's generosity which is lofty in humility, certain in faith, unflinching in mental strength. As for the addition: Of his people, it points to the Catholic Church spread through the whole world."

The psalm so far

1 Laudate, pueri, Dominum; laudate nomen Domini.

2 Sit nomen Domini benedictum ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.

3 A solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile nomen Domini.

4 Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus, et super cælos gloria ejus.

 5 Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit in cælo et in terra?

6 Suscitans a terra inopem, et de stercore erigens pauperem:  

7 ut collocet eum cum principibus, cum principibus populi sui.



You can find the final post in this series of notes on Psalm 112 here.

Psalm 112, verses 4-5: Between God and man

The next section of Psalm 112 emphasizes the chasm between God and man, yet reminds us to that God bridges it, for he cares about us:

4 Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus, et super cælos gloria ejus. 

The Lord is high above all nations; and his glory above the heavens. 

5 Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit in cælo et in terra?
 Who is as the Lord our God, who dwells on high: And looks down on the low things in heaven and in earth? 

Lectio

Excelsus (high) super (above) omnes (all) gentes (nations/peoples) Dominus (the Lord)

et (and ) super (above) cælos (the heavens) gloria (glory) ejus (his) =and his glory above the heavens

Quis (who) sicut ( [is] like) Dominus (the Lord) Deus (God) noster (our), qui (who) in (in) altis (the heights)  habitat (he lives)

et (and) humilia (the humble) respicit (he takes thought for/looks down on) in cælo (in heaven) et (and) in terra (on earth)?   

excelsus, a, um  high, august, sublime, towering aloft ; uplifted; heights, high places; billows, high waves

gens, gentis, f  sing., people, nation, the chosen

caelum, i, n., or caeli, orum, m.  heaven, the abode of God; the heavens as opposed to the earth; the air;

gloria, ae, f. glory, honor, majesty

quis, quid, interrog, pron., who? which? what? why? wherefore?

sicut, adv., as, just as, like.

altus deep,  high

habito, avi, atum, are  to dwell, abide, live.

humilia, the lowly, God's people and their affairs.

respicio, spexi, spectum, ere 3  to look upon, behold, consider; take thought for, heed, have regard to;  

Meditatio

Many of the psalms emphasize the immense distance that stands between man and God: and it is an important point, for the root of original sin is man's attempt to make himself into a god.  True humility starts from the realisation that between God and man lies an immense chasm.

Indeed, the chasm extends even to heaven, for it too is part of creation, and God therefore stands outside and above it and the angels too, as St Robert Bellarmine points out in his commentary on the verse:

"Matter for God's praise is to be found not only through the length and breadth, but even through the height of the world; for, though there may be many great kings and power­ful princes therein, God far out-tops them all, and he lords it over, not only "all the nations," but even over all the angels, for "his glory is above the heavens," and all who dwell therein."

Oratio

Lord help us to serve you in fear, to cultivate respectful humility always, that our prayers may be worthy and ascend to you.

Through your son you have sent down that ladder of humility, that we might climb out of the chasm and be transformed in you, and so arrive at that heavenly exaltation you have promised.

How wonderful you are Lord, above all the earth.

Contemplatio

Who is like God, in his divinity so high above us?  And yet he is not in fact a distant God, but one who cares: and cares not for the great, but the humble and lowly!

In Christ he humbled himself, in Christ he shares with us a nature, and infuses our humanity with his divinity, lifting all humanity up to him.

The Psalm so far

1 Laudate, pueri, Dominum; laudate nomen Domini.
2 Sit nomen Domini benedictum ex hoc nunc et usque in sæculum.
3 A solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile nomen Domini.
4 Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus, et super cælos gloria ejus. 
5 Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat



You can find the next set of notes on this Psalm here.