Psalm 127 verse 3 - The Church, the spouse of Christ, clinging to the walls of faith

Santa Maria in Trastevere: Christ and Maria Ecclesia enthroned

The third verse of Psalm 127 can of course be interpreted literally, as about the Christian family.  But in the context of the monastic Office in particular, the interpretation the Fathers give to it, as referring to Christ and his Church, is surely the interpretative key we should focus on.

3	V	Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.
	NV	Uxor tua sicut vitis fructifera in lateribus domus tuae;
	JH	Uxor tua sicut uitis fructifera in penetrabilibus domus tuae :
		ἡ γυνή σου ὡς ἄμπελος εὐθηνοῦσα ἐν τοῖς κλίτεσι τῆς οἰκίας

  

Uxor (the wife) tua (your) sicut (like) vitis (the grapevine) abúndans (abundant): * in latéribus (on the side) domus (the house) tuæ (your)

  

uxor, oris, a wife.

vitis, is, a vine, grapevine

abundans, overflowing, full, abounding, overflowing, abundant, more than enough

latus, eris, n.,  the side or flank of men or animals; The side or lateral surface of a thing.

domus, us,  a house, structure, abode, dwelling place. the inmates of a house, a family, household.

DR	Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
Brenton	Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house:
MD	Thy wife is like a fruitful vine on the walls of thy house.
RSV	Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
Cover	Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house
Knox	Thy wife shall be fruitful as a vine, in the heart of thy home,
Grail	The wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house;

The translations

The Vulgate (and neo-Vulgate), following the Septuagint, compare a good wife to a fruitful vine adorning the side of the house.  

A number of the early twentieth century commentaries, however, latched on to this verse as a kind of anti-feminist proof-text, and suggested that the Vulgate misrepresents the Hebrew word  יְרֵכָה (yĕrekah), which should be interpreted as ‘within the house’, since the ideal good fertile wife keeps seclusion, citing Proverbs 9:13-14 in support of the claim.  Both the RSV, Grail and Knox translations reflect this approach.

According to Ladouceur's notes on the verse, however, yerekah can mean side, rearside, and access at the rear as well as innermost part.  Moreover the other Scriptural uses of the word refer to the staves placed on the outside of the Ark (Exodus 25:14, 37:5) and someone addressing a person clearly outside the house (Amos 6:10).

The idea of the wife visibly adorning the house, in other words, is perfectly fine.

And this is one of those cases where changing the translation renders some of the Patristic translations incomprehensible.

The wife is the Church

This issue becomes all the more important when one considers that the traditional interpretation of the psalm proposed by the Fathers in fact interprets the wife in question not just as that of a normal family, but also as the Church, as the spouse of Christ.  St Augustine for example says:

Let us now come to the words, Your wife: it is said unto Christ. His wife, therefore, is the Church, His Church, His wife, we ourselves are.

Another possible interpretation, proposed by Cassiodorus is that wife here should be interpreted as a reference to holy wisdom:

Wife is used in the sense of sister; so we must interpret wife here as the wisdom of the blessed man. As Solomon says: He who has desired to take wisdom as his spouse, and elsewhere: Love her, and she will embrace thee.' So she is the wife of the just who grasps her husband in chaste embrace.

 Either way, the Fathers and Theologians were conscious of the dangers of an overly literal interpretation of this verse.  Cassiodorus says:

We must likewise avoid the literal interpretation here too, for you observe that numerous holy men do not have wives and children, and again that wicked men possess all these things. So how can you associate things often withdrawn from good men and assigned instead to the wicked with this aspect of blessedness which has been described?

Similarly St Robert Bellarmine, while noting the virtues and blessing of a large family goes on to comment that:

This, to be sure, is a blessing to a certain extent; but, to give us to understand that it is not so very great a blessing, God was pleased to withhold it from many of his most faithful and devoted friends in the married state, such as Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Zachary and Elizabeth; and he also inspired many with a resolution of observing holy virginity, such as it is credibly believed of the holy prophets Elias and Jeremias, and is well known of the Blessed Virgin, St John Baptist, St. Joseph, and hosts besides, who certainly would not have been deprived of the happiness had not virginity been a much superior gift.

With that, those saints who never mar­ried, or had no offspring, if they had no family in one sense they had in another, far and away beyond it. Christ, for instance, who is the head of all the saints, was never married, had no children in the flesh, yet he had the Church for his spouse, and children in the spirit, nearly innumerable. So with Abraham, who had only one child by Sara, and yet, by faith, was made the father of many nations; for all the faithful are called "children of Abraham" by the apostle.

And what is more wonderful, these holy men are not only the fathers, but they are even the mothers of those whom they have brought to the faith, or to penance; for they are their fathers by reason of their preaching to them by word and example, and they are their mothers by reason of their praying and sighing for them. The same apostle calls himself father when he says, "I write not these things to shame you, but I admonish you as my dearest children; for, if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel;" and he calls himself their mother in another place, where he says, "My little children, of whom I am in labor again."

The fruitful vine 

If we interpret the wife as the Church though, how do we reconcile the verse with the often very tarnished public image of the Church?  St Augustine tackles this issue head on, arguing that even when the vine withers in places, it is fruitful in others:

But in whom is the vineyard fruitful? For we see many barren ones entering those walls; we see that many intemperate, usurious persons, slave dealers, enter these walls, and such as resort to fortune-tellers, go to enchanters and enchantresses when they have a headache. Is this the fruitfulness of the vine? Is this the fecundity of the wife? It is not. These are thorns, but the vineyard is not everywhere thorny. It has a certain fruitfulness, and is a fruitful vine; but in whom?

Nonetheless, even when all too many in the Church are thorns rather than fruitful, when even the highest in it are given over to scandalous behaviour, she remains the source of grace through the sacraments.  Accordingly, Cassiodorus argues:

The vine is the begetter of grapes, pouring forth sweet wine and reviving our hearts; in the same way this wife, which is wisdom, contributes glad fruits and brings joy to us with sweet delight.

The house we cling to is Christ

The Fathers made considerable play on the either that the walls of the Church hold us up, hold the vine and train it to  go where it should.  Cassiodorus for example suggests that:

The walls of this house are the two Testa­ments, affording the pious mind the strength and solidity of outside walls.

St Augustine reminds us of the fundamental point though:

Not all are called the sides of the house. For I ask what are the sides. What shall I say? Are they walls, strong stones, as it were? If he were speaking of this bodily tenement, we should perhaps understand this by sides. We mean by the sides of the house, those who cling unto Christ....

  
Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And for the next part in this series, continue on here.

Psalm 127 verse 2 - Labour now to build the Church

Labourers in the vineyard

The second verse of Psalm 127 takes to one of those key recurrent themes in St Benedict's Rule, namely the value of work.

The Rule famously makes an important place for manual work and work in service of the community.  But while St Benedict generally prescribes work as a remedy against idleness and boredom, it is 'the Work of God', the liturgy that builds up the Church, that takes pride of place in the Rule.

And the reference in the Prologue of the Rule to God calling for workers in his vineyard is surely linked in large part to this, given the connection between the hours at which the Master calls for workers, and the hours of the Office, a connection pointed out by St John Cassian.

The recitation of this verse on weekdays, then, can be seen as a reminder of this key aspect of the Benedictine charism.

2	V	Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.
	NV	Labores manuum tuarum manducabis, beatus es, et bene tibi erit.
	JH	Laborem manuum tuarum cum comederis, beatus tu, et bene tibi erit.
		τοὺς πόνους τῶν καρπῶν σου φάγεσαι μακάριος εἶ καὶ καλῶς σοι ἔσται

  

Labóres (works/labours) mánuum (of the hands) tuárum (your) quia (which/for) manducábis (you will eat): * beátus (blessed) es (you are), et (and) bene (well) tibi (to you) erit (it will be).

  

labor, oris, m.,  work, labor, toil, effort; also the results of one's labor, produce, possessions, etc.

manus, us, /., the hand

manduco, avi, atum, are to eat.

bene, adv.  well; rightly, uprightly.

DR	For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
Brenton	Thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.
MD	Thou shalt enjoy what thy hands earned: blessed art thou, it shall be well with thee!
RSV	You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
Cover	For thou shalt eat the labours of thine hands; O well is thee, and happy shalt thou be.
Knox	Thyself shall eat what thy hands have toiled to win; blessed thou art; all good shall be thine.
Grail	By the labor of your hands you shall eat. You will be happy and prosper;

Living from our own work

At the literal level, the second verse of Psalm 127, which speaks of us being blessed by being able to live on the results of our own work, which can apply to all, but has a particular connotation for monastics, for St Benedict speaks early in the Rule of God calling us to be labourers in his vineyard, and later reminds his monks that:

 And if the circumstances of the place or their poverty should require that they themselves do the work of gathering the harvest, let them not be discontented; for then are they truly monastics when they live by the labor of their hands, as did our Fathers and the Apostles.

St Robert Bellarmine teaches us that it is appropriate for us to seek what is adequate and necessary, but we should reject riches:

Here we should reflect that the Prophet does not make happi­ness to consist in great riches, but in such as have been acquired by the labor of one's hands, and they are, generally speaking, moderate. Great riches either come by inheritance, or from plunder or usury, or some other bad source. St. Jerome quotes an old saying, and a true one, "The rich man is either a rogue or the heir of a rogue;"...Holy David then addresses not only the Jews, but all Christians, when he makes happiness to consist not in great riches, but in a sufficiency; the having wherewithal to live by one's just labor; and he censures two extremes — one, that of those who live on the others entirely; and the other, that of those who will not touch the labor of their hands, but, in a spirit of avarice, put it aside to increase their riches. 

But what about when we can't earn a living?  

We have to be careful about reading this verse too literally, however: God does not guarantee us properity in this life, as St Robert Bellarmine reminds us:

It may happen, however, that some "who fear God," and "walk in his ways," may not be able to eat of the "labors of their hands," and have to endure hunger and thirst, by reason of their having been despoiled, or defrauded of their labor; but that will not bar the promise made in this passage; for if God sometimes lets his friends down so low that they would be glad to satisfy the cravings of their hunger with the fragments that fall from the table of the rich, as was the case with Lazarus, he will certainly give them some­thing better, far better, instead; and that is joy from tribulation...This is peculiarly applicable to the pil­grims, who "rejoice in the tribulation" of want and difficulties; "for they know tribulation worketh patience, and patience trial, and trial hope, and hope confoundeth not, because the charity of God is poured out into our hearts."

 The promise of the verse, he argues, relates to the hereafter.

 The eternal fruits of our labour

Indeed, our true work in this world is not about earning the necessities of life, but rather the work of of building up the Church.  Cassiodorus for example says:

But by labours he wished to denote good works carried out in this world to yield a sweet banquet as the reward to come; for eating means being refreshed by some food, and rejoicing in its abundance. So these labours which consist of good works are apprehended at the resurrection when these words are heard: Come ye, blessed of my Fa­ther, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. A blessed banquet this, which is not digested by the stomach, but is maintained in eternity unconsumed.

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And for the next part in this series, continue on here.

Psalm 127 verse 1 - Walking in the way of Christ

Morgan Library

The first verse of Psalm 127, as I noted in the introductory post, is something of a recapitulation of the key message of St Benedict's ladder of humility, reminding us also that we need both faith and good works. 

1	V	Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.
	NV JH	Beatus omnis, qui timet Dominum, qui ambulat in viis eius.
		μακάριοι πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν κύριον οἱ πορευόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ

  

Beáti (Blessed) omnes (all those), qui (who) timent (they fear) Dóminum (the Lord),* qui (who) ámbulant (walk) in viis (the ways) ejus (his).

beatus, a, um  happy, blessed ,fortunate.

omnis, e, all, each, every; subst., all men, all things, everything.

timeo, ui, ere 2 fear, be afraid of

ambulo, avi, atum, are  to walk

via, ae, a way, road, path, street ; fig., God's way; way of life, action, or conduct

DR	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
Brenton	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord; who walk in his ways
MD	Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.
RSV	Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways!
Cover	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, and walk in his ways.
Knox	Blessed thou art, if thou dost fear the Lord, and follow his paths!
Grail	O blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways!

Fear of the Lord

The opening phrase takes us back to the first step of humility (St Benedict's Rule chapter 7), fear of the Lord.  The psalm is not, I think, talking just of fear of hell here (though that is sufficient), but rather filial fear based on our acknowledgement that he is God.  Cassiodorus explains it as follows: 

In his first words he has distinguished fear of the Lord from the terror of this world. His words: Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, reveal that those who with troubled mind are apprehensive of the world's dangers in loss of temporal possessions are not blessed. These dangers make men wretched, torturing them with empty fear, so that they experience no growth but a diminution, no ascent but a headlong fall. By contrast, fear of the Lord is the offspring of love, is born of charity, is sprung from sweetness. What devoted fear, consoling the timorous, refreshing the afflicted, experiencing no absence of joy unless the benefit of such fear is laid aside!

Many or one?

The Vulgate puts ‘beatus’ (happy, blessed, fortunate) in the plural, implying many fear the Lord, and follow ‘the way’.  The version from the Hebrew however makes it singular rendering the translation of ‘omnis’ a little more complex.  The RSV preserves the sense quite well with ‘blessed is everyone, but other versions just ignore the ‘all’.  The logic of the latter translation is perhaps to match the next verse, which is in the singular, but St Augustine provides an interpretation that explains the reason for the distinction that is worth considering: 

He speaks to many; but since these many are one in Christ, in the next words he speaks in the singular: For you shall eat the labours of your fruits....When I speak of Christians in the plural, I understand one in the One Christ. You are therefore many, and you are one; we are many, and we are one. How are we many, and yet one? Because we cling unto Him whose members we are; and since our Head is in heaven, that His members may follow....Let us therefore so hear this Psalm, as considering it to be spoken of Christ: and all of us who cling unto the Body of Christ, and have been made members of Christ, walk in the ways of the Lord; and let us fear the Lord with a chaste fear, with a fear that abides forever....

Walking in the way

The second phrase, on walking in’ the way’ (the term the early Christians used to describe our faith) brings us back to the pilgrim theme of this set of psalms.  It is an important reminder that our faith is not true faith if it is not put into practice – even the devil, after all, believes in Christ, hence: 

Not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But in every nation, he that feareth him, and worketh justice, is acceptable to him. (Matthew 7:21)

 What is required then, Cassiodorus instructs us, is that we love God with all our heart and soul, and keep his commandments with devoted minds.  In fact St Hilary of Poitiers tells us, fear of the Lord and working in his ways is really the same thing: 

For us, fear of the Lord is a part of love; and its expression is the practice of perfect charity: obey the counsels of God, hold fast to his commandments, trust in his promises.

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And for the next part in this series go here.

Introduction to Psalm 127

Today  I want to start on the last installment of my series on the Gradual Psalms, by starting to look at Psalm 127, the last psalm of None on weekdays in the Benedictine Office.

But as well as looking at the psalm itself, this also seems like an appropriate point to reflect on three of the reasons why I think St Benedict assigned the first nine of the Gradual psalms to Terce to None.


But first, read and listen to the psalm itself:

Psalm 127: Beati omnes

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Literal and spiritual meanings

Psalm 127 is one of those psalms that it is important to read on several levels.

Taken literally, the psalm is often used at weddings, to point to the temporal blessings we might hope for, as St Aloysius Liguori commented:

The prophet announces to the Jews after their return from Babylon the blessings that they will receive from God if they keep his laws. These blessings are temporal; belong, properly speaking, to the just under the Old Law.

But it can also be interpreted as speaking of the Church as Christ's bride. As Fr Pius Pasch noted in his commentary on the breviary:

At the table of God, we are all his children: Christ is the Father, the Church is the Mother, and we Christians are the children. In the name of the Church we are thankful for all Eucharistic graces, and plead for further favours.

The most important meaning of the psalm, though, is surely eschatological, encouraging us in our spiritual ascent by reminding us that the peace and prosperity we seek is ultimately something that we individually, and the Church collectively, will only fully enjoy in heaven:

In the first limb the prophet recounts by certain allusions the blessings of those who fear God, so as to fire the spirits of the committed with the warmth of heaven's reward. In the second, he blesses them that they may gain eternal joys, so that none may be apprehensive of this sweetest of fears…We identify in this psalm the promises made to those who fear God, the rewards obtained by the person who with pure mind feels awe for the Lord. (Cassiodorus)

I will look at these three levels of the psalm in more detail as we go through the individual verses, but before we do that I think it is worthwhile seeing how this psalm fits into the set.

Christ's death on the cross

In the previous parts of this series I have argued that each of the first nine of the Gradual Psalms can be interpreted christologically to align with the traditional associations of the hours, hence St Benedict's decision to assign them to these hours. The first, Psalm 119, for example, can be read as referring to Christ's trial before Herod and Pilate on Good Friday.

None (the ninth hour) is traditionally associated with the death of Christ on the cross, and I think this psalm can perhaps be viewed as interpreting the blessings spoken of in the psalms as the grace that flows from the wounds in Christ's side. Indeed, the liturgy explicitly points us to this interpretation, using verse 4 of it as an antiphon at Vespers on the feast of Corpus Christ, and the whole psalm in Vespers of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a reminder that Christ's death on the cross reopens the way to heaven.

The ladder of humility and fear of the Lord

The second key theme running through the Gradual Psalms that I think St Benedict is pointing us to is the link between the Gradual Psalms and the ladder of humility in Chapter 7 of the Rule.

The Gradual Psalms, you will recall, are traditionally associated with the fifteen steps from the lower to inner courtyard of Solomon's temple, and thus signify the ascent from earth to heaven (of which the temple is a microcosm), as Cassiodorus, for example, points out:

But I think that I should advise you that through the bounty of divine grace, fifteen steps are laid in these psalms to denote in various ways the saints' merits, just as there was the same number in the temple at Jerusalem, which we know was completed by Solomon. This was so that the present order of the psalms, prefigured in that building, should be seen to be foretold, for that earthly construction seemed to bear the likeness of the heavenly temple. (On Psalm 119)

As St Bede noted, though, St Benedict's take on this ascent of virtue is rather more specific:

Benedict, a father very reverend both in his name and in his life, realized that these steps especially consist in humility when, interpreting our journey to celestial things to be designated by the ladder shown to the Patriarch Jacob, by which angels ascended and descended, he distinguished in a very careful and pious examination the steps of the ladder itself as the increments and stages of good works that are performed through humility...(On Ezra and Nehemiah, trans deGregorio, pp171-2)

The key explicit link St Benedict makes in the Rule is to the twelfth psalm of the set (and not coincidentally, he has twelve steps in his ladder of humility). But the soul's progress from the first psalm of the set to this ninth can reasonably be interpreted, I think, as the progress within the first of the degrees, from servile fear, that is fear of punishment and hell, to filial fear, born of love.  The Prologue to the Rule, after all, tells us to 'hear what the Spirit says to the Churches, namely that 'I will teach you the fear of the Lord' (Ps 33).

Intriguingly, St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus makes exactly this contrast between the first of this group of psalms and this one:

But since we read: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, we must investigate why the prophet has decided that we must keep it in mind at this stage.

There are two fears which prick our hearts. The first is human fear, by which we are apprehensive of suffering physical hazards or losing worldly goods; this is clearly a temporary state, since we fear such things only as long as we dwell in the life of this world. But divine fear always mounts with us through all the advances which we make in this life.

Whereas we abandon worldly fear together with the world on the first step, divine fear remains ever with us, and is adapted as a most faithful companion throughout our ascent. As has already been said in Psalm 118: Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear, for I am afraid of thy judgments. So it is fitting that both on this step [Psalm 127] and everywhere we be instructed that fear of the Lord should be within us, for it is approved as our essential guardian.

Seek after peace and pursue it

The third key theme of this group of psalms that I want to highlight is the pursuit of peace. St Benedict, you will recall, instructs us using the words of Psalm 33 in the Prologue to the Rule, to 'seek after peace and pursue it', hence the motto of the Benedictine Order, PAX.

Accordingly, it seems to me that the choice of this set of nine psalms, where Psalms 121, 124 and 127 (ie the last psalm on Terce, Sext and None each day) each refer to the blessing of peace, is probably not a coincidence!

The search for peace is one of the key things that motivates the psalmist to start his journey, in Psalm 119:

6  Cum his, qui odérunt pacem, eram pacíficus: * cum loquébar illis, impugnábant me gratis.

7 With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.

In Psalm 121, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and look forward to it, even though we have not yet achieved it:

6  Rogáte quæ ad pacem sunt Jerúsalem: * et abundántia diligéntibus te:	6 Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love you.
7  Fiat pax in virtúte tua: * et abundántia in túrribus tuis.	7 Let peace be in your strength: and abundance in your towers
8  Propter fratres meos, et próximos meos, * loquébar pacem de te:	8 For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of you.
9  Propter domum Dómini, Dei nostri, * quæsívi bona tibi.	9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you.

In Psalm 124, the last psalm of Sext, we are urged to persevere with the promise of reward:

4  Bénefac, Dómine, bonis, * et rectis corde.	4 Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of heart.
5  Declinántes autem in obligatiónes addúcet Dóminus cum operántibus iniquitátem: * pax super Israël.	5 But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel.

And now again in Psalm 127:

6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.

In the next post I will look at verse 1 of Psalm 127 in more detail.