Psalm 5 - the quintessential Lauds psalm?

c16th, St Andrews Special Collection

Psalm 5: Verba mei auribus: Monday Lauds

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, pro ea quæ hæreditatem consequitur. Psalmus David.	Unto the end, for her that obtains the inheritance. A psalm for David.
1 Verba mea áuribus pércipe, Dómine, * intéllege clamórem meum.	Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry
2. Inténde voci oratiónis meæ: * Rex meus et Deus meus	Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God
3  Quóniam ad te orábo: * Dómine, mane exáudies vocem meam.	For to you will I pray: O Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice
4  Mane astábo tibi et vidébo: * quóniam non Deus volens iniquitátem tu es.	In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see: because you are not a God that wills iniquity.
5  Neque habitábit juxta te malígnus: * neque permanébunt injústi ante óculos tuos.	Neither shall the wicked dwell near you: nor shall the unjust abide before your eyes.
6  Odísti omnes, qui operántur iniquitátem: * perdes omnes, qui loquúntur mendácium.	You hate all the workers of iniquity: you will destroy all that speak a lie
7  Virum sánguinum et dolósum abominábitur Dóminus: * ego autem in multitúdine misericórdiæ tuæ.	The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor.  But as for me in the multitude of your mercy,
8  Introíbo in domum tuam: * adorábo ad templum sanctum tuum in timóre tuo.	I will come into your house; I will worship towards your holy temple, in your fear.
9  Dómine, deduc me in justítia tua: * propter inimícos meos dírige in conspéctu tuo viam meam.	Conduct me, O Lord, in your justice: because of my enemies, direct my way in your sight.
10  Quóniam non est in ore eórum véritas: * cor eórum vanum est.	For there is no truth in their mouth: their heart is vain.
11  Sepúlcrum patens est guttur eórum, linguis suis dolóse agébant, * júdica illos, Deus.	Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: judge them, O God
12  Décidant a cogitatiónibus suis, secúndum multitúdinem impietátum eórum expélle eos, * quóniam irritavérunt te, Dómine.	Let them fall from their devices: according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out: for they have provoked you, O Lord.
13  Et læténtur omnes, qui sperant in te, * in ætérnum exsultábunt: et habitábis in eis.	But let all them be glad that hope in you: they shall rejoice for ever, and you shall dwell in them.
14  Et gloriabúntur in te omnes, qui díligunt nomen tuum: * quóniam tu benedíces justo.	And all they that love your name shall glory in you. For you will bless the just.
15  Dómine, ut scuto bonæ voluntátis tuæ * coronásti nos.	O Lord, you have crowned us, as with a shield of your good will.

St Benedict's psalm cursus

Today's puzzle in relation to the design of the Benedictine Office is, why St Benedict did assign this psalm to Lauds rather than Prime?

Prime on Mondays, after all, starts with Psalms 1 and 2.  Psalms 3&4 are used at Matins and Compline respectively, but it would have been perfectly possible to conclude the hour with Psalm 5, put Psalm 6 into Tuesday, and reduce the number of psalms that are divided at that hour.

Part of the answer may be to do more with Psalm 6 than Psalm 5: while Psalm 5 would have provided a nice triptych to Psalm 1, Psalm 6 has important thematic links to Psalm 128 which St Benedict goes out of his way to place at Vespers on Mondays, so may be important to the thematic unity of the day.

A second, and possibly more important reason though, probably has to do with comments of Origen, Cyprian and Basil on the hour of Lauds, for they all quote verses 3-4 from the psalm as part of their rationale for prayer at this time.

The quintessential Lauds psalm(s)?

It is often suggested that Psalm 62 is the quintessential Lauds psalm, and it is heavily used as such in the Eastern Office, and may have been said daily in the early Roman Office.  Psalm 5, though, has equally strong claims in terms of its content.

Origen, for example, suggested that praying at specific times of the day (and again at midnight) was a necessary part of the ideal of 'praying without ceasing', and points to Psalm 5 as part of the evidence that Lauds is of ancient origin:

Of such prayer what is usually termed prayer is indeed a part, and ought to be performed at least three times each day, as is plain from the account of Daniel who, in spite of the grave danger that impended, prayed three times daily... The first is spoken of by David: “In the morning shall you hear my prayer: in the morning will I present myself to you and keep watch.” (On prayer, chapter 7)

St Cyprian (almost certainly incorrectly) disagreed with Origen on the origins of the hour, claiming instead Terce, Sext and None as the ancient hours of prayer, but still uses the psalm when pointing to the Resurrection as the origin of Lauds:

But for us, beloved brethren, besides the hours of prayer observed of old, both the times and the sacraments have now increased in number. For we must also pray in the morning, that the Lord's resurrection may be celebrated by morning prayer. And this formerly the Holy Spirit pointed out in the Psalms, saying, My King, and my God, because unto You will I cry; O Lord, in the morning shall You hear my voice; in the morning will I stand before You, and will look up to You. (Treatise 4)

St Basil also refers to the psalm in his rationale for prayer in the early morning in the Longer Rule:

Prayers are recited early in the morning so that the first movements of the soul and the mind may be consecrated to God and that we may take up no other consideration before we have been cheered and heartened by the thought of God, as it is written: 'I remembered God and was delighted, and that the body may not busy itself with tasks before we have fulfilled the words: To thee will I pray, O Lord; in the morning thou shalt hear my, voice. In the morning I will stand before thee and will see.'

Lauds memes

Psalm 5 also contains other key thematic links other psalms of the hour which we will explore over the next two weeks, including the reference to lifting our hands in prayer (also appears in Psalms 62, 56 and 142); entering into the temple; and to truth, justice and mercy.

The Incarnation, baptism and call to conversion

Above all though, the assignment of Psalm 5 to Monday surely reflects the fact that it covers similar themes to Psalm 32 at Matins and Psalm 1 at Prime, namely the choice between imitating Christ and evil.  St Liguori summarises it as follows:

The just man may here understand perfectly how he should conduct himself in adversities and then be consoled by confiding in God. At the end, the psalm shows us the happiness of heaven as a reward promised to souls that suffer patiently here below.

The call to conversion

The psalm has a strong relationship of its key themes to those of the Office today, including the weekly call to conversion and re-commitment to our  baptismal and other vows and promises.

Several of the Fathers see the title, which refers to the one receiving an inheritance, as talking about the Church.  St Augustine for example says:

 She is said to obtain the inheritance because spiritual goods have accrued to her through Christ's resurrection: these are the invincible foundation of faith, the most certain reward of hope, the sweet bond of charity, and so on. 

But it also has an individual dimension, closely linked to the second psalm on Prime on Monday, Psalm 2, as Cassidorus explained:

Of this inheritance the gospel says: Blessed are the meek, because they will possess the earth by inheritance. Then again, the Church is called the inheritance, as in the words of Psalm 2: Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

St John Chrysostom similar points to the Church as the recipient of a spiritual inheritance but also reminds us of the image of Christ as the bridegroom, an image that can be applied to us individually as well as collectively:

…Now, who is the one receiving an inheritance? "On a person receiving an inheritance," the title says, remember. The Church, and its fullness, about which Paul says, "I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." And John: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom." 

...he also wishes us all to be one body and one soul on the basis of virtue and love, and because, just as the bride does everything to please the bridegroom, so should we be throughout life…

Summary of the psalm

Cassiodorus summarises the psalm as follows:

 The whole of this psalm is uttered by the person of the Catholic Church, who in the first section asks that her prayer be heard, and proclaims that heretics and schismatics must be excluded from the Lord's gifts. In the second part she begs that through her understanding of the divine Scriptures she may be guided by God's kindness on the direct path to that blessed native land, and she asserts that the unfaithful make themselves total foreigners to it. Finally she mentions the rewards of the blessed, so that by this one proclamation prior warning of their punishment may convert the wicked, and promise of rewards fire the just...

 How sweet is the prayer of holy Church which has been heard! She both begets us in faith and fashions us by religious formation. She teaches the ignorant, cherishes little ones, relieves the afflicted, and gathers to her own breasts for nourishment those who she knows adhere to her doctrine. She makes supplication so that we may learn to make entreaty; she shuns the wicked that we may curse those who are most evil. She trusts in the Lord that we too may feel an obligation to have confidence in Him. So like a revered mother she transmits to her little ones words for them to speak, so that when prayerful feeling grows strong in us, it may make both psalmody a consolation in our human actions and our actions accord with the divine commands. So let us say what she urges, know what she believes, and at any rate love that for which she has affection, so that when we follow her intention we may undoubtedly become her sons. 

Note that Psalm 5 is also said in the first Nocturn of Matins for the dead, chanted as in the video below.

Latin word study: words for (early) morning 

The psalms use a number of different words and expressions to talk about early morning, and prayer therein, I'm going to leave aside for the moment the various poetic images and references to light (first light, light of dawn, etc), and focus in this post on some of the individual words most often used in Scripture.

matutinus, a, um,  pertaining to the morning, early in the morning. 

Matutinis is actually the word St Benedict and the Fathers used (for obvious reasons) for what we now call Lauds - the process by which vigils or nocturns became Matins is a curious one!  The word appears thirty times in the Vulgate.

Psalm 29 (Matins, Sunday)

6  Ad vésperum demorábitur fletus: * et ad matutínum lætítia.

In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness.

Psalm 62 (Lauds, Sunday)

7  Si memor fui tui super stratum meum, in matutínis meditábor in te: * quia fuísti adjútor meus.

7 If I have remembered you upon my bed, I will meditate on you in the morning: 8 Because you have been my helper.

diluculum, i, n. the dawn, daybreak, the early morning,  morning twilight,.

This word appears 39 times in the Vulgate, including to describe the actions of Jesus the morning after healing Peter's mother-in-law:

Mark 1: 35 Et diluculo valde surgens, egressus abiit in desertum locum, ibique orabat (And rising very early, going out, he went into a desert place: and there he prayed.)

and the women on the day of the Resurrection:

Luke 24: 1 Una autem sabbati valde diluculo venerunt ad monumentum, portantes quæ paraverant aromata: 2 et invenerunt lapidem revolutum a monumento.

There is, then, a strong implication that this is something we should emulate.

Psalm 45 (Matins Tuesday)

5  Deus in médio ejus, non commovébitur: * adjuvábit eam Deus mane dilúculo.

6 God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early.

Psalm 56 (Lauds, Tuesday)

11  Exsúrge, glória mea, exsúrge psaltérium et cíthara: * exsúrgam dilúculo.

Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.

Psalm 77 (Matins, Thursday)

38  Cum occíderet eos, quærébant eum: * et revertebántur, et dilúculo veniébant ad eum.

34 When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning.

Psalm 107 (Matins, Saturday)

2  Exsúrge, glória mea, exsúrge, psaltérium et cíthara: * exsúrgam dilúculo.

3 Arise, my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise in the morning early.

Psalm 118 (Monday, Sext)

148  Prævenérunt óculi mei ad te dilúculo: * ut meditárer elóquia tua.

My eyes to you have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on your words.

Psalm 138 (Vespers, Thursday)

8  Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.

9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

mane, adv., early, early in the morning, very early

Easily the most common word used in Scripture (828 appearances in the Vulgate), mane can be used both as an adverb and a substantive (in this case an indeclinable noun).

Psalm 5 (Lauds, Monday)

3  Quóniam ad te orábo: * Dómine, mane exáudies vocem meam.	For to you will I pray: O Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice
4  Mane astábo tibi et vidébo: * quóniam non Deus volens iniquitátem tu es.	In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see: because you are not a God that wills iniquity.

Psalm 87 (Lauds, Thursday)

14 Et ego ad te, Dómine, clamávi : * et mane orátio mea prævéniet te.

But I, O Lord, have cried to you: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent you.

Psalm 89 (Lauds, Tuesday)

6  Mane sicut herba tránseat, mane flóreat, et tránseat: * véspere décidat, indúret et aréscat.

6 In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither.

Psalm 91 (Lauds, Friday)

2  Ad annuntiándum mane misericórdiam tuam: * et veritátem tuam per noctem

3 To show forth your mercy in the morning, and your truth in the night:

Psalm 142 (Lauds, Saturday)

9  Audítam fac mihi mane misericórdiam tuam: * quia in te sperávi.

Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for in you have I hoped.

Less common words

aurora ae f dawn, morning light, break of day, redness of the morning

The word aurora only appears once in the psalms, but is used half a dozen or times elsewhere in Scripture (including three times in Job).  The similarity to the Latin for gold (aurum) suggests its connection to the colour of morning light; it can also imply 'from the East'.

Psalm 73 (Matins, Thursday)

17  Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: * tu fabricátus es auróram et solem.

16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night: you have made the morning light and the sun.

maturitas, atis, f early morning, dawn.

Psalm 118 (Monday, Sext)

147  Prævéni in maturitáte, et clamávi: * quia in verba tua supersperávi.

I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in your words I very much hoped

For the next psalm in this series on Lauds, go here.

Alternatively, you can also learn more about this psalm in the verse by verse notes I've previously provided on it.

Psalm 117 - Christ and the day

Ancient of days icon: see Daniel 7:13-14

 Psalm 117: Sunday Lauds

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Alleluja.	Alleluia.
Confitémini Dómino quóniam bonus: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.	Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.
2  Dicat nunc Israël quóniam bonus: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.	2 Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endures for ever.
3  Dicat nunc domus Aaron: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.	3 Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
4  Dicant nunc qui timent Dóminum: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.	4 Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endures for ever.
5  De tribulatióne invocávi Dóminum: * et exaudívit me in latitúdine Dóminus.	5 In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me.
6  Dóminus mihi adjútor: * non timébo quid fáciat mihi homo.	6 The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me.
7  Dóminus mihi adjútor: * et ego despíciam inimícos meos.	7 The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies.
8  Bonum est confídere in Dómino: * quam confídere in hómine.	8 It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man.
9  Bonum est speráre in Dómino: * quam speráre in princípibus.	9 It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes.
10  Omnes Gentes circuiérunt me: * et in nómine Dómini quia ultus sum in eos.	10 All nations compassed me about; and, in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
11  Circumdántes circumdedérunt me: * et in nómine Dómini quia ultus sum in eos.	11 Surrounding me they compassed me about: and in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them.
12  Circumdedérunt me sicut apes, et exarsérunt sicut ignis in spinis: * et in nómine Dómini quia ultus sum in eos.	12 They surrounded me like bees, and they burned like fire among thorns: and in the name of the Lord I was revenged on them.
13  Impúlsus evérsus sum ut cáderem: * et Dóminus suscépit me.	13 Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall: but the Lord supported me.
14  Fortitúdo mea, et laus mea Dóminus: * et factus est mihi in salútem.	14 The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he has become my salvation.
15  Vox exsultatiónis, et salútis: * in tabernáculis justórum.	15 The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just.
16  Déxtera Dómini fecit virtútem: déxtera Dómini exaltávit me, * déxtera Dómini fecit virtútem.	16 The right hand of the Lord has wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord has exalted me: the right hand of the Lord has wrought strength.
17  Non móriar, sed vivam: * et narrábo ópera Dómini.	17 I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord.
18  Castígans castigávit me Dóminus: * et morti non trádidit me.	18 The Lord chastising has chastised me: but he has not delivered me over to death.
19  Aperíte mihi portas justítiæ, ingréssus in eas confitébor Dómino: * hæc porta Dómini, justi intrábunt in eam.	19 Open to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord 20 This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.
20  Confitébor tibi quóniam exaudísti me: * et factus es mihi in salútem.	21 I will give glory to you because you have heard me: and have become my salvation.
21  Lápidem, quem reprobavérunt ædificántes: * hic factus est in caput ánguli.	22 The stone which the builders rejected; the same has become the head of the corner.
22  A Dómino factum est istud: * et est mirábile in óculis nostris.	23 This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes.
23  Hæc est dies, quam fecit Dóminus: * exsultémus et lætémur in ea.	24 This is the day which the Lord has made: let us be glad and rejoice therein.
24  O Dómine, salvum me fac, O Dómine, bene prosperáre: * benedíctus qui venit in nómine Dómini.	25 O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success. 26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the Lord.
25  Benedíximus vobis de domo Dómini: * Deus Dóminus, et illúxit nobis.	We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God, and he has shone upon us.
26  Constitúite diem solémnem in condénsis, * usque ad cornu altáris.	Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar.
27  Deus meus es tu, et confitébor tibi: * Deus meus es tu, et exaltábo te.	28 You are my God, and I will praise you: you are my God, and I will exalt you.
28  Confitébor tibi quóniam exaudísti me: * et factus es mihi in salútem.	I will praise you, because you have heard me, and have become my salvation.
29  Confitémini Dómino quóniam bonus: * quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.	29 O praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.

Psalm 117 is the last of the 'Hallel' psalms sung on major feasts in the Jewish liturgy, it contains a number of key verses that Our Lord made clear applied to him, above all verse 22.

The reasons for its use on Sunday are fairly clear cut: Fr Pius Pasch's early twentieth century breviary commentary, for example, says:

Festival hymn. In this psalm, a celebrated liturgical hymn of the ancient synagogue (also a thanksgiving hymn on the feast of Tabernacles), we sing our Easter joy occasioned by the Resurrection of our Lord and our own spiritual resurrection in him.

It has some very clear links to the traditional canticle of the day as well (which I'll go into a little more below).

In the earlier version of the Roman Office from which St Benedict may have borrowed, though, Psalm 117 was probably said at Prime rather than Lauds.  If this was the case, why did he shift it to Lauds, particularly given its lack of overt references to dawn and the morning?

Christ the true day

One possibility seems to me to be the reference to Christ as the day (latin: dies, diei) in verse 24.

Christ as the day was a favourite theme of the Fathers.  St Cyprian's instruction on prayer for example, include the following:

But for us, beloved brethren, besides the hours of prayer observed of old, both the times and the sacraments have now increased in number. For we must also pray in the morning, that the Lord's resurrection may be celebrated by morning prayer. 

And this formerly the Holy Spirit pointed out in the Psalms, saying, My King, and my God, because unto You will I cry; O Lord, in the morning shall You hear my voice; in the morning will I stand before You, and will look up to You. And again, the Lord speaks by the mouth of the prophet: Early in the morning shall they watch for me, saying, Let us go, and return unto the Lord our God... 

Moreover, the Holy Spirit in the Psalms manifests that Christ is called the day. The stone, says He, which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us walk and rejoice in it. 

Also the prophet Malachi testifies that He is called the Sun, when he says, But to you that fear the name of the Lord shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and there is healing in His wings. But if in the Holy Scriptures the true sun and the true day is Christ, there is no hour excepted for Christians wherein God ought not frequently and always to be worshipped; so that we who are in Christ— that is, in the true Sun and the true Day— should be instant throughout the entire day in petitions, and should pray; and when, by the law of the world, the revolving night, recurring in its alternate changes, succeeds, there can be no harm arising from the darkness of night to those who pray, because the children of light have the day even in the night. For when is he without light who has light in his heart? Or when has not he the sun and the day, whose Sun and Day is Christ?

The references to dawn and morning light in many of the psalms of Lauds then, were not just selected for their references to morning prayer, but perhaps on the basis that they were seen by the Fathers as containing references to the Resurrection, the true day of the world.

And on this basis, one of the key themes reflected in several of the first variable psalms each day is the reference to entering heaven to praise God in verses 19-20:

Open to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it.

As we shall see this week, all of the first variable psalms of Lauds contain similar references - it is most explicit in Psalms 5, 42 and 75.

The key themes of the psalm

Cassiodorus summarises the structure of the psalm as follows:

The faithful people are freed from the bonds of sins, and in the first section they offer a general exhortation that each of us should confess to the Lord, for they have gained a hearing in afflictions, and have proclaimed that no man whatsoever is to be held in fear. 

In the second part they say that we must have confidence in the Lord alone, through whom they know that they have escaped the enmity of the Gentiles, and have attained the remedies of a truly genuine life. 

In the third section they say that the gates of justice are to be opened; they speak there also of the Cornerstone which is Christ the Saviour. 

In the fourth, they persuade the other Christians that they must crowd the Lord's halls in shared joy and sweet delight at the coming of the holy incarnation.

Latin word study: confess and praise the Lord

This psalm has lots of litany-esq repetitions, making it easier to memorise, so let me first point out a few key words in the opening litany section

Confitemini, the opening word of this psalm is actually quite key to the themes of Lauds I think.  The word literally means let us confess, and comes from the same verb used in confession of sins, viz confiteor, fessus sum, eri.  It has both a positive connotation (to praise, give thanks) and a negative one (to confess, acknowledge one's guilt), and both are implied here and throughout this series of psalms I think.

In fact Daniel 3 (from whence the Sunday canticle, the Benedicite cometh, another reason, presumably for the shift of the psalm to Lauds) provides the phrase spelt out in exactly that way:

 [89] Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus: quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus. [90] Benedicite, omnes religiosi, Domino Deo deorum: laudate et confitemini ei, quia in omnia saecula misericordia ejus.

 [89] O give thanks to the Lord, because he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever and ever. [90] O all ye religious, bless the Lord the God of gods: praise him and give him thanks, because his mercy endureth for ever and ever.

In the pslams that follow, this theme is, I think expanded in this way: God confronts us with the truth (veritas, veritatis) about ourselves which we must acknowledge and ask for his mercy (misericordia -ae); those who refuse to do that will be subject to his justice (justitia).

It's the same key theme as in Psalm 129 (Tuesday Vespers):

3  Si iniquitátes observáveris, Dómine: * Dómine, quis sustinébit?	3 If you, O Lord, will mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it.
4  Quia apud te propitiátio est: * et propter legem tuam sustínui te, Dómine.	4 For with you there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of your law, I have waited for you, O Lord.
7  Quia apud Dóminum misericórdia: * et copiósa apud eum redémptio.

So make that key refrain your own:

Confitémini Dómino quóniam bonus: Dicat nunc Israël (the Church) quóniam bonus:  Dicat nunc domus Aaron (the priests): Dicant nunc qui timent Dóminum (the faithful):

quóniam in sæculum misericórdia ejus.

Scriptural and liturgical uses

NT references	Rom 8:31, Heb 13:6 (v6); Lk 1:51 (v16); Rev 22:14 (v19); Jn 10:9 (v20); Mt 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Cor 3:11, Eph 2:20, 1Pet 2:4-7 (v21); Mt21: 9-14, 23-39 (v24)
RB cursus	Sunday Lauds
Feasts, antiphons etc	AN: 3297 (5); 1745 (5); 1809 (11); 3289, 3290, 5509 (15);3577 (v22-3); 2997 (v24); 4024 (25); 4117 (25-6); 2175(28)
Roman pre 1911	Sunday Prime
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Lauds II . 1970:
Responsories	Epiphanytide Friday v28; 6073, 6799 (v24, Haec dies)
Mass propers (EF)	Nativity Aurora GR (23, 26, 27) Lent 2 TR (v1=105) Lent 3 Tues OF (16-17); Lent 4 Friday GR (8-9); Passion I OF (17, ), Maundy Thurs OF (16-17); Easter Vigil AL (1); Easter Day GR (1, 23), Easter Mon GR (2, 24) Easter Tues IN v(1),GR (24,3) Easter Wed GR (24, 16) Easter Thurs GR (23,21,22); Easter Fri GR (23, 24-5); Easter Sat AL 23, OF 24-25; Eastertide 4 AL (16); PP14 GR (8-9). Finding holy Cross May 3: OF (5,6, 16, 17)

You can find some of my previous notes on this psalm here.

And you can find the next part in this series here.

The liturgical genius of St Benedict's Lauds Pt 4 - the variable psalmody

The New Jerusalem and the River of Life (Apocalypse XII),
Beatus de Facundus, 1047

So far in this series I've talked about the overall structure and context of Lauds; today I want to start on the main focus of this series, the variable psalms of the hour.

The variable psalms St Benedict uses for the hour are Psalms 5, 35, 42, 56, 62, 63, 64, 75, 87, 89, 91, 117 and 142.

Relationship to the Roman Office?

Some, but not all of these psalms also feature in the later Roman Office - that Office though, only had one variable psalm each day, and St Benedict doesn't use all of those; nor does he use them on the same days as the Roman Office.

This presents something of a puzzle, since although St Benedict lists out all of the psalms to be said each day (in contrast to the variable canticles where he just says use the Roman ones), he also describes them as the customary psalms:

Post quem alii duo psalmi dicantur secundum consuetudinem, id est...

 After these, two other psalms are to follow, according to established usage; thus...

Established use, or customary where?  In his monastery? In some Roman monastery whose Office has subsequently vanished? We will perhaps never know.

Purely mechanistic?

At least some of these psalms do have a history in association with Lauds though.

Two of the thirteen psalms St Benedict uses - viz Psalms 5 and 62 - have a long tradition of association with the hour behind them, attested to as early as Origen in the second century, and so their use is readily explicable.

Five more - Psalms 42, 64, 89, 91 and 142 - feature in the later Roman Office and most commentators now assume he borrowed them from a primitive version of the Roman Office.

If that was the case though, the Roman practice at this hour (assuming it really was settled at this time, a proposition for which there is no hard evidence) cannot have been the definitive criterion for their use for several reasons

First, St Benedict doesn't use two of the Lauds psalms of the Roman Office viz Psalms 92 and 99,in his Office (the current 'festal' version of Lauds is a later addition which I will look at briefly at the end of this series).

Secondly, St Benedict frequently displays a willingness to move psalms between hours (such as shifting Psalms 1-2 and 6-19 out of Matins and 119-125 out of Vespers), and between days (Psalm 91 is said on Saturday in the Roman Office, on Fridays in the Benedictine, and vice-versa for Psalm 142). In the case of Lauds, for example, he doesn't just take psalm from the Matins sequence but also Psalm 117 which in the later Roman Office was said at Prime (though probably was originally located at Vespers). Similarly, Psalm 53 may have formed part of Roman Prime at this time, but St Benedict places it in Matins.

Still, if we accept their use in the Roman Office as the rationale for their inclusion for the moment, we still have to explain the choice of six additional psalms, Psalms 35, 56, 63, 75, 87 and 117 (and the reasons for the initial rejection and later acceptance of Psalms 92 and 99 in the Benedictine cursus).

Morning prayer?

One possible explanation is that St Benedict selected the variable psalms for Lauds on the basis of their references to morning prayer and/or the light of dawn.

Certainly the two Roman Office psalms that St Benedict excludes from his version of the hour don't contain any explicit references to these themes, while the ones he selects do.  The table below summarises the key references in question sometimes cited (for example in Hildemar's c850 commentary on the Rule).

Table: Allusions to morning and light in the variable psalms of Lauds

Monday	O Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice In the morning I will stand before you (Ps 5: 3-4)
	and in your light we shall see light (Ps 35:10)
Tuesday	Send forth your light and your truth (Ps 42:3)
	Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early (Ps 56:11)
Wednesday	you shall make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful (Ps 64:8) Shall your wonders be known in the dark (Ps 64:13)
Thursday	But I, O Lord, have cried to you: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent you. (87:14)
	In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away (89:6) our life in the light of your countenance (89:8)  We are filled in the morning with your mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days (89:16) And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us (89:17)
Friday	You enlighten wonderfully from the everlasting hills (75:4)
	To show forth your mercy in the morning (91:2)
Saturday	Cause me to hear your mercy in the morning; for in you have I hoped (142: 9)
Sunday	O my God, to you do I watch at break of day (62:1) I will meditate on you in the morning (62:7) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Lord is God, and he has shone upon us (117:27)

Does this listing fully explain his choices however?

Well no, not in my opinion.

First, Psalm 63 on Wednesday has no obvious references to light or morning at all.

Secondly, while Psalm 117 does contain a reference to light, it is not obviously to dawn or morning prayer.  And several of the other references seem somewhat tenuous on the face of it.

Thirdly, and most importantly perhaps, there are actually quite a few other psalms that St Benedict could have selected for this purpose.

If we ignore the psalms of the Vespers cycle (though in reality, there is no good reason to, since St Benedict shifted several of them to Terce to None!), and just look at the (Roman) Matins sequence in particular that meet this criteria of strong references to morning and light and could have been allocated to Lauds - many of them (including Psalms 17, 18, 26, 29, 45, 73, 77, 106 and 107) with rather stronger claims than those St Benedict actually uses.

Psalms 17&18 have key places in Prime, so we can eliminate them from consideration, and Psalms 73, 77 and 106 might perhaps have been deemed too long for the hour.

But consider these possibilities, all of which fit with the prayer while awaiting the Resurrection/Christ as light theme:

• The Lord is my light and my deliverance; whom have I to fear? (Ps 26)
• sorrow is but the guest of a night, and joy comes in the morning (Ps 29) 
• But the city of God, enriched with flowing waters, is the chosen sanctuary of the most High, God dwells within her, and she stands unmoved; with break of dawn he will grant her deliverance (ps 45); and
• Wake, my heart, wake, echoes of harp and viol; dawn shall find me watching (Ps 107).

On the face of it, St Benedict's selection criteria involved more than just a reference to dawn/early morning.

Allocation to the day of the week

Another curious feature of the Lauds psalms is how St Benedict allocates them to the particular day of the week and place in the hour.  The table below shows which psalm is said on each day.

Table: Variable psalms and canticles of Lauds as set out in RB 13

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Matins:20-31	Matins: 32-44	Matins: 45-58	Matins: 59-72	Matins: 73-84	Matins: 85-100	Matins: 101-108
Ps 117	Ps 5	Ps 42	Ps 63	Ps 87	Ps 75	Ps 142
Ps 62	Ps 35	Ps 56	Ps 64	Ps 89	Ps 91	Deut
Benedicite (Dan 3)	Is 12:1-6	Is 38:10-20	1 Kings 2:1-10	Ex 15:1-10	Hab 3:2-19	32:1-43

Note that some psalms (viz Psalms 62, 75 and 117) are used out of their numerical sequences, the only hour of the Benedictine Office at which this occurs (fixed psalms aside).

In addition, unlike the Roman version of this hour, the psalms used at Lauds each day often - viz on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday don't all sit within the Matins (or other) sequence(s) for the day of the week.

In some cases there is perhaps an explanation for this.  Psalm 5, for example, is presumably on Monday because it is the only one missing from the Psalm 1-6 group on that day (Ps 1,2 and 6 being said at Prime, Ps 3&4 at Matins and Compline each day).

In other cases, the reasons for the allocations are less obvious.  Why place not place Psalm 142 on Friday, for example, as it was in the later Roman Office,  the day it would otherwise have been said at Vespers?

The shaping of Benedictine Lauds

The explanation for the psalm selections for Lauds, I think, reflects several different factors:

• some psalms are left in Matins or removed from the sequence in order to ensure that Matins each day has a thematic coherence - Psalm 45 presumably opens Tuesday Matins, for example, rather than being moved to Lauds because it so clearly states the themes of that day and is important to that particular sequence of psalms;
• there is rather more to the dawn theme than just references to the morning than the simple references might suggest;
• there was a need to ensure that the psalms used each day have a link to the themes of the day suggested by the Old Testament canticles said at Lauds; and 
• St Benedict's desire to use psalms that include some common memes - including but not limited to the morning prayer/light theme - that help give the hour and the psalm group a horizontal unity.

Perhaps the most important of the unifying memes in this psalms is that if one looks at the variable psalms placed first each day as a group, one can find repeated allusions to the theme of entering heaven; if you look at the set of second variables psalms each day at Lauds one can find brief descriptions of heaven itself (with the high point being Psalm 64 on Wednesday).

The linking theme between them is that in this life God offers us his protection in weathering the attacks of evildoers so that we can endure, best summarised in this line from Psalm 56:

And in the shadow of your wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.

As we look more closely at this group of psalms over the next few weeks I will try and draw out these linkages and themes out more closely.

Latin word study

As we go along in this series, I'm also going to provide some key word prompts for those wanting to become more familiar with the Latin, focusing on key concepts, images and phrases that tend to recur in the psalms and elsewhere in Scripture, particularly those relevant to the key themes of Lauds.

The psalms use a huge vocabulary (4,000 words plus, compared to most people's normal everyday vocabulary of around 1500 words) so are quite challenging to learn (and remember!).  So focusing on a few key words each day can help push the learning process on a little!

Next part in the series

In the meantime, continue on to Psalm 117.