Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Deus in adjutorium...(Psalm 69:1)

In this series on the repeated psalms of the Benedictine Office, I thought it might be useful also to give some mention to the repeated verses of the Office, and since the Deus in adjutorium verse from (Psalm 69) opens each of the day hours which I'll start on in the next post, I thought this might be an appropriate point to look at it.

I want to suggest that there are actually three reasons why St Benedict may have so favoured it:first as a prayer asking for God to perfect our work of the Office, and aid us at all times; secondly to make clear the Christological nature of the Office; and finally as a prayer for perseverance.

Psalm 69

First lines of psalms, in Scripture at least, are traditionally regarded as pointing us to the consideration of the entire psalm, and I think that is particularly worthwhile in this case.  Accordingly, here is the text of the full psalm:

Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
In finem. Psalmus David in rememorationem, quod salvum fecerit eum Dominus
Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him.
1 Deus, in adjutórium meum inténde : * Dómine ad adjuvándum me festína.
O God come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me.
2  Confundántur et revereántur, * qui quærunt ánimam meam.
3 Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
3  Avertántur retrórsum, et erubéscant, * qui volunt mihi mala.
4 Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me:
4  Avertántur statim erubescéntes, * qui dicunt mihi : Euge, euge.
Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well.
5  Exsúltent et læténtur in te omnes qui quærunt te, * et dicant semper : Magnificétur Dóminus : qui díligunt salutáre tuum.
5 Let all that seek you rejoice and be glad in you; and let such as love your salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.
6  Ego vero egénus, et pauper sum : * Deus, ádjuva me.
6 But I am needy and poor; O God, help me.

7  Adjútor meus, et liberátor meus es tu : * Dómine, ne moreris.
You are my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay.


Perfect our prayer

St Benedict, in the opening to his Rule, instructs that whatever good work we undertake, to start with a prayer asking God to perfect it.  This verse, I think, provides a built in means of doing this each time we pray the Office, that ultimate 'good work'.

The origin of the use of the verse has generally been attributed to Cassian, for in Conference 10, chapter 10, he provides an extended dissertation instructing the monk to employ this verse in all times and circumstances.  There is an excellent audio conference on this that you can listen to on the Norcia Monastery website, provided by Fr Cassian Folsom OSB.

The short version though, is that Cassian puts the verse in the context of cultivating a sense of continuous prayer and cultivating a sense of our total dependence on God.  In particular he sees it as the remedy against every kind of danger:

"For it embraces all the feelings which can be implanted in human nature, and can be fitly and satisfactorily adapted to every condition, and all assaults. Since it contains an invocation of God against every danger, it contains humble and pious confession, it contains the watchfulness of anxiety and continual fear, it contains the thought of one's own weakness, confidence in the answer, and the assurance of a present and ever ready help. For one who is constantly calling on his protector, is certain that He is always at hand. It contains the glow of love and charity, it contains a view of the plots, and a dread of the enemies, from which one, who sees himself day and night hemmed in by them, confesses that he cannot be set free without the aid of his defender. This verse is an impregnable wall for all who are labouring under the attacks of demons, as well as impenetrable coat of mail and a strong shield."

 Through his Incarnation and Resurrection

Fr Cassian in his series on continuous prayer notes that St Benedict interprets the Office as 'the work of Christ'.  This psalm fits very nicely with this Christological view of the Office, for the title of the psalm in the view of the Fathers, points us to the Resurrection.  St Augustine, for example, commented on it that:

"Thanks to the Corn of wheat, because He willed to die and to be multiplied: thanks to the only Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who disdained not to undergo our death, in order that He might make us worthy of His life."

That is important to keep in mind, since aside from the first verse, the psalms is essentially a repeat of the second half of Psalm 39, which is primarily focused on the Incarnation, opening a verse about waiting in hope for the coming of the Messiah.  Verses 2-4 in fact reprise a key theme of Monday in the Office, namely the promise that the devil will be defeated through Christ: you can find the words of those verses  repeated in various forms in Psalms 34, 6 and 128 in particular.  The Deus in adjutorium verse, then, can be seen as a plea for Christ's aid in our battle against the temptations that assail us.  And verses 4 and 5 perhaps invite us to draw on  Our Lady's example, for they seem to me at least to contain obvious echoes of the Magnificat.

A prayer for perseverance

The other key reason for use of this psalm though, seems to me to be as a prayer for aid in perseverance.

The final verse essentially echoes the first, but St Augustine's commentary on it puts a nice twist on it.  Rather than focusing on God's seeming delay in responding to our pleas, he puts the blame for any delay back on our poor efforts, and turns the psalm into a prayer for perseverance:

What is, delay not? Because many men say, it is a long time till Christ comes. What then: because we say, delay not, will He come before He has determined to come? What means this prayer, delay not? May not Your coming seem to me to be too long delayed. For to you it seems a long time, to God it seems not long, to whom a thousand years are one day, or the three hours of a watch. 

But if you shall not have had endurance, late for you it will be: and when to you it shall be late, you will be diverted from Him, and will be like those that were wearied in the desert, and hastened to ask of God the pleasant things which He was reserving for them in the Land; and when there were not given on their journey the pleasant things, whereby perchance they would have been corrupted, they murmured against God, and went back in heart unto Egypt: to that place whence in body they had been severed, in heart they went back. 

Do not thou, then, so, do not so: fear the word of the Lord, saying, Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:32 She too being on the way, but now delivered from the Sodomites, looked back; in the place where she looked back, there she remained: she became a statue of salt, in order to season you. For to you she has been given for an example, in order that you may have sense, may not stop infatuated on the way. Observe her stopping and pass on: observe her looking back, and do thou be reaching forth unto the things before, as Paul was. Philippians 3:13 What is it, not to look back. Of the things behind forgetful, he says. 

Therefore you follow, being called to the heavenly reward, whereof hereafter you will glory. For the same Apostle says, There remains for me a crown of righteousness, which in that day the Lord, the just Judge, shall render to me. 2 Timothy 4:8

I can't help thinking that this particular take on the psalm fits particularly well with St Benedict's spirituality...

Spiritual and liturgical uses of the psalm
 

NT references

1 Peter 5:7 (6)

RB cursus

Matins Wednesday II, 3

Monastic feasts etc

Maundy Thurs Tenebrae, I, 2;

AN (2330); 1547 (4);

Responsories

7475 (2) – Passion Sunday no 8

Roman pre 1911

Thursday Matins

Roman post 1911

1911-62: Thursday Compline  . 1970:

Mass propers (EF)

Lent 2 Monday GR (2, 7);
Lent 2 Thursday, IN (1-3);
Lent 4 Thursday, OF (1-3); 
PP 12, IN (1-3)

 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Masterpost: Matins in the Benedictine Office

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

In this 'masterpost', I want to provide something of an overview of the hour of Matins in the Benedictine Office, as well as links to notes on its psalms (which I'll update as I add more to the blog over time).

Matins, it has to be said, is a particularly monastic hour, and not one that the Oblates and other laypeople will generally have time to say: traditionally, going back to the most ancient times of the Church, it is the hour that religious say on our behalf.  My own view is that if you want to say something to mark this hour, saying one or both of the Matins invitatory psalms would be appropriate.  Alternatively, you could say the much shorter Matins of the Little Office of Our Lady.

All the same, it is worth knowing something about it for those occasions when we can say part or all of it.  And of course, it is important that we become familiar with all of the psalms, regardless of where they are placed in the liturgy.

A light in the darkness

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

The long night Vigil, however, in which the monk keeps watch through the darkness of the literal and metaphorical night, reflects the particular Office of the monk in dispelling the darkness on behalf of us all.

Unsurprisingly then, Matins is the workhorse of the Benedictine Office, easily the longest 'hour' of the day, almost as long,  most days of the week, as all the other hours combined.

The structure of the hour

St Benedict opens Matins with a verse from Psalm 50 (RB 9), to be said three times, thus invoking the symbolism of the Trinity, that asks God to cleanse us from our sins, and make us worthy to praise him:

16  Dómine, lábia mea apéries: * et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
O Lord, you will open my lips: and my mouth shall declare your praise.

He then provides for two psalms to be said every day at Matins, namely Psalms 3 and 94. 

A hymn then follows. 

The hymn is followed by twelve psalms or parts of psalms selected from Psalms 20-108, divided into two 'Nocturns'. 

There is, it should be noted, a mystical significance to the number of psalms to be said in the two Nocturns, for twelve is a number that the Fathers took as symbolising universality: hence the twelve tribes of Israel; the twelve apostles, and so forth.  Cassian's Institutes (Book II chapter 5) go a step further, suggesting that the number of psalms to be said was settled as twelve by means of an angelic intervention in a dispute amongst the desert monks.  

On Sundays, to mark the weekly celebration of the Resurrection, St Benedict adds an additional Nocturn consisting of three canticles; he also adds four readings for each Nocturn, the Te Deum and Te Decet hymns, and the Gospel.  

An Office of Psalms

In the modern Liturgy of the Hours Vigils or Matins has been replaced by an Office of Readings that can be said at any time of the day.

St Benedict makes it clear though, that in his version of the Office, the psalms should have priority. 

Indeed, unlike the Roman Office, the Rule specifies that daily readings of Scripture occur at weekdays Matins during winter and on Sundays; and even then St Benedict instructs that they be cut short if needs must so as to enable Lauds to start at daybreak.

The crafting of the psalmody

Given the number of psalms to be said at this hour over the course of the week, one might expect that there would be little thematic unity in the psalms of Matins.  Despite its apparent length though, the Benedictine version of Matins is actually much shorter than the Roman Office designed for the secular clergy: St Benedict's version is some 23 psalms shorter.  Moreover, the saint also divided several of the longer psalms.

In fact, by virtue of his decision to start the Matins sequence at Psalm 20 rather than Psalm 1, to place additional psalms at Lauds, and to divide some of the longer psalms, the saint was able to craft the hour in several key ways.

St Benedict often, for example, seems to have selected the psalms of the other hours of each day of the week with a view to their links of those of Matins.  On Monday, for example, consider, the phrase 'convertantur et revereantur' (let him be converted and turned back, which can be interpreted as a call for the defeat of the devil) and variants on it (avertantur et retrorsum, convertentur, confundantur) recurs not only throughout Matins (most explicitly in Psalms 34&39) but also in the last psalms of the key hours Prime (Psalm 6) and Vespers (Ps 128).   Similarly, on Wednesday the first verses of Psalms 67 and 68 are closely echoed in the opening verses of Psalm 9 and 11 at Prime (at least in the pre-1962 version of the Benedictine Office).

More importantly though, he also seems to have carefully organised his psalter so as to take advantage of thematic groupings of the psalms as they appear in Scripture, and so as to ensure that the first psalm of the day relates to the theme of the day in a cycle based around the life of Christ.

By starting at Psalm 20 on Sunday, for example, he is able to set for that day a group of psalms that contain many prophecies of the Resurrection.  On Monday the psalmody opens with a psalm that the Fathers saw as announcing the Incarnation, Psalm 32, and continues with a group of psalms firmly centred on what monastic commentator, Rabanus Maurus, described as 'the beginnings of our salvation'.  On Tuesday the psalmody moves to the theme of the Temple and the heavenly Jerusalem, and opens with Psalm 45 that announces that 'God is amongst us', an appropriate text for a day that can be seen as about the public ministry of Christ in the Office.  Thursday's psalms focus on the escape of the Israelites from Egypt, and their wanderings in the desert; while Friday's opening psalm, Psalm 85, has long been interpreted as the prayer poured out to the Father by Christ on the cross.

The repeated psalms

St Benedict also though, ensured a horizontal unity for this hour though the structural foundations provided in the psalms repeated each day of the week, Psalm 3 and Psalm 94, which serve to set us in the right frame of mind for the day.

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

16  Dómine, lábia mea apéries: * et os meum annuntiábit laudem tuam.
O Lord, you will open my lips: and my mouth shall declare your praise.

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

6  Ego dormívi, et soporátus sum: * et exsurréxi, quia Dóminus suscépit me.
I have slept and taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me

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

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

THE PSALMS OF MATINS

Daily

Psalm 3
Psalm 94




Key to the tables 

T=in the context of Tenebrae
P=as a penitential psalm
M= in context of Mass propers
D=in context of Office of the Dead
L=in context of festal Lauds
*=with links to verse by verse posts

Sunday


Nocturn I
20: T
21
23: T
24: MM
25
Nocturn II
26: T
27
28
29: T
30
31:P*

Monday

Nocturn I
32
33
34
36/1
36/2
37: TP*
Nocturn II
38
39: TM
40: D
41: D
43
44

 Tuesday

Nocturn I
45
46
47: M, M
48
49: M
51
Nocturn II
52
53:MT
54
55
57
58: T

Wednesday

Nocturn I
59
60
61
65
67/1
67/2
Nocturn II
68/1: T
68/2
69: M,T
70: T
71: T
72: T

Thursday

Nocturn I
73: T
74: T
76: T
77/1: M
77/2
78
Nocturn II
79
80
81
82
83
84: MT

Friday

Nocturn I
85
86
88/1
88/2
92: L
93: T
Nocturn II
95
96: M
97
98
99
100

Saturday

Nocturn I
101: P*
102
103/1
103/2
104/1: M
104/2
Nocturn II
105/1
105/2
106/1
106/2
107
108

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Psalm 94 v10-11

The concluding verses of Psalm 94 deals with the consequences of rejecting God.

10
VL
Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi : semper hi errant corde  
V
quadraginta annis offensus fui generationi illi, et dixi : semper hi errant corde.
NV
Quadraginta annis taeduit me generationis illius et dixi: Populus errantium corde sunt isti.
JH
Quadraginta annis displicuit milii generatio illa, et dixi, Populus errans corde est,

τεσσαράκοντα τη προσώχθισα τ γενε κείν κα επα ε πλαννται τ καρδί κα ατο οκ γνωσαν τς δούς μου

Text notes: The ‘proximus’ of the Old Roman here does, on the face of it, appear to be a mistranslation of the Greek.  Though perhaps not – after all, during the forty years God did indeed keep this generation near, guiding them with the smoke and pillar of flame, despite their sins.

Quadragínta annis= Forty years
próximus fui generatióni huic= I kept this generation near
et dixi= and I said
semper hi errant == always these stray
corde= in the heart

quadraginta, num. adj., forty.
annus, i, m year
proximus, a, um,  very near, close at hand;  neighbour
generatio, onis, a begetting, generating, generation  
semper, adv., ever, always, at all times.
hic, haec, hoc,  this
erro, avi, atum, are, to wander, stray, rove,
cor, cordis, n., the heart, regarded as the seat of the faculties, feelings, emotions, passions; the mind, the soul.

DR
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
NETS
For forty years I loathed that generation and said always do they stray in heart
Cover
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their hearts

The Catechism offers this explication of the importance of forty:

CCC 539: The evangelists indicate the salvific meaning of this mysterious event: Jesus is the new Adam who remained faithful just where the first Adam had given in to temptation. Jesus fulfils Israel's vocation perfectly: in contrast to those who had once provoked God during forty years in the desert, Christ reveals himself as God's Servant, totally obedient to the divine will. In this, Jesus is the devil's conqueror: he "binds the strong man" to take back his plunder. Jesus' victory over the tempter in the desert anticipates victory at the Passion, the supreme act of obedience of his filial love for the Father.

11
VL
Ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas : quibus jurávi in ira mea : si introíbunt in réquiem meam.
V
et isti non cognoverunt vias meas : ut juravi in ira mea : si introibunt in requiem meam.
NV
Et ipsi non cognoverunt vias meas; ideo iuravi in ira mea: Non introibunt in requiem meam ”.
JH
et non cognoscens uias meas : et iuraui in furore meo, ut non introirent in requiem meam.

ς μοσα ν τ ργ μου ε εσελεύσονται ες τν κατάπαυσίν μου

Text notes: The si phrase is the form of an oath – if so and so, then…, in this case, they shall not enter into my rest, viz the Promised Land (see Numbers 14:26ff), or as the author of Hebrews makes clear, heaven.

Ipsi vero non cognovérunt=they themselves have not truly known
vias meas= my ways
quibus jurávi = so I swore
in ira mea= in my anger
si introíbunt in réquiem meam= if they will enter into my rest, ie, they will not enter into my rest

verus, a, um, true
cognosco, gnovi, gnitum, ere 3, to know, see, learn, perceive, be come acquainted with.
via, ae, a way, road, path, street. God's way, God's policy, way of life
juro, avi, atum, are, to swear, take an oath
ira, ae, f, anger, wrath
introeo, ivi or ii, itum, ire, to go into, to enter.
requies, ei, /.,  rest;  a resting-place.

DR
And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Cover
for they have not known my ways, unto whom I swore in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest.

St Augustine draws out the import of this warning here:

We began with exulting joy: but this Psalm has ended with great fear: Unto whom I swore in My wrath, that they should not enter into My rest Psalm 94:11. It is a great thing for God to speak: how much greater for Him to swear? You should fear a man when he swears, lest he do somewhat on account of his oath against his will: how much more should you fear God, when He swears, seeing He can swear nought rashly? He chose the act of swearing for a confirmation. And by whom does God swear? By Himself: for He has no greater by whom to swear. Hebrews 6:13 By Himself He confirms His promises: by Himself He confirms His threats. Let no man say in his heart, His promise is true; His threat is false: as His promise is true, so is His threat sure. You ought to be equally assured of rest, of happiness, of eternity, of immortality, if you have executed His commandments; as of destruction, of the burning of eternal fire, of damnation with the devil, if you have despised His commandments....

Psalm 94: Venite Exultemus Domino
Vulgate
Psalter (Vetus latina)
Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici ipsi David.

Praise of a canticle for David himself.
1 Venite, exsultemus Domino; jubilemus Deo salutari nostro;
1. Veníte, exsultémus Dómino, jubilémus Deo, salutári nostro:
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
2 præoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus ei
præoccupémus fáciem ejus in confessióne, et in psalmis jubilémus ei.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
3 quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnes deos.
2. Quóniam Deus magnus Dóminus, et Rex magnus super omnes deos
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 Quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitudines montium ipsius sunt;
: quóniam non repéllet Dóminus plebem suam : quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitúdines móntium ipse cónspicit.
4 For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.

5 quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et siccam manus ejus formaverunt
3. Quóniam ipsíus est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et áridam fundavérunt manus ejus
5 For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6  Venite, adoremus, et procidamus, et ploremus ante Dominum qui fecit nos:
Veníte, adorémus, et procidámus ante Deum : plorémus coram Dómino, qui fecit nos,
6 Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
7  quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster, et nos populus pascuæ ejus, et oves manus ejus.
quia ipse est Dóminus Deus noster ; nos autem pópulus ejus, et oves páscuæ ejus.
7 For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
8 Hodie si vocem ejus audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra
4. Hódie, si vocem ejus audiéritis, nolíte obduráre corda vestra,
8 Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
9 sicut in irritatione, secundum diem tentationis in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri : probaverunt me, et viderunt opera mea.
sicut in exacerbatióne, secúndum diem tentatiónis in desérto : ubi tentavérunt me patres vestri, probavérunt et vidérunt ópera mea.
9 As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
10 Quadraginta annis offensus fui generationi illi, et dixi : Semper hi errant corde.
5. Quadragínta annis próximus fui generatióni huic, et dixi : Semper hi errant corde ;
10 Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
11 Et isti non cognoverunt vias meas : ut juravi in ira mea : Si introibunt in requiem meam.
ipsi vero non cognovérunt vias meas : quibus jurávi in ira mea : Si introíbunt in réquiem meam.
11 And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.