Psalms in Times of Pestilence

An Anthem for these times of grievous sickness and great mortality, 
from Psalm 39, verses 5-8, 13 and 15 (Prayer Book Version – see below).

Continuing to delve into those liturgical and devotional treasures of the Anglican Patrimony which, received now into full communion, constitute a treasure to be shared with the wider Catholic Church, the following psalms, in the classic Coverdale translation as used in the Book of Common Prayer, seem highly suitable for use morning and evening, as suggested in the Form appointed by Royal Proclamation for use at the time of the Great Plague of London in 1665 – apart from omitting the most usual of them, Psalm 50(51) and Psalm 129(130), the Miserere and De profundis respectively, which every Catholic ought know and use continually in any case; and wisely moving Psalm 6 from morning to evening, that the total number of psalm verses be approximately the same at each:

At Morning Prayer. 

Psalm 32. Beati, quorum [Ps. 31 in the Vulgate]

BLESSED is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven : and whose sin is covered.
2. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no sin : and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3. For while I held my tongue : my bones consumed away through my daily complaining.
4. For thy hand is heavy upon me day and night : and my moisture is like the drought in summer.
5. I will acknowledge my sin unto thee : and mine unrighteousness have I not hid.
6. I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord : and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.
7. For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found : but in the great water-floods they shall not come nigh him.
8. Thou art a place to hide me in, thou shalt preserve me from trouble : thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
9. I will inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go : and I will guide thee with mine eye.
10. Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding : whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, lest they fall upon thee.
11. Great plagues remain for the ungodly : but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord, mercy embraceth him on every side.
12. Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the Lord : and be joyful, all ye that are true of heart. 

Psalm 38. Domine, ne in furore [Ps. 37 in the Vulgate]

PUT me not to rebuke, O Lord, in thine anger : neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure.
2. For thine arrows stick fast in me : and thy hand presseth me sore.
3. There is no health in my flesh, because of thy displeasure : neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin.
4. For my wickednesses are gone over my head : and are like a sore burden, too heavy for me to bear.
5. My wounds stink, and are corrupt : through my foolishness.
6. I am brought into so great trouble and misery : that I go mourning all the day long.
7. For my loins are filled with a sore disease : and there is no whole part in my body.
8. I am feeble, and sore smitten : I have roared for the very disquietness of my heart.
9. Lord, thou knowest all my desire : and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10. My heart panteth, my strength hath failed me : and the sight of mine eyes is gone from me.
11. My lovers and my neighbours did stand looking upon my trouble : and my kinsmen stood afar off.
12. They also that sought after my life laid snares for me : and they that went about to do me evil talked of wickedness, and imagined deceit all the day long.
13. As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard not : and as one that is dumb, who doth not open his mouth.
14. I became even as a man that heareth not : and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15. For in thee, O Lord, have I put my trust : thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God.
16. I have required that they, even mine enemies, should not triumph over me : for when my foot slipped, they rejoiced greatly against me.
17. And I, truly, am set in the plague : and my heaviness is ever in my sight.
18. For I will confess my wickedness : and be sorry for my sin.
19. But mine enemies live, and are mighty : and they that hate me wrongfully are many in number.
20. They also that reward evil for good are against me : because I follow the thing that good is.
21. Forsake me not, O Lord my God : be not thou far from me.
22. Haste thee to help me : O Lord God of my salvation. 

Psalm 39. Dixi, Custodiam [Ps. 38 in the Vulgate]

I SAID, I will take heed to my ways : that I offend not in my tongue.
2. I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle : while the ungodly is in my sight.
3. I held my tongue, and spake nothing : I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me.
4. My heart was hot within me, and while I was thus musing the fire kindled : and at the last I spake with my tongue;
5. Lord, let me know mine end, and the number of my days : that I may be certified how long I have to live.
6. Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long : and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; and verily every man living is altogether vanity.
7. For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain : he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
8. And now, Lord, what is my hope : truly my hope is even in thee.
9. Deliver me from all mine offences : and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
10. I became dumb, and opened not my mouth : for it was thy doing.
11. Take thy plague away from me : I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand.
12. When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment : every man therefore is but vanity.
13. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and with thine ears consider my calling : hold not thy peace at my tears.
14. For I am a stranger with thee : and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
15. O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength : before I go hence, and be no more seen. 

****** 

At Evening Prayer. 

Psalm 6. Domine, ne in furore

O LORD, rebuke me not in thine indignation : neither chasten me in thy displeasure.
2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak : O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
3. My soul also is sore troubled : but, Lord, how long wilt thou punish me?
4. Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul : O save me for thy mercy's sake.
5. For in death no man remembereth thee : and who will give thee thanks in the pit?
6. I am weary of my groaning; every night wash I my bed : and water my couch with my tears.
7. My beauty is gone for very trouble : and worn away because of all mine enemies.
8. Away from me, all ye that work vanity : for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9. The Lord hath heard my petition : the Lord will receive my prayer.
10. All mine enemies shall be confounded, and sore vexed : they shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly. 

Psalm 90. Domine, refugium [Ps. 89 in the Vulgate]

LORD, thou hast been our refuge : from one generation to another.
2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made : thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
3. Thou turnest man to destruction : again thou sayest, Come again, ye children of men.
4. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday : seeing that is past as a watch in the night.
5. As soon as thou scatterest them they are even as a sleep : and fade away suddenly like the grass.
6. In the morning it is green, and groweth up : but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.
7. For we consume away in thy displeasure : and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.
8. Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee : and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9. For when thou art angry all our days are gone : we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
10. The days of our age are threescore years and ten; and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years : yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.
11. But who regardeth the power of thy wrath : for even thereafter as a man feareth, so is thy displeasure.
12. So teach us to number our days : that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13. Turn thee again, O Lord, at the last : and be gracious unto thy servants.
14. O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon : so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
15. Comfort us again now after the time that thou hast plagued us : and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.
16. Shew thy servants thy work : and their children thy glory.
17. And the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us : prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, O prosper thou our handywork. 

Psalm 91. Qui habitat [Ps. 90 in the Vulgate]

WHOSO dwelleth under the defence of the most High : shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2. I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my strong hold : my God, in him will I trust.
3. For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter : and from the noisome pestilence.
4. He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers : his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night : nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6. For the pestilence that walketh in darkness : nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day.
7. A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand : but it shall not come nigh thee.
8. Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold : and see the reward of the ungodly.
9. For thou, Lord, art my hope : thou hast set thine house of defence very high.
10. There shall no evil happen unto thee : neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee : to keep thee in all thy ways.
12. They shall bear thee in their hands : that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.
13. Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder : the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.
14. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him : I will set him up, because he hath known my Name.
15. He shall call upon me, and I will hear him : yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.
16. With long life will I satisfy him : and shew him my salvation.

To read with these, I suggest the following passages of Scripture – concerning the Davidic plague and the seven last plagues, respectively – according to the Anglican practice of reading two long lessons, one from each of the Old and New Testaments, after psalmody: in the morning, 1 Chronicles (Paralipomenon in the Vulgate) chapter 21 and Revelation (Apocalypse) chapter 15; and at eventide, 2 Samuel (2 Kings in the Vulgate) chapter 24 and Revelation (Apocalypse) chapter 16.

Selected Anglican prayers appointed for use in time of pestilence (as given in the previous post) would be fittingly read after these psalms and readings.

Semper in psalmis meditemur

While to-day (being the feast of St Andrew Corsini) didn't have the hymn Nocte surgentes at Matins, in the Dominican Breviary it is used on every Sunday after Epiphany, after Pentecost, and in Septuagesimatide, as also on all ferias in those seasons – unlike in the Roman Breviary, where each ferial weekday has its own proper hymn.  (The same applies at Lauds and Vespers: there is only one hymn repeated daily on Sundays and ferias outside of seasons and feasts – Ecce jam noctis and Lucis Creator optime, respectively.)

As may be imagined, the words of Nocte surgentes become very familiar; and I like to reflect in particular on the words of its second line: Semper in psalmis meditemur... – "May we ever meditate on the psalms".  Truly it is a blessing, in the words of the very first psalm, to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night; and when we pray the psalms, we are taught thereby to mull over and take into our hearts and make our own the attitudes and aspirations, the cries and plaints, the joyful exclamations and loving confessions, yes, and the angry shouts for justice against cruel foes, the sorrowful self-accusations and pleas for mercy upon our wickedness that are contained therein.  It is not for nothing that the Holy Ghost inspired their words, nor for nought that He gave them us for our recitation, our chanting, our committing to memory, and our (please God) conforming our very thoughts and will to their supernatural sentiments.

As St Gregory long ago so rightly taught, we do not pray – insane pride! – as if to bend God to our will, as the pagans thought to do to their false gods by their impious offerings and conjurings, that Mars, or Venus, or Jupiter do their bidding; rather, as good Christians, we pray that we may bend our will to that of the blessed Lord, Who alone knows what is best for us, and Who wills our salvation, our eternal health and welfare, which can only be accomplished by our conformity to His Divine plan.  It is thus most important to pray over the Scriptures – and tradition would add, the Psalms above all, as the God-given prayer book of the Christian – that we may imbibe the spirit appropriate to a believer.

St Josemaria, replying to the despairing question of a man downcast because he had attended daily Mass for so many years with so little seeming improvement in his Christian life, commented wryly "Imagine then what you would be like if you hadn't done so!"  Similarly, Evelyn Waugh (not a man known for his charity in speech and writing – even to-day, some of his letters have not been published in his collected works, for fear they would inspire prosecutions for malicious libel) said, replying to the accusation that his being a Catholic seemed to have hardly improved him, that it was fearful to imagine what he would have been without the graces he had thus received.  Similar thoughts come to mind regarding prayer, and meditating on the Psalms...

By these examples, and by the thousand others that come to mind, not least in our own lives, it must be confessed how hard it is to war against self, or again, against the unholy trinities of "me, myself and I", of the world, the flesh, and the devil!  It is a lifetime's labour, amidst much backsliding and continual falls, to strive to become a Christian in fact not just in name.  We must conform ourselves to holy models, as given us in the Psalms; a work made easy by grace, of course, but a work nonetheless; a work of ourselves simply beyond us, but by grace brought within the range of our supernaturalized powers, in Christ – yes, in the full meaning of those blessed words "in Christ".  His yoke is easy, His burden light – but we must take His yoke upon us and learn from Him, thereby finding alone the true rest for our souls.

I would argue that praying the psalms, and, hopefully, learning and living their doctrine and sentiments, made familiar by perpetual repetition, and thus becoming over time settled ideas of how to live and behave, is an important part of the imitation of Christ to which we all are called.  After all, are we not taught to frequent the Sacraments, and ever have recourse to prayer, that we may life sober, godly and religious lives in this world, awaiting the coming of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ?  Sloughing off vices, the sin that clings so, and growing in virtue, a hard labour but one that grows easier as they develop – this is the work that, in Christ, by grace, we are enabled to do: let us work this work while it is day, for night cometh when none can work.

One of Newman's most terrible sayings is that there are many now growing in grace and holiness who will not be saved – there is always the awful prospect of falling away from God, and of hearing that final judgement, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire.  As Christians, we waver between hope and fear, not falling into despair, nor into damnable presumption, but having a due "salvation anxiety" (as Fr Dominic put it).  Are not such sentiments everywhere in the Psalms?  And rightly so.

Pray the Psalms!  As truly God's word, "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them..." (Book of Divine Worship, Collect for Proper 28 = B.C.P., Collect for 2nd Sunday of Advent).  Just as, at Mass, we come weekly or daily to partake of the Sacrament, that we may become what we receive, so in due measure we "search the Scriptures" to find eternal life in the following of Christ, that by prayer and above all the Sacraments we may be found "in Christ", that our life may be hidden with Him in God, that, when He shall appear, we shall appear with Him in glory.

Chevra Tehillim

So good it is to have returned after a long absence to reading the whole Breviary daily! Strange to say, I seem always to best do this on holiday: all but part of Matins on Thursday, and all on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and now Monday, Deo gratias.

I love the psalms, old friends as they seem to me, and it is great to have the opportunity to recite all one hundred and fifty of them in a week.

Having just bought and read a book on Jewish liturgy, I was delighted to learn of a pious custom whereby Jews would meet together to pray the Tehillim or Psalms in a society called a Chevra Tehillim. Jewish prayer-books, to accommodate such needs, customarily divide the Psalter into seven portions, that such societies may recite the Psalter once a week, completing one division a day.

What a great idea, thought I - then I realized that, through my perseverance in the Breviary, I join with many many members of the new Israel of God the world over in a real spiritual union reciting the Psalms, inspired compositions of the Holy Ghost, whereby the Church, Christ's Body and Bride, praises God in the very words He has given us wherewith to praise Him, to the praise of His glory.

Hallelu-Jah: Alleluia! Praise the Lord!

Neale & Littledale's Commentary on the Psalms

My thanks to Lancelot Andrewes Press: thanks to the sky-high Aussie dollar (now worth more than the greenback, owing to continued U.S. economic decline), I have been able to afford to purchase their 1999 facsimile reprint in hardback of Neale and Littledale's magisterial Commentary on the Psalms (3rd edition, 1874), a set of volumes I've wanted for years, owing to their excellent focus on the spiritual interpretation of the Psalms drawn from Patristic and mediæval writers and liturgical sources.  I just picked up the parcel and unpacked them to-day.

Terra, if you read this, may I recommend these to you, if you don't already have a copy or access to them?

Elizabethan Prayers I and II

From the time of Elizabeth I comes "The Order Of Prayer upon Wednesdays and Fridays, to avert and turn God's wrath from us threatened by the late terrible earthquake, to be used in all Parish Churches" (Liturgical Services of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, 562-566) – a service appointed in consequence of the great earthquake that shook England and sundry lands around on the 6th of April 1580.  

I spare readers the immensely lengthy and rather over-enthusiastic prayer, but I do like the choice for the First Lesson of either Joel i or ii (or Isaias lviii), and in particular find the choice of proper psalms very apt: Psalms 30 (Vulg. 29), 46 (45), and 91 (90), which I append in the Prayerbook version (which is approved for Catholic use):

Psalm 30. Exaltabo te, Domine

I WILL magnify thee, O Lord, for thou hast set me up : and not made my foes to triumph over me.

2. O Lord my God, I cried unto thee : and thou hast healed me.

3. Thou, Lord, hast brought my soul out of hell : thou hast kept my life from them that go down to the pit.

4. Sing praises unto the Lord, O ye saints of his : and give thanks unto him for a remembrance of his holiness.

5. For his wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye, and in his pleasure is life : heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

6. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be removed : thou, Lord, of thy goodness hast made my hill so strong.

7. Thou didst turn thy face from me : and I was troubled.

8. Then cried I unto thee, O Lord : and gat me to my Lord right humbly.

9. What profit is there in my blood : when I go down to the pit?

10. Shall the dust give thanks unto thee : or shall it declare thy truth?

11. Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me : Lord, be thou my helper.

12. Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy : thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness.

13. Therefore shall every good man sing of thy praise without ceasing : O my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Psalm 46. Deus noster refugium

GOD is our hope and strength : a very present help in trouble.

2. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved : and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;

3. Though the waters thereof rage and swell : and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.

4. The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God : the holy place of the tabernacle of the most Highest.

5. God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed : God shall help her, and that right early.

6. The heathen make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved : but God hath shewed his voice, and the earth shall melt away.

7. The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our refuge.

8. O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord : what destruction he hath brought upon the earth.

9. He maketh wars to cease in all the world : he breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.

10. Be still then, and know that I am God : I will be exalted among the heathen, and I will be exalted in the earth.

11. The Lord of hosts is with us : the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Psalm 91. Qui habitat

WHOSO dwelleth under the defence of the most High : shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2. I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my hope, and my strong hold : my God, in him will I trust.

3. For he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter : and from the noisome pestilence.

4. He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers : his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5. Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night : nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6. For the pestilence that walketh in darkness : nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day.

7. A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand : but it shall not come nigh thee.

8. Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold : and see the reward of the ungodly.

9. For thou, Lord, art my hope : thou hast set thine house of defence very high.

10. There shall no evil happen unto thee : neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee : to keep thee in all thy ways.

12. They shall bear thee in their hands : that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.

13. Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder : the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet.

14. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him : I will set him up, because he hath known my Name.

15. He shall call upon me, and I will hear him : yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.

16. With long life will I satisfy him : and shew him my salvation.

From the reign of Elizabeth II, albeit from Italian sources, comes the following Collect in the modern Roman Missal, evidently a conflation of the old Collect and Secret for use in time of earthquake, with some additions made that supply the last two phrases:

Deus, qui fundásti terram super stabilitátem suam, parce metuéntibus, propitiáre supplícibus, ut, treméntis terrae perículis pénitus amótis, cleméntiam tuam iúgiter sentiámus, et, tua protectióne secúri, tibi serviámus gratánter. Per...

My unofficial translation:

O God, “Who didst establish the earth on firm foundations” (Ps 103:5a), spare those who are afraid, show Thy mercy to those who implore Thee, that, by wholly removing the perils of earthquake, we may evermore enjoy Thy mercy, and, kept safe by Thy protection, may we serve Thee with joy.  Through...

Unfortunately any mention of God's wrath was judged unacceptable to "modern man" (whoever he is) by the relevant cœtus, so they snipped and pasted the bits they liked to compile this pastiche prayer. At least it is vastly shorter than the Elizabethan prayer alluded to above.

Extra Nocturns for the Little Office

I continue to pray Placebo, Dirige and/or Exsultabunt – Vespers, Matins and Lauds of the Dead.  Alongside this, this week, I have had yet more consolation from singing the praises of the Blessed Virgin in her own Little Office.  This morning, it being her day of the week, I prefaced these devotions with some supererogatory items: some extra canticles and psalms in her honour.  

What psalms, what canticles?  The three psalms used in honour of Our Lady at Monastic Matins (which has twelve psalms, not just the nine to which the Roman Matins has been restricted for a hundred years) but not included in the Little Office – Ps 47, Magnus Dominus; Ps 84, Benedixisti Domine (used at Prime of Our Lady in the Roman Use, but not at all in the Dominican); and Ps 98, Dominus regnavit – and three canticles, the two latter being taken from the third Nocturn of Monastic Matins, while the first comes from Ambrosian Matins of Our Lady – the Canticle of Anna (I Kings ii, 1-10), Exsultavit cor meum; the Canticle of Ecclesiasticus (Ecclus xxxix, 17-21), Obaudite me; and the Canticle of Isaias (Is. lxi, 10-11 and lxii, 1-7), Gaudens gaudebo.

Interestingly, and conveniently, these two sets of three have each about the same number of verses as has each existing Nocturn, on average, of Matins of Our Lady; so, pro pia devotione, these could be substituted for the usual psalmody of a Nocturn.

Herewith, accompanied with antiphons, are these select and sacred hymns, inspired by the Holy Ghost Who illapsed upon the Virgin, filling her with unspeakable grace and conceiving within her the Word, making Him Flesh for our salvation; may they give joy to devout clients of the Mother of God:

MARIAN CANTICLES, AMBROSIAN & BENEDICTINE [36 vv.]

Aña 1.  Ave, Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu inter mulieres.  Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.  (S. Luc. i, 28b & 38a)

CANTICUM ANNÆ – I Reg. 2, 1-10 [16 vv.]

Exsultavit cor meum in Domino, * et exaltatum est cornu meum in Deo meo;

Dilatatum est os meum super inimicos meos, * quia lætata sum in salutari tuo.

Non est sanctus, ut est Dominus, † neque enim est alius extra te, * et non est fortis sicut Deus noster.

Nolite multiplicare loqui sublimia * gloriantes;

Recedant vetera de ore vestro; † quia Deus scientiarum, Dominus est, * et ipsi præparantur cogitationes.

Arcus fortium superatus est, * et infirmi accincti sunt robore.

Repleti prius, pro panibus se locaverunt, * et famelici saturati sunt.

Donec sterilis peperit plurimos, * et quæ multos habebat filios, infirmata est.

Dominus mortificat et vivificat, * deducit ad inferos et reducit.

Dominus pauperem facit et ditat; * humiliat et sublevat.

Suscitat de pulvere egenum, * et de stercore elevat pauperem,

Ut sedeat cum principibus, * et solium gloriæ teneat.

Domini enim sunt cardines terræ, * et posuit super eos orbem.

Pedes sanctorum suorum servabit, † et impii in tenebris conticescent, * quia non in fortitudine sua roborabitur vir.

Dominum formidabunt adversarii ejus, * et super ipsos in cælis tonabit;

Dominus judicabit fines terræ, † et dabit imperium regi suo, * et sublimabit cornu christi sui.

Aña 1.  Ave, Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu inter mulieres.  Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.  (S. Luc. i, 28b & 38a)

Aña 2.  Hortus conclusus es, Dei Genitrix, hortus conclusus, fons signatus: surge, propera, amica mea, et veni!  (Cf. Cant. iv, 12; ii, 10b)

CANTICUM ECCLESIASTICI – Cap. 39, 17-21 [5 vv.]

Obaudite me, divini fructus, * et quasi rosa plantata super rivos aquarum fructificate.

Quasi Libanus * odorem suavitatis habete.

Florete flores quasi lilium, et date odorem, † et frondete in gratiam; et collaudate canticum, * et benedicite Dominum in operibus suis.

Date nomini ejus magnificentiam, † et confitemini illi in voce labiorum vestrorum, * et in canticis labiorum, et citharis;

Et sic dicetis in confessione: * Opera Domini universa bona valde.

Aña 2.  Hortus conclusus es, Dei Genitrix, hortus conclusus, fons signatus: surge, propera, amica mea, et veni!  (Cf. Cant. iv, 12; ii, 10b)

Aña 3.  Maria Virgo, lætare, quæ meruisti Christum portare, cæli et terræ conditorem, quia protulisti mundi Salvatorem.

CANTICUM ISAIÆ – Cap. 61, 10-11 et 62, 1-7 [15 vv.]

Gaudens gaudebo in Domino, * et exsultabit anima mea in Deo meo,

Quia induit me vestimentis salutis, * et indumento justitiæ circumdedit me,

Quasi sponsum decoratum corona, * et quasi sponsam ornatam monilibus suis.

Sicut enim terra profert germen suum, † et sicut hortus semen suum germinat, * sic Dominus Deus germinabit justitiam, et laudem coram universis gentibus.

Propter Sion non tacebo, et propter Jerusalem non quiescam, † donec egrediatur ut splendor justus ejus, * et salvator ejus ut lampas accendatur.

Et videbunt gentes justum tuum, * et cuncti reges inclytum tuum;

Et vocabitur tibi nomen novum, * quod os Domini nominabit.

Et eris corona gloriæ in manu Domini, * et diadema regni in manu Dei tui.

Non vocaberis ultra Derelicta, * et terra tua non vocabitur amplius Desolata;

Sed vocaberis Voluntas mea in ea, *et terra tua inhabitata,

Quia complacuit Domino in te; * et terra tua inhabitabitur.

Habitabit enim juvenis cum virgine, * et habitabunt in te filii tui;

Et gaudebit sponsus super sponsam, * et gaudebit super te Deus tuus.

Super muros tuos, Jerusalem, constitui custodes;  * tota die et tota nocte in perpetuum non tacebunt.

Qui reminiscimini Domini, ne taceatis, † et ne detis silentium ei, * donec stabiliat et donec ponat Jerusalem laudem in terra.

Aña 3.  Maria Virgo, lætare, quæ meruisti Christum portare, cæli et terræ conditorem, quia protulisti mundi Salvatorem.

MARIAN PSALMS FROM THE MONASTIC BREVIARY [37 vv.]

Aña 1.  Favus distillans labia tua, Sponsa, mel et lac sub lingua tua: et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris.  (Cant. iv, 11)

PSALMUS 47 [13 vv.]

Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis, * in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus.

Fundatur exsultatione universæ terræ mons Sion; * latera aquilonis, civitas regis magni.

Deus in domibus ejus cognoscetur, * cum suscipiet eam.

Quoniam ecce reges terræ congregati sunt, * convenerunt in unum.

Ipsi videntes, sic admirati sunt, † conturbati sunt, commoti sunt; * tremor apprehendit eos.

Ibi dolores ut parturientis: * in spiritu vehementi conteres naves Tharsis.

Sicut audivimus, sic vidimus in civitate Domini virtutum, † in civitate Dei nostri: * Deus fundavit eam in æternum.

Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam tuam, * in medio templi tui.

Secundum nomen tuum, Deus, sic et laus tua in fines terræ: * justitia plena est dextera tua.

Lætetur mons Sion, et exsultent filiæ Judæ, * propter judicia tua, Domine.

Circumdate Sion, et complectimini eam; * narrate in turribus ejus.

Ponite corda vestra in virtute ejus, * et distribuite domos ejus, ut enarretis in progenie altera.

Quoniam hic est Deus, Deus noster in æternum, et in sæculum sæculi: * ipse reget nos in sæcula.

Aña 1.  Favus distillans labia tua, Sponsa, mel et lac sub lingua tua: et odor vestimentorum tuorum sicut odor thuris.  (Cant. iv, 11)

Aña 2.  Fons hortorum, puteus aquarum viventium, quæ fluunt impetu de Libano.  (Cant. iv, 15)

PSALMUS 84 [14 vv.]

Benedixisti, Domine, terram tuam, * avertisti captivitatem Jacob.

Remisisti iniquitatem plebis tuæ, * operuisti omnia peccata eorum.

Mitigasti omnem iram tuam, * avertisti ab ira indignationis tuæ.

Converte nos, Deus salutaris noster, * et averte iram tuam a nobis.

Numquid in æternum irasceris nobis? * aut extendes iram tuam a generatione in generationem?

Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos, * et plebs tua lætabitur in te.

Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam, * et salutare tuum da nobis.

Audiam, quid loquatur in me Dominus Deus, * quoniam loquetur pacem in plebem suam.

Et super sanctos suos, * et in eos qui convertuntur ad cor.

Verumtamen prope timentes eum salutare ipsius, * ut inhabitet gloria in terra nostra.

Misericordia et veritas obviaverunt sibi; * justitia et pax osculatæ sunt.

Veritas de terra orta est, * et justitia de cælo prospexit.

Etenim Dominus dabit benignitatem, * et terra nostra dabit fructum suum.

Justitia ante eum ambulabit, * et ponet in via gressus suos.

Aña 2.  Fons hortorum, puteus aquarum viventium, quæ fluunt impetu de Libano.  (Cant. iv, 15)

Aña 3.  Descendi in hortum nucum, ut viderem poma convallium, et inspicerem, si floruisset vinea, et germinassent mala punica, alleluja.  (Cant. vi, 10)

PSALMUS 98 [10 vv.]

Dominus regnavit: irascantur populi; * qui sedet super cherubim, moveatur terra.

Dominus in Sion magnus, * et excelsus super omnes populos.

Confiteantur nomini tuo magno, † quoniam terribile et sanctum est, * et honor regis judicium diligit.

Tu parasti directiones; * judicium et justitiam in Jacob tu fecisti.

Exaltate Dominum Deum nostrum, † et adorate scabellum pedum ejus, * quoniam sanctum est.

Moyses et Aaron in sacerdotibus ejus, * et Samuel inter eos, qui invocant nomen ejus;

Invocabant Dominum, et ipse exaudiebat eos; * in columna nubis loquebatur ad eos.

Custodiebant testimonia ejus, * et præceptum quod dedit illis.

Domine Deus noster, tu exaudiebas eos; † Deus, tu propitius fuisti eis, * et ulciscens in omnes adinventiones eorum.

Exaltate Dominum Deum nostrum, † et adorate in monte sancto ejus, * quoniam sanctus Dominus Deus noster.

Aña 3.  Descendi in hortum nucum, ut viderem poma convallium, et inspicerem, si floruisset vinea, et germinassent mala punica, alleluja.  (Cant. vi, 10)