Tag: Psalter
Psalm 51(50): Against you alone have I sinned
1. We have just heard the Miserere, one of the most famous prayers of the Psalter, the most intense and commonly used penitential psalm, the hymn of sin and pardon, a profound meditation on guilt and grace. The Liturgy of the Hours makes us pray it at Lauds every Friday. For centuries the prayer has risen to heaven… Read More ›
Introduction to the Psalter
. . .The Psalter appears as a “formulary” of prayers, a collection of 150 Psalms which the Biblical Tradition offers the people of believers so that they become their and our prayer, our way of speaking and of relating to God. This Book expresses the entire human experience with its multiple facets and the whole range… Read More ›
Find Your Place in the Psalter using this one Weird Trick!
Okay, so your three year old was playing with the ribbons in your breviary again, and now they’re all pulled out and you don’t remember what week in the Psalter you should be using. Or you got out of the habit of praying the hours for a couple weeks, and want to start up again,… Read More ›
Psalm 49(48): 14-21: God will ransom me!
1. As it gradually develops, the Liturgy of Vespers presents to us the sapiential Psalm 49[48], whose second part has just been proclaimed (cf. vv. 14-21). This section of the Psalm, like the previous part (cf. vv. 1-13) on which we have already reflected, also condemns the illusion to which idolizing riches gives rise. This… Read More ›
Psalm 49(48):1-13: In his riches, man lacks wisdom!
1. Our meditation on Psalm 49[48] will be divided into two parts, just as it is proposed on two separate occasions by the Liturgy of Vespers. We will now comment in detail on the first part in which it is hardship that inspires reflection, as in Psalm 72[71]. The just man must face “evil days”… Read More ›
Psalm 48(47): O God we ponder your love within your temple
1. The Psalm just proclaimed is a canticle in honour of Zion, “the city of the great King” (Ps 47 [48],3), at the time, the seat of the temple of the Lord and the place of his presence in the midst of humanity. Christian faith now applies it to “Jerusalem above” which is “our mother”… Read More ›
Psalm 46(45): God “our refuge and strength”
1. We have just heard the first of the six hymns to Zion that are contained in the Psalter (cf. also Ps 48[47]; 76[75]; 84[83]; 87[86]; 122[121]. Like the other similar compositions, Psalm 46[45] celebrates the Holy City of Jerusalem, “the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High” (v. 5), but above… Read More ›
Benedictus: Canticle of Zechariah
1. Having reached the end of our long journey through the Psalms and Canticles of the Liturgy of Lauds, let us pause to consider the prayer that marks the Office of Lauds every morning. It is the Benedictus, the Canticle intoned by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, when the birth of that son changed his life,… Read More ›
Psalm 47(46): Praise the Lord, King of all the Earth
In Psalm 46 (47), which we just prayed. It is designed as a hymn to the sovereign Lord of the universe and of history: “God is king over all the earth … God rules over all nations” (vv. 8-9). Like other similar compositions in the Psalter (cf. Ps 92; 95-98), this hymn to the Lord, the king… Read More ›
Psalm 27(26): 1-6 – The Lord is my light and my help!
1. Today we continue on our journey through Vespers with Psalm 27[26], which the liturgy separates into two different passages. Let us now follow the first part of this poetical and spiritual diptych (vv. 1-6) whose background is the Temple of Zion, Israel’s place of worship. Indeed, the Psalmist speaks explicitly of the “house of the Lord”,… Read More ›