Showing posts with label Ambrose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ambrose. Show all posts

Friday, August 15, 2014

Psalm 121 - verses 1-3

c6th mosaic, Jordan


1
V
Lætátus sum in his, quæ dicta sunt mihi: *  in domum Dómini íbimus.
NV
Laetatus sum in eo, quod dixerunt mihi:“ In domum Domini ibimus ”.
JH
Laetatus sum eo quod dixerint mihi,  In domum Domini ibimus. 
Septuagint
δ τν ναβαθμν εφράνθην π τος ερηκόσιν μοι ες οκον κυρίου πορευσόμεθα

Text notes:   The opening line suggests that the speaker is a pilgrim.  According to Ladouceur, the second phrase (in domum Domini ibimus) is a formulaic way of announcing a pilgrimage.

laetor, atus sum, ari, (laetus), to rejoice, be joyful, take delight in, be glad.
hic haec hocdemon pronoun – this
dico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to say, speak;  to sing; in the sense of to think, plan, desire; to command; to praise.
domus, us, /. a house, structure; a house, abode, dwelling place; Temple
eo, Ivi or li, itum, Ire, to go, in the widest sense of the word, to walk, proceed, etc.

DR
I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord
MD
I rejoiced when they said to me: Let us go into the house of the Lord!
Brenton
I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.
Cover
I was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the house of the Lord.
Knox
Welcome sound, when I heard them saying, We will go into the Lord’s house! 
Grail
I rejoiced when I heard them say: "Let us go to God's house."

The Fathers see this verse as expressing the joy we should have when invited 'to go in' both to worship God now, and to be with him forever.  Pope Benedict summarised these sentiments as follows:

"Beneath the vaults of this historic Cathedral, which witnesses to the ceaseless dialogue that God wishes to establish with all men and women...Providentially, the words of the Psalmist describe the emotion filling our souls with an exactness we could hardly have dared to imagine: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” (Ps 121,1). Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: the Psalmist’s joy, brimming over in the very words of the Psalm, penetrates our hearts and resonates deeply within them. 

We truly rejoice to enter the house of the Lord, since, as the Fathers of the Church have taught us, this house is nothing other than a concrete symbol of Jerusalem on high, which comes down to us (cf. Rev Ap 21,2) to offer us the most beautiful of dwelling-places. “If we dwell therein”, writes Saint Hilary of Poitiers, “we are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, for it is the house of God” (Tract. in Ps 121,2). And Saint Augustine adds: “This is a psalm of longing for the heavenly Jerusalem … It is a Song of Steps, not for going down but for going up … On our pilgrimage we sigh, in our homeland we will rejoice; but during this exile, we meet companions who have already seen the holy city and urge us to run towards it” (En. in Ps 121,2)...

Alas, St John Chrysostom notes in words only too true of our times as much as his, that while people flock to popular entertainments, there is rather less enthusiasm when it comes to the Mass:

"But these days many people even have difficulty with the spoken word. If you invite them to attend the races or lawless spectacles, they will come running in vast numbers, whereas if it is to the house of prayer, few there are who do not hang back..."

2
V
Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in átriis tuis, Jerúsalem.
NV
Stantes iam sunt pedes nostril in portis tuis, Ierusalem.
JH
Stantes erant pedes nostri in portis tuis, Hierusalem ; 
Septuagint
σττες σαν ο πόδες μν ν τας αλας σου Ιερουσαλημ

Text notes: The verb tense in the Hebrew (our feet were standing/our feet are standing; ie we were standing) is ambiguous, hence the different choices made here, with the Vulgate using imperfect past and the neo-Vulgate present tense; both in fact legitimate.  The Vulgate portrays the pilgrims as standing in the ‘courts’ or courtyard (atrium) outside the Temple; the neo-Vulgate puts them further back, just inside the gates, in line with the Masoretic Text.  Ladouceur suggests that the Septuagint choice may have been influenced by an Aramaic word which is open to both interpretations.  Certainly the word atrium was influential in the Christian tradition, becoming used for the area before a church.  It can also have spiritual interpretation, suggesting closeness to or union with God.

Sto, steti, statum, are,  to stand, stand up, remain standing. Continue
pes, pedis, m.  the foot
atrium, li, n., a court,

DR
Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem
MD
Already our feet are standing at thy gates O Jerusalem.
Brenton
Our feet stood in thy courts, O Jerusalem.
Cover
Our feet shall stand in thy gates, O Jerusalem.
Knox
Within thy gates, Jerusalem, our feet stand at last;
Grail
And now our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Cassiodorus suggests that this verse should not be interpreted overly literally, as it foreshadows the future only:

"Since the prophet had said that he was promised that eternal home, he now foreshadows the future, and says that he is standing in the house which he desired to attain with the utmost longing. This is to enable us to realise that holy men known to abide in the Lord's precepts are already in mind lodging in the Jerusalem to come. He is rightly said to be standing in them, because no-one falls there. Finally, observe his words: Our feet -were standing; they were standing in the place where they are always implanted with firm purpose. This stance does not waver, is not exhausted by any toil, but perseveres in its strength and is wearied by no fatigue."

St Ambrose provides a slightly different take on the problem of how literally to interpret the verse, telling us that it speaks of the soul, not the body:


"These are the feet that David washes in spirit when he teaches you how to keep them unsoiled, saying, "Our feet have been standing in your courts, O Jerusalem." Certainly, here "feet" is to be understood not as of the body but as of the soul. For how could a person on earth have his physical feet in heaven? Since Jerusalem, as Paul tells you, is in heaven, he also shows you how to stand in heaven when he says, "But our abode is in heaven": the "abode" of your behav­ior, the "abode" of your deeds, the "abode" of your faith. On virginity 9-59.3

3
V
Jerúsalem, quæ ædificátur ut cívitas: * cujus participátio ejus in idípsum.
NV
Ierusalem, quae aedificata est ut civitas, sibi compacta in idipsum.
JH
Hierusalem, quae aedificaris ut ciuitas cuius participatio eius simul; 
Sept.
Ιερουσαλημ οκοδομουμένη ς πόλις ς  μετοχ ατς π τ ατό

Text notes:  This is a difficult verse to translate, as can be seen in the wide variety of interpretations in the various English versions of it below.  

Quae aedificatur here means ‘you that are built’. Almost all of the translations give it as ‘as’ – ie Jerusalem which is built as a city.  Ladouceur suggests, however, that the phrase should be interpreted as, ‘Jerusalem is a truly city/is a real city’.  Participatio is something of an oddity: its usual meaning is, a sharing, participation, or partaking.  Hence, the phrase as a whole is literally, ‘of which (cujus) the compactness/being compact/sharing (participatio) [is] in itself (ejus in idipsum)’.  In this context it probably refers to the houses being built tightly together in a row, and structured to be defensible like a fortress.  But it might be interpreted metaphorically as well, as St Augustine’s commentary proposes, and the Coverdale translation most strongly suggests, of a city whose citizens are united spiritually.

aedifico, avi, atum, are to build
civitas, atis, . a city, state, commonwealth.
participatio, onis, a being compact.

DR
Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
Brenton
Jerusalem is built as a city whose fellowship is complete.
Cover
Jerusalem is built as a city that is at unity in itself.
NETS
Ierousalem – being built as a city that is shared in common
Knox
Jerusalem, built as a city should be built that is one in fellowship.
Grail
Jerusalem is built as a city strongly compact.

St Augustine cites the numerous texts of the New Testament that deal with the formation of the spiritual  city in order to explain this verse.  Here is an extract from his exposition:

"Brethren, when David was uttering these words, that city had been finished, it was not being built. It is some city he speaks of, therefore, which is now being built, unto which living stones run in faith, of whom Peter says, You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house; 1 Peter 2:5 that is, the holy temple of God. What means, you are built up as lively stones? You live, if you believe, but if you believe, you are made a temple of God; for the Apostle Paul says, The temple of God is holy, which temple are you. 1 Corinthians 3:17 This city is therefore now in building; stones are cut down from the hills by the hands of those who preach truth, they are squared that they may enter into an everlasting structure...This, then, is the Jerusalem that is being built as a city: Christ is its foundation."


Psalm 121: Laetatus sum
Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.

 Lætátus sum in his, quæ dicta sunt mihi: *  In domum Dómini íbimus.
I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord.
Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in átriis tuis, Jerúsalem.
2 Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem.
Jerúsalem, quæ ædificátur ut cívitas: * cujus participátio ejus in idípsum.
Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
4  Illuc enim ascendérunt tribus, tribus Dómini: * testimónium Israël ad confiténdum nómini Dómini.
4 For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
5  Quia illic sedérunt sedes in judício, * sedes super domum David.
5 Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.
6  Rogáte quæ ad pacem sunt Jerúsalem: * et abundántia diligéntibus te:
6 Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love you. 
7  Fiat pax in virtúte tua: * et abundántia in túrribus tuis.
7 Let peace be in your strength: and abundance in your towers
8  Propter fratres meos, et próximos meos, * loquébar pacem de te:
8 For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of you.
9  Propter domum Dómini, Dei nostri, * quæsívi bona tibi.
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you.


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Christmas Canticle 3: Isaiah 66:10-16

The Nursing Madonna by unknown master from Bruges, 16th century.
Museu de Aveiro, Portugal.
Over the last few Sundays I've taken a brief look at the Office canticles - the psalms not contained in the book of psalms - used at Sunday Matins in the Benedictine Office for the broader Christmas season, which ends tomorrow.  Accordingly, today the third and final of these Office canticles for Christmas and Epiphanytide, which comes from the final chapter of the prophet Isaiah.

Christmas Canticle 3: Isaiah 66: 10-16
Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
1 Lætamini cum Jerusalem et exsultate in ea, omnes qui diligitis eam;
Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her
2 gaudete cum ea gaudio, universi qui lugetis super eam:  ut sugatis et repleamini ab ubere consolationis ejus;
rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her. That you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations
3 ut mulgeatis et deliciis affluatis ab omnimoda gloria ejus. 
that you may milk out, and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory. 
4 Quia hæc dicit Dominus: Ecce ego declinabo super eam quasi fluvium pacis,
et quasi torrentem inundantem gloriam gentium,
For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles,
5 quam sugetis: ad ubera portabimini, et super genua blandientur vobis.
which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. 
6 Quomodo si cui mater blandiatur, ita ego consolabor vos, et in Jerusalem consolabimini. 
As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem
7 Videbitis, et gaudebit cor vestrum, et ossa vestra quasi herba germinabunt:
You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb,
8 et cognoscetur manus Domini servis ejus, et indignabitur inimicis suis. 
and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies. 

9 Quia ecce Dominus in igne veniet, et quasi turbo quadrigæ ejus reddere in indignatione furorem suum et increpationem suam in flamma ignis: 
For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
10 quia in igne Dominus dijudicabit, et in gladio suo ad omnem carnem; et multiplicabuntur interfecti a Domino,
For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by his sword unto all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 


The verses of Isaiah immediately before this canticle have long been interpreted as presenting Our Lady as the new Eve, and the opening verses of the canticle can obviously be seen as an allusion to her role as the Mother of God also.

These verses make it clear though, that the image of Mary breastfeeding the child Jesus is also an example of typology, teaching us about God's loving care for us.  The canticle opens with an invitation to feast, taking comfort from the food of the spirit, using the image of a mother sucking her child that can be interpreted as an image of God himself acting as our parent.  The Douay-Rheims translation is perhaps a little over literal here, so here is the Knox version of the opening verses to aid understanding:

"Lovers of Jerusalem, rejoice with her, be glad for her sake; make holiday with her, you that mourned for her till now. So shall you be her foster-children, suckled plentifully with her consolations, drinking in, to your hearts’ content, the abundant glory that is hers. Thus says the Lord, Peace shall flow through her like a river, the wealth of the nations shall pour into her like a torrent in flood; this shall be the milk you drain, like children carried at the breast, fondled on a mother’s lap. I will console you then, like a mother caressing her son, and all your consolation shall be in Jerusalem; your eyes feasted with it, your hearts content, vigorous as the fresh grass your whole frame..."

The river of peace of the fourth verse (as the canticle is arranged for liturgical use) is interpreted by St Ambrose to be the Holy Ghost, 'that flowed from within Jesus', echoing the imagery of Psalm 1.  And the flourishing bones of verse 7 are interpreted by St Augustine to be a reference to the resurrection of the body.

Indeed, the whole canticle (and chapter of Isaiah from which it comes) abounds with eschatological imagery, not least in the warning of the Second Coming and final judgment contained in the concluding verses (8-10).

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Psalm 118 (119) qof (v145-152): Keeping vigil

Pope John Paul II gave two General Audiences on this stanza of Psalm 118 in his series on the psalms of the Liturgy of the Hours (it is used at Lauds on Saturday of Week I), so today some extracts from his catechesis. But first the text of the stanza.

The text of the stanza

The Knox translation:

145 Thy audience, Lord, my whole heart claims, a heart true to thy trust.
146 To thee I cry, O grant deliverance; I will do all thy bidding.
147 Twilight comes, and I awake to plead with thee, hoping ever in thy promises.
148 Through the night my eyes keep watch, to ponder thy sayings.
149 Thine, Lord, to listen in thy mercy, and grant life according to thy will.
150 Treacherous foes draw near, that are strangers to thy covenant.
151 Thou, Lord, art close at hand; all thy awards are true.
152 Taught long since by thy decrees, I know well thou hast ordained them everlastingly.

Vulgate
Douay-Rheims
145  Clamávi in toto corde meo, exáudi me, Dómine: * justificatiónes tuas requíram.
I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek your justifications
146  Clamávi ad te, salvum me fac: * ut custódiam mandáta tua.
I cried unto you, save me: that I may keep your commandments.
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
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.
149  Vocem meam audi secúndum misericórdiam tuam, Dómine: * et secúndum judícium tuum vivífica me.
Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your mercy: and quicken me according to your judgment.
150  Appropinquavérunt persequéntes me iniquitáti: * a lege autem tua longe facti sunt.
They that persecute me have drawn near to iniquity; but they have gone far off from your law.
151  Prope es tu, Dómine: * et omnes viæ tuæ véritas.
You are near, O Lord: and all your ways are truth.
152  Inítio cognóvi de testimóniis tuis: * quia in ætérnum fundásti ea.
I have known from the beginning concerning your testimonies: that you have founded them for ever.


Pope Hohn Paul II

The first of his talks (Wednesday 14 November 2001) focuses on the ideal of keeping vigil that the psalm alludes to:
“In fact the scene at the centre of this set of 8 verses is nocturnal, but open to the new day. After a long night of waiting and of prayerful vigil in the Temple, when the dawn appears on the horizon and the liturgy begins, the believer is certain that the Lord will hear the one who spent the night in prayer, hoping and meditating on the divine Word. Fortified by this awareness and facing the day that unfolds before him, he will no longer fear dangers. He knows that he will not be overcome by his persecutors who besiege him with treachery (cf. v. 150) because the Lord is with him. The strophe expresses an intense prayer: "I call with all my heart, Lord; answer me.... I rise before the dawn and cry for help; I hope in your word ..." (vv.145.147). In the Book of Lamentations, we read this invitation: "Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands toward him" (Lam 2,19). St Ambrose repeated: "O man, know you not that every day you should offer God the first fruits of your heart and voice? Make haste at dawn to carry to the Church the first fruits of your devotion" (Exp. in ps. CXVIII; PL 15, 1476 A). At the same time our strophe is also the exaltation of a certainty: we are not alone because God listens and intervenes. The one who prays, says: "Lord, you are near" (v. 151). The other psalms confirm it: "Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies!" (Ps 68,19); "The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, and saves the crushed in spirit" (Ps 33,19)”
The second (January 2003) starts by looking at the stanza as an example of prayer as a dialogue:
“The stanza we have just heard is a strophe marked by the Hebrew letter qôf, that portrays the person at prayer who expresses his intense life of faith and prayer to God (cf. vv. 145-152).The invocation of the Lord is relentless because it is a continuing response to the permanent teaching of the Word of God. On the one hand, in fact, the verbs used in prayer are multiplied: "I cry to you", "I call upon you", "I cry for help", "hear my voice". On the other hand, the Psalmist exalts the word of the Lord that proposes decrees, teachings, the word, promises, judgment, the law, the precepts and testimonies of God. Together they form a constellation that is like the polar star of the Psalmist's faith and confidence. Prayer is revealed as a dialogue that begins when it is night before the first gleam of dawn (cf. v. 147), and continues through the day, particularly in the difficult trials of life. In fact, at times the horizon is dark and stormy: "In betrayal my persecutors turn on me, they are far from your law" (v. 150). But the person praying has a steadfast certainty: the closeness of God, with his word and his grace: "But you, O Lord, are close" (v. 151). God does not abandon the just in the hands of persecutors.”

Verse by verse

145 Clamávi in toto corde meo, exáudi me, Dómine: justificatiónes tuas requíram.
I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek/search out your justifications

Clamávi in toto corde meo, exáudi me, Dómine = I have cried out with my whole heart, hear me O Lord

Bellarmine comments that for our prayers to be effective, they must be heartfelt: “For, as we cannot hear one speaking in a subdued tone, and are sure to hear them when they shout, thus God seems to take no notice, as if he did not hear it at all, of a cold, distracted prayer, but is all attention to an ardent, earnest one, as if he could not avoid hearing it”

justificatiónes tuas requíram = your justifications I will seek out

Cassiodorus comments on the object of their intense prayer: “Observe too what they sought with their whole heart and strength; not worldly riches, not marriage with noble women, not momentary distinctions, but the Lord's justifications which the holy mind always desires and seeks above gold and the topaz.”

requiro, quisivi, quisitum, ere 3 seek, seek after, to care for, have regard for, take an interest in; to search out, observe

146 Clamávi ad te, salvum me fac: ut custódiam mandáta tua.
I cried unto you, save me: that I may keep your commandments

Clamávi ad te, salvum me fac = I have cried to you, save me

This is a plea for grace – we are saved by keeping the commandments which we need God’s help in order to do.

ut custódiam mandáta tua = that I may keep your commandments

146 Clamávi ad te, salvum me fac: ut custódiam mandáta tua.
I cried unto you, save me: that I may keep your commandments

Clamávi ad te, salvum me fac = I have cried to you, save me

This is a plea for grace – we are saved by keeping the commandments which we need God’s help in order to do. The neo-Vulgate changes mandata to testimonia, presumably to reflect the Septuagint Greek μαρτύριά which is usually translated in this psalm as testimonies.

ut custódiam mandáta tua = that I may keep your commandments

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

Prævéni in maturitáte, et clamávi = I have come before/anticipated/prevented dawn/maturity and I have called = I rose early

This verse is not easy to translate.

First, praeveni literally means prevent, but in the context, ‘anticipates’ might better convey what it is trying to convey, thus Augustine comments:

“If we refer this to each of the faithful, and to the literal character of the act; it oft happens that the love of God is awake in that hour of the night, and, the love of prayer strongly urging us, the time of prayer, which is wont to be after the crowing of the cock, is not awaited, but prevented. But if we understand night of the whole of this world's duration; we indeed cry unto God at midnight, and prevent the fullness of time in which He will restore us what He has promised, as is elsewhere read, Let us prevent His presence with confession.”

Secondly, there is some debate about just what time of night or morning is being referred to in this verse - St Jerome’s translation from the Hebrew makes this I rose in the darkness (tenebrae), and perhaps links it implicitly to verse 62 on rising at midnight.  Maturitas in the Vulgate literally means ripeness or maturity, the full or proper time for something, so 'I have prevented maturity'.  But the Hebrew and Greek seems more to be trying to convey the idea of rising before dawn in order to greet it in prayer (hence maturitas in the Vulgate is interpreted as meaning dawn; changed to diluculum in the neo-Vulgate to make this clearer).  The New English Translation of the Septuagint, for example, gives it as 'I got a head-start at an unseemly hour'. St Ambrose comments: "O man, know you not that every day you should offer God the first fruits of your heart and voice? Make haste at dawn to carry to the Church the first fruits of your devotion" (Exp. in ps. CXVIII; PL 15, 1476 A).

praevenio, veni, ventum, ire, come or go before, precede, be beforehand, anticipate, prevent, forestall.
maturitas, atis, f maturity, ripeness; early morning, dawn.
diluculum, i, n. the dawn, daybreak, the early morning, morning twilight,.

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.

Prævenérunt óculi mei ad te dilúculo = My eyes have prevented to you the dawn = My eyes seek you before dawn/anticipate you at dawn

The neo-Vulgate substitutes vigilias or night watches for diluculum (dawn) here.

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

ut meditárer elóquia tua =in order to meditate on your words

149 Vocem meam audi secúndum misericórdiam tuam, Dómine: et secúndum judícium tuum vivífica me.
Hear my voice, O Lord, according to your mercy: and quicken me according to your judgment.

Vocem meam audi secúndum misericórdiam tuam, Dómine = Hear my voice according to your mercy O Lord

et secúndum judícium tuum vivífica me = and according to your justice revive me

St Augustine comments: For first God according to His loving-mercy takes away punishment from sinners, and will give them life afterwards…

150 Appropinquavérunt persequéntes me iniquitáti: * a lege autem tua longe facti sunt.
They that persecute me have drawn near to iniquity; but they have gone far off from your law.

Appropinquavérunt persequéntes me iniquitáti = Those who are persecuting me have drawn near to /approached iniquity

appropinquo, avi, atum, are , to draw near,approach
persequor, seciitus sum, sequi, to pursue, follow perseveringly, follow after, persecute.
iniquitas, atis, f iniquity, injustice, sin.

a lege autem tua longe facti sunt = but from your law they have been made/have gone far off = but they are far removed from your law

longe, adv. far off, at a distance; as a substantive with a and de, afar off, from afar.
151 Prope es tu, Dómine: * et omnes viæ tuæ véritas.
You are near, O Lord: and all your ways are truth.

Prope es tu, Dómine = You are near O Lord

Ie in the midst of our persecution by evil-doers as mentioned in the previous verse.

prope, near, nigh.

et omnes viæ tuæ véritas = and all your ways are truth

151 Prope es tu, Dómine: * et omnes viæ tuæ véritas.
You are near, O Lord: and all your ways are truth.

Prope es tu, Dómine = You are near O Lord

Ie in the midst of our persecution by evil-doers as mentioned in the previous verse.

prope, near, nigh.

et omnes viæ tuæ véritas = and all your ways are truth

The neo-Vulgate changes viae to praececepta which reflects the Greek ἐντολαί used here.

152 Inítio cognóvi de testimóniis tuis: quia in ætérnum fundásti ea.
I have known from the beginning concerning your testimonies: that you have founded them for ever.

Inítio cognóvi de testimóniis tuis = I have known from the beginning/from of old about your testimonies

The Fathers see this as a reference back to the promises made to the Fathers, and events which foreshadow the coming of Our Lord.

initium, ii n beginning, commencement.
cognosco, gnovi, gnitum, ere 3, to know, see, learn, perceive, be come acquainted with.

quia in ætérnum fundásti ea = that you have established them forever

ie eternal truths are being referred to here

fundo, avi, atum, are to lay the foundation of, to found, establish

Liturgical and Scriptural uses of the psalm

NT references
-
RB cursus
Monday Sext (3);
Monastic feasts etc
-
Roman pre 1911
Daily None
Responsories
6293
Roman post 1911
1911-62: Sunday None (X);
1970 Sat1 Lauds:
Mass propers (EF)
-





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