Latin Psalters
Encyclopedia
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. These translations are typically placed in a separate volume or section of the Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
called the Psalter, in which the psalms are arranged to be prayed at the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
of the day. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
s were often lavish illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s, and in the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
period were the type of book most often chosen to be richly illuminated by the clergy.
Versions
The Latin Church has a diverse selection of more-or-less different translations of the psalms. Three of these translations, the Romana, Gallicana, and juxta Hebraicum, are traditionally ascribed to JeromeJerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
, the author of the Latin Vulgate. Two of these translations, the Pian and New Vulgate versions, were made in the twentieth century.
Many of these translations are actually quite similar to each other, especially in style: the Roman, Gallican, Ambrosian, and Mozarabic psalters have relatively few differences between them. The concord among these similar psalters is attributable to a common original translation from the Greek Septuagint. The New Vulgate psalter, though stylistically similar to these, diverges rather more from these traditional psalters insofar as it more closely follows the Hebrew Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Two of these psalters stand apart as independent translations from the Hebrew: Jerome's juxta Hebraicum and the Pian version.
Versio Vetus Latina
Also called the Psalterium Vetus, the psalter of the Old Latin BibleVetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
was used in the earliest days of the Latin liturgy in Rome, under Pope Damasus I
Pope Damasus I
Pope Saint Damasus I was the bishop of Rome from 366 to 384.He was born around 305, probably near the city of Idanha-a-Velha , in what is present-day Portugal, then part of the Western Roman Empire...
. A translation from the Septuagint, it provided the basis for Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's first revision of the psalter.
Versio Ambrosiana
This is the version used in the Ambrosian riteAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
. It was made in the middle of the fourth century from the Septuagint.
Versio Romana
The Roman Psalter, called also the Versio Romana or Psalterium Romanum, traditionally has been considered to be the same as Jerome's first revision of the psalms completed in 384, which was made from the Versio Vetus Latina, and corrected to bring it more in line with the Greek psalms. It is similar to the version used in the AmbrosianAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
and Mozarabic
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
rites. The Roman version is used in the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
, but in the Divine Office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
, however, it was soon replaced throughout most of the west
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
by Jerome's so-called "Gallican" version. It lived on in Britain where it continued to be used until the Norman Conquest in 1066 and in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and in St. Mark's Cathedral
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. It survives to this day in the Divine Office as the solemn chanted text of the Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
psalm, Psalm 94, where it is the sole survivor in a liturgy where the Gallican, Pian, or New Vulgate translation is otherwise used.
Versio Gallicana
The Versio Gallicana or Psalterium Gallicanum has traditionally been considered Jerome's second revision, which he made from the Greek of the HexaplaHexapla
Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...
ca. 386-391. This became the psalter of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
bible, and the basis for Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. It became the standard psalter used in the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
throughout the West
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
from the time of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
until it was replaced in the 2nd edition of the Liturgy of the Hours by the Versio Nova Vulgata in 1986. It is still used today in some monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and churches and by traditionalist Catholics.
This most influential psalter has a distinctive style which is attributable to its origins as a translation of the Septuagint. Following the Septuagint, it eschews anthropomorphisms. For instance, the term rock is applied to God
Jehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
numerous times in the Hebrew Psalter, but the Latin term petra does not occur as an epithet for God in the gallicana. Instead more abstract words like refugium, "refuge"; locus munitus, "place of strength"; or adiutor, "helper" are used.
This psalter retains many Hebraism
Hebraism
Hebraism is the identification of a usage, trait, or characteristic of the Hebrew language. By successive extension it is sometimes applied to the Jewish people, their faith, national ideology, or culture.- Idiomatic Hebrew :...
s by way of the Greek, the most noticeable being the redundant demonstrative. The relative pronoun is indeclinable in Hebrew, and so is accompanied by a redundant demonstrative. This use is reproduced in the Latin, although Latin has no need for it. For instance, Ps 18:4(19:3), quorum non audiantur voces eorum, which means, "whose voices, their voices, be not heard". Also Ps 32(33):12, Beata gens cujus est Dominus Deus ejus, "blessed is the nation whose God, its God, is the Lord". Ps 121(122):3, civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum, "a city whose share, its share, is compact".
Another Hebraism is the use of the conditional "if" to mean the negative "not". Examples include Ps 88:36(89:34), si David mentiar, "if I lie to David", which means, "I will not lie to David". Ps 94(95):11, Si introibunt in requiem meam, "if they shall enter into my rest", which means, "they shall not enter into my rest. Ps 131(132):3, Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meae, "If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house", which means, "I shall not enter into the tabernacle of my house". Ps 130(131) has a double negative, Si non humiliter sentiebam sed exaltavi animam meam, "If I was not humbly minded but exalted my soul", which is equivalent to "I was humbly minded and did not exalt my soul".
Hebrew has only two grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
s, masculine and feminine, while Latin has three, including neuter. Hebrew's lack of a neuter gender sometimes shows up in very idiosyncratic phrasing in the Gallican Psalter, for instance Ps. 26(27):4, unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after", where "thing" is rendered feminine in the verse. A native speaker of Latin would have used a neuter instead: Unum petii a Domino, hoc requiram.
Classical Latin occasionally employs a dangling nominative for rhetorical flourish, but this construction is especially common in the Gallicana. Ps. 17(18):31 has, Deus meus, impolluta via ejus, "my God, his way is undefiled" to mean, "the way of my God is undefiled". Likewise Ps. 125(126):1 has, In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati for "The Lord, in bringing back the captivity of Zion, we became like men comforted", instead of, Cum converteret Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati, meaning, "When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, we became like men comforted".
Versio juxta Hebraicum
This version was the last made by Jerome. It is often informally called the "Hebrew Psalter" despite being written in Latin. Rather than just revise the Gallicana, he translated these psalms anew from the HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, using pre-Masoretic
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
manuscripts ca. 392. This psalter is found in a few of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. It was found in Spanish manuscripts of the Vulgate long after the Gallicanum supplanted it elsewhere. It is not clear that it was ever used in the liturgy.
Versio Piana
Under Pius XII in 1945, a new translation of the psalms, the Versio Piana, Psalterium Vaticanum or simply Novum Psalterium, was published by the Pontifical Biblical InstitutePontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy is an institution of the Holy See run by the Jesuits that offers instruction at the university level...
. One of its merits was that it was made from a reconstructed Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
text based largely on the Masoretic
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Its Latin adopted a classical
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
rather than a biblical
Ecclesiastical Latin
Ecclesiastical Latin is the Latin used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes...
style. This version is sometimes called the Bea psalter after its author, Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea, SJ was a German scholar at the Gregorian University specializing in biblical studies and biblical archeology. He was confessor of Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII made him cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first President of the Secretariat for Promoting...
. Its use in the liturgy was widely encouraged but not required. It was adopted by some religious orders (e.g. Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
and Franciscans) for use in their liturgy, but its use was resisted in some quarters. It can be found in most breviaries printed between 1945 and 1971. Most Roman Catholics born in the 1930s grew up with the Versio Piana and it was the preferred version in many places.
Versio Nova Vulgata
In 1969, a new psalter was published which translated the Masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
while keeping much of the poetry and style of the Gallican psalter. It has proved to be a popular alternative to Jerome's Gallicana. While it is based on the Gallican, it shows the influence of other versions, e.g., in Psalm 95
Psalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
it follows the Piana in translating מְרִיבָה and מסה as the proper names Meriba
Meribah
Meribah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
and Massa
Massah
Massah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
rather than as common nouns meaning exasperation and temptation; likewise מצער is transliterated as the proper name Misar rather than as a common adjective meaning "small" in Psalm 42
Psalm 42
Psalm 42 op. 42 "Wie der Hirsch schreit" is a composition by Felix Mendelssohn composed in 1837/38 for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra....
. The 1969 psalter deviates from the previous versions in that it follows the Masoretic numbering of the psalms, rather than the Septuagint enumeration. It is the psalter used in the edition of the Roman Office published in 1986.
Comparison
Below is a comparison of Jerome's three versions of the psalm Venite exsultemusPsalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
with the older Ambrosian version as well as the two twentieth century versions, which illustrates some of the distinctions noted above:
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. These translations are typically placed in a separate volume or section of the Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
called the Psalter, in which the psalms are arranged to be prayed at the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
of the day. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
s were often lavish illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s, and in the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
period were the type of book most often chosen to be richly illuminated by the clergy.
Versions
The Latin Church has a diverse selection of more-or-less different translations of the psalms. Three of these translations, the Romana, Gallicana, and juxta Hebraicum, are traditionally ascribed to JeromeJerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
, the author of the Latin Vulgate. Two of these translations, the Pian and New Vulgate versions, were made in the twentieth century.
Many of these translations are actually quite similar to each other, especially in style: the Roman, Gallican, Ambrosian, and Mozarabic psalters have relatively few differences between them. The concord among these similar psalters is attributable to a common original translation from the Greek Septuagint. The New Vulgate psalter, though stylistically similar to these, diverges rather more from these traditional psalters insofar as it more closely follows the Hebrew Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Two of these psalters stand apart as independent translations from the Hebrew: Jerome's juxta Hebraicum and the Pian version.
Versio Vetus Latina
Also called the Psalterium Vetus, the psalter of the Old Latin BibleVetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
was used in the earliest days of the Latin liturgy in Rome, under Pope Damasus I
Pope Damasus I
Pope Saint Damasus I was the bishop of Rome from 366 to 384.He was born around 305, probably near the city of Idanha-a-Velha , in what is present-day Portugal, then part of the Western Roman Empire...
. A translation from the Septuagint, it provided the basis for Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's first revision of the psalter.
Versio Ambrosiana
This is the version used in the Ambrosian riteAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
. It was made in the middle of the fourth century from the Septuagint.
Versio Romana
The Roman Psalter, called also the Versio Romana or Psalterium Romanum, traditionally has been considered to be the same as Jerome's first revision of the psalms completed in 384, which was made from the Versio Vetus Latina, and corrected to bring it more in line with the Greek psalms. It is similar to the version used in the AmbrosianAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
and Mozarabic
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
rites. The Roman version is used in the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
, but in the Divine Office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
, however, it was soon replaced throughout most of the west
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
by Jerome's so-called "Gallican" version. It lived on in Britain where it continued to be used until the Norman Conquest in 1066 and in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and in St. Mark's Cathedral
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. It survives to this day in the Divine Office as the solemn chanted text of the Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
psalm, Psalm 94, where it is the sole survivor in a liturgy where the Gallican, Pian, or New Vulgate translation is otherwise used.
Versio Gallicana
The Versio Gallicana or Psalterium Gallicanum has traditionally been considered Jerome's second revision, which he made from the Greek of the HexaplaHexapla
Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...
ca. 386-391. This became the psalter of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
bible, and the basis for Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. It became the standard psalter used in the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
throughout the West
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
from the time of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
until it was replaced in the 2nd edition of the Liturgy of the Hours by the Versio Nova Vulgata in 1986. It is still used today in some monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and churches and by traditionalist Catholics.
This most influential psalter has a distinctive style which is attributable to its origins as a translation of the Septuagint. Following the Septuagint, it eschews anthropomorphisms. For instance, the term rock is applied to God
Jehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
numerous times in the Hebrew Psalter, but the Latin term petra does not occur as an epithet for God in the gallicana. Instead more abstract words like refugium, "refuge"; locus munitus, "place of strength"; or adiutor, "helper" are used.
This psalter retains many Hebraism
Hebraism
Hebraism is the identification of a usage, trait, or characteristic of the Hebrew language. By successive extension it is sometimes applied to the Jewish people, their faith, national ideology, or culture.- Idiomatic Hebrew :...
s by way of the Greek, the most noticeable being the redundant demonstrative. The relative pronoun is indeclinable in Hebrew, and so is accompanied by a redundant demonstrative. This use is reproduced in the Latin, although Latin has no need for it. For instance, Ps 18:4(19:3), quorum non audiantur voces eorum, which means, "whose voices, their voices, be not heard". Also Ps 32(33):12, Beata gens cujus est Dominus Deus ejus, "blessed is the nation whose God, its God, is the Lord". Ps 121(122):3, civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum, "a city whose share, its share, is compact".
Another Hebraism is the use of the conditional "if" to mean the negative "not". Examples include Ps 88:36(89:34), si David mentiar, "if I lie to David", which means, "I will not lie to David". Ps 94(95):11, Si introibunt in requiem meam, "if they shall enter into my rest", which means, "they shall not enter into my rest. Ps 131(132):3, Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meae, "If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house", which means, "I shall not enter into the tabernacle of my house". Ps 130(131) has a double negative, Si non humiliter sentiebam sed exaltavi animam meam, "If I was not humbly minded but exalted my soul", which is equivalent to "I was humbly minded and did not exalt my soul".
Hebrew has only two grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
s, masculine and feminine, while Latin has three, including neuter. Hebrew's lack of a neuter gender sometimes shows up in very idiosyncratic phrasing in the Gallican Psalter, for instance Ps. 26(27):4, unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after", where "thing" is rendered feminine in the verse. A native speaker of Latin would have used a neuter instead: Unum petii a Domino, hoc requiram.
Classical Latin occasionally employs a dangling nominative for rhetorical flourish, but this construction is especially common in the Gallicana. Ps. 17(18):31 has, Deus meus, impolluta via ejus, "my God, his way is undefiled" to mean, "the way of my God is undefiled". Likewise Ps. 125(126):1 has, In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati for "The Lord, in bringing back the captivity of Zion, we became like men comforted", instead of, Cum converteret Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati, meaning, "When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, we became like men comforted".
Versio juxta Hebraicum
This version was the last made by Jerome. It is often informally called the "Hebrew Psalter" despite being written in Latin. Rather than just revise the Gallicana, he translated these psalms anew from the HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, using pre-Masoretic
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
manuscripts ca. 392. This psalter is found in a few of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. It was found in Spanish manuscripts of the Vulgate long after the Gallicanum supplanted it elsewhere. It is not clear that it was ever used in the liturgy.
Versio Piana
Under Pius XII in 1945, a new translation of the psalms, the Versio Piana, Psalterium Vaticanum or simply Novum Psalterium, was published by the Pontifical Biblical InstitutePontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy is an institution of the Holy See run by the Jesuits that offers instruction at the university level...
. One of its merits was that it was made from a reconstructed Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
text based largely on the Masoretic
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Its Latin adopted a classical
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
rather than a biblical
Ecclesiastical Latin
Ecclesiastical Latin is the Latin used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes...
style. This version is sometimes called the Bea psalter after its author, Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea, SJ was a German scholar at the Gregorian University specializing in biblical studies and biblical archeology. He was confessor of Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII made him cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first President of the Secretariat for Promoting...
. Its use in the liturgy was widely encouraged but not required. It was adopted by some religious orders (e.g. Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
and Franciscans) for use in their liturgy, but its use was resisted in some quarters. It can be found in most breviaries printed between 1945 and 1971. Most Roman Catholics born in the 1930s grew up with the Versio Piana and it was the preferred version in many places.
Versio Nova Vulgata
In 1969, a new psalter was published which translated the Masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
while keeping much of the poetry and style of the Gallican psalter. It has proved to be a popular alternative to Jerome's Gallicana. While it is based on the Gallican, it shows the influence of other versions, e.g., in Psalm 95
Psalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
it follows the Piana in translating מְרִיבָה and מסה as the proper names Meriba
Meribah
Meribah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
and Massa
Massah
Massah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
rather than as common nouns meaning exasperation and temptation; likewise מצער is transliterated as the proper name Misar rather than as a common adjective meaning "small" in Psalm 42
Psalm 42
Psalm 42 op. 42 "Wie der Hirsch schreit" is a composition by Felix Mendelssohn composed in 1837/38 for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra....
. The 1969 psalter deviates from the previous versions in that it follows the Masoretic numbering of the psalms, rather than the Septuagint enumeration. It is the psalter used in the edition of the Roman Office published in 1986.
Comparison
Below is a comparison of Jerome's three versions of the psalm Venite exsultemusPsalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
with the older Ambrosian version as well as the two twentieth century versions, which illustrates some of the distinctions noted above:
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
into the Latin language. They are the premier liturgical
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...
resource used in the Liturgy of the Hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
of the Latin Rites of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. These translations are typically placed in a separate volume or section of the Breviary
Breviary
A breviary is a liturgical book of the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church containing the public or canonical prayers, hymns, the Psalms, readings, and notations for everyday use, especially by bishops, priests, and deacons in the Divine Office...
called the Psalter, in which the psalms are arranged to be prayed at the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
of the day. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, psalter
Psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
s were often lavish illuminated manuscript
Illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations...
s, and in the Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
period were the type of book most often chosen to be richly illuminated by the clergy.
Versions
The Latin Church has a diverse selection of more-or-less different translations of the psalms. Three of these translations, the Romana, Gallicana, and juxta Hebraicum, are traditionally ascribed to JeromeJerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
, the author of the Latin Vulgate. Two of these translations, the Pian and New Vulgate versions, were made in the twentieth century.
Many of these translations are actually quite similar to each other, especially in style: the Roman, Gallican, Ambrosian, and Mozarabic psalters have relatively few differences between them. The concord among these similar psalters is attributable to a common original translation from the Greek Septuagint. The New Vulgate psalter, though stylistically similar to these, diverges rather more from these traditional psalters insofar as it more closely follows the Hebrew Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Two of these psalters stand apart as independent translations from the Hebrew: Jerome's juxta Hebraicum and the Pian version.
Versio Vetus Latina
Also called the Psalterium Vetus, the psalter of the Old Latin BibleVetus Latina
Vetus Latina is a collective name given to the Biblical texts in Latin that were translated before St Jerome's Vulgate Bible became the standard Bible for Latin-speaking Western Christians. The phrase Vetus Latina is Latin for Old Latin, and the Vetus Latina is sometimes known as the Old Latin Bible...
was used in the earliest days of the Latin liturgy in Rome, under Pope Damasus I
Pope Damasus I
Pope Saint Damasus I was the bishop of Rome from 366 to 384.He was born around 305, probably near the city of Idanha-a-Velha , in what is present-day Portugal, then part of the Western Roman Empire...
. A translation from the Septuagint, it provided the basis for Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
's first revision of the psalter.
Versio Ambrosiana
This is the version used in the Ambrosian riteAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
. It was made in the middle of the fourth century from the Septuagint.
Versio Romana
The Roman Psalter, called also the Versio Romana or Psalterium Romanum, traditionally has been considered to be the same as Jerome's first revision of the psalms completed in 384, which was made from the Versio Vetus Latina, and corrected to bring it more in line with the Greek psalms. It is similar to the version used in the AmbrosianAmbrosian Rite
Ambrosian Rite, also called the Milanese Rite, is a Catholic liturgical Western Rite. The rite is named after Saint Ambrose, a bishop of Milan in the fourth century...
and Mozarabic
Mozarabic Rite
The Mozarabic, Visigothic, or Hispanic Rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in the Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church . Its beginning dates to the 7th century, and is localized in the Iberian Peninsula...
rites. The Roman version is used in the Roman Missal
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal is the liturgical book that contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church.-Situation before the Council of Trent:...
, but in the Divine Office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
, however, it was soon replaced throughout most of the west
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
by Jerome's so-called "Gallican" version. It lived on in Britain where it continued to be used until the Norman Conquest in 1066 and in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and in St. Mark's Cathedral
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Venice, northern Italy. It is the most famous of the city's churches and one of the best known examples of Byzantine architecture...
in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. It survives to this day in the Divine Office as the solemn chanted text of the Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
psalm, Psalm 94, where it is the sole survivor in a liturgy where the Gallican, Pian, or New Vulgate translation is otherwise used.
Versio Gallicana
The Versio Gallicana or Psalterium Gallicanum has traditionally been considered Jerome's second revision, which he made from the Greek of the HexaplaHexapla
Hexapla is the term for an edition of the Bible in six versions. Especially it applies to the edition of the Old Testament compiled by Origen of Alexandria, which placed side by side:#Hebrew...
ca. 386-391. This became the psalter of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
bible, and the basis for Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
. It became the standard psalter used in the canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
throughout the West
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
from the time of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
until it was replaced in the 2nd edition of the Liturgy of the Hours by the Versio Nova Vulgata in 1986. It is still used today in some monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
and churches and by traditionalist Catholics.
This most influential psalter has a distinctive style which is attributable to its origins as a translation of the Septuagint. Following the Septuagint, it eschews anthropomorphisms. For instance, the term rock is applied to God
Jehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
numerous times in the Hebrew Psalter, but the Latin term petra does not occur as an epithet for God in the gallicana. Instead more abstract words like refugium, "refuge"; locus munitus, "place of strength"; or adiutor, "helper" are used.
This psalter retains many Hebraism
Hebraism
Hebraism is the identification of a usage, trait, or characteristic of the Hebrew language. By successive extension it is sometimes applied to the Jewish people, their faith, national ideology, or culture.- Idiomatic Hebrew :...
s by way of the Greek, the most noticeable being the redundant demonstrative. The relative pronoun is indeclinable in Hebrew, and so is accompanied by a redundant demonstrative. This use is reproduced in the Latin, although Latin has no need for it. For instance, Ps 18:4(19:3), quorum non audiantur voces eorum, which means, "whose voices, their voices, be not heard". Also Ps 32(33):12, Beata gens cujus est Dominus Deus ejus, "blessed is the nation whose God, its God, is the Lord". Ps 121(122):3, civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum, "a city whose share, its share, is compact".
Another Hebraism is the use of the conditional "if" to mean the negative "not". Examples include Ps 88:36(89:34), si David mentiar, "if I lie to David", which means, "I will not lie to David". Ps 94(95):11, Si introibunt in requiem meam, "if they shall enter into my rest", which means, "they shall not enter into my rest. Ps 131(132):3, Si introiero in tabernaculum domus meae, "If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house", which means, "I shall not enter into the tabernacle of my house". Ps 130(131) has a double negative, Si non humiliter sentiebam sed exaltavi animam meam, "If I was not humbly minded but exalted my soul", which is equivalent to "I was humbly minded and did not exalt my soul".
Hebrew has only two grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
s, masculine and feminine, while Latin has three, including neuter. Hebrew's lack of a neuter gender sometimes shows up in very idiosyncratic phrasing in the Gallican Psalter, for instance Ps. 26(27):4, unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after", where "thing" is rendered feminine in the verse. A native speaker of Latin would have used a neuter instead: Unum petii a Domino, hoc requiram.
Classical Latin occasionally employs a dangling nominative for rhetorical flourish, but this construction is especially common in the Gallicana. Ps. 17(18):31 has, Deus meus, impolluta via ejus, "my God, his way is undefiled" to mean, "the way of my God is undefiled". Likewise Ps. 125(126):1 has, In convertendo Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati for "The Lord, in bringing back the captivity of Zion, we became like men comforted", instead of, Cum converteret Dominus captivitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati, meaning, "When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion
Zion
Zion is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE...
, we became like men comforted".
Versio juxta Hebraicum
This version was the last made by Jerome. It is often informally called the "Hebrew Psalter" despite being written in Latin. Rather than just revise the Gallicana, he translated these psalms anew from the HebrewHebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, using pre-Masoretic
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
manuscripts ca. 392. This psalter is found in a few of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. It was found in Spanish manuscripts of the Vulgate long after the Gallicanum supplanted it elsewhere. It is not clear that it was ever used in the liturgy.
Versio Piana
Under Pius XII in 1945, a new translation of the psalms, the Versio Piana, Psalterium Vaticanum or simply Novum Psalterium, was published by the Pontifical Biblical InstitutePontifical Biblical Institute
The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy is an institution of the Holy See run by the Jesuits that offers instruction at the university level...
. One of its merits was that it was made from a reconstructed Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
text based largely on the Masoretic
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
. Its Latin adopted a classical
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
rather than a biblical
Ecclesiastical Latin
Ecclesiastical Latin is the Latin used by the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in all periods for ecclesiastical purposes...
style. This version is sometimes called the Bea psalter after its author, Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea
Augustin Bea, SJ was a German scholar at the Gregorian University specializing in biblical studies and biblical archeology. He was confessor of Pope Pius XII. In 1959, Pope John XXIII made him cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the first President of the Secretariat for Promoting...
. Its use in the liturgy was widely encouraged but not required. It was adopted by some religious orders (e.g. Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
and Franciscans) for use in their liturgy, but its use was resisted in some quarters. It can be found in most breviaries printed between 1945 and 1971. Most Roman Catholics born in the 1930s grew up with the Versio Piana and it was the preferred version in many places.
Versio Nova Vulgata
In 1969, a new psalter was published which translated the Masoretic textMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
while keeping much of the poetry and style of the Gallican psalter. It has proved to be a popular alternative to Jerome's Gallicana. While it is based on the Gallican, it shows the influence of other versions, e.g., in Psalm 95
Psalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
it follows the Piana in translating מְרִיבָה and מסה as the proper names Meriba
Meribah
Meribah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
and Massa
Massah
Massah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
rather than as common nouns meaning exasperation and temptation; likewise מצער is transliterated as the proper name Misar rather than as a common adjective meaning "small" in Psalm 42
Psalm 42
Psalm 42 op. 42 "Wie der Hirsch schreit" is a composition by Felix Mendelssohn composed in 1837/38 for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra....
. The 1969 psalter deviates from the previous versions in that it follows the Masoretic numbering of the psalms, rather than the Septuagint enumeration. It is the psalter used in the edition of the Roman Office published in 1986.
Comparison
Below is a comparison of Jerome's three versions of the psalm Venite exsultemusPsalm 95
Psalm 95 is part of the biblical Book of Psalms. One of the Royal Psalms, Psalm 93-99, praising God as the King of His people.-Judaism:*Is the opening paragraph of Kabbalat Shabbat.*Is recited on Shabbat Hagadol....
with the older Ambrosian version as well as the two twentieth century versions, which illustrates some of the distinctions noted above:
| Versio Ambrosiana | Versio Romana | Versio Gallicana | Versio juxta Hebraicum | Versio Piana | Versio Nova Vulgata |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psalmus 94 | Psalmus 94 | Psalmus 94 | Psalmus 94 | Psalmus 94 | Psalmus 95 |
| Venite, exultemus Domino: jubilemus Deo salutari nostro. Præveniamus faciem ejus in confessione: et in psalmis jubilemus illi. Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus: et Rex magnus super omnes deos. | Venite, exsultemus Domino; iubilemus Deo salutari nostro. Præoccupemus faciem eius in confessione, et in psalmis iubilemus ei. Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnes deos. | Venite, exsultemus Domino; jubilemus Deo salutari nostro; præoccupemus faciem ejus in confessione, et in psalmis jubilemus ei: quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnes deos. | venite laudemus Dominum iubilemus petrae Iesu nostro praeoccupemus vultum eius in actione gratiarum in canticis iubilemus ei quoniam fortis et magnus Dominus et rex magnus super omnes deos | Venite, exsultemus Domino, Acclamemus Petrae salutis nostrae: Accedamus in conspectum eius cum laudibus, Cum canticis exsultemus ei. Nam Deus magnus est Dominus, Et Rex magnus super omnes deos. | Venite, exsultemus Domino; iubilemus Deo salutari nostro. Praeoccupemus faciem eius in confessione et in psalmis iubilemus ei. Quoniam Deus magnus Dominus, et rex magnus super omnes deos. |
| Quoniam in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ: et altitudines montium ipsius sunt. Quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et aridam fundaverunt manus ejus. | Quoniam non repellet Dominus plebem suam, quia in manu eius sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitudines montium ipse conspicit; quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud: et aridam fundaverunt manus eius. | Quia in manu ejus sunt omnes fines terræ, et altitudines montium ipsius sunt; quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et siccam manus ejus formaverunt. | in cuius manu fundamenta terrae et excelsa montium ipsius sunt cuius est mare ipse enim fecit illud et siccam manus eius plasmaverunt | In manu eius sunt profunda terrae, Et altitudines montium ipsius sunt. Ipsius est mare: nam ipse fecit illud, Et terra sicca, quam formaverunt manus eius: | Quia in manu eius sunt profunda terrae, et altitudines montium ipsius sunt. Quoniam ipsius est mare, et ipse fecit illud, et siccam manus eius formaverunt. |
| Venite, adoremus et procidamus ante eum: et ploremus coram Domino qui fecit nos. Quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster: nos autem populus ejus et oves manus ejus. | Venite, adoremus, et procidamus ante Deum, ploremus coram Domino qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster, nos autem populus eius et oves pascuæ eius. | Venite, adoremus, et procidamus, et ploremus ante Dominum qui fecit nos: quia ipse est Dominus Deus noster, et nos populus pascuæ ejus, et oves manus ejus. | venite adoremus et curvemur flectamus genua ante faciem Domini factoris nostri quia ipse est Deus noster et nos populus pascuae eius et grex manus eius | Venite, adoremus et procidamus, Et genua flectamus Domino qui fecit nos. Nam ipse est Deus noster, Nos autem populus pascuae eius et oves manus eius. | Venite, adoremus et procidamus et genua flectamus ante Dominum, qui fecit nos, quia ipse est Deus noster, et nos populus pascuae eius et oves manus eius. |
| Hodie si vocem ejus audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra: sicut in exacerbatatione. Secundum diem tentationis in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri: probaverunt et viderunt opera mea. | Hodie si vocem eius audieritis "nolite obdurare corda vestra, sicut in exacerbatione secundum diem tentationis in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri: probaverunt et viderunt opera mea. | Hodie si vocem ejus audieritis, nolite obdurare corda vestra sicut in irritatione, secundum diem tentationis in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri: probaverunt me, et viderunt opera mea. | hodie si vocem eius audieritis nolite indurare corda vestra sicut in contradictione sicut in die temptationis in deserto ubi temptaverunt me patres vestri probaverunt me et viderunt opus meum | Utinam hodie vocem eius audiatis: “Nolite obdurare corda vestra ut in Meriba, Ut die Massa in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri, Probaverunt me, etsi viderunt opera mea. | Utinam hodie vocem eius audiatis: “Nolite obdurare corda vestra, sicut in Meriba, secundum diem Massa in deserto, ubi tentaverunt me patres vestri: probaverunt me, etsi viderunt opera mea. |
| Quadraginta annis infensus fui generationi huic: et dixi: Semper hi errant corde. Ipsi autem non cognoverunt vias meas: quibus juravi in ira mea, si introibunt in requiem meam. | Quadraginta annis proximus fui generationi huic, et dixi: Semper hi errant corde. Ipsi vero non cognoverunt vias meas, quibus iuravi in ira mea: Si introibunt in requiem meam". | Quadraginta annis offensus fui generationi illi, et dixi: Semper hi errant corde. Et isti non cognoverunt vias meas: ut juravi in ira mea: Si introibunt in requiem meam. | quadraginta annis displicuit mihi generatio illa et dixi populus errans corde est et non cognoscens vias meas et iuravi in furore meo ut non introirent in requiem meam | Quadraginta annos taeduit me generationis illius, Et dixi: Populus errans corde sunt, Et non noverunt vias meas. Ideo iuravi in ira mea: Non introibunt in requiem meam”. | Quadraginta annis taeduit me generationis illius et dixi: Populus errantium corde sunt isti. Et ipsi non cognoverunt vias meas; ideo iuravi in ira mea: Non introibunt in requiem meam”. |
Enumeration
The enumeration of the psalms differs in the Nova Vulgata from that used in the earlier versions. The earlier versions take their enumeration from the Greek Septuagint. The Versio Nova Vulgata takes its enumeration from the Hebrew Masoretic TextMasoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
.
| Old enumeration used by the Vulgate and other early versions; taken from the Septuagint | New enumeration used by the Versio Nova Vulgata and most modern English bibles; taken from the Masoretic Text |
|---|---|
| 1-8 | |
| 9 | 9-10 |
| 10-112 | 11-113 |
| 113 | 114-115 |
| 114-115 | 116 |
| 116-145 | 117-146 |
| 146-147 | 147 |
| 148-150 | |
- Psalms 9 and 10 in the Nova Vulgata are together as Psalm 9 in the older versions
- Psalms 114 and 115 in the Nova Vulgata are Psalm 113 in the older versions
- Psalms 114 and 115 in the older versions appear as Psalm 116 in the Nova Vulgata
- Psalms 146 and 147 in the older versions form Psalm 147 in the Nova Vulgata
- Psalms 10-112 and 116-145 (132 out of the 150) in the older versions are numbered lower by one than the same psalm in the Nova Vulgata.
- Psalms 1-8 and 148-150, 11 psalms in total, are numbered the same in both the old versions and the new one.
Schemata
A scheme (Latin schema, plural schemata)is an arrangement of all or most of the psalms for distribution to the various canonical hours
Canonical hours
Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers....
. In addition to the psalms proper, these schemata typically include psalm-like canticle
Canticle
A canticle is a hymn taken from the Bible. The term is often expanded to include ancient non-biblical hymns such as the Te Deum and certain psalms used liturgically.-Roman Catholic Church:From the Old Testament, the Roman Breviary takes seven canticles for use at Lauds, as follows:*...
s from other books of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. Historically, these schemata have distributed the entire 150 psalms with added canticles over a period of one week, although the current edition of Roman Breviary (1971,2000) omits a few psalms and some verses and distributes the remainder over a 4-week cycle. Some of the more important schemes are detailed below.
In addition to the psalms, the schema lists canticles, that is, biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
texts from outside of the book of Psalms that are chanted as if they were psalms.
In addition to the psalter, the schema uses an ordinary which includes the texts that are to be chanted every day. These include the Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
, normally psalm 94(95), and the canticles Benedictus Dominus
Benedictus (Song of Zechariah)
The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
, Magnificat
Magnificat
The Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
, and Nunc dimittis
Nunc dimittis
The Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
.
Schema of St. Benedict
St. Benedict of NursiaBenedict of Nursia
Saint Benedict of Nursia is a Christian saint, honored by the Roman Catholic Church as the patron saint of Europe and students.Benedict founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, about to the east of Rome, before moving to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. There is no...
around the year 540 wrote a scheme for use in his monastery. This scheme is still used in some Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
monasteries today.
Schema of Pope St. Pius V
As commissioned by the Council of TrentCouncil of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
, St. Pius V
Pope Pius V
Pope Saint Pius V , born Antonio Ghislieri , was Pope from 1566 to 1572 and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He is chiefly notable for his role in the Council of Trent, the Counter-Reformation, and the standardization of the Roman liturgy within the Latin Church...
published a reform of the Roman Breviary in 1568 for use by the churches
Particular Church
In Catholic canon law, a Particular Church is an ecclesial community headed by a bishop or someone recognised as the equivalent of a bishop.There are two kinds of particular Churches:# Local particular Churches ...
of the Roman rite
Roman Rite
The Roman Rite is the liturgical rite used in the Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church. It is by far the most widespread of the Latin liturgical rites used within the Western or Latin autonomous particular Church, the particular Church that itself is also called the Latin Rite, and that is one of...
. The scheme used in this breviary differs in some details from the Scheme of St. Benedict, but follows its overall pattern.
Schema of Pope St. Pius X
In 1911, St. Pius XPope Pius X
Pope Saint Pius X , born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, was the 257th Pope of the Catholic Church, serving from 1903 to 1914. He was the first pope since Pope Pius V to be canonized. Pius X rejected modernist interpretations of Catholic doctrine, promoting traditional devotional practices and orthodox...
reformed the Roman Breviary, re-arranging the psalms so that there was less repetition and so that each day of the week had approximately the same amount of psalm-chanting.
The following canticles are used in this schema:
- Audite verbum Domini; Ier 31, 10-14
- Auscultate, caeli; Deut 32, 1-18
- Benedicite omnia; Dan 3,57-88
- Benedictus DominusBenedictus (Song of Zechariah)The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
; Lc 1, 68-79 - Benedictus es; 1 Chr 29,10-13
- Cantabo Domino; Exod 15, 1-18
- Domine, audivi; Hab 3, 2-19
- Ego dixi; Is 38, 10-20
- Exultat cor meum; 1 Kgs 2, 1-10
- Gratias ago tibi; Is 12, 1-6
- Incipite Domino; Iudt 16,2;16-20
- MagnificatMagnificatThe Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
; Lc 1,46-55 - Magnus es; Tob 13,1-10
- Miserere nostri; Eccli 36, 1-16
- Nunc dimittisNunc dimittisThe Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
; Lc 2,29-32 - Vere tu es; Is 45, 15-26
The schema is:
| Hour Canonical hours Canonical hours are divisions of time which serve as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round. A Book of Hours contains such a set of prayers.... |
Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matins Matins Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also... , Nocturn Nocturns Nocturns are divisions of Matins, the night office of the Christian Liturgy of the Hours. A nocturn consists of psalms with antiphons followed by three lessons, which are taken either from scripture or from the writings of the Church Fathers. The office of Matins is composed of one to three nocturns... I |
1; 2; 3; | 13; 14; 16; | 34i; 34ii; 34iii | 44i; 44ii; 45 | 61; 65i; 65ii | 77i; 77ii; 77iii | 104i; 104ii; 104iii |
| Matins, Nocturn II | 8; 9i; 9ii | 17i; 17ii; 17iii | 36i; 36ii; 36iii | 47; 48i; 48ii; | 67i; 67ii; 67iii | 77iv; 77v; 77vi | 105i; 105ii; 105iii |
| Matins, Nocturn III | 9iii; 9iv; 10 | 19; 20; 29 | 37i; 37ii; 38 | 49i; 49ii; 50 | 68i; 68ii; 68iii | 78; 80; 82 | 106i; 106ii; 106iii |
| Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... I |
92; 99; 62; Benedicite omnia; 148; | 46; 5; 28; Benedictus es; 116 | 95; 42; 66; Magnus es; 134 | 96; 64; 100; Incipite Domino; 145 | 97; 89; 35; Audite verbum Domini; 146 | 98; 142; 84; Vere tu es; 147 | 149; 91; 63; Miserere nostri; 150 |
| Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... II |
50; 117; 62; Benedictus es; "148; | 50; 5; 28; Gratias ago tibi; 116; | 50; 42; 66; Ego dixi; 134; | 50; 64; 100; Exultat cor meum; 145; | 50; 89; 35; Cantabo Domino; 146; | 50; 142; 84; Domine, audivi; 147; | 50; 91; 63; Ascultate, caeli; 150; |
| Prime Prime (liturgy) Prime, or the First Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the traditional Divine Office , said at the first hour of daylight , between the morning Hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. Hour of Terce. It is part of the Christian liturgies of Eastern Christianity, but in the Latin Rite it was suppressed by the... |
117; 118i; 118ii; | 23; 18i; 18ii; | 24i; 24ii; 24iii; | 25; 51; 52 | 22; 71i; 71ii | 21i; 21ii; 21iii | 93i; 93ii; 107 |
| Terce Terce Terce, or Third Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at 9 a.m. Its name comes from Latin and refers to the third hour of the day after dawn.... |
118iii; 118iv; 118v | 26i; 26ii; 27 | 39i; 39ii; 39iii | 53; 54i; 54ii | 72i; 72ii; 72iii | 79i; 79ii; 81 | 101i; 101ii; 101iii |
| Sext Sext Sext, or Sixth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said at noon... |
118vi; 118vii; 118viii | 30i; 30ii; 30iii; | 40; 41i; 41ii | 55; 56; 57 | 73i; 73ii; 73iii | 83i; 83ii; 86 | 103i; 103ii; 103iii |
| None None (liturgy) None , or the Ninth Hour, is a fixed time of prayer of the Divine Office of almost all the traditional Christian liturgies. It consists mainly of psalms and is said around 3 p.m... |
118ix; 118x; 118xi | 31; 32i; 32ii | 43i; 43ii; 43iii | 58i; 58ii; 59 | 74; 75i; 75ii | 88i; 88ii; 88iii | 108i; 108ii; 108iii |
| Vespers Vespers Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours... |
109; 110; 111; 112; 113; | 114; 115; 119; 120; 121; | 122; 123; 124; 125; 126; | 127; 128; 129; 130; 131; | 132; 135i; 135ii; 136; 137 | 138i; 138ii; 139; 140; 141 | 143i; 143ii; 144i; 144ii; 144iii |
| Compline Compline Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St... |
4; 90; 133; | 6; 7i; 7ii | 11; 12; 15; | 33i; 33ii; 60 | 69; 70i; 70ii | 76i; 76ii; 85 | 87; 102i; 102ii |
With Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
there are two schemes. Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
I was celebrated on all Sundays and ferias, except from Septuagesima
Septuagesima
Septuagesima is the name for the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Ash Wednesday. The term is sometimes applied also to the period that begins on this day and ends on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. This period is also known as the pre-Lenten season or...
until the second Sunday in Passiontide
Passiontide
Passiontide is a name for the last two weeks of Lent, beginning on Passion Sunday and ending on Holy Saturday....
or Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
inclusive and on feasts celebrated at any time of the year. Lauds II, having a more penitential flavour, was used on the Sundays and ferias of Advent until the vigil of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
and from Septuagesima until Monday of Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
inclusive. It was also used on vigils of the second and third class outside of Paschaltide.
Schema of Pope Paul VI
In 1971 with the release of a new edition of the Divine Office under Pope Paul VIPope Paul VI
Paul VI , born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding Pope John XXIII, who had convened the Second Vatican Council, he decided to continue it...
, the Liturgia Horarum, a new schema was introduced which distributed 147 of the 150 psalms across a four-week cycle. In addition to the three omitted psalms, some 59 verses of other psalms are removed along with parts of two verses. These omissions are intended to make the psalms easier to understand so that the Divine Office can better be prayed by the laity. The reduced psalmody resulting from dividing the psalter over 4 weeks instead of 1 is also intended to ease lay participation.
Although the psalter of the 2000 edition of the Liturgy of the Hours uses the translation of the Nova Vulgata, the numeration used is that of the older editions of the Vulgate, with the new numeration in parenthesis where it differs. For instance, the psalm beginning Dominus pascit me is numbered 22(23), and Venite exsultemus is numbered 94(95).
Because some of the psalms are so much longer than others, the longer psalms are divided into divisios, that is parts to be chanted separately. This follows the Benedictine practice and was introduced into the Roman Office widely by Pope Pius X. In the Pius V schema only Ps. 118 was divided into parts, and it was said throughout Prime, Terce, Sext, and None everyday. These parts are labelled with Roman numerals. In particular, psalm 118(119) was divided into 22 parts, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which are labelled 118(119)i – 118(119)xxii. Most of the longer psalms were divided into 3 parts, labelled i – iii.
The psalmody of each of the hours
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
of the day except compline contains three psalms or parts of psalms. Lauds
Lauds
Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins...
contains a canticle of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
in place of the second psalm, and Vespers
Vespers
Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours...
contains a canticle of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
in place of the third psalm.
The Canticles
There are 34 canticles in the psalter and 3 in the ordinary. The three canticles in the ordinary are from the gospelsFour Evangelists
In Christian tradition the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles:*Gospel according to Matthew*Gospel according to Mark...
. The 26 psalter canticles for Lauds are from the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
. The 8 psalter canticles for Vespers are from the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
excluding the gospels. The texts of the canticles and the references given below are from the Nova Vulgata.
- Alleluia; Ap 19, 1-2. 5-7.
- Audite caeli quae loquor; Deut 32, 1-12
- Audite qui longe estis; Is 33,13-16
- Audite verbum Domini gentes; Jer 31:10-14
- Benedicite Dominum omnes electi; Tob 13, 8-11. 13-14ab. 15-16ab.
- Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domino; Dan 3,57-88. 56
- Benedictus DominusBenedictus (Song of Zechariah)The Benedictus , given in Gospel of , is one of the three canticles in the opening chapters of this Gospel. The Benedictus was the song of thanksgiving uttered by Zechariah on the occasion of the birth of his son, John the Baptist.The whole canticle naturally falls into two parts...
; Lc 1, 68-79 - Benedictus Deus et Pater; Eph 1, 3-10
- Benedictus Deus vivens in aevum; Tob 13,2-8
- Benedictus es Domine Deus Israel; 1 Chr 29, 10-13
- Benedictus es Domine Deus patrum nostrorum I; Dan 3,26. 27. 39. 34-41
- Benedictus es Domine Deus patrum nostrorum II; Dan 3,52-57
- Cantate Domino canticum novum; Is 42, 10-16
- Cantemus Domino; Ex 15,1-4b. 8-13. 17-18
- Christus Iesus; Phil 2,6-11
- Christus passus est pro vobis; 1 Petr 2,21-24
- Confitebor tibi Domine; Is 12,1-6
- Deducant oculi mei lacrimam; Ier 14,17-21
- Deus patrum meorum; Sap 9,1-6. 9-11
- Dignus es; Ap 4,11; 5,9.10.12
- Domine audivi auditionem tuam; Hab 3,2-4. 13a. 15-19
- Ecce Dominus Deus in virtute venit; Is 40,10-17
- Ego dixi In dimidio dierum meorum; Is 38,10-14. 17-20
- Erit in novissimis diebus; Is 2,2-5
- Exsultavit cor meum in Domino; 1 Sam 2,1-10
- Gaudens gaudebo in Domino; Is 61,10 – 62,5
- Gratias agamus Deo Patri; Col 1,12-20
- Gratias agimus tibi; Ap 11,17-18; 12, 10b-12a
- Incipite Deo meo in tympanis; Iudt 16,1-2. 13-15
- Laetamini; Is 66,10-14a
- Magna et mirabilia; Ap 15,3-4
- MagnificatMagnificatThe Magnificat — also known as the Song of Mary or the Canticle of Mary — is a canticle frequently sung liturgically in Christian church services. It is one of the eight most ancient Christian hymns and perhaps the earliest Marian hymn...
; Lc 1,46-55 - Miserere nostri Deus omnium et respice nos; Sir 36,1-7. 13-16
- Nunc dimittisNunc dimittisThe Nunc dimittis is a canticle from a text in the second chapter of Luke named after its first words in Latin, meaning 'Now dismiss...'....
; Lc 2,29-32 - Tollam quippe vos de gentibus; Ez 36,24-28
- Urbs fortis nobis in salutem; Is 26,1-4. 7-9. 12
- Vere tu es Deus absconditus; Is 45,15-25
Week 1
The first week of the psalter is used for the first week of Advent, the week beginning with the first Sunday falling on or after December 25, the weeks beginning on the first and fifth Sundays of Lent, the fifth week of Easter, and the 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th, 21st, 25th, 29th, and 33rd weeks of Ordinary TimeOrdinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
.
| Day Week-day names The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient... |
Office of Reading Matins Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also... |
Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... |
Hora media Little Hours The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours... |
Vespers Vespers Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours... |
Compline Compline Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Vigil | 140(141); 141(142); Christus Jesus | 4; 133(134) | |||
| Sunday | 1; 2; 3; | 62(63); Benedicite omnia; 149 | 117(118)i; 117(118)ii; 117(118)iii; | 109(110); 113A(114); Alleluia | 90(91) |
| Monday | 6; 9A(9)i; 9A(9)ii; | 5; Benedictus es Domine Deus Israel; 28(29) | 18B(19B); 7i; 7ii | 10(11); 14(15); Benedictus Deus et Pater | 85(86) |
| Tuesday | 9B(10)i; 9B(10)ii; 11(12) | 23(24); Benedictus Deus vivens; 32(33) | 118(119)i; 12(13); 13(14) | 19(20); 20(21); Dignus es | 142(143) |
| Wednesday | 17(18)i; 17(18)ii; 17(18)iii | 35(36); Incipite; 46(47) | 118(119)ii; 16(17)i; 16(17)ii | 26(27)i; 26(27)ii; Gratias agamus Deo | 30(31),2-6; 129(130) |
| Thursday | 17(18)iv; 17(18)v; 17(18)vi | 56(57); Audite verbum; 47(48) | 118(119)iii; 24(25)i; 24(25)ii | 29(30); 31(32); Gratias agimus tibi | 15(16) |
| Friday | 34(35)i; 34(35)ii; 34(35)iii | 50(51); Vere tu es; 99(100) | 118(119)iv; 25(26); 27(28) | 40(41); 45(46); Magna et mirabilia | 87(88) |
| Saturday | 130(131); 131(132)i; 131(132)ii | 118(119)xix; Cantemus Domino; 116(117) | 118(119)v; 33(34)i; 33(34)ii |
Week 2
The second week of the psalter is used for the second week of Advent, the week beginning with the first Sunday falling on or after January 1, the weeks beginning on the second and sixth Sundays of Lent, the second and sixth weeks of Easter, and the 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, 18th, 22nd, 26th, 30th, and 34th weeks of Ordinary TimeOrdinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
.
| Day Week-day names The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient... |
Office of Reading Matins Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also... |
Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... |
Hora media Little Hours The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours... |
Vespers Vespers Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours... |
Compline Compline Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Vigil | 118(119)xiv; 15(16); Christus Jesus; | 4; 133(134) | |||
| Sunday | 103(104)i; 103(104)ii; 103(104)iii | 117(118); Benedictus es Domine Deus patrum nostrorum II; 150 | 22(23); 75(76)i; 75(76)ii | 109(110); 113B(115); Alleluia; | 90(91) |
| Monday | 30(31)i; 30(31)ii; 30(31)iii | 41(42); Miserere nostri; 18(19)A | 118(119)vi; 39(40)i; 39(40)ii | 44(45)i; 44(45)ii; Benedictus Deus et Pater; | 85(86) |
| Tuesday | 36(37)i; 36(37)ii; 36(37)iii | 42(43); Ego dixi; 64(65) | 118(119)vii; 52(53); 53(54) | 48(49)i; 48(49)ii; Dignus es; | 142(143) |
| Wednesday | 38(39)i; 38(39)ii; 51(52); | 76(77); Exsultavit cor meo in Dominum; 96(97) | 118(119)viii; 54(55)i; 54(55)ii | 61(62); 66(67); Gratias agamus Deo; | 30(31),2-6; 129(130) |
| Thursday | 43(44)i; 43(44)ii; 43(44)iii | 79(80); Confitebor tibi Domine; 80(81) | 118(119)ix; 55(56); 56(57) | 71(72)i; 71(72)ii; Gratias agimus tibi; | 15(16) |
| Friday | 37(38)i; 37(38)ii; 37(38)iii | 50(51); Domine audivi auditionem tuam; 147(147B) | 118(119)x; 58(59); 59(60) | 114(116A); 120(121); Magna et mirabilia; | 87(88) |
| Saturday | 135(136)i; 135(136)ii; 135(136)iii | 91(92); Audite caeli; 8 | 118(119)xi; 60(61); 63(64) |
Week 3
The third week of the psalter is used for the third week of Advent, the week beginning on the third Sunday of Lent, the third and seventh weeks of Easter, and the 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, 19th, 23rd, 27th, and 31st weeks of Ordinary TimeOrdinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
.
| Day Week-day names The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient... |
Office of Reading Matins Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also... |
Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... |
Hora media Little Hours The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours... |
Vespers Vespers Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours... |
Compline Compline Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Vigil | 112(113); 115(116B); Christus Jesus; | 4; 133(134) | |||
| Sunday | 144(145)i; 144(145)ii; 144(145)iii | 92(93); Benedicite omnia; 148 | 117(118)i; 117(118)ii; 117(118)iii | 109(110); 110(111); Alleluia; | 90(91) |
| Monday | 49(50)i; 49(50)ii; 49(50)iii | 83(84); Erit in novissimis diebus; 95(96) | 118(119)xii; 70(71)i; 70(71)ii | 122(123); 123(124); Benedictus Deus et Pater; | 85(86) |
| Tuesday | 67(68)i; 67(68)ii; 67(68)iii | 84(85); Urbs fortis; 66(67) | 118(119)xiii; 73(74)i; 73(74)ii | 124(125); 130(131); Dignus es; | 142(143) |
| Wednesday | 88(89)i; 88(89)ii; 88(89)iii | 85(86); Audite qui longe estis; 97(98) | 118(119)xiv; 69(70); 74(75) | 125(126); 126(127); Gratias agamus Deo; | 30(31),2-6; 129(130) |
| Thursday | 88(89)iv; 88(89)v; 89(90) | 86(87); Ecce Dominus Deus in virtute venit; 98(99) | 118(119)xv; 78(79); 79(80) | 131(132)i; 131(132)ii; Gratias agimus tibi; | 15(16) |
| Friday | 68(69)i; 68(69)ii; 68(69)iii | 50(51); Deducant oculi mei lacrimam; 99(100) | 21(22)i; 21(22)ii; 21(22)iii | 134(135)i; 134(135)ii; Magna et mirabilia; | 87(88) |
| Saturday | 106(107)i; 106(107)ii; 106(107)iii | 118(119)xix; Deus patrum meorum; 116(117) | 118(119)xvi; 33(34)i; 33(34)ii |
Week 4
The fourth week of the psalter is used for the fourth week of Advent, the days of Lent from Ash WednesdayAsh Wednesday
Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
until the following Saturday, the week beginning on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the fourth week of Easter, and the 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, and 32nd weeks of Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time is a season of the Christian liturgical calendar, in particular the calendar of the Roman rite and related liturgical rites. The English name is intended to translate the Latin term Tempus per annum...
. If Christmas Day does not fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the fourth week of the psalter is used during Christmastide until the first Sunday of Christmas
Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family...
.
| Day Week-day names The names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient... |
Office of Reading Matins Matins is the early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies of the canonical hours. The term is also used in some Protestant denominations to describe morning services.The name "Matins" originally referred to the morning office also... |
Lauds Lauds Lauds is a divine office that takes place in the early morning hours and is one of the two major hours in the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, it forms part of the Office of Matins... |
Hora media Little Hours The Little Hours are the fixed daytime hours of prayer in the Divine Office of Christians, in both Western Christianity and the Eastern Orthodox Church. These Hours are called 'little' due to their shorter and simpler structure compared to the Night Hours... |
Vespers Vespers Vespers is the evening prayer service in the Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran liturgies of the canonical hours... |
Compline Compline Compline is the final church service of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday Vigil | 121(122); 129(130); Christus Jesus; | 4; 133(134) | |||
| Sunday | 23(24); 65(66)i; 65(66)ii | 117(118); Benedictus es Domine Deus patrum nostrorum II; 150 | 22(23); 75(76)i; 75(76)ii | 109(110); 111(112); Alleluia; | 90(91) |
| Monday | 72(73)i; 72(73)ii; 72(73)iii | 89(90); Cantate Domino; 134(135),1-12 | 118(119)vii; 81(82); 119(120) | 135(136)i; 135(136)ii; Benedictus Deus et Pater; | 85(86) |
| Tuesday | 101(102)i; 101(102)ii; 101(102)iii | 100(101); Benedictus es Domine Deus patrum nostrorum I; 143(144),1-10 | 118(119)xviii; 87(88)i; 87(88)ii | 136(137); 137(138); Dignus es; | 142(143) |
| Wednesday | 102(103)i; 102(103)ii; 102(103)iii | 107(108); Gaudens gaudebo in Domino; 145(146) | 118(119)xix; 93(94)i; 93(94)ii | 138(139)i; 138(139)ii; Gratias agamus Deo; | 30(31),2-6; 129(130) |
| Thursday | 43(44)i; 43(44)ii; 43(44)iii | 142(143); Laetamini; 146(147A) | 118(119)xx; 127(128); 128(129) | 143(144)i; 143(144)ii; Gratias agimus tibi; | 15(16) |
| Friday | 54(55)i; 54(55)ii; 54(55)iii | 50(51); Benedicite Dominum; 147(147B) | 118(119)xxi; 132(133); 139(140) | 144(145)i; 144(145)ii; Magna et mirabilia; | 87(88) |
| Saturday | 49(50)i; 49(50)ii; 49(50)iii | 91(92); Tollam quippe vos de gentibus; 8 | 118(119)xxii; 44(45)i; 44(45)ii |
Missing psalms and verses
The psalms missing from this schema are 57(58), 82(83), and 108(109). The missing verses are:- 5,11
- 20(21),9-13
- 27(28),4-5
- 30(31),18-19
- 34(35),3a-3b. 4-8. 20-21. 24-26
- 39(40),15-16
- 53(54),2. 7
- 54(55),16
- 55(56),7c-8
- 58(59),6-9. 12-16
- 62(63),10-12
- 68(69),23-29
- 78(79),6-7. 12
- 109(110),6
- 136(137),7-9
- 138(139),19-22
- 139(140),10-12
- 140(141),10
- 142(143),12
Although the Invitatory
Invitatory
The Invitatory is the psalm Venite exsultemus, traditionally numbered 94 in the Septuagint or 95 in the Masoretic text, used to start Nocturns in the Divine Office. After the reform of the Liturgy of the Hours following the Second Vatican Council, the Invitatory is said either before the Office of...
, i.e. psalm 94(95), is missing from the psalter, it is present in the ordinary and is thus chanted every day. Psalms 77(78), 104(105), and 105(106) are sung only during Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
, Christmas, Lent
Lent
In the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
and Easter.
Psalterium Monasticum
The Psalterium Monasticum is a book produced by the monks of Solesmes Abbey in 1981. In accordance with one of the schemes of the Benedictine Thesaurus, it contains a one week cycle for the chanting of all 150 psalms. This schema substantially follows the Rule of St Benedict and was produced for use in Benedictine monasteries as an alternative to the 4-week scheme of Paul VI.External links
- Breviarium Ambrosianum Latin text
- Psalterium Romanum Latin text
- Psalterium Gallicanum Latin text
- Psalterium juxta Hebraicum Latin text
- Psalterium Mozarabicum Latin text
- Psalterium Pianum Latin text
- Psalterium Neo-Vulgatum Latin text
- Liturgia Horarum Online A very nice, practical and versatile version to pray the psalter on line.
- Theo Keller's comparison of the psalm De profundis, giving the Roman, Gallican, Pian, and Neo-vulgate versions of psalm 129.
- Fr. John Zuhlsdorf's comparison of the psalm Beatus vir, giving the Roman, Gallican, Neo-vulgate, Pian, and Ambrosian versions of psalm 1.
