St. Bonaventure: The Psalter of Our Lady

[Stone]

PSALM CXXXI.

O Lady, remember David, and all those who call upon thy name. 

Give us confidence in thy name, and let our adversaries be confounded.

Console us during our earthly pilgrimage, and relieve our poverty.

Give us the bread of tears, Holy Virgin, and the sorrow for our sins, in the earth of our exile.

Bender the blessed fruit of thy womb propitious to us, so that we may be filled by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXII.

How good and pleasant it is, Mary, to cherish thy name!

Thy name, it is a perfume poured out; it is an odour of aromatics, to those who love thee.

How great are the multitude of good things thou hast prepared, O Lady, for those who cherish and hope in thee !

Be the refuge of the poor in tribulation, for thou art the help of the unhappy and the afflicted.

That they find, I pray thee, grace before God, who invoke thee in their necessities.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXIII.

Bless now, Our Lady, all ye who hope in her holy name.

Rejoice with great joy, ye who extol and glorify her; because you skill be satisfied with the milk of her consolations.

Behold how she turns upon you the floods of her sweetness, to console and rejoice your hearts.

Bless her, all ye her servants, and let a remembrance of her be always in the desires of thy soul.

Bless her, angels and saints of God; praise her marvels throughout all ages.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXIV.

Praise the name of the Lord; bless the name of Mary, his mother.

Be constant in prayer to Mary, and she will excite in you imperishable joys.

Let us come to her with a contrite heart, and the desire to sin will no more stimulate us.

They who contemplate her in the calmness of their mind, will find sweetness and the repose of peace.

Aspire towards her in all our actions, and she will open to us the porch of the conquerors.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXV.

Confess the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy is distributed by his sweet Mother, the Virgin Mary.

Obtain for us the friendship of Jesus Christ, and preserve us, that we lose not our innocence.

Destroy our enemy by thy power; that he attack not in us the virtue of chastity.

Preserve in us the gifts of nature; and let the gifts of grace be multiplied by thee.

Enlighten our paths and our wavs, to the end that we may know the good pleasure of God.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXVI.

By the rivers of Babylon, the Hebrews have wept: for us, let us weep over our iniquities.

Let us humbly cry to the Virgin Mother; let us offer to her our tears and our sighs.

There is no propitiation without her; there is no salvation without the fruit of her womb.

By her, sins are blotted out: and by the fruit of her womb, souls are purified.

By her, is made the satisfaction of sins; and by the fruit of her womb, health is restored to the soul.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXVII.

I will confess thee with all my heart, Lady; because, thanks to thee, I have felt the clemency of Jesus Christ.

Lady, listen to my prayers, and I will sing thy praises in the presence of the angels.

In the day when I shall have invoked thee, favourably hear me and multiply strength in my soul.

Let all tongues and all tribes confess thee, for it is through thee that salvation has been rendered to us.

Deliver thy servants from all trouble, and make them live under thy peace and thy protection.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXVIII.

Lady, thou hast searched me and thou hast known me; thou hast known my ruin and my disobedience.

Thy mercy has been abundant upon me; and thy clemency is extended upon me.

Thine eye has seen my imperfections, and thine eyelids have known my ways.

Let us receive the Holy Spirit, by thine interposition, the abundance of holy desires, and let not the stain of guilt soil our conscience.

Let the light of thy mercy give serenity to our hearts, and let the sweetness of thy peace recreate us.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXXXIX.

Deliver me, 0 Lady, from the wicked man; and defend me from the infernal enemy.

The enemy has bent his bow against me, and in his perfidy he lays snares for me.

Restrain his odious strength and powerfully frustrate his cunning.

Let his iniquity recoil upon his own head; and let him fall into the ditch which he has digged for me.

Por us, let us rejoice in thy service, and let us glory in thy praises.

Glory, &c.



PSALM CXL.

Lady, I have cried unto thee, favourably hear me; listen to my prayer and my request.

Let my supplication rise as an incense towards thy face, at the hour of evening and morning sacrifice.

Let not my heart be drawn away by the words of the wicked, and let not the perfidies oi thought pervert my understanding.

Make me obey the good pleasure of thy heart, and conform me to thy actions.

Penetrate my heart with the sword of the Spirit; and influence my mind with the great clear fire of charity.

Glory, &c.