St. Bonaventure: The Psalter of Our Lady

[Stone]

CANTICLES

I CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF ISAIAH. (Isa. 12.)

I will confess thee, O Lady, because, thanks to thee, the Lord has* been appeased concerning me; and thou hast consoled me.

Behold, Lady, mv salvation ; I shall act with confidence in thee and I shall not fear;

For thou art my strength and my salvation in the Lord ; thou hast been for me the assurance of regeneration.

I shall joyfully draw the waters from the source, and I shall always invoke thy name.

Let all the people know the virtues of our Lady, for her name is eminently raised.

Sing and applaud her, all mankind, because the Lord thy God has given you such a mediatrix.

Glory, &c.

II. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF HEZEKIAH. (Isa. 38.)

I have said towards the middle of my days, I will go to Mary, so that she may reconcile me with Christ.

I have passed the rest of my years in the bitterness of my heart.

My relations have been taken from me; my father and my mother and all creatures have abandoned me; but Mary has raised me up.

I have hoped in her in the morning, the evening and at noon day; as the lion, she has broken all the bones of my sins.

And thou, Lady, thou hast saved my soul that it should not perish; and thou hast snatched me from the tooth of the dog.

Lady, save me, and I will sing thy praise all the days of my life, O pious Mother of my Lord!

Glory, &c.

III. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF ANNE. (Reg. 1—2.)

My heart rejoiceth in the Lord; and my soul is exalted in our Lady.

Because the Almighty has done great things in me, by Mary his mother.

There is no saint like our Lady, who alone surpasses all others.

Away from our mouth the old words; let us speak in a new tongue.

Rejoice, praise Mary, Jerusalem and Zion, for she is the greatest of all the women of Israel.

She makes poor and she makes rich; she humbles and she raises up.

Higher than the heavens, wider than the earth, such is our Lady.

Glory, &c.

IV. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF MARY. (Exod. 15.)

Let us sing of our glorious Lady the Virgin Mary let us bless her in our hymns and in our canticles.

Our Lady, her name is all powerful after that of God; she has overthrown the chariot of Pharaoh, and all his army in the sea.

Thy right hand, O Lady, is glorified in its strength; because, in the multitude of thy mercies, thou hast thrown mine enemies down to the ground.

Thou hast delivered me from the mouth of the lion, Lady, and thou hast taken me as a mother takes the child which she has brought forth.

0 beloved Lady, cover me with thy protection, as the hen does for her chickens.

1 am wholly thine, and all that I have is thine, Virgin, blessed above all things.

I will place thee as a seal upon my heart, for thy love is strong as death.

Glory, &c.

V. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF HABAKKUK. (Hab. 3.)

Lady, I have heard what has been said of thee, and I have been amazed; I have considered thy works, and I have trembled.

Lady, the great work in the midst of times, it was thou who accomplished.

I will confess thee, Lady ; because thou hast hid these things from the wise, and thou hast revealed them unto babes.

Thy glory has covered the heavens, and the earth is full of thy mercy.

Thou art born, 0 Virgin, for the salvation of thy people, for their salvation through thy Christ.

O blessed Virgin, thou savest whom thou wilt; and he from whom thou turnest thy face dies.

Glory, &c.

VI. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT Of MOSES. (Deut. 32.)

Heavens, listen to what I am going to say of Mary; let the earth, attend to the words of my mouth.

Glorify her always with me ; let us extol her name from generation to generation.

Perfidious and perverse generation, know our Lady as the way of salvation.

Is she not thy mother, she who has possessed thee, and brought thee up in the faith?

If you abandon her, you are not the friend of the Sovereign Caesar; at the last day he will not save you without her.

Oh, that it might please God that you might have wisdom and understanding, and that you might look forward to the most important moment.

As the child cannot live without its nurse, so you cannot obtain your salvation without our Lady.

Let thy soul, then, thirst for her ; attach thyself to her, and leave her not until she has blessed thee.

Let thy mouth be filled with her praise; sing all day of her magnificence.

Glory, &c.

VII. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF THE CHILDREN IN THE FURNACE. (Dan. 3.)

Bless, works of the Creator, bless our glorious Lady; praise her, extol her, throughout all ages.

Angels, bless our Lady; heavens, bless our Lady.

Let all nature bless our Lady; she whom the King would see thus blessed.

Blessed be thou, 0 daughter of the sovereign King, who surpassest the perfume of lilies.

Blessed be thou, crown of all women; blessed be thou, O glory of Jerusalem.

Thy perfume is as a fertile field that the Lord has blessed; it is shed upon those who bless thee, and overflows their inmost heart.

Let him, who shall have blessed thee, O most blessed Virgin, be suitably blessed now also.

Let him, who shall have cursed thee, most sincere Rose, be equally cursed.

Never let abundance of wine and oil depart from the house of thy servants.

At thy name let every knee bend in heaven, upon earth, and in hell.

Let us bless the God who has created thee; let the parents who brought thee forth be blessed.

Blessed be thou, O Lady, in heaven and on earth; praised, and glorified, and extolled be thou from generation to generation.

Amen.

VIII. CANTICLE
IN IMITATION OF THAT OF ZACHARIAH. (Luc. 1.)

Blessed be thou, mother of the God of Israel, who by thee hast visited and redeemed his people.

He has exalted the salutary horn of thy chastity, in the house of David his servant.

As he had spoken by the mouth of Isaiah, and of other saints his prophets.

Save us from our enemies, and from the hand of those who hate us, Virgin of Virgins, and grant us peace.

And be merciful to our parents, and to us; and remember the oath of the Almighty God;

Which he swore to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

That we being delivered from the hand of our enemies, may serve him without fear and in peace;

In holiness and in righteousness, in thy presence all the days of our life.

And thou, Mary, shalt be called the Prophetess of God; for thou hast known that he regarded the lowliness of his servant.

By whom he has given the knowledge of salvation to his people, for the remission of sins.

By the depths of thine abundant mercy visit us, star of the morning, whom thou hast raised in the heavens!

Give light to those who sit in the darkness of the shadow of death, and deign to dissipate it by the light of thy beloved Son.

Have pity, Mother of mercy, have pity upon us sinners, who neglect to repent of our past sins, and who commit each day a great number, for which we
have to do penance.

Glory, &c.