Work as if everything depends on you...: Psalm 126 - v2

Stones from the Western Wall of Jerusalem
thrown down by Roman soldiers in 70 CE

Continuing on this verse by verse look at Psalm 126, today a look at verse 2:

2	V/NV/JH	Nisi Dóminus custodíerit civitátem, * frustra vígilat qui custódit eam.
		ἐὰν μὴ κύριος φυλάξῃ πόλιν εἰς μάτην ἠγρύπνησεν ὁ φυλάσσων

Nisi (unless) Dóminus (the Lord) custodíerit (he will keep) civitátem (the city), * frustra (vainly) vígilat (he keeps watch) qui (who) custódit (he watches) eam (it).

custodio, ivi or li, itum, ire to guard, watch, keep;to maintain, to hold steadfastly.

civitas, atis,  a city, state, commonwealth; the inhabitants of the city

frustra, adv.  in vain, vainly, to no purpose, uselessly.

vigilo, avi, atum, are  to be awake, keep watch, watch; to watch for, seek, long for. 

DR	Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain that keeps it.
Brenton	Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman watches in vain.
MD	Unless the Lord guard the city, he watcheth in vain that guardeth it.
RSV	Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
Cover	Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
Knox	Vainly the guard keeps watch, if the city has not the Lord for its guardian.
Grail	If the Lord does not watch over the city, in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

The city of God 

The previous verse talked about the house of God; this one talks about a city, why?  St Augustine tells us that the words mean the same thing:

But that which is the house of God is also a city. For the house of God is the people of God; for the house of God is the temple of God....This is Jerusalem: she has guards: as she has builders, labouring at her building up, so also has she guards...

The obvious allusion in terms of the literal interpretation of the verse is to the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from exile, since as Ezra describes, half the men worked while the other half guarded the walls against neighbouring marauders intent on preventing the rebuilding effort, as St Robert Bellarmine points out:

When the city was being built after the captivity, they had to build it and guard it at the same time, as we read in 2 Esdras. The nations round about them not only sought to prevent them from building, but they demolished everything that was built if they could; and thus the children of Israel had to proceed with the sword in one hand, and the tools in the other, and many had to stand guard continually. Yet all this guarding would have been of no avail, had not the Lord chosen to guard the city. 

The destruction of Jerusalem

The verse can also, though, in the context of the Crucifixion, perhaps be taken as a a reference to the coming destruction of Jerusalem some forty years after the death of Christ, and prophesised by him in:

And when he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace; but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee: and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation (Luke 19:41-44).

The key point though, is that while we have to work hard, labouring and guarding against the enemy as if everything depends on us, in reality our efforts will be useless without God's aid:

Why mention erection of walls and building of the city? It would also have been impossible for anyone to guard it when brought to completion had that assistance not been available. Now, he said this to persuade them by every means to have recourse again to God's grace lest they become more indifferent owing to the respite. The reason, you see, why he gave them the good things not all at once but slowly and gradually was to prevent their running back to their former wickedness because of their rapid release from troubles; instead, even in the very giving of the good things he constantly reminded them by the onset of their enemies to be ever stirring up their indifference. So the words are of general application, while taking their origin in this occasion: it is necessary to bring them to bear on everyone's situation lest we ourselves become indifferent and supine instead of contributing what is in our power, entrusting everything to God, and completely depending in everything on hope in him. I mean, as it is not possible to bring affairs to completion without his help, likewise if God helps but we are idle and inactive, it is impossible for us to reach the goal. (St John Chrysostom)

The watchmen

Many of the Fathers interpret the role of watchman as especially applying, after Christ, to bishops.  Cassiodorus, for example, says:

We interpret the Lord's city as the heavenly Jerusalem, a part of which still lodges on earth. In it the bishops strive to keep watch, to protect with unsleeping care the flock entrusted to them. The same injunction is given them not to be fired by harmful thoughts, and imagine that human precautions have any dominant effect, for only the Godhead can ward off dangers of attack. 

St Robert Bellarmine though also applies the message to the individual Christian:

The same is very apt to occur to ourselves, when we, through good works, begin to build up a house, for enemies will not be wanting to seek to destroy the work so begun, by various temptations; and, hence, the apostle arms us when he says, "Wherefore take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day;" and a little further on, "In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one." But unless God be with us, to guard us who slumber so often, and fight for us, all our labor will be in vain.

Psalm 126: Nisi Dominus 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum Salomonis.	A gradual canticle of Solomon.
1.  Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum:*  in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam.	Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
2.  Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem:* frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.	Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain that keeps it.
3.  Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere:* surgite, postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.	2 It is vain for you to rise before light, rise after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow.
4.  Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum:* ecce hereditas Domini, filii merces, fructus ventris.	When he shall give sleep to his beloved, 3 behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.
5.  Sicut sagittae in manu potentis:* ita filii excussorum.	4 As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.
6.  Beatus vir, qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis:* non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.	5 Blessed is the man that has filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate

And continue to the next post in this series, notes on verse 3 of Psalm 126.

Rebuilding the Church with God's aid: Psalm 126 - v1

Translating the verse

First, focus in the text of the verse.

1	V/JH	Nisi dominus aedificaverit domum:* in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam.
	NV	Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laborant, qui aedificant eam.
		ἐὰν μὴ κύριος οἰκοδομήσῃ οἶκον εἰς μάτην ἐκοπίασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες αὐτόν

Nisi (unless) dominus (the Lord) aedificaverit (he will build)  domum (the house):* in vanum (vain) laboraverunt (they have laboured) qui (who) aedificant (they build) eam (it).

nisi, conj. (ne and si), if not, unless.

aedifico, avi, atum, are  to build.

domus, us, /.  house, structure.

vanus, a, um vain, idle, profitless, deceptive, null, empty as to purpose or result.  

laboro, avi, atum, are to toil, labor.

Douay-Rheims	Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
Brenton	Except the Lord build the house, they that build labour in vain
Diurnal	Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
RSV	Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Coverdale	Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it.
Knox	Vain is the builder’s toil, if the house is not of the Lord’s building
Grail	If the Lord does not build the house, in vain do its builders labor;

The literal sense of the verse is, toil is useless without God’s help, a sentiment echoed in John 15:5:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 

It can be interpreted, though as applying at both the individual and collective levels.

God's guidance of history

St John Chrysostom, for example, interprets it as referring to God's providential guidance of history in relation to the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Exile (as described in Ezra and Nehemiah):

This psalm has to do with the state of affairs after the return. You see, when they were freed from captivity and had returned from the savage country, the city they took possession of was in ruins, and they endeavored to rebuild the walls knocked down along with the towers. But many attacked them from many quarters and hindered the work, envying the prosperity of the Jews and fearful of their success. Then time was spent on doing these things, and so much time that over forty years was devoted to the construction of the Temple, as the Jews also indicated in saying, "The building of this Temple took forty-six years," referring not to the former build­ing of Solomon but to this later one, after the freedom from the Persians. Since, then, much time was spent in building Temple, city and walls (the building of the city, in fact, took much longer), the inspired author wanted to teach them once more to have re­course to God, and so went through all this in detail to show that everything happened without any other rhyme or reason than winning grace from God. That is to say, not only freedom from captivity but also erection of the walls by the recently released was impossible without the grace of God.

If we read the psalm Christologically, though, in the context of the crucifixion, this psalm reminds us that Christ's death was necessary in order to build the Church, which is no longer a physical entity like the Temple of old, but rather the body of Christ, which can never be destroyed: though it be destroyed in a particular time and place, it can be rebuilt through Christ.  Indeed, the Church is always in this constant process of rebuilding.

The work of sanctification

This is not something that can be done apart from Christ though. St Augustine, for example, sees the verse as a reference to the Churches ongoing work of sanctification:

The Lord, therefore, builds the house, the Lord Jesus Christ builds His own house. Many toil in building: but, except He build, their labour is but lost that build it. Who are they who toil in building it? All who preach the word of God in the Church, the ministers of God's mysteries. We are all running, we are all toiling, we are all building now; and before us others have run, toiled, and built: but except the Lord build, their labour is but lost...We, therefore, speak without, He builds within. We can observe with what attention ye hear us; He alone who knows your thoughts, knows what ye think. He Himself builds, He Himself admonishes, He Himself opens the understanding, He Himself kindles your understanding unto faith; nevertheless, we also toil like workmen; but, except the Lord build...

St Hilary of Poitiers sees the verse as directed at us each individually:

 This, then, is the temple of God, filled with his doctrine and his power, able to provide the Lord with room in the sanctuary of the heart. It was of this that the prophet spoke in the psalm: Holy is your temple, made marvellous by his justice. Holiness, justice and righteous­ness are a temple for God, and God ought then to build his house. If it were built by the hands of men, it would not stand; strengthened only by worldly knowledge, it would not hold firm; supported only by our ineffective watchfulness and useless works, it would not be secure. This house must be built and guarded in a very different way: it should not be founded on the earth or on shifting sands, but estab­lished on its proper base, the prophets and the apostles. This house should be built with living stones; with Christ to hold it together as the corner stone, it should grow by the ties that bind all the elements that go to make it up, until it becomes the perfect man and is made perfect as the body of Christ; it should be decorated with the jewels of spiritual graces and shine forth with his beauty" (Tractatus super Psalmos, 126,7-8).

Origen makes the point that our dependence on God does not mean that we are excused from hard work ourselves:

By which words he does not indeed indicate that we should cease from building or watching over the safe keeping of that city which is within us; but what he points out is this, that whatever is built without God, and whatever is guarded without him, is built in vain, and guarded to no purpose.  For in all things that are well built and well protected, the Lord is held to be the cause either of the building or of its protection. 

 ...Of God in Christ Jesus, unless this very good will of ours, and ready purpose, and whatever that diligence within us may be, be aided or furnished with divine help.  And therefore most logically did the apostle say, that “it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy;” in the same manner as if we were to say of agriculture what is actually written:  “I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.  So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” First Principles

Psalm 126: Nisi Dominus 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum Salomonis.	A gradual canticle of Solomon.
1.  Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum:*  in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam.	Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
2.  Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem:* frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.	Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain that keeps it.
3.  Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere:* surgite, postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.	2 It is vain for you to rise before light, rise after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow.
4.  Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum:* ecce hereditas Domini, filii merces, fructus ventris.	When he shall give sleep to his beloved, 3 behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.
5.  Sicut sagittae in manu potentis:* ita filii excussorum.	4 As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.
6.  Beatus vir, qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis:* non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.	5 Blessed is the man that has filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate

And for the next part on this series, click on the link for notes on verse 2

Introduction to Psalm 126 - Building up the house of God

Palma Psalter, c1280

During Lent I posted on the Gradual Psalms, but I noted that I didn't have time to cover off Psalms 126&7 in detail, but would come back to them.  Here is the first installment, in the form of a little series on Psalm 126.

Psalm 126 is the eighth of the fifteen Gradual Psalms, and goes above all, to two great, and closely related themes, namely our dependence on grace in the work of building and maintaining the temple within us, and for the fruitfulness of our efforts.

Psalm 126: Nisi Dominus 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum Salomonis.	A gradual canticle of Solomon.
1.  Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum:*  in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam.	Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
2.  Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem:* frustra vigilat qui custodit eam.	Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain that keeps it.
3.  Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere:* surgite, postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris.	2 It is vain for you to rise before light, rise after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow.
4.  Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum:* ecce hereditas Domini, filii merces, fructus ventris.	When he shall give sleep to his beloved,  3 behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.
5.  Sicut sagittae in manu potentis:* ita filii excussorum.	4 As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.
6.  Beatus vir, qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis:* non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.	5 Blessed is the man that has filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate

Psalm 126: On building the temple within us

Although this is a short psalm, it is a complex one, capable of being interpreted on many different levels, in part because of the multiple connotations of the word house.

Accordingly, by way of introduction I want to start by providing something of an overview of the different interpretative approaches to the psalm which I will explore in more depth when we look at each verse individually.

Christ as the cornerstone

The first point to note is that St Benedict placed this psalm at the very centre of the hour of None, the hour that Our Lord died on the cross, for a particular reason: the verse  'When he shall give sleep to his beloved' was interpreted by St Augustine and many of the Fathers as a reference to the death of Christ on the cross.

Indeed, the whole context of the psalm was seen by the Fathers as pointing to Christ as the cornerstone of the temple, a cornerstone that joins the people of the Old and New Testaments.

Let me go through the pieces of the puzzle briefly.

First, the title of this eight psalm of the set mentions Solomon.  This parallels a reference in the book of psalms as a whole: Psalm 71, the first of the last eighty psalms also refers to Solomon as its author.

The first point to note is that the name Solomon means peaceful: Solomon is a type of Christ who is our peace.

Secondly, though, the demarcation line points to the mystical meaning of the numbers seven (creation of the world) and eight (the day of the Resurrection): the peoples who worshiped in the Temple worshiped on the seventh day (sabbath); Christians, however, worship through the temple that is Christ, on the 'eighth day' of the Resurrection. And yet, just as there are not seven Gradual Psalms and another set of eight; or seven psalms and another eighty; the two peoples are united through Christ's sacrifice.

There is a warning in the name though to, for the psalm reminds us that just as Solomon's kingdom was torn in two as a result of his sins, all the good works in the world will avail us nothing if we attempt to do them without God's aid.

What then is the house we must build?

As I noted above, the word house (domus) in the first verse works on a number of different levels.

The daily grind?

First, a house can mean a physical building.  Accordingly, Josh Moody in his book on the Gradual Psalms, Journey to Joy, suggests that the discussion of building can be seen as standing for whatever type of work we do each day: whatever type of work we do each day must be animated by Christ, or it will come to nothing.  The second half, then, stands for our proper approach to home and family.  There is something to this, I think.  

The house of God

The ascription of the psalm to Solomon, though, seems to point above all to a very particular house, namely the Temple, or the house of God.  

In this light, the first three verses were often seen by the Fathers and Theologians as an allusion to the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian exile.  At that time, so serious was the threat of attack from neighbouring enemies, that half of the men worked while the other watched, armed and ready to fight off the enemy.  Their effort was successful, but only, the books of Ezra and  Nehemiah tell us, because the people also made a concerted effort to return also to fidelity to God's law, making the rebuilding effort worthy of God's aid.  

St Robert Bellarmine, for example, says:

These words were addressed to the Jews when they were building the house of God, that is, the temple, at a time that the work was progressing but slowly, by reason of the obstructions offered by the surrounding nations, as we read in 1 Esdras. They are admonished to bear in mind that the work of man is of no value, unless God, the principal builder, be there to help them; and, therefore, that they should work not only with their hands, but also with their hearts and their lips, in invoking God, and confiding mainly in his help. "Unless the Lord build the house;" unless God, on being invoked with confidence, assists the workmen, "they labor in vain that build it;" all their labor is gone for nothing, and will be so.

The Church

The image of building the house can be seen as a reference to the Church.  St Robert explains that the builders are those who preach to us and provide the sacraments:

This is also addressed to the heads of the Church who, by the preaching of God's word, seek to bring souls to him, and of them, to build up a temple, (the Church,) to the Lord... But unless the primary architect be there, he who said, "On this rock I will build my church," in vain will men build, and doc­tors preach, because, as the Lord himself said, "Without me you can do nothing." 

The children of the second half of the psalm, then, are the sons and daughters of the Church brought forth by Christ as the fruit of Our Lady's womb.

What then, of the dark times we now find ourselves in with respect to our leaders?  St Fulgentius reminds us that though things may seem bad for a time, God has promised that his Church will ultimately endure:

He alone is able to safeguard what he has given to the one receiving: Unless…Therefore, he will not permit the stealthy entry of the most wicked brigand in that person to whom the assistance of the vigilant Lord will not be lacking.  For he ‘will neither slumber nor sleep, he who guards Israel (Letter to Proba).

We are each a temple

Another possible steam of interpretation sees the house as the temple of Christ each of us individually should seek to build within us.  St Hilary of Poitier, for example commented that:

You are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells within you. This, then, is the temple of God, filled with his doctrine and his power, able to provide the Lord with room in the sanctuary of the heart...If it were built by the hands of men, it would not stand; strengthened only by worldly knowledge, it would not hold firm; supported only by our ineffective watchfulness and useless works, it would not be secure. This house must be built and guarded in a very different way: it should not be founded on the earth or on shifting sands, but established on its proper base, the prophets and the apostles.

We can fast, pray and do good works as much as we like, in other words, but unless we have faith, unless we have grace, it will all be to no avail.   The psalm is a warning to those who seek to pursue their own agenda rather than God's, as St Cassiodorus points out:

But if these men seek to build by their own powers, they are seen to labour to no effect unless the Lord's grace bestows an attitude of most genuine belief. Paul also says: Neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. We must commit our energy to perform these tasks, but with the belief that it is God that can carry them through. Otherwise we may be beguiled by empty presumptions, and be seen to ignore the Author and Perfector of things, to our own destruction.

If we do God's will though, our efforts will be rewarded by surrounding us with children and family who can help us withstand the enemy, and whose presence will speak for us at the gate to the eternal city.

Constructing our house in heaven

Underlying all of these interpretations of the psalm, I think, is the idea that the purpose of this life is to prepare for the next: Christ's sacrifice reminds us that our focus must be not on earthly things, but rather our abode in our heavenly home.  St Robert Bellarmine comments:

...for we are bound, through acts of faith, hope, and love, to build up a house in heaven; for, as St. Augustine has it, "Such a house is founded on faith, built up on hope, and finished off by charity; nor is anyone who has not previously prepared such a house ever admitted as a citizen in the heavenly country." Such a house is constructed rather by prayer and lamentation, than by manual labor, because, "we are not sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves."

Scriptural and liturgical uses of the psalm

NT references	Mt 6:25-34, Jn 15:5 (v1); Mt 6:11 (3)
RB cursus	None
Monastic feasts etc	Gradual psalms; Vespers Common of women saints and Our Lady Little Office of Our Lady: None and Vespers AN 3885 (v1); 3905 (5) Invitatory Lent Sundays (2)
Roman pre 1911	Tues Vespers
Responsories	-
Roman post 1911	1911-62:  Tues Vespers. 1970: Evening Prayer - Wednesday of Week Three
Mass propers (EF)

And for more on the psalm...

You can find the next part in this series here, in the form of notes on verse 1 of Psalm 126.

Or go straight to notes on the verses you are interesed in:

Pope Benedict XVI on Psalm 126
Psalm 126 verse 1
Psalm 126 verse 2
Psalm 126 verse 3
Psalm 126 verse 4
Psalm 126 verse 5
Psalm 126 verse 6

The Gradual Psalms and Acts - when God was a mathematician**Updated

Death and Testament of Moses  (at the age of 120) by Luca Signorelli

I'm not quite ready to resume my notes on the Gradual psalms yet, but I thought I would share with you today some comments that I came across in the course of my lectio divina, in St Bede's commentary on Acts that I think relate to the Gradual Psalms.

It is one of those bits of mathematical symbolism in Scripture that we tend to downplay the significance of, but which the Fathers saw as pointing to the beautiful order of the universe, reflected in the mathematical properties programmed by God into both the natural law and history.

There is a bit of hard work involved in following the logic here, but bear with me and see what you think.

Acts 1:15

Verse 15 of Acts One says:

15 In diebus illis, exsurgens Petrus in medio fratrum, dixit (erat autem turba hominum simul, fere centum viginti):

15 In those days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren, said: (now the number of persons together was about an hundred and twenty:)

Number properties

St Bede focuses in on the idea of a gradual growth in the number of believers, and points out that 120 can be seen as being 'built up' in fifteen stages:

These hundred and twenty, built up gradually by addition [of the numbers] from one to fifteen yields fifteen as the number of steps*

That is, 120 is a triangular number, made up of fifteen components, ie:

 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15=120.

The psalter, the law, and grace

St Bede then uses this mathematical connection between 15 and 120 to make several spiritual connections between the two numbers, one of which is an allusion to the psalms:

By reason of the perfection of both laws, this [number 15] is mystically contained in the psalter...

The references to the perfection of the law comes from bringing together two different Patristic memes.

A common Patristic theme expounded most fully in St Augustine, is that the number 15 can be seen as made up of 7+8.  The number 7 in this case represents the Old Law (for the seven days of creation), while 8 represents the New, since Christ rose on the 'eighth day'.  But there is also a connection between 120 and the law, for, Bede points out, Moses, the Old Testament lawgiver, died at the age of 120.

Accordingly, the number 120 is both mathematically and symbolically linked to fifteen and the law, and to the number of psalms in the book of psalms (multiply fifteen by the Decalogue, the ten commandments given to Moses).

Gradual Psalms

But it probably makes most sense, in my view, given the wording of the Latin (per incrementa surgentes quidecim graduum numerum efficiunt) to see it more specifically as a reference to the fifteen Gradual Psalms, and the number of steps in the temple, in particular.

The Gradual Psalms (Psalm 119-133), I have previously noted, are often seen as being about the ascent of grace, building on the psalm that immediately precede them, the great psalm of the law, Psalm 118.  Bede makes this connection in part through a cross-reference to Galatians 1:18 (see my previous note on the significance of the number in that context), which refers to St Paul staying with St Peter for fifteen days in Jerusalem before beginning his first mission journey.  St Bede says:

By reason of the perfection of both laws, this is mystically contained in the psalter, and for this [number of days] the 'vessel of election' [St Paul] dwelled with Peter in Jerusalem. For it was necessary that the preachers of the new grace would designate by their number the sacramental sign which the lawgiver [Moses] exhibited [in the years of his life].

**And in fact I have now found St Bede's source for this comment (not noted in the edition of the commentary I am using) I think, in St Gregory the Great's On Job.  St Gregory implies a similar link (though he is more explicit about the connection to the psalter in general).  St Gregory provides an exposition of the symbolic meaning of seven and eight, and then adds them together saying:

Hence it is, that the Temple is ascended with fifteen steps, in order that it may be learned by its very ascent that by seven and eight our worldly doings may be carefully discharged, and an eternal dwelling may be providently sought for. Hence also it is that, by increasing a unit to ten, the Prophet uttered a hundred and fifty Psalms. For on account of this number ‘seven’ signifying temporal things, and the number ‘eight’ eternal things, the Holy Spirit was poured forth upon a hundred and twenty of the faithful, sitting in an upper room. For fifteen is made up of seven and eight, and if in counting from one to fifteen we mount up by adding the sums of the numbers together, we reach the number a hundred and twenty. By this effusion of the Holy Spirit they learned in truth both to pass through with endurance things temporal, and eagerly to seek after those that are eternal...(BK 35:17)

The growth of the Church depends on our growth in humility

What St Bede is getting at in all this then, I think, is something that in his later works he draws out much more clearly, namely that the expansion in the number of believers, the growth of the Church, is linked to each of our own growth in humility.

In the case of Acts 1, we see the Apostles transformed: chastened by their loss of faith at the Crucifixion, they are now reinvigorated by Christ's Resurrection and instruction during these days.  And their spiritual progress, their mystical ascent of the steps of the temple towards heaven, draws in new believers.

And of course, the principle applies to us as well: our spiritual progress in the pilgrimage of life represented by the Gradual Psalms helps builds up the Church, helps rebuild its broken walls...

Versification of Acts

Finally, as an aside, you would have to think the sixteenth century editor who added verse numbers to Scripture, Robert Estienne, must have been aware of the connection between the number one hundred and twenty to the number fifteen as well...

**The translations come from The Venerable Bede, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Translated, with an introduction and Notes, by Lawrence T Martin, Cistercian Publications, 1989

The way to heaven reopened: St Benedict and the Gradual Psalms

William Blake

Today, the final part of this Lenten series on the Gradual Psalms with some comments from St Jerome, and St Bede.

St Jerome

Today we recall the harrowing of hell, when Christ freed the holy souls to enter heaven.  In this light, St Jerome's comments on the Gradual Psalms emphasises the role of Christ in our ascent of Jacob's Ladder:

These gradual psalms...are called songs of ascent because in them we mount step by step to greater heights...Jacob saw a ladder set up on the ground with its top reaching to heaven, and in heaven the Lord was leaning upon it...

 It is very difficult, indeed, to ascend from earth into heaven.  We fall more easily than we rise.  We fall easily; it requires great labor, a great deal of sweat to climb upwards...

Do not give up hope though the climb is arduous, and difficult, and engenders despair.  Do not lose confidence O man,: the Lord is up there on the fifteenth step.  He is watching over you; he is helping you...Mark what it [Scripture] does say: Jacob saw Him leaning over the ladder.  Just realise what that means: from where He was standing, He stooped down and lowered Himself that we might ascend.  The Lord stooped down; for your sake he humbled himself; climb up, therefore with safety and confidence.

He therefore instructs us to 'meditate upon the mystical significance of Jacob's ladder', for he argues, to climb from earth to heaven requires great pain, severe effort.

St Bede on St Benedict's ladder of humility

Finally, a few comments from St Bede, who takes us back to St Benedict's teaching on the psalms of ascent:

They arrive as far as the steps that come down from the city of David when one has learned to advance by means of spiritual desires from the common life of the faithful to the things of heaven.  For the steps that come down from the city of David to the lower parts of the city of Jerusalem are the aids of divine inspiration or protection by which we should ascend to his kingdom. For David made the steps by which we should ascend to his city when divine mercy taught us the order of the virtues by which we may seek heavenly things and when it granted us the gift of seeking these same virtues.  Doubtless it is about these steps that the psalmist said: Blessed is the man whose help is from you O Lord; he has placed ascents in his heart., and so on until he says: They will walk from virtue to virtue; the God of gods will be seen in Zion. (Ps 83:6-8).  

The builders of the holy city arrive at these steps, therefore, after building the walls of the Pool of Siloa and the King's Garden when, after the mysteries of the Lord's incarnation have been revealed whereby the Gentile world blind from birth  has been cleansed and illuminated, and after the sprouts of good action have begun to grow through faith, holy teachers at the appropriate moment more diligently reveal the progress of the virtues to their hearers, whereby they may ascend to the vision of their Creator, namely him 'of the strong hand' or 'the desirable one', which is the meaning of the name David.   

Benedict, a father very reverend both in his name and in his life, realized that these steps especially consist in humility when, interpreting our journey to celestial things to be designated by the ladder shown to the Patriarch Jacob, by which angels ascended and descended, he distinguished in a very careful and pious examination the steps of the ladder itself as the increments and stages of good works that are performed through humility...(On Ezra and Nehemiah, trans  deGregorio, pp171-2)

I hope you have found this series of use, and wish you a joyous Easter.  Please if you would, remember me in your prayers.

William Blake The three Marys at the tomb

A Good Friday meditation on the Gradual Psalms

Today, I want to provide some comments on these psalms from St Fulgentius of Ruspe, a contemporary of St Benedict, that seem to me particularly apposite for the day:

Just as one who returns to his homeland [Psalm 119] always has more of the trail ahead of him until he arrives, so we also, as long as we are in this mortal body, are away from the Lord.  For us in the present life is a road in which we always have room for being able to make progress, until, with God leading us, we are able to reach that eternal homeland of blessed immortality.

Therefore it is a great blessing in the present age to love in such a way that each member of the faithful applies himself to spiritual progress but not, however, at any time proudly attributing this to his own power.  Rather, with humble heart he asks God for a ceaseless guarding of the gift received [Ps 122], from whom emanates not just the beginning but also the perfecting of every good will....

There is no period in this life in which the enemy does not set a trap for people; no one can escape his snares with his own strength except that one whom God has deigned to free by his grace through Jesus Christ our Lord...So the prophet too proclaims that his feet will be freed from the snare not by his own power but by the divine gift..in another text, whom the Lord has deigned to transfer to safety and happiness for eternity, it is said:'Our soul has escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare has been broken are we have escaped'. [Ps 123] ...

Here we overcome the adversary if we fight with tears and prayers and continuing humility of heart.  It is written that 'The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds...and it will not desist until the Most High responds'.  Therefore the weeping of the humble contributes greatly to the destruction of carnal concupiscence.   The tears which come from compunction of heart both conquer the enemy and gain for us the gift of triumphal happiness.  For those 'who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves' [Ps 125].  

How well does the holy prophet teach that the seeds of good works must be watered by a river of tears!  No seeds germinate unless they are watered; nor does fruit come forth from the seed if deprived of the aid of water.  Accordingly, we too, if we wish to keep the fruits of our seeds, let us not stop watering our seeds with tears which must be poured out more from the heart than from the body.  Therefore it is said to us through the prophet that we need to rend 'our hearts and not our clothing'; something we can do when we recall that we ourselves, even if not in deed, frequently sin in thought.  Because the 'earthly tent burdens the thoughtful mind' and our land does not cease to produce thorns and thistles for us.  We are unable to get to eating our bread, unless we will have been worn out by weariness and the sweat of our brow...

Therefore although we have reason to thank God, because by his free mercy, he has subjected us to himself so that we are humble, still we have reason to have to beseige the divine ears with continuous prayers; because as long as we are in this mortal body, just as we cannot be without sin, so we are not yet able to show forth perfect humility to the divine commands...(trans Robert B Eno, in Fulgentius Selected Works).

And you can find the final part in this series here. 

The Gradual Psalms and the Triduum

As we enter the last few days of Lent, and start the sacred Triduum, I thought I would end this series by providing a few sources to stimulate meditation that pull the whole set of psalms together in various ways.

To start with, here is Cassiodorus' summary of the fifteen steps represented by each psalm (I've inserted notes on which hour they are said at in the Benedictine Office):

Terce

On the first step he denotes loathing of the world, after which there is haste to attain zeal for all the virtues.

Secondly, the strength of divine protection is explained, and it is demonstrated that nothing can withstand it.

Thirdly, the great joy of dwelling with pure mind in the Lord's Church is stated.

Sext

Fourth, he teaches us that we must continually presume on the Lord's help whatever the constraints surrounding us, until He takes pity and hears us.

Fifth, he warns us that when we are freed from dangers, we must not attach any credit to ourselves, but attribute it all to the power of the Lord.

In the sixth, the trust of the most faithful Christian is compared to immovable mountains.

None

In the seventh, we are told how abundant is the harvest reaped by those who sow in tears.

In the eighth, it is said that nothing remains of what any individual has performed by his own will; only the things built by the sponsorship of the Lord are most firmly established.

In the ninth, it is proclaimed that we become blessed through fear of the Lord, and that all profitable things are granted us.

Monday Vespers

In the tenth, he inculcates in committed persons the patience which he commands through the words of the Church.

Tuesday Vespers

In the eleventh, as penitent he cries from the depths to the Lord, asking that the great power of the Godhead be experienced by the deliverance of mankind.

In the twelfth, the strength of meekness and humility is revealed.

In the thirteenth, the promise of the holy incarnation and the truth of the words spoken are demonstrated.

In the fourteenth, spiritual unity is proclaimed to the brethren, and to them the Lord's benediction and eternal life are shown to accrue.

Compline

In the fifteenth, there is awakened in the course of the Lord's praises that perfect charity than which nothing greater can be expressed, and nothing more splendid discovered. As the apostle attests: God is love.  So let us continually meditate on the hidden nature of this great miracle, so that by ever setting our gaze on such things, we may avoid the deadly errors of the world.

The number of these psalms contains this further mystery: when the five bodily senses, by which human frailty incurs all sin, are overcome by the power of the Trinity, this leads us to the fifteenth height of the psalms of the steps; thus the body's weakness is eliminated, and eternal rewards are bestowed on those who conquer it.

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