Thanks for letting everyone know about the eightfold Miserere. It is one of the absolute treasures of the liturgical year.
And as for being 'repetitive' in Latin it really isn't. If I had to recite the English translation of Psalm '51' found currently in the Liturgy of the Hours eight times in a day I really would feel oppressed, but the Latin is not so. It is musical and rhythmic and the words just roll right off the tongue.
Really the Latin Psalter of the West is something we should be giving a great deal more respect to. It is a historical monument, along with the Mass, that puts absolutely everything on the UNESCO world heritage list to shame yet for two hundred years our so called 'scholars' even some in the so called trad world today have just blown it off or tried to run it down.
We have something here that has been in continuous use in the West since the Roman Empire and is so old that we have no idea who the translator was. Saint Jerome just touched it up a little but not really all that much. Yet we ignore this great treasure and insist that some medieval manuscript produced by non Christians is a better option. Stupid.
“He offers to pour His blood into our wounds, to water them back to health, and feed them with life. He came for sinners because of their sin, not their natural goodness streaming from His hand. Sin was, is, the implacable enemy of Christ — an enemy that withers before His accepted gaze and touch.”
The wonder and mercy of Our Lord! That, “…when as yet we were sinners, …Christ died for us.” (Rom v. 8-9) We were His enemies and yet He laid down His life for us. We did not deserve anything from our sins and wickedness, but Our Lord—in His love—intervened for our salvation. As the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil will proclaim, “O Happy Fault! O truly necessary sin of Adam, that won for us so great a Saviour!”
All we can offer in exchange is our lives confirmed to His, our meager penances and sacrifices united to His Holy Cross, so that we may found like Him (Phil iii. 8-9). And all this only because He first loved us and made it possible by the shedding of His Precious Blood. For God works in us to bring us to salvation as we cooperate with His graces (Phil ii. 13). The Psalms—and their constant consumption via prayer and recitation—are a great way to keep the cyclic nature of the foretelling, the acting out, and the fruits of the Paschal Mystery ever in our minds and hearts.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for purchasing our salvation in the Passion. A mercy we don’t deserve. Miserere mei Deus secundum magnum misericordiam tuam!
So true. I know four complete psalms by heart (more in bits) and psalm 50 is one of them. The Psalms are perpetual nourishment for the soul and knowledge of our sinfulness is, as you say, the foundation of faith.
On a separate note, the Solesmes Benedictines tend to do the asperges before their novus ordo Sunday mass. I have come across it nowhere else but it is so important.
Allegri’s Miserere is the sound of Holy Week for me, and I look forward to listening to the other versions of Psalm 50 that you shared. Spending the Triduum in Gower sounds like such a beautiful and intensely spiritual experience.
Thank you Dr Kwasniewski. I am rather, somewhat of a hopeless addict, in listening to Psalm 50 in all of its Latin renditions, in all seasons of the year. This may be due to my dominant melancholic temperament or a nod to a life less than perfect, but nonetheless the music consoles me, saddens me, and inspires me. Such strange bedfellows, but there you are.
"And Christ Himself was descended from that fornication." No, He wasn't.
The son that David had from his adulterous affair with Bathsheba died as an infant, as prophesied by Nathan. The child's name is not even mentioned. (2 Samuel 12:15-19)
David and Bathsheba were married when she conceived Solomon, from whom Jesus was descended. (2 Samuel 12:24-25)
Thank you so much. Once when very young I was in adoration and asked our Lord what in the Bible he wanted me to memorize. In a child’s way, I thought that I should randomly open a Bible and what I first saw would be what I’d memorize. It was Psalm 50. I memorized words I didn’t understand. But I have repeated it from memory each week since then. And now, your article helps me so much in knowing what it is and how powerful it is both in the life of the Church and as a preparation for the source and summit of our worship of God in the liturgy. God is so wonderful, planting seeds that later bloom, sometimes years hence. May his name be blessed and praised now and forever.
Psalm 50 (not 51!) -- respect! It is interesting that we currently mostly follow not the numbering of the (pre-Christian Jewish) Septuagint and (Christian) Vulgate but the (post- and anti-Christian Jewish) Masoretes (if I understand correctly).
Why would the demons, who flee from a drop of holy water, have wanted it to stay in the liturgy. Note to self: Must sit closer to the priest for the sprinkling.
Dr. Kwasniewski . Great article again! The Allegri is my favorite.Do the words and music to the Allegri Miserere have all the words of the Psalm in it?
I've been listening more and more to Macmillan's Miserere lately, and is growing on me. My ear is picking up the influences from Allegri's composition.
I checked 4 Eucharistic prayers of the Novus Ordo mass and there was not any mention of sin in any. I guess the authors of this mass wanted to please their Protestant advisors by eliminating any reference to sin
Profound phrases;to meditate on, revealing that we need to be aware of our own nothingness, misery, and corruption. Viz,the damp rot, the festering sin which prepares us for the eightfold misereres, we then can rejoice. In the power of the Asperges and the glory of the Vidi aquaam
Thanks for letting everyone know about the eightfold Miserere. It is one of the absolute treasures of the liturgical year.
And as for being 'repetitive' in Latin it really isn't. If I had to recite the English translation of Psalm '51' found currently in the Liturgy of the Hours eight times in a day I really would feel oppressed, but the Latin is not so. It is musical and rhythmic and the words just roll right off the tongue.
Really the Latin Psalter of the West is something we should be giving a great deal more respect to. It is a historical monument, along with the Mass, that puts absolutely everything on the UNESCO world heritage list to shame yet for two hundred years our so called 'scholars' even some in the so called trad world today have just blown it off or tried to run it down.
We have something here that has been in continuous use in the West since the Roman Empire and is so old that we have no idea who the translator was. Saint Jerome just touched it up a little but not really all that much. Yet we ignore this great treasure and insist that some medieval manuscript produced by non Christians is a better option. Stupid.
“He offers to pour His blood into our wounds, to water them back to health, and feed them with life. He came for sinners because of their sin, not their natural goodness streaming from His hand. Sin was, is, the implacable enemy of Christ — an enemy that withers before His accepted gaze and touch.”
The wonder and mercy of Our Lord! That, “…when as yet we were sinners, …Christ died for us.” (Rom v. 8-9) We were His enemies and yet He laid down His life for us. We did not deserve anything from our sins and wickedness, but Our Lord—in His love—intervened for our salvation. As the Exsultet of the Easter Vigil will proclaim, “O Happy Fault! O truly necessary sin of Adam, that won for us so great a Saviour!”
All we can offer in exchange is our lives confirmed to His, our meager penances and sacrifices united to His Holy Cross, so that we may found like Him (Phil iii. 8-9). And all this only because He first loved us and made it possible by the shedding of His Precious Blood. For God works in us to bring us to salvation as we cooperate with His graces (Phil ii. 13). The Psalms—and their constant consumption via prayer and recitation—are a great way to keep the cyclic nature of the foretelling, the acting out, and the fruits of the Paschal Mystery ever in our minds and hearts.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you for purchasing our salvation in the Passion. A mercy we don’t deserve. Miserere mei Deus secundum magnum misericordiam tuam!
So true. I know four complete psalms by heart (more in bits) and psalm 50 is one of them. The Psalms are perpetual nourishment for the soul and knowledge of our sinfulness is, as you say, the foundation of faith.
On a separate note, the Solesmes Benedictines tend to do the asperges before their novus ordo Sunday mass. I have come across it nowhere else but it is so important.
Allegri’s Miserere is the sound of Holy Week for me, and I look forward to listening to the other versions of Psalm 50 that you shared. Spending the Triduum in Gower sounds like such a beautiful and intensely spiritual experience.
Thank you Dr Kwasniewski. I am rather, somewhat of a hopeless addict, in listening to Psalm 50 in all of its Latin renditions, in all seasons of the year. This may be due to my dominant melancholic temperament or a nod to a life less than perfect, but nonetheless the music consoles me, saddens me, and inspires me. Such strange bedfellows, but there you are.
"And Christ Himself was descended from that fornication." No, He wasn't.
The son that David had from his adulterous affair with Bathsheba died as an infant, as prophesied by Nathan. The child's name is not even mentioned. (2 Samuel 12:15-19)
David and Bathsheba were married when she conceived Solomon, from whom Jesus was descended. (2 Samuel 12:24-25)
Please correct your article.
Thank you so much. Once when very young I was in adoration and asked our Lord what in the Bible he wanted me to memorize. In a child’s way, I thought that I should randomly open a Bible and what I first saw would be what I’d memorize. It was Psalm 50. I memorized words I didn’t understand. But I have repeated it from memory each week since then. And now, your article helps me so much in knowing what it is and how powerful it is both in the life of the Church and as a preparation for the source and summit of our worship of God in the liturgy. God is so wonderful, planting seeds that later bloom, sometimes years hence. May his name be blessed and praised now and forever.
Psalm 50 (not 51!) -- respect! It is interesting that we currently mostly follow not the numbering of the (pre-Christian Jewish) Septuagint and (Christian) Vulgate but the (post- and anti-Christian Jewish) Masoretes (if I understand correctly).
So beautiful, Dr. K! Thanks for giving me some good stuff to chew on as we enter Holy Week!
Why would the demons, who flee from a drop of holy water, have wanted it to stay in the liturgy. Note to self: Must sit closer to the priest for the sprinkling.
Dr. Kwasniewski . Great article again! The Allegri is my favorite.Do the words and music to the Allegri Miserere have all the words of the Psalm in it?
Great article I will have to come back to later when I'm home and can write down some notes and delve further.
I've been listening more and more to Macmillan's Miserere lately, and is growing on me. My ear is picking up the influences from Allegri's composition.
This post has catapulted me to insanity in every desirable way, transporting my soul into the heavenly realm. Thank you again, Dr. K
I checked 4 Eucharistic prayers of the Novus Ordo mass and there was not any mention of sin in any. I guess the authors of this mass wanted to please their Protestant advisors by eliminating any reference to sin
Profound phrases;to meditate on, revealing that we need to be aware of our own nothingness, misery, and corruption. Viz,the damp rot, the festering sin which prepares us for the eightfold misereres, we then can rejoice. In the power of the Asperges and the glory of the Vidi aquaam