Heavenfield

In my continuing quest to learn more about 8-9th century breviate psalters I’ve came across a couple interesting papers:

Thomas H Bestul (1986) “Continental Sources of Anglo-Saxon Devotional Writing” p. 103-126 in Sources of Anglo-Saxon Culture. P Szarmach with V. Oggins, eds. Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications.

Leslie Webber Jones. (1929) “Cologne MS.106: A Book of Hildebald” Speculum 4(1): 27-61.

They are interesting papers. Finally a description of one of the three manuscripts that contain the oldest surviving edition of Bede’s Abbreviated Psalter (Cologne MS 106)! Bede’s three surviving psalters all come from c. 825 and apparently all passed through Alcuin (pictured).

There was apparently once quite a bit of discussion over this manuscript because it was thought that it might be the set of works sent by Alcuin to Bishop Arno of Salzburg before 805. Webber Jones has proven that this is not Alcuin’s manuscript. However, it does seem to contain the vast majority of the works that Alcuin sent to Arno, along with other materials.

So, it was apparently written in Cologne during the tenure of Bishop Hildebald of Cologne from 794-819 (who helpfully had all books produced during his tenure labeled as such). It includes Alcuin’s letter to Arno as a preface, as if to explain where most of the original text came from.

Cologne MS 106 contains a formidable list of Bede’s devotional materials: 12 hymns or metrical prayers including the hymn on Aethelthryth and his abbreviated psalter. Bede’s note that his hymns are in “various meters and rhythms” could be an explanation for the variety of metrical prayers and hymns included in his prayer book. In other words, it more a book of verse/poetry than a hymnal in today’s sense. His title seems to reflect the medieval norm that poetry was to be sung rather than recited. Given that I know of no cult of Aethelthryth on the continent and the manuscript isn’t reported to contain any excerpts from the Ecclesiastical History, Aethelthryth’ s hymn appears to be transmitted as one of a set of Bede’s hymns. This gives me some more confidence that we may have a portion of Bede’s ‘Book of Hymns’.

Bestul suggests that devotional books prior to the Book of Cerne were all or primarily verse (as the Cerne is, excepting the Passion narratives). All of Bede’s devotional works done for himself or friends were verse including his verse Life of Cuthbert and the hymn on Aethelthryth. For his personal uses, these verse versions were sufficient. He only writes the prose Life of Cuthbert to fulfill a specific commission from Lindisfarne. This answers the nagging question of why he didn’t write a prose life of Aethelthryth when he was clearly devoted to her memory. The answer may be that he simply didn’t get a commission to do so, and the hymn was sufficient for his use. Of course, the vast bulk of Bede’s works were not devotional materials; they were teaching texts. While these teaching texts may reveal windows into his theology and devotional practices, that was not their purpose.

This all begs the question: does Bede’s ‘Book of Hymns’ - currently best represented by Cologne MS106- represent Bede’s personal prayer book? If so, then it is the best window into his personal devotional practices.

One of the specific steps in the distilled prayer project on Bede’s Abbreviated Psalter is to reformat Browne’s text in a single paragraph without all the spaces between the abbreviated psalms and remove verse numbers, and make observations. Medieval manuscripts shown in Browne’s book show the text this way, with no separation or marks to indicate individual psalms. The only format that I left was a superscript to indicate which psalm the verse or phrase came from. In Browne’s translation the abbreviated psalter runs 4632 words.

I really didn’t expect that this reformatting would do much for me, but I was wrong. I decided to do this little experiment because I noticed that some of the smaller abbreviations made sense when read with the proceeding or succeeding abbreviation. At most I expected that there would be a few obvious paragraphs composed of several abbreviations. I had barely read through a third of it for the first time reformatted when I realized that I had underestimated how important the format was to at least my perception of the text.

There is a Jewish belief that the Torah is one long breath of God, one long utterance. What Bede has done is to discern, or indeed distill, the breath of the Jewish people in an unending cycle of praise and pleading within the psalter. Isn’t that the basis of human interaction with the divine? Praise/love and pleading. Generally, much heavier on the pleading – hear me, forgive me, help me, defend me, save me.

It is a collective stream of consciousness. As such it does flit about from topic to topic somewhat and becomes repetitive, just as real streams of consciousnesses do. Our praise never lasts for very long without thinking of something we need or want.

At the same time, the Abbreviated Psalter is also the breath of Bede, his own stream of consciousness because he chose these verses. He has systematically removed the Anointed One/Messiah and made this his own song. He chose direct statements between himself and God making his psalter clear and present. Ps 2.10-12 is one of the few verses that he addresses someone other than God – instructing secular kings– and yet, he still retains his voice.

“Now therefore, you kings, understand; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and exult him with trembling. Worship him in purity, lest perchance he become angry, and you perish from the way.”

In fact this address to secular kings reminds me of the dedication to the Ecclesiastical History. Bede had two very pious kings, Aldfrith and Ceolwulf, during his adulthood. He might expect that a work like the abbreviated psalter might to fall into one of their hands. Yet, this is the only direct statement to or about secular kings.

Bede has carefully edited these psalms so that they do flow into a stream of consciousness, one long breath of the people, a chorus he joins. The psalm and verse numbers have been stripped out of the following extract. Can you tell where each psalm starts or ends, or even which psalms they are from?

“From my secret faults cleanse me; from the presumptuous sins too deliver your servant. Let the words of my mouth be pleasing, Lord my strength and redeemer. But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. Be exulted, Lord, in your strength; we will sing and praise your strengths. But you Lord, do not be far; my strength, hasten to my help. Rescue my soul from the sword; save me from the mouth of the lion. And goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will receive blessing from the Lord. To you, Lord, I will lift up my soul. Show me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are God my savior. Do not remember the sins of my youth, and my crimes. In accordance with your mercy remember me. On account of your name, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Look upon me and have mercy on me; for my distresses bring me forth. Behold my humility and my toil, and bear all my sins. Guard my soul and deliver me.” (Browne trans, p. 28-30)

Did you recognize our beloved psalm 23 [Vulgate 22]? He only took one line from it…”and goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. This is the entirety of abbreviated psalms 18-24 [modern 19-25].

I am convinced that the abbreviated psalter is intended to be read/prayed straight through. It is not Bede’s intention for it to be used piecemeal, or the individual abbreviations studied or meditated on isolation. We do not have to necessarily follow Bede’s intentions; some chunks of the text can be usefully excised for a variety of purposes. Critically for modern use, we don’t have to confine our snippets to a single psalm.

Browne, Gerald M. trans. (2002) The Abbreviated Psalter of the Venerable Bede. Wm B Eerdmans.

Walter Brueggemann, Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. Second edition. Cascade books, 2007. 97 pages.

One of the specific aims of the distilled prayer project is to review modern scholarship on the psalms. There is quite a diversity of material available, much of it devoted to discussing individual psalms. This little book by Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann is one of the best I have found so far.

In the first chapter he introduces his theory that the psalms can be divided into three categories: secure orientation (status quo), painful disorientation, and surprised reorientation. Most of the psalms are disorientation, where the world is turned upside down for the psalmist. Reorientation occurs when things suddenly reverse course and psalmist is in thanksgiving. Orientation, or psalms of the status quo, are the least common and this state is best reflected in Proverbs. Overall I think these categories work well and are in terms that appeal to our generation.

The second and third chapters deal with the language of the psalms. Brueggemann wants us to appreciate the raw power and candor of the language. The depth of the language and the metaphors allows a catharsis that is necessary to move on beyond the crisis. He warns us that this catharsis is necessary and that we should not sanitize or edit offending verses. Metaphors are meant to have full range of our imagination, not restricted to mere descriptors. Brueggeman gives a rich discussion of some of the metaphors found in the psalms.

His fourth chapter focuses on Christian attitudes toward the Jewishness of the psalms. He believes that Christians must embrace this Jewishness, rather than avoid the most awkward verses. He gives a useful discussion of the meaning of Jerusalem as a place and a metaphor.

Brueggemann’s last chapter is on vengeance in the psalms. Here I think he makes two very important points. First, for all the raw, cathartic vitriol in the psalms, ultimately, vengeance is yielded to God. The psalmist never asks God to help him take vengeance or asks for forgiveness for vengeance he has already taken. Vengeance is God’s to dispense. This leads to the second point on the sovereignty of God. It is God’s decision on whether to dispense vengeance or show compassion. Several of the psalms express confusion on why God has not taken vengeance. Brueggemann stresses that judgment and vengeance are discussed in the New Testament in the same ways as the psalms. He quotes Hebrews 10:30-31: “For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay’. And again, ‘the Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’ This last line should be familiar to those who study the venerable Bede, as Cuthbert’s letter claims that this verse is one that Bede repeated over and over in his last days.

When I first started paying attention to the liturgical calendar and I saw that the feast of St John is during ‘Christmas week’, I thought it was such a shame that it would get lost in all the hustle and bustle of the holidays. But the more I think about it, locating John’s feast here is quite an honor. When the Christmas season was overwhelmingly a liturgical season, placing John’s feast in the midst of the Christmas season made him part of those great festivities. (Recall that in antiquity and the early middle ages, January 1 was not New Years day!) Four feasts of biblical saints or events are placed between Christmas and Epiphany — St Stephan the Protomartyr, St John, feast of the Innocents, (in three successive days) and then the feast of the Holy Name/Circumcision. The week that begins with the Nativity is the second holiest week of the year. It is significant here that the beginning of John’s gospel is also the reading for the only Sunday in Christmas season.

The feast of John has been set for December 27 from the early days of the church. It was originally reserved for both John and his brother James the Greater, but soon it was for John alone. According to the Online Catholic Encyclopedia the only death date (assumption) ever given for John is September 26th. The feast of John and Paul on June 26 refer to two Gaullic men who were martyred under Julian the Apostate.

Bede wrote two homilies on St John. The first is as expected his homily for today, the feast of St John the Apostle and Evangelist. The second is the homily on the feast of “St Paul and St John (or St James)”. Although this feast is supposed to be on two Roman martyrs in the time of Julian, thanks to the lectionary choice (Matt 20:20-23) Bede really wrote about John and his brother James.

Bede on the Feast of St John (Homily 1.9; John 21:19-24)

Bede’s homily on John is focuses on the contrast between Peter and John, unusually between an active and contemplative life. Bede acknowledges that John was quite active as an Apostle, but sees him primarily as an example of the contemplative life. If Bede is reflecting a common belief about John, it may also explain why John was so honored at Lindisfarne and among the Anglo-Celtic party in Northumbria.

Bede reviews John’s activities in the Gospels, defends the tradition that John is the beloved disciple, and focuses on the tradition of his chastity.

“This disciple’s leaning upon the master’s breast was not only a sign of present love, but also of future mystery. Already at that time it was prefigured that the gospel which this same disciple was going to write would include the hidden mysteries of divine majesty more copiously and profoundly than the rest of the pages of sacred scripture…. Indeed we know that the rest of the evangelists spoke more about the Savior’s miracles and less about his divinity. John, however, wrote very little about [Christ's] human acts, and instead applied himself of explaining the hidden mysteries of his divine nature, unmistakably suggesting [by this] what great matters of heavenly teaching he had imbibed from Jesus’ breast, from which he was pouring forth for us.” (p. 8

Bede then tackles what John means by saying that the beloved disciple will ‘remain until I come‘.

“[Christ's] saying about John, ‘I wish him to remain thus until I come,’ suggests the state of contemplative virtue, which is not to be ended through death, as the active life is, but after death is to be more perfectly completed with the coming of the Lord. Now active labor, when it comes to an end with death, will receive an eternal reward after death. For who gives bread to the hungry in that life where no one hungers? Who gives water to the thirsty where no one thirsts? Who buries the dead where it is the land of the living? Who carries out the rest of the works of mercy where no is found to be in need of mercy? And so no laborious action will be there, but only the everlasting fruit of past action. Contemplative happiness, however, which commences here, will be made perfect without end when the presence of the heavenly citizens and of the Lord himself will be seen, not through a mirror and in a dark manner as now, but face to face. Hence about this [life], Jesus properly said under the image of the disciple whom he loved and whom he made to lean on his breast, ‘I wish him to remain thus until I come‘. It is as if he were clearly saying, ‘I do not want the taste of contemplative delight, which I especially love in my saints, who are hoping in the protection of my wings, inebriated by the abundance of my house, and who have been made to drink from the torrent of my refreshment — I do not want this to be ended by dying, as [happens after] laborious action, but [I wish it] to be more sublimely perfected after death, when I will appear and lead them into the sight of my majesty.’

He then mentions that John waited so long to write his gospel after the death of Domitian because he was answering critics who questioned Jesus’ divinity before his incarnation in the Virgin Mary.

Feast of John and Paul (or James) (Homily 2.21; Matt 20:20-23)

This is the ’sons of thunder’ episode. First Bede feels he must explain why either of them wanted to sit on Christ’s left hand in heaven because in the final separation, those on his left are damned. He also careful to explain Jesus’ deference to the Father and how Jesus speaks of a distinct separation between himself and the Father. Lastly he writes about John’s death:

“Concerning John, trustworthy histories tell that when he was aware that the day of his death was near, he called his disciples together at Ephesus. Declaring Christ by many proofs and signs, he let himself down into the place that had been hallowed out for his burial, and when he had made his prayer he was gathered to his fathers, as free from the sorrow of death as he was a stranger to the corruption of the flesh. How, then, is he said to have drunk from the Lord’s chalice, since it is sure that he did not depart this body by a death caused by suffering? Is it not because this chalice is drunk in two ways: one when death is inflicted by a persecutor is patiently endured, the other when the mind is held ready for suffering, when a life is led that is worthy of martyrdom?

John himself taught how he was prepared to drink of the chalice of death for the Lord’s sake when he bore prison and beating with the rest of the apostles with a joyful mind, as we read in their acts; when he was exiled to the island of Patmos on account of [his speaking] the word of God and on account of [his bearing] witness to Jesus; when, as Church history tells us, he was cast into a pot of boiling oil by the emperor Domitian: by the Lord’s favor he emerged from it as unscathed and clean as he had been chaste in mind and body — just as when he was in exile, by [the Lord's] favorable disposition, the more he seemed to be deprived of human solace, the more abundantly did he merit to be consoled by the company of citizens from on high. Hence he too is truly understood to have drunk the Lord’s chalice, along with his brother James who was killed by the sword, for one who underwent great [torments] for the sake of the truth showed how ready he was to accept even death, if it were offered to him.

But we too, dearly beloved brothers, even if we endure nothing of his sort… nevertheless we are capable of receiving the Savior’s chalice and obtaining the psalm of martyrdom if we take care to chastise our bodies and subdue them; if we accustom ourselves to supplicating the Lord in the spirit of humility and with a contrite heart, if we attempt to accept with a calm mind insults inflicted by our neighbors; if we rejoice in loving even those who hate us, who inflict injustice upon us, and in doing good to them and praying earnestly with the virtue of patience and also with the fruits of good works. If we live our lives in this way, and in according to the Apostle’s words, display our bodies as a living heavenly condenscension deign to see to it that we are rewarded with the same glory as those who have given their bodies up to death for the Lord’s sake. Just as their death is precious in the sight of the Lord, so will our lives become precious [in his sight], and once the chains of the flesh have been broken, we too will be worthy to enter into the courts of the city on high, and, together with the chorus of the blessed martyrs, to render our prayers of thanksgiving to our Redeemer, who lives and reigns with the Father in unity with the Holy Spirit, God throughout all the ages. Amen.

Homily 2.9, p. 218-219.

~~~

Bede the Venerable. Homilies on the Gospels. Two volumes. L. Martin and D. Hurst, trans. Kalamazoo,MI: Cistercian Publications, 1991.

• Book One: Advent to Lent
• Book Two: Lent to the Dedication of the Church.

“She [Elizabeth] cried out and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb‘. ‘Blessed are you among women’ — not only blessed among women, but specially distinguished among blessed women by a greater blessing. ‘Blessed the fruit of your womb’ — not that he was blessed in a general way of saints, but, as the Apostle [Rom 9:5] says, To them belong the patriarchs, [and] from them, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who above all, God blessed for ages.

Of the origin of this fruit, the psalmist bears witness in a mystical utterance, saying, For indeed the Lord will give his generosity, and our earth will gives its fruit. [Ps 85:12] The Lord indeed gave of his generosity in that he arranged to liberate the human race from the crime of its transgression through his only-begotten Son. He gave of his generosity because with the grace of the Holy Spirit he consecrated for his entry the temple of a virginal womb. And our earth gave its fruit because the same virgin who had her body from the earth bore a son who was coequal to God the Father in his divinity, but by the reality of [his] flesh consubstantial with her. Concerning this, Isaiah [4:2] also, looking toward the time of human redemption, said, On that day the bud of the Lord will be in magnificence and in glory, and the fruit of the earth will be sublime. The bud of the Lord was in magnificence and glory when the undying Son of God, appearing temporally in the flesh as a bright light, poured out upon the world the greatness of his heavenly virtues. The fruit of the earth became sublime when the mortal flesh which God received from our nature, already rendered immortal in virtue of the resurrection, was raised up to heaven.”

Bede, Homily 1.4 (Advent 4), p. 32-33.

Bede the Venerable, Homilies on the Gospels: Book One Advent to Lent. L. Martin & D. Hurst, trans. Cistercian Publications, 1991.

Psalm 85:7-13 from the Book of Common Prayer:

“Show us your mercy, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

I will listen to what the Lord is saying, for he is speaking peace to his faithful people and to those who turn their hearts to him.

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring up from the earth, and righteousness will look down from heaven.

The Lord will indeed grant prosperity, and our land will yield its increase. [12]

Righteousness shall go before him, and peace shall be the pathway of for his feet.”

The church year is one of the central features of the Navigatio of St. Brendan, so I’m going to drop in for a visit with Brendan on his voyage as we make our way through the new church year of 2008 that begins with Advent.

As I discussed earlier, Brendan’s voyage to the Land of Promise is a voyage through the church year with specific destinations for each of the major church festivals and seasons. Brendan and his companions arrive at the Isle of St Ailbe during Advent and remain on the island for the entire Christmas season.

The most consistent legends of Ailbe (d. 52 make him a sixth century missionary bishop to the Munster region of Ireland (seated at Emly), and a disciple of St. Patrick. It is likely that Ailbe was considered the Apostle to Munster. Emly in Munster is land-locked so the Isle of St Ailbe is not a reference to the main site of Ailbe’s veneration. Brendan himself was from the kingdom of Munster.

The description of Brendan’s time with the island community of St Ailbe is described in chapter 12 of the Navigatio. I have heavily edited this to keep it brief. See the link in the line above for the full text.

Brendan and his monks arrive on the Isle of St. Ailbe days during the Advent season. After telling his monks to strictly maintain monastic silence and they had been greeted,

“Then he led them all into the refectory, in strict silence; ….Father abbot, in much cheerfulness, pressed his guests: ‘Brothers, from the fountain, out of which to-day you wished to drink stealthily, make now a loving cup in gladness and in the fear of the Lord. From the other fountain of foul water, which you saw, are the feet of the brethren washed, for it is always tepid. Those loaves of bread which you now see before you, we know not where they are prepared, or who brings them to our cellar; but we know well that, by the free gift of God, they are supplied to us, as an alms, by some obedient creature of His; and thus is fulfilled in our regard the words of divine truth; ‘Those who fear God want for nothing.’… thus it is that from the days of St Patrick and St Ailbe, our patriarchs, for eighty years until now, Christ provides us with sustenance. Moreover, neither old age nor bodily infirmities increase upon us here, were, in the paradise of God.

When the hours for the divine office and for Mass arrive, the lamps in our church, which, under God’s guidance, we brought with us from our own country, are set alight, and burn always without growing less.When vespers had concluded, St Brendan took heed of the structure of the church: it was a perfect square of equal length and breadth, and in it were seven lamps, so arranged that three of them hung before the central altar, and two before each of the side altars. All the altars were of crystal, and the chalices, paten as, cruets, and the other vessels required for the Divine Sacrifice were also of crystal. Around the church were ranged twenty-four benches, with the abbot’s seat between the two choirs of monks in rows on either side. No monk from either choir was allowed to intone the chant of the office, but the abbot; and throughout the monastery no voice was heard, nor any sound whatever…

When the office had concluded, the brethren went to their cells, taking their guests with them; but the abbot remained with St Brendan, in the church, to await the lighting of the lamps. The saint asked the father about about the rule of silence they observed; how such a mode of intercourse in a community was possible to flesh and blood. The abbot, with much reverence and humility, replied: ‘Holy father, I declare before the Lord, that during the eighty years that have passed since we came to this island, none of us has heard from the other the sound of the human voice, save only when we sing the praises of God. Amongst us twenty-four brothers, no voice is raised; but signs are made by the fingers or the eyes; and this is permitted only to the elder monks. None of us, since we came here, have suffered any infirmity of body or mind, such as may be fatal to mankind.’ Upon this St Brendan said with many tears: ‘Vouchsafe, I beseech thee, father abbot, to let us know whether we am permitted or not to abide here.’ The abbot rejoined: ‘You are not per­mitted, for such is not the will of God; but why do you ask me, when God had revealed to you, before you came to us, what you must do? You must return to your own country, where God has prepared for you, as well as for your fourteen companions, the place of sepulture. Of the other two monks, one will have his pilgrimage in the island of the anchorites; but the other will suffer in hell the worst of all deaths;’ and these events after­ward came to pass.

While they were thus conversing, behold, as they looked on, a fiery arrow, passing in through a window, set alight all the lamps that hung before the altars; and passing out through the same window, left the lamps burning. Then St Brendan inquired who would extinguish those lamps in the morning, and the abbot re­plied: ‘Come, and see the secret of all this: you observe those tapers burning in the vases; yet none of them is consumed, nor do they grow less, nor do any ashes remain in the morning, for the light is entirely spiritual.’ ‘How,’ said St Brendan, ‘can a spiritual flame thus burn in a material substance?’ ‘Have you not read,’ said the abbot, ‘of the burning bush, near Mount Sinai, which remained unconsumed by the burning?’ ‘Yes,’ said the saint, ‘I have read of this; When they had thus remained on watch until morn­ing, St Brendan asked permission to depart from the island, but the abbot replied: ‘No, O man of God, you must celebrate with us the festival of our Lord’s Nativity, and afford us the joy of your company until the Octave of Epiphany.’ The holy father, therefore, with his brethren, remained until that time on this Island of St Ailbe.” (from J. Wooding, Celtic E-Library)

The island community of St Ailbe is portrayed as a perpetual divine choir who exists only to praise God, in complete reliance on God, and is therefore provided with all its wants and needs. No one ages or gets ill; no one is too hot or too cold. The church itself is shown to be lit by heavenly light that does not consume its candles and the altar and sacred vessels are all made of pure crystal which only reflects the heavenly light. As the abbot tells Brendan, this is a type of paradise.

The community of St. Ailbe also recalls God’s providence during Exodus. The abbots continual reminders to Brendan of what has been decreed about his voyage and the fates of Brendan’s companions places the abbot in the role of a prophet. The abbot’s explanation of candle lit by divine light but not consumed is to remind Brendan of the burning bush upon Mount Sinai that is not consumed. Water is provided by two springs of water that may recall the bitter spring turned sweet by Moses who then decrees that if the Israelites will follow God’s commandments they will not suffer the illnesses and diseases of the Egyptians (Exodus 15:23-25). They take their sustenance from divinely provided bread recalls the manna provided from heaven on which the Israelites must rely for 40 years until they enter the promised land. The double share of bread on Sundays recalls the double portion of manna given to the Israelites on the sixth day of the week so that they will not have to gather the manna on the sabbath. The double portion consumed on Sunday, the sabbath, reflects an adaption to reflect contemporary monastic practices. Unlike the Israelites, the community of St Ailbe are satisfied to rely completely on God’s providence without complaint and so they continue on for 80 years, twice the 40 years that the Israelites wonder in the wilderness, and remain healthy and whole. Brendan is being shown that he must rely completely on God’s providence and protection on his exodus from the ‘wilderness of Sin’ (Exodus 16.1) toward the Land of Promise to his Saints.

Its seems odd that after the abbot explains all to Brendan, he then asks to leave the community the next day! The abbot reminds Brendan that he has already been told that he will remain with them until the eve of Epiphany, and so they must wait and learn patience. After previously asking if they could remain there forever, why is Brendan eager to leave? If he is eager to move his journey along, then he has failed to learn the lesson of patience, that the next stage will occur on God’s time and not his own. The seasons of Advent and Christmas are about anticipation of God’s great gift to the world in the birth of Christ, and celebration of the bounty of God. This anticipation is figured in the silent community where Brendan will wait in silent anticipation of the arrival of Christ into the world while completely dependent upon God’s bounty. For the community, this is not just an Advent discipline but a way of life that waits in anticipation of the second coming of Christ.

So now we must wait in anticipation of the Nativity and celebrate God’s bounty during the Christmas season before we continue along our journey with Brendan.

Sr Benedicta Ward’s booklet Bede and the Psalter is reprint of her 1991 Jarrow Lecture of the same name. It was reprinted by her order, the Sisters of the Love of God, in 2002. Although she does discuss general uses and attitudes toward the psalter, Bede’s Abbreviated Psalter is her main focus.

The Psalter and the Liturgy

She begins with a discussion of the centrality of the psalter in seventh century liturgy, when the daily office was the primary type form of all liturgy. The centrality of the psalms to daily life and how the liturgical year brought new contexts to the psalms is discussed. She briefly mentions the psalter collects used in Bede’s time to direct the psalter toward Christ. She notes that the prayer Bede sang in his last days was one of these collects.

“O King of Glory, Lord of Might, who didst this day ascend in triumph above all the heavens, leave us not comfortless, but send to us the Spirit of the Father, even the Spirit of Truth. Amen.” (p. 4)

Ward asserts that this prayer “combines the liturgical use of psalm 24 with both antiphons and prayers”. A more complete discussion of this prayer and the collects in general would have been helpful to me. I don’t believe the collects have ever been translated into English (a worthwhile project for any liturgically minded folks in search of a project!).

Ward then turns her attention to the use of the psalter at Wearmouth-Jarrow and, in particular, to Abbot Coelfrith’s devotion to the psalms (and antiphons). Here the Anonymous Life of Coelfrith and Bede’s History of the Abbots are critical. Ward notes that Coelfrith’s devotion to the psalms was above and beyond the call of the Benedictine Rule. She also discusses the influence of Rome on Bede’s Wearmouth and Jarrow. Bede was quite proud that they were directed in their manner of singing and praying by John, the Precentor of St. Peter’s in Rome and abbot of St. Martin’s monastery. Abbot John of St. Martin’s was with Wearmouth-Jarrow through Bede’s childhood, a formative period for his use of the psalter.

Bede as a Scholar and the Psalms

This section is one that I have some problems with. First, she makes a common assumption that Bede took part in the creation of the Codex Amiatinus, for which there really is no proof. Surely, Bede was not the only person at Wearmouth-Jarrow with a ’scholarly eye’; Abbot Coelfrith himself is likely to have overseen the creation of the pandects. Indeed it is hard to imagine that it wasn’t Abbot Coelfrith who decided such vital matters as which translations would be used in the pandects.

As discussed on ANSAX-L, her assignment of various versions of the psalter to the use of Bishop Wilfrid and Bede is not well supported. She believes that Bede used the Gallican psalter in his works and in church, but the Versio Romana is more likely. She also believes that Wilfrid learned the iuxta hebracos in Kent before going to Rome. This is the version that Bede used for his Abbreviated Psalter and is used in the Codex Amiatinus, but was not used in his other works including On Ezra and is not believed to have ever been widely used in the liturgy. We know that Abbot John of St. Martin’s in Rome taught the monks of Wearmouth-Jarrow to sing in the Roman manner, so they would have been using what was in use in Rome. This is unlikely to be either the Gallican or the iuxta Hebracos. This leaves the Versio Romanum as the most likely choice for Bede’s working psalter.

Ward does helpfully point the reader toward Cassiodorus Exposition on the Psalms as a major influence on Bede and to Bede’s own De Metris et Tropis as a work where he quotes the psalms frequently.

Bede and the Tradition of compunctio cordis in the Psalms

Compunctio cordis is a heartfelt sorrow. It was a practice of early monks to meditate on psalms that they memorized and recited daily. For the earliest monks, particularly living in isolation, they recited all of the psalms daily; they didn’t follow a office scheme. The desert fathers believed a true monk would always have the psalms in their heart, not just at set times of the day.

Ward notes that Bede believed that the entire bible was authored by God, the entire psalter is conveyed by David, and through the psalter, God spoke to people. This is hard viewpoint for me to grapple with because it seem so opposite to me.

Ward notes that Cassian and Cassiodorus saw the perfect monk as a spiritual hedgehog, in the words of Cassian:

“This hedgehog of prayer will take into himself all the thoughts of the psalms and will begin to sing them in such a way that he will utter them with the deepest emotion of his heart…as if they were his own prayer…and will take them as aimed at himself and will recognize that their words were not only fulfilled by or in the person of the prophet but they were fulfilled and carried out daily in his own case.” (Ward, p. 13)

Ward believes that Bede saw himself as such a spiritual hedgehog. (Note hedgehogs are on the cover of her book.) Previous theologians had seen all types of allegory in the psalms, but for Bede when writing of his contemporaries (V. Cuthbert and History of the Abbots), the psalms were always compunctio cordis, a cry of the heart. Ward finds and quotes a very useful commentary by Bede on the epistle of James where he discusses the great value of the psalms particularly in times of great sorrow.

Finally, we get to the Abbreviated Psalter. Here she notes that: “The verses were selected so that a sense of the meaning of the psalm as a whole was retained; it would be possible to recall the whole psalm from these clues.” Actually, I don’t agree. Most of the time it does reflect the meaning of the whole psalm, but not always. How does “help me, O Lord” only specifically call to mind psalm 11/12? Context with previous abbreviations also, I believe, matter. Further, they often can not be a memory device to recall the whole psalm. For example, two of the abbreviated psalms are identical (Ps 13/14 and 52/53). Others are simply not memorable enough to call to mind a specific psalm.

Ward asserts that the Abbreviated Psalter began a new form of prayer that continued for the next four centuries. She notes that Alcuin was one of the most active promotors of the Abbreviated Psalter. Ward asserts that Alcuin had more of an “interior interest in the person praying and his needs” than Bede. How does she know that Bede didn’t focus on the interior meaning of the prayers? He left no instructions or commentary on its use. How do we know that Bede didn’t mean this only for his own personal use? It is not part of his publications list in the Ecclesiastical History. She also notes that Alcuin saw them as a perfect revelation of Christ, foretelling his coming, his incarnation, passion, resurrection and ascension. I don’t see this in Bede’s Abbreviated Psalter; indeed, Bede specifically avoids verses in the psalms that are usually interpreted as referring to the Messiah. From her quote of Alcuin’s letter to Bishop Arno it is clear that Alcuin recognized what it is and that it included verses from all 150 psalms. Ward then usefully reviews the use and evolution of the abbreviated psalter after the time of Alcuin. Eventually, the Durham copy contained a note advocating its use not only by monks and hermits but also by those who “have worldy business, who lie in sickness, who undertake long journeys, sail in ships or go to war; they sing this psalter assiduously and they gain thereby the heavenly kingdom” (Ward, p. 22).

Ward’s Edition of the Abbreviated Psalter

Ward provides a edition of the Abbreviated Psalter as an appendix to her Jarrow lecture. This really isn’t a translation but a selection of the corresponding verses from the current Church of England psalter. Verses where Jerome’s Hebrew Psalter differs from modern psalters are not reflected in this edition. The purpose of her edition is only to be used with her talk and for that purpose it is adequate (and a lot of work for an appendix!).

In summary then, although I disagree with Sr. Ward on a few points discussed here, she was a trailblazer in writing on the Abbreviated Psalter. Had she not chosen it as the topic of her Jarrow lecture most of us would not know of the existence of the Abbreviated Psalter. Overall, her lecture will serve as the basis for all scholarship on the Bede’s psalter and his use of the psalms for at least the next generation.