Since our Lord's coming to earth, the psalms have formed an integral part of
Christian spirituality and prayer. In explaining the significance of the
Incarnation, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews quotes from a psalm:
Then I said, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book, "I come to do
Your will, my God!" Heb. 10:7, ef. Psalm 40:7
Our Lady's canticle of praise, the Magnificat, contains a number of
references from the psalms. As Jesus died on the Cross, He prayed a psalm.
After His Resurrection, He told the Apostles that everything written about
me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Luke
24:44
That psalmodic fulfillment was proclaimed by St. Peter in his first sermon
on Pentecost. St. Stephen prayed part of a psalm as he was being stoned. St.
Paul admonished the first Christians to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Col. 3:16 Believers down the centuries have continued to follow his
directive. The ancient Desert Fathers often memorized the entire Psalter. As
the first communities of monks and nuns were formed, the psalms provided the
foundation for their prayer, Mass by Mass, hour by liturgical hour.
St. Francis of Assisi was a thirteenth century heir to this rich tradition
of praying the psalms. While not a "man of letters," he had a deeply
sensitive, poetic nature, which praying the inspired Word of God purified
and elevated. Francis came to love the psalms because he found Jesus in
them. They became, quickly and deeply, his prayer simply because they were
first Christ's prayer. And-because they were Christ's prayer,
they were also, preeminently, the prayer of Christ's bride, the Church.
The Little Poor Man's writings are filled with references from and allusions
to the psalms. In what would be called the first Franciscan study project,
he gathered verses from various psalms that spoke to him of our Lord's
Passion and arranged them in a devotional form that we know today as the
Office of the Passion or the Office of the Cross.
The Seraphic Father was not so much interested in owning a written copy of
the Psalter as he was in "owning" the spirit which animated each of the 150
psalms. The prayers attributed to St. Francis witness to how successfully he
attained to this spiritual ownership. There is the same strong faith, deep
emotion, singing poetry and universal appeal in the prayers of the Poor Man
as is found in the psalms.
While not a scholar in the formal sense, the Seraphic Patriarch has much to
teach us about plumbing the depths of the psalms. And perhaps the first
lesson he would wish us to learn is that the psalms help us to focus on the
essential. There is no need for complexity or subtlety or subterfuge when
one prays the psalms. As Psalm 117 (the shortest psalm in the Psalter)
proves, you do not even need many words to offer God a perfect hymn of
praise. You simply enter into the psalm, allow the psalm to enter into
you... and the Holy Spirit will do the rest!
Acclaim Him, all you
peoples.
Strong is His love for
us;
He is faithful forever.
Psalm 117
