A talk following Vespers on Monday: In the monastic office of Lauds some psalms are repeated very frequently. Psalm 51, "Miserere mei Deus..." is sung every day other than I or II class feasts and paschaltide. It is long. But it gives voice to our daily need to beg Almighty God for mercy: for our present sins, for our past sins, for the sins of others for whom we pray, for the sins of those who know not the need for mercy. For the monk, psalm 51 is an almost daily reminder of the vocation of conversatio morum – of that constant need to turn around our way of life so that it more fully conforms to that of Christ. The miserere asks: "Domine, labia me aperies, et os meum anuntiabit laudem tuam." And nowhere more beautifully is this prayer answered than in monastic Lauds which every day in every season and on every feast prays the “Laudate psalms” – psalms 148-150 – Laudate Dominum de caelis... etc. We should note that today, it is only the monastic office that retains this tradition, a tradition that dates back to before Christ. Our blessed Lord himself would have known and experienced the Laudate psalms prayed each morning. So apposite they are – and their loss to the Roman breviary (in the reform of 1911) was a real impoverishment. Only one who knows the mercy of the Lord can sing thus each day – and in doing so he can give voice to what the Lord has done for him and indeed what he has done in the lives of others. These four psalms, I think, are a profound summary of the monastic vocation, indeed of the Christian vocation. That is why they are such pillars of the monastic office of Lauds.
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 09:37:44 +0000