The Office of the Passion

The Office of the Passion   St Francis’ Office of the Passion begins with the Easter Triduum at Complain of holy Thursday. During this time, Francis spent his Vigil walking with his Lord from Gethsemane to Golgotha. He specifies his first VII Psalms for these hours with one Psalm for every major hour of the church.   On the Saturday night, vigil of Christmas Day he set out his Psalm VIII for this purpose. With Psalm VIII Complain of Easter Day begins the Easter Period.   A journey with Francis through his first VII psalms tells me that he has set the Lord’s thoughts words, pain and other experiences into the words of his psalms; so they are not Francis’ songs of Pain; rather, through the prompting of the holy Spirit, they are the very thoughts and feelings of the Lord Jesus Christ himself!

Here are the Psalms against the hours:   Complain Thursday Night; Psalm I Matins- Good Friday; Psalm II Prime- Good Friday; Psalm III Tierce- Good Friday; Psalm IV Sext -Good Friday ; Psalm V Nones -Good Friday; Psalm VI Vespers-  Good Friday; Psalm VII Complain -Good Friday; Psalm I Matins- Holy Saturday; Psalm II Prime… continues as above. Complain Holy Saturday Psalm VIII.   Beginning with Psalm I, I hope to take us for a walk with Jesus from the Garden to the Cross.   At the end of my musings on Psalm X, said during the Advent Season, I made the statement that every one of Francis’ Psalms detail; “… Glory promised by the prophets and echoed from the lips of his only begotten Son is the promise of salvation through a tiny child.”     So  let us see whether my concept holds water!

 

 

Psalm X

Psalm X 1. Rejoice in the Lord all the earth; sing a psalm to His Name. Give Him glory and praise. 2. Say to God: How awesome are Your works, O Lord- in the midst of such wonderful greatness your enemies are only telling lies. 3. Let all the earth adore You and sing a psalm to Your Name. 4. Come, all you who fear God- listen, and I will tell you what He has done for my soul. 5. I cried to Him with my mouth- with His praise ready on my tongue; and He heard my voice from His Holy Temple, and my cry came into His presence. 6. Bless our God, all you nations, and let the voice of His praise be heard. 7. For every tribe on earth shall be blessed in Him, and all nations shall glorify Him. 8. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel who alone works wonders, and blessed shall be His magnificent Name forever, and the whole earth shall be filled with His Glory.

Tierce This, the tenth of Francis’ Psalms forms part of the office of Sext (EFO Prayer book) and is followed by Psalm XI. It is a song of praise to God and a witness to the nations. Come all you who fear God and I will tell you what he has done for my soul! God is worthy of praise and is forever glorified in the works of his hand and in the promises he has made to Israel. This glory promised by the prophets and echoed from the lips of his only begotten Son is the promise of salvation through a tiny child. See comment on the author of the Psalms: coming.

During Advent Psalm XIV

Visit Here first: During Advent Matins Psalm 14 1. I confess the Lord, the most Holy Father, King of Heaven and earth, for He has given me consolation. 2. My God and my Saviour, I will be faithful and I will not fear. 3. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and He has become my Saviour. 4. Your right hand, Lord, has become magnificently strong. 5. Your right hand, Lord, has struck the enemy, and with Your many victories You have forced my enemies down. 6. Let the poor see it and be glad. 7. If you seek the Lord your soul will live. 8. Let the Heavens and the earth praise with the sea and all the creatures within it. 9. For the Lord will accomplish the salvation of Sion and the building up of the cities of Judah. 10. And they will dwell in that place, and come to inherit her. 11. And the descendants’ of His servants shall possess her, and those who delight in His Name shall dwell in her.

Here, from Robinson’s translations, are the Scriptural references for Francis’ psalm XIV There is a reference for each of the 11 verses, as defined for us by Sr. Giles EFO V 1 Ps. 86: 12 V 2 Ps. 86: 17 V 3 Ps. 25: 5 V 4 Ps. 12: 6 V 5 Ps. 118:14 V 6 Exod. 15:6. V 7 Exod. 15:7 V 8 Ps. 69: 33 V 9 Ps. 69:35. V 10 Ps. 69:36 V 11 Ps. 69:37 And when we refer to these we find that Francis has chosen only a fragment of each verse as his reference. Almost as the Popes and bishops do in their teachings, offering evidence that their expressions are not their own but the Holy Spirit’s or the Fathers’ of the church… E.g. and most appropriately from the introduction to “Evangelium vitae” “At the dawn of salvation, it is the Birth of a Child which is proclaimed as joyful news: "I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:10-11).  go to Evangelium vitae So, you may well ask; where is he going with this and does it matter?

Ioannes Paulus PP. II  1995.03.25

Psalm 1- Compline Holy Thursday

Psalm 1 1. God, I have declared my life to You, and You have placed my tears where You can see them; all my enemies were plotting against me - they consorted together to make their plans. 2. They put evil against me in Your place, and returned me hatred for my love. 3. For reasons that they should have loved me, they have dragged me down, but I kept on praying. 4. O my Holy Father, King of Heaven and Earth, do not let Your help be far from me, for trouble is very near to me, and there is no one to help me. 5. May my enemies turn back from me, and on the day I call on you, may I always have known that You are my God. 6. My friends and my neighbours came against me and stood there. 7. And my acquaintances came from afar and joined them there. 8. You have distanced me from my friends, and they have set me up as an abomination to them. 9. I have been betrayed, and made unable to go out. 10. Holy Father, do not let Your help be far from me. 11. My God, look down upon me and help me. 12. Turn to me and help me, Lord God of my salvation. 13. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and shall be forever and ever. Amen. Translation  by sr Giles EFO 2006

A look at Fr. Paschal Robinsons translation of Francis’ Psalms shows us that little of this first psalm was composed by Francis; rather he used the words of the Scriptures so that they spoke themselves to express the holy Spirit’s revelations to him of our lord’s final hours on earth. His first seven Psalms were composed for the Easter Triduum and so this first Psalm was composed to grant us insight into Jesus’ mind as he contemplated his coming Passion and death.