Pennae Columbae Deargentatae
At matins today we chanted the 67th psalm. I love these difficult psalms, the ones with the obscure, often bizarre language that defies interpretation. Too often, in our modern English paraphrases these difficult words and strange images get smoothed over. In the rigid language of the Vulgate, however, meanings must be worked for and are, therefore, more rewarding.
Si dormiatis inter medios cleros, pennae columbae deargentatae, et posteriora dorsi ejus in pallore auri.
"If you sleep among the midst of the allotments, [you will be] the silvered wings of the dove, and those which are last of her back in the sheen of gold."
In desperation, I did something which I rarely do, but should do more often, I turned to the Glossa Ordinaria. And this, in its dry, heavily abbreviated language is what I was taught.
The allotments are the authority of the two Testaments, old and new, and to sleep among them is to rest and peacefully acquiesce to them. The dove is the glory of the Church who is carried into heaven on her silvered wings, which are her preaching.
The commentary of the Glossa goes on to say that the "last of her back" (posteriora dorsi) are where the wings join the dove's body. The Glossa calls them "the vigor of wisdom, that is love" (caritas), which has the sheen of gold.
Upon reading the Glossa, I was immediately reminded of the words of our late Great pope:
FIDES ET RATIO binae quasi pennae videntur quibus veritatis ad contemplationem hominis attollitur animus. Deus autem ipse est qui veritatis cognoscendae studium hominum mentibus insevit, suique tandem etiam cognoscendi ut, cognoscentes Eum diligentesque, ad plenam pariter de se ipsis pertingere possint veritatem.
(cfr Ex 33,18; Ps 27[26],8-9; 63[62],2-3; Io 14,8; 1 Io 3,2).
"FAITH AND REASON together seem like the wings by which the mind of man is carried to the contemplation of the truth. Now it is God Himself who has sown in the thoughts of men the intention [studium] of knowing the truth, and thus of knowing His very Self, so that knowing and loving Him, they can together touch the full truth concerning themselves."
Although Psalm 67 is not mentioned as one of the references to this quote, I was struck by the parallel between the silvered wings of the dove being the preaching of the church, and faith and reason being the wings of the mind of man. The two pairs of wings strike me as more than complementary; they are, rather, two sides of the same thing. I don't know whether Joannes Paulus Magnus had Psalm 67 in mind when he penned these words, but I suspect that they flowed from a mind which was accustomed to meditating upon the mysteries which these Psalms express.
Si dormiatis inter medios cleros, pennae columbae deargentatae, et posteriora dorsi ejus in pallore auri.
"If you sleep among the midst of the allotments, [you will be] the silvered wings of the dove, and those which are last of her back in the sheen of gold."
In desperation, I did something which I rarely do, but should do more often, I turned to the Glossa Ordinaria. And this, in its dry, heavily abbreviated language is what I was taught.
The allotments are the authority of the two Testaments, old and new, and to sleep among them is to rest and peacefully acquiesce to them. The dove is the glory of the Church who is carried into heaven on her silvered wings, which are her preaching.
The commentary of the Glossa goes on to say that the "last of her back" (posteriora dorsi) are where the wings join the dove's body. The Glossa calls them "the vigor of wisdom, that is love" (caritas), which has the sheen of gold.
Upon reading the Glossa, I was immediately reminded of the words of our late Great pope:
FIDES ET RATIO binae quasi pennae videntur quibus veritatis ad contemplationem hominis attollitur animus. Deus autem ipse est qui veritatis cognoscendae studium hominum mentibus insevit, suique tandem etiam cognoscendi ut, cognoscentes Eum diligentesque, ad plenam pariter de se ipsis pertingere possint veritatem.
(cfr Ex 33,18; Ps 27[26],8-9; 63[62],2-3; Io 14,8; 1 Io 3,2).
"FAITH AND REASON together seem like the wings by which the mind of man is carried to the contemplation of the truth. Now it is God Himself who has sown in the thoughts of men the intention [studium] of knowing the truth, and thus of knowing His very Self, so that knowing and loving Him, they can together touch the full truth concerning themselves."
Although Psalm 67 is not mentioned as one of the references to this quote, I was struck by the parallel between the silvered wings of the dove being the preaching of the church, and faith and reason being the wings of the mind of man. The two pairs of wings strike me as more than complementary; they are, rather, two sides of the same thing. I don't know whether Joannes Paulus Magnus had Psalm 67 in mind when he penned these words, but I suspect that they flowed from a mind which was accustomed to meditating upon the mysteries which these Psalms express.
posted by Figulus | 1:33 PM
<< Home