In his commentary on Psalm 85, St. Augustine teaches us that, in the Psalter, the totus Christus prays, that is, the Church in her Head (Christ) and in us (her members). In his inimitable style, he remarks: “[Christ] prays for us as our priest, He prays in us as our head, He is the object of our prayers as our God.”
St. Jerome, the quintessential biblical scholar was asked by Laeta, one of the many women to whom he gave spiritual direction, where she should begin when embarking upon a prayerful reading of Holy Scripture; without a moment’s hesitation, Jerome pointed her to the Psalter. For therein, he said, she would not only study Scripture, but she would learn to pray.
In truth, prayer is pure and perfect when we no longer realize we are praying. It is important to note at the outset that the Psalter is not a text in dogmatic or moral theology although such elements are clearly present. The Psalter is a collection of poems of unparalleled simplicity and – on that very score – universality; their meaning needs to be uncovered through prayerful reflection with the goal of shutting out all distractions, so as to fill our minds and hearts with the thoughts and sentiments of the psalmist, entering into his experience of our God.
Thus, we hear St. Augustine reflect in his Confessions: “If the psalm prays, you pray; if it laments, you lament; if it exults, you rejoice; if it hopes, you hope; if it fears, you fear. Everything written here is a mirror for us.” Not surprisingly, the Doctor of Grace preached on the psalms for twenty-six years, giving us an invaluable contribution: Expositions on the Psalms.
Yet another powerful incentive to make these prayer-songs our own is the realization that they formed the heart of the prayer of Christ Himself, as well as that of the apostolic community, of which we have abundant evidence from the New Testament. Indeed, Our Lord’s final words from the pulpit of His Cross come from the psalms.
Here’s the plea of Fathers of Vatican II in Sacrosanctum Concilium:
Pastors of souls should see to it that the chief hours, especially Vespers, are celebrated in common in church on Sundays and the more solemn feasts. And the laity, too, are encouraged to recite the divine office, either with the priests, or among themselves, or even individually. (n. 100)
Take to heart that invitation, hearing in it an echo of St. Paul’s urging: “Pray constantly.” (1 Th 5:17).
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