Fragmenda

Scripture

Psalms 25 · Psalms 39 · Psalms 57 · Psalms 60–61 · Psalms 63

Psalms 25

Judica me, Domine. David’s prayer to God in his distress, to be delivered, that he may come to worship him in his tabernacle.

1 

Unto the end, a psalm for David. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence: and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened.

2 

Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart.

3 

For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy truth.

4 

I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things.

5 

I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the wicked I will not sit.

6 

I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord:

7 

That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works.

8 

I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory dwelleth.

9 

Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men:

10 

In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts.

11 

But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me.

12 

My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord.


Psalms 39

Expectans expectavi. Christ’s coming, and redeeming mankind.

1 

Unto the end, a psalm for David himself.

2 

With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me.

3 

And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps.

4 

And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord.

5 

Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord; and who hath not had regard to vanities, and lying follies.

6 

Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee. I have declared and I have spoken they are multiplied above number.

7 

Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire; but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not require:

8 

Then said I, Behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me

9 

That I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart.

10 

I have declared thy justice in a great church, lo, I will not restrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest it.

11 

I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from a great council.

12 

Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth have always upheld me.

13 

For evils without number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me.

14 

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: look down, O Lord, to help me.

15 

Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that desire evils to me.

16 

Let them immediately bear their confusion, that say to me: ’Tis well, ’tis well.

17 

Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified.

18 

But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack.


Psalms 57

Si vere utique. David reproveth the wicked, and foretelleth their punishment.

1 

Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title.

2 

If in very deed ye speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of men.

3 

For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice in the earth.

4 

The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone astray from the womb: they have spoken false things.

5 

Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears:

6 

Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the wizard that charmeth wisely.

7 

God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord shall break the grinders of the lions.

8 

They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath bent his bow till they be weakened.

9 

Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.

10 

Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath.

11 

The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.

12 

And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.


Psalms 60

Exaudi, Deus. A prayer for the coming of the kingdom of Christ, which shall have no end.

1 

Unto the end, in hymns, for David.

2 

Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer.

3 

To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me;

4 

For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy.

5 

In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings.

6 

For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name.

7 

Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation.

8 

He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search?

9 

So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day.


Psalms 61

Nonne Deo. The prophet encourageth himself and all others to trust in God, and serve him.

1 

Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of David.

2 

Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from him is my salvation.

3 

For he is my God and my saviour: he is my protector, I shall be moved no more.

4 

How long do you rush in upon a man? you all kill, as if you were thrusting down a leaning wall, and a tottering fence.

5 

But they have thought to cast away my price; I ran in thirst: they blessed with their mouth, but cursed with their heart.

6 

But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my patience.

7 

For he is my God and my saviour: he is my helper, I shall not be moved.

8 

In God is my salvation and my glory: he is the God of my help, and my hope is in God.

9 

Trust in him, all ye congregation of people: pour out your hearts before him. God is our helper for ever.

10 

But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive.

11 

Trust not in iniquity, and cover not robberies: if riches abound, set not your heart upon them.

12 

God hath spoken once, these two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God,

13 

And mercy to thee, O Lord; for thou wilt render to every man according to his works.


Psalms 63

Exaudi Deus orationem. A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God that he will bring to nought the machinations of persecutors.

1 

Unto the end, a psalm for David.

2 

Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy.

3 

Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity.

4 

For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing,

5 

To shoot in secret the undefiled.

6 

They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them?

7 

They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart:

8 

And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds:

9 

And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled;

10 

And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings.

11 

The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.

Catechism

Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part 2, Chapter 2, Sections 4-5

Confirmation is Distinct from Baptism

Although said by Melchiades to have a most intimate connection with Baptism, Confirmation is still not to be regarded as the same, but as a very different Sacrament; for the variety of the grace which each of the Sacraments confers, and of the sensible sign employed to signify that grace, evidently render them distinct and different Sacraments.

Since, then, by the grace of Baptism we are begotten unto newness of life, whereas by that of Confirmation we grow to full maturity, having put away the things of a child, we can sufficiently understand that the same difference that exists in the natural life between birth and growth exists also between Baptism, which regenerates, and Confirmation, by virtue of which growth and perfect spiritual strength are imparted to the faithful.

Besides, as there should be a new and distinct kind of Sacrament when the soul has to encounter any new difficulty, it may easily be perceived that as we require the grace of Baptism to form the mind unto faith, so is it also of the utmost advantage that the souls of the faithful be strengthened by a different grace, to the end that they be deterred by no danger, or fear of pains, tortures or death, from the confession of the true faith. This, then, being accomplished by the sacred chrism of Confirmation, it is hence clearly inferred, that the nature of this Sacrament is different from Baptism.

Hence Pope Melchiades accurately evolves the difference between them, writing as follows: In Baptism man is enlisted into the service, in Confirmation he is equipped for battle; at the baptismal font the Holy Ghost imparts fullness to accomplish innocence, but in Confirmation he ministers perfection to grace; in Baptism we are regenerated unto life, after Baptism we are fortified for the combat; in Baptism we are cleansed, after Baptism we are strengthened; regeneration of itself saves those who receive Baptism in time of peace, Confirmation arms and makes ready for conflicts.

These are truths not only already recorded by other Councils, but specially defined by the holy Council of Trent; so that we are therefore no longer at liberty not only to think otherwise, but even to entertain the least doubt concerning them.

Institution of Confirmation

It was shown above how necessary it is to teach concerning all the Sacraments in common from whom they had their origin. Wherefore the same is also to be taught as regards Confirmation, in order that the faithful may be impressed with a deeper sense of the sanctity of this Sacrament. Accordingly, pastors must explain that not only was it instituted by Christ the Lord, but that by Him were also ordained, as Pope St. Fabian testifies, the rite of chrism and the words which the Catholic Church uses in its administration. This is a fact easy to prove to those who acknowledge Confirmation to be a Sacrament, because all the sacred mysteries exceed the powers of human nature and could be instituted by no other than God alone.