The Psalms, the Word that becomes prayer

Maria Ignazia Angelini
 and Roberto Vignolo (Editors),
Perché ogni carne dia lode 
al Signore [So that All Flesh May Give Praise
to the Lord], Vita e Pensiero, 2020

The Psalms are an integral part of our monastic day. With them, I learned how to pray but above all how to turn to the true God, the biblical one. Consequently, I have always looked for aids to know them better and to familiarize myself with them. In 2011, when I went to Viboldone with the council of our federation of Capuchin women of Italy, I became aware of the course on the study of the Psalms that the Benedictine community, under the guidance of Mother Angelini (whom I had read on various occasions), had undertaken. These were public meetings held by various speakers. Over time, I was able to retrieve the published texts (the courses were held until 2019) and only this year, we were given the last volume that contains commentaries by various scholars in the Fourth and Fifth Book of the Psalms from Psalm 90 to 150. There are interesting comments by Lisa Cremaschi, a nun at Bose and a patrologist on Psalm 103, by Lucia Vantini, a theologian of CTI, on Psalm 139 and by the biblical monk Benoit Standaert on Psalm 143. A reading from various points of view that enriched my vision of psalmic prayer, which every day weaves with new threads my story of covenant with the living God.

Rosa Lupoli is a Capuchin nun from Naples, abbess of the monastery of Santa Maria in Jerusalem, known as the Trentatrè, founded by Blessed Maria Lorenza Longo.