The Psalms: Songs of Faith and Praise; The Revised Grail Psalter

What is significant about this revision of the 1963 Grail Psalms? The translation bears the distinction of being a liturgical psalter. It differs in some points from many recent translations of the Bible. It takes the Hebrew text of the psalms as its base for translation, but because it is specifically intended for liturgical use, other cultural and historical factors have a bearing on particular formulations. The Introductions to each of the psalms in this edition have been written for anyone who might wish to cultivate a deeper spiritual understanding of this prayer-book of the Bible. No advanced technical knowledge of exegesis or historical-critical method is necessary. While these introductions do impart information culled from biblical scholarship, they seek to express those ideas in a language geared both to intellectual understanding and spiritual appreciation.An additional feature of this edition is a psalm-prayer following each of the psalms. These prayers are intended to bring the readers full circle in their experience by reiterating some of the themes and images of the particular psalm in a way that brings them into his or her current spiritual practice. This edition also provides for each Psalm a title, a name by which it might come to be known and remembered. Again, the hope is that each person who recites and prays these Psalms will eventually create a distinctive and personal title for each of these texts from the prayer-book of the Bible, reflecting his or her own appropriation of the ancient song-prayer.Abbot Gregory J. Polan, OSB, Gregory J.Polan OSB