PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS XLI — QVEMADMODVM

As the Hart Panteth

Quemadmodum desiderat cervus is the great psalm of spiritual longing, comparing the soul's thirst for God to a deer panting for streams of water. The hart became a symbol of the catechumen thirsting for baptism, and the psalm is sung at the Easter Vigil. In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Thursday Lauds.

LATINE
Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum: ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.
Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem, vivum: quando veniam, et apparebo ante faciem Dei?
Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes die ac nocte: dum dicitur mihi quotidie: Ubi est Deus tuus?
Haec recordatus sum, et effudi in me animam meam: quoniam transibo in locum tabernaculi admirabilis, usque ad domum Dei.
In voce exsultationis, et confessionis: sonus epulantis.
Quare tristis es, anima mea? et quare conturbas me?
Spera in Deo, quoniam adhuc confitebor illi: salutare vultus mei, et Deus meus.
ENGLISH
As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?
My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God?
These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.
With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.
Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me?
Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Easter Vigil, Baptism, Spiritual desolation
CONTEXT
Psalm 42 in Hebrew numbering. The hart (cervus) became a symbol of the catechumen thirsting for baptism.