Gradual Psalms
Gradual Psalms
(Latin: gradus, step)
Psalms 119-133 which were sung by the caravans of devout Israelites on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the great feasts in the Temple. Other commentators say they were hymns sung in the liturgical service of the Temple as the Levites ascended in procession the steps, particularly in celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Gradual Psalms
Fifteen psalms — namely, Psalms 119-133 (in Hebrew 120-134) — bear a Hebrew inscription which is rendered in the Vulgate as canticum graduum, and translated in the Douay Version as “a gradual canticle”. The Authorized Version calls them “songs of degrees”; the Revised Version, “songs of ascents”. Of the various conjectual explanations, the most probable regards them as psalms recited when going up to the annual festivals in Jerusalem, pilgrim-songs (see PSALMS). The days on which the Gradual psalms were formerly recited are still indicated in the Roman Breviary, but the obligation of reciting them was removed by St. Pius V.
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JOHN CORBETT Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VICopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York