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Rosanna Virgili
The Prayer of the
Psalms
Praying with the Psalms is an ancient, biblical, patristic, and monastic
tradition of Jews and Christians. Book of the official liturgy of Israel, the
Psalms then became the texts of Christian prayer, including liturgical ones.
The Psalter is a “microcosm” of multiple aspects: literary, symbolic,
theological; it concerns humanity, prayer, history, liturgy. Just as the entire
history of Israel – i.e. God’s faithfulness to his covenant – is narrated in
the Psalms, so the Psalter contains the cry, the pain, the joy and sadness, the
fears, the doubts, the hopes, the experience of human life and death. It
contains an “anatomy of all the parts of the soul,” according to Calvin’s
famous aphorism. The music and poetry the Psalms are made of is ultimately
capable of rendering the verses of a praying “I” the voice of the entire
assembly, both that of Israel and that of the Church. Between praise,
supplications, and meditation, symbolism, theology and history, Virgili
accompanies the readers in the practice of praying with the Psalms. In this way
we can discover again the connection between the feelings of an only apparently
remote past and our life today.
Rosanna Virgili (Amandola, 1958) has
a degree in philosophy, a baccalaureate in theology from the Pontifical
Gregorian University of Rome, and a license in Biblical Sciences from the
Pontifical Biblical Institute of Rome. She also studied at Louvain La Neuve,
Jerusalem, and Harvard. She is now professor of Old Testament exegesis at the
Marche Theological Institute. She holds biblical conferences throughout Italy
and collaborates with various magazines including Credere, Parola
Spirito e Vita, Rocca, Ricerche storico-bibliche and with
TV2000. For Edizioni San Paolo
she has published Benedetto e Francesco. Due papi diversi, ma mai divisi
(2023).
Selling points
•
Author’s expertise on the
subject.
•
Tool for deepening the
prayer of the Psalms as a prayer for everyone.
•
Contribution for the Year on
Prayer.
The prayer of the Psalms as an expression of every aspect of human life.