PSALTERIVM

PSALMVS CXV — CREDIDI

I Have Believed, Therefore Have I Spoken

Credidi propter quod locutus sum is a psalm of trust affirmed amid suffering. St. Paul quotes the opening verse in 2 Corinthians 4:13: 'I believed, therefore have I spoken.' In the 1962 Breviary it appears at Sunday Vespers. The acknowledgment 'I said in my excess: Every man is a liar' expresses the contrast between human frailty and divine faithfulness.

LATINE
Credidi, propter quod locutus sum: ego autem humiliatus sum nimis.
Ego dixi in excessu meo: Omnis homo mendax.
Quid retribuam Domino, pro omnibus, quae retribuit mihi?
Calicem salutaris accipiam: et nomen Domini invocabo.
Vota mea Domino reddam coram omni populo eius: pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius.
O Domine, quia ego servus tuus: ego servus tuus, et filius ancillae tuae.
Disrupisti vincula mea: tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis, et nomen Domini invocabo.
Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu omnis populi eius: in atriis domus Domini, in medio tui, Ierusalem.
ENGLISH
I have believed, therefore have I spoken; but I have been humbled exceedingly.
I said in my excess: Every man is a liar.
What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that he hath rendered to me?
I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people: precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
O Lord, for I am thy servant: I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid.
Thou hast broken my bonds: I will sacrifice to thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people: in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.
NOTA
FONS
Douay-Rheims (1609) / Vulgata
USUS
Mass (Communion), Martyrs, Vespers
CONTEXT
Psalm 116 in Hebrew numbering. 'Calicem salutaris' is applied to the Eucharistic chalice. 'Pretiosa mors sanctorum' is read at martyrs' feasts.