DURING THE latter half of the fourth century the psalter came to occupy an increasingly prominent place in Christian worship, both in the liturgical assembly and in private devotion. In the fourth century the Book of Psalms gradually displaced other biblical texts used at the so-called ‘canonical prayers’ which later came to be known as the Liturgy of the Hours.^[1] One historian of music (J. McKinnon) has described this ‘psalmodic movement’ as ‘an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm for the singing of psalms that swept from east to west through the Christian population in the closing decades of the fourth century’.^[2] Different reasons have been adduced for the increasing popularity of the psalter; but whatever its origins, by the mid-fourth century the central place of the psalter in Christian liturgical life was well-established.

AMONG THE monks psalmody was one of the exterior ascetical practices which, together with fasting, keeping vigil, and restraint of speech, were recommended by almost all the desert fathers of the late fourth century.^[1] In contrast to these other practices, however, psalmody was a practice which occupied the monk throughout the day. Keeping vigil (which consisted chiefly of psalmody) pertained to the hours when one would normally sleep; the question of fasting arose chiefly at mealtimes; and restraint of speech was an issue primarily when one had the opportunity to engage in conversation. Psalmody, on the other hand, encompassed nearly all the monk’s waking hours.

          In both Nitria and Kellia two formal times of prayer were kept each day.^[2] The Vigil office was celebrated before dawn and Vespers at dusk; these were either celebrated in common, especially in Kellia on weekends, or in the privacy of the hermits’ cells. At each of these offices twelve ‘canonical’^[3] psalms were chanted, interspersed with prayers after each psalm. During the remainder of the day and for as much of the night as the monk could remain awake the practice of psalmody provided a background against which all other work or study was undertaken. Epiphanius of Salamis summarizes this approach: ‘The true monk ought to have the prayer and the psalmody ceaselessly in his heart.’^[4] Monastic biographers are fond of quantifying this ‘background rhythm’ of psalmody and prayer in the case of certain exemplary ascetics, by listing the number of times each day these monastic heroes interrupted their psalmody by arising or prostrating (or both) for prayer. Moses the Ethiopian ‘prayed 50 prayers’ each day,^[5] while Macarius the Egyptian prayed nearly that number while crawling back and forth in the tunnel that led to his secret hermitage.^[6] Paul ‘the Simple’ of Pherme interrupted his psalmody with three hundred prayers each day; he kept count by placing the requisite number of pebbles on his lap, then dropping one after each prayer.^[7] Abba Apollo offered 200 prayers each day,^[8] and Macarius the Alexandrian and Evagrius each offered 100 prayers each day.^[9] Gabriel Bunge has calculated that Palladius’ attribution to Evagrius of 100 prayers each day means that approximately every ten minutes throughout the day Evagrius offered brief prayers which either marked the conclusion of a psalm or interrupted sections of the longer psalms.^[10]

          An important goal of this continuous rhythm of psalmody and prayer was to keep the soul fixed exclusively on God. An apophthegm concerning Anthony the Great presents the ideal of a mind constantly returning to the recollection of God, particularly during manual labor:

From The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
( Apophthegmata Patrum (Greek syst. col.) 7.1, SC 387, p. 336)

HERE Antony is the archetype of the monk who continues during manual labor the same rhythm of psalmody and prayer which he practices during the canonical offices of Vigils and Vespers. Other monastic sources confirm that the ‘arising’ from work described in this apophthegm represents the interruption of the psalmody which accompanied work by regular intervals of prayer.^[1] The ‘saving’ effect of constant prayer and psalmody lay both in turning the mind back to God, and in turning away from demonic temptations. As Douglas Burton-Christie has noted, memories and personal concerns which arose during the course of chanting the psalms were often regarded as distractions and considered to be of demonic inspiration. The recitation of psalms and other biblical texts was supposed to drive out memories of the past and replace them with holier thoughts.^[2]

          A somewhat more positive approach to the goals of psalmody is found in Athanasius’ Letter to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of Psalms. Although Athanasius does not describe his text as exclusively or even primarily intended for monks, he claims to transmit the insights of an ‘old man diligent in asceticism’, evidently a monk.^[3] The first part of this text (chapters 1-9) presents the Book of Psalms as a summary of the whole of scripture, and thus of salvation history. The particular virtues of the psalter are then discussed (chapters 10-11), and particular psalms are recommended for different states of the soul (chapters 13-26). The psalter is presented as a means of restoring harmony and balance in the soul (chapters 27-28). The psalms are to be ‘recited and chanted’ (λεγέτω καὶ ψαλλέτω) just as they are written;^[4] that is, in their entirety (chapter 29) and without changing or augmenting the words (chapter 30). A striking image which acquires great popularity is that of the psalter as the soul’s mirror:

          Not only do the psalms display ‘as in a mirror’ the whole range of human affective life, they also have the power to reshape one’s inner life. By making the words of the psalms his own, the one who chants them may be inwardly ‘pierced’ and moved to compunction along with the penitent psalmist:

FINALLY, THE  Book of Psalms is the soul’s great teacher:

          Thus the psalter is a workbook for the soul’s whole course of life (διαγωγή/diagoge): the remarkable variety of images evoked during psalmody both reflect and provide direction for human life in all its complexity.

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