LATROBE, PA – Dr. Catherine Petrany, associate professor of theology at Saint Vincent College, recently published an article in “The Catholic Biblical Quarterly.” The article, entitled “The Language of Praise: Creation’s Silence in Psalms 19 and 65,” explores the constructive interplay of silence and praise in two psalms.
“The Catholic Biblical Quarterly” is considered the top peer-reviewed academic journal of Catholic biblical studies and ranks among the top five academic journals of biblical studies in the world. Dr. Petrany is the first faculty member of Saint Vincent to publish an article in the journal.
As she explains the argument of her essay, “Most references to silence in the Psalter are connected with experiences of suffering… However, in Psalms 19 and 65, we find two instances in which silence is connected with the joyful praise of creation. These moments of the Psalter show that, rather than simply signaling God’s absence, silence plays an integral role in the on-going dialogue of praise between humans, creatures and God in the psalms.”
The approach of the article, Petrany proposes, takes inspiration from the Benedictine character of Saint Vincent. Besides noting the central role that the psalms play in Benedictine prayer, she recalls chapter six of “The Rule of Benedict,” in which “Saint Benedict exhorts monks to a great ‘esteem for silence’ such that even ‘good words are to be left unsaid.’” As for psalms 19 and 65 in particular, they “present the flourishing of creation as an act of praise, a cosmic song. Within the Benedictine tradition,” she believes, “that creation’s song is echoed and magnified in monastic psalmody.”
Finally, she sees this article as informing her work in the classroom. “It is important,” she adds, “to think about what silence is and why it is important for human beings at a time when our lives tend to be overcrowded with words, whether spoken or virtual, and distraction.”
The article can be found here: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/16/article/958258.
Dr. Petrany holds a PhD. from Fordham University in biblical studies. In 2015, she published her first book, “Pedagogy, Prayer and Praise: The Wisdom of the Psalms and Psalter” (Mohrs Siebeck). She has another book forthcoming later this year, tentatively entitled “Suffering and Salvation in the Psalms of Lament” (Paulist Press). She is a regular contributor to “Give Us This Day,” a monthly Catholic devotional published by Liturgical Press.
Dr. Catherine Petrany
