Psalm 44:15
brought to the king
Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee. (Psalm 44:15 DR)
In the commemoration at Lauds for St. Ursula and Companions on October 21 we pray:
Grant unto us, we beseech thee, O Lord, our God, that we may ever call to mind, with all worship and thanksgiving, the victory of thy holy Virgin Martyrs Ursula and companions, and although we know that our mind cannot comprehend thee Who art this day their exceeding great reward, give us always the grace humbly to worship thee.
The “victory” spoken of here comes from the life of St. Ursula, who lived sometime in the late 4th century. She was pledged to be married to a pagan nobleman but desired to remain a virgin. By some accounts she and many other virgins were loaded onto a boat so as to become wives to the soldiers of a Roman general, but in the course of their voyage they were blown off course and into the Rhine towards Cologne, where they were spotted by the Huns who were currently ravaging mainland.
The Huns are reported to have wished to ravish them, but St. Ursula bid the girls die for love of Christ rather than succumb, upon which pleading they resisted and were slaughtered by the Huns, St. Ursula being the last after rejecting an offer of marriage form the prince of the Huns.
In this verse the Psalmist continues to extol the daughter of the king, showing that she leads the way to others to be brought before him. The bride of Christ is mystically one, but is endowed with splendor especially by those who have dedicated themselves in this manner to him:
Though there is only one spouse of Christ, one only beloved by him, the universal Church, there are a certain portion specially beloved by him, enjoy certain prerogatives; and they are those who have dedicated their virginity to God, in the hope of being better able to please him… Of such the prophet now speaks, and in these verses extols that virginity so precious in the sight of Christ, the virgin “who feedeth among the lilies.” “After her shall virgins be brought to the king.” Next to his principal bride, the Church, shall rank all those celestial brides who have consecrated their virginity to God. (St. Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of the Psalms, 44, 13-14)
This verse prophetically envisions the Church drawing unto itself people from all nations and walks of life, becoming the haven for those who desire to be freed from sin and to follow after God. To devote oneself to prayer and to good works and to the love of Christ and his Church is a beautiful thing:
“The virgins shall be brought unto the King after her.” It has been fulfilled indeed. The Church has believed; the Church has been formed throughout all nations. And to what a degree do virgins now seek to find favour in the eyes of that King! Whence are they moved to do so? Even because the Church preceded them. (St. Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms, 44, 27)
Not all are called to this state, but we are all called to holiness and purity of heart to know and love God as our exceedingly great reward.
This animation was pretty simple and straightforward and based on St. Ursula and the 11,000 companions.
I found an image of some nuns in an old medieval manuscript and cut them out, as well as a figure from one of the manuscripts from St. Hildegard von Bingen, who, appropriately, composed some chants for the office of St. Ursula.
I added some quick position movement on the nuns and added a Posterize Time effect to give it that stop motion feel, while also slightly adjusting the Rotation. I then duplicated that animation and offset it to have an endless stream of nuns walking across the screen.
Enjoy.
Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king:
her neighbours shall be brought to thee.
(Psalm 44:15 DR)
View a higher quality version of this gif here: