The Saint John’s Bible

Psalms Frontispiece, Donald Jackson, Copyright 2006, The Saint John’s Bible, Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota USA. Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Catholic Edition, Copyright 1993, 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Publisher’s Description

In the Bible, the whole book of Psalms is divided into five books.  This frontispiece is found at the beginning of the volume.

The books are represented by overlapping scroll and book-shaped panels, each a different combination of the same colors.

A gold roman numeral identifies the book. These panels reappear at the beginning of each book in a progressive accumulation corresponding to the numbers of the books.

Superimposed on this image are digital voice prints (electronic images of sound) of sung chants, hinting at the way we might “see” psalms if they are sung or read poetically.

The voice prints come from recordings of:

  • monks at Saint John’s Abbey singing Gregorian chant
  • a Native American sacred song
  • a Jewish men’s chorus singing psalms
  • Buddhist tantric harmonics
  • Islamic call to prayer (adhan)
  • Taoist temple music
  • Hindu bhajan
  • Indian Sufi chant

The voice prints of the Saint John’s monks appear on every page, moving horizontally throughout the Psalms in gold.

Want to View It?

George Fox Archives is blessed in owning a copy of The Saint John’s Bible: The Heritage Edition.