Psalm 4

"When I was in distress thou hast enlarged me (Ps.4:1). Some translations say "thou hast given me relief." I think an accurate sense would be conveyed by "space" or "breathing room." Cassiodorus (485-580) considers the psalm to be the prayer of the whole Church, so he gives this interesting interpretation: "Distress always enlarges the Church, since simultaneously confessors emerge and martyrs are crowned. The whole crowd of the just is ever increased by tribulations." (Explanation of the Psalms, tr. by P.G. Walsh). He goes on to say, beautifully: "[The Church] is not a ghostly fashioning of our hearts' imagination, like 'fatherland' or 'state' or something without living personality; the Church is the aggregate of all the holy faithful, one soul and one heart, the bride of Christ, the Jerusalem of the age to come."