The Pian Psalter, is shorthand for the new translation of the Psalms that Pope Pius XII authorized for use in the Breviary. The task was originally given to the Benedictines, who were doing a splendid job of translating the Hebrew into the a more scholastic Latin than that of St. Jeromeās Vulgate. In part this was done as older texts had been found and the Latin of St. Jerome which was done while Latin was still a living language is less intelligible to those learning Ecclesiastical Latin today. The Benedictines were taking too long, and the project was handed off to the Jesuits. They did an excellent job of translating the Psalms, but unlike St. Jerome, the technically accurate Psalter was not very melodic, and was hard to chant in choir. Many rejected use of the Psalter because it was unframiliar, and difficult for some to pray. The Vulgate was allowed to be used as an option to the Pian Psalter. Both are good translations, the Pian for a Scholar to study the Psalms, and the Vulgate to pray or chant in choir.
