St. Teresa of Avila on the petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done; as in Heaven, so on earth.
The Shield of Faith
"Go thy way, thy faith has saved thee."
Friday, July 12, 2024
Monday, June 24, 2024
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop: On the Lord’s Prayer.
“
.
. . a man untempted, is a man unproved.”
Cyril
(c. 313–386) is venerated as a saint within the Roman Catholic
Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and
the Anglican Communion. In 1883, Cyril was declared a Doctor of the
Church by Pope Leo XIII.
From
St. Cyril’s treatise on the Sacred Liturgy and Communion:
Then,
after the spiritual sacrifice, the bloodless service, is completed,
over that sacrifice of propitiation we entreat God for the common
peace of the Churches, for the welfare of the world; for kings; for
soldiers and allies; for the sick; for the afflicted; and, in a word,
for all who stand in need of succor we all pray and offer this
sacrifice.
Then
we commemorate also those who have fallen asleep before us, first
Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, that at their prayers and
intercessions God would receive our petition. Then on behalf also of
the Holy Fathers and Bishops who have fallen asleep before us, and in
a word of all who in past years have fallen asleep among us,
believing that it will be a very great benefit to the souls, for whom
the supplication is put up, while that holy and most awesome
sacrifice is set forth.
Then,
after these things, we say that Prayer which the Savior delivered to
His own disciples, with a pure conscience entitling God our Father,
and saying, Our Father, which art in heaven. O most surpassing
loving-kindness of God! On them who revolted from Him and were in the
very extreme of misery has He bestowed such a complete forgiveness of
evil deeds, and so great participation of grace, as that they should
even call Him Father. Our Father, which art in heaven; and they also
are a heaven who bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians
15:49), in whom is God, dwelling and walking in them (2 Corinthians
6:16).
Hallowed
be Your Name. The Name of God is in its nature holy, whether we say
so or not; but since it is sometimes profaned among sinners,
according to the words, Through you My Name is continually blasphemed
among the Gentiles, we pray that in us God's Name may be hallowed;
not that it comes to be holy from not being holy, but because it
becomes holy in us, when we are made holy, and do things worthy of
holiness.
Your
kingdom come. A pure soul can say with boldness, Your kingdom come;
for he who has heard Paul saying, Let not therefore sin reign in your
mortal body (Romans 6:12), and has cleansed himself in deed, and
thought, and word, will say to God, Your kingdom come.
Your
will be done as in heaven so on earth. God's divine and blessed
Angels do the will of God, as David said in the Psalm, Bless the
Lord, all you Angels of His, mighty in strength, that do His
pleasure. So then in effect you mean this by your prayer, as in the
Angels Your will is done, so likewise be it done on earth in me, O
Lord.
Give
us this day our substantial bread. The common bread is not
substantial bread, but this Holy Bread is substantial, that is,
appointed for the substance of the soul. For this Bread goes not into
the belly and is cast out into the sewer (Matthew 15:17), but is
distributed into your whole system for the benefit of body and soul.
But by this day, he means, each day, as also Paul said, While it is
called today (Hebrews 3:15).
And
forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. For we have many
sins. For we offend both in word and in thought, and very many things
we do worthy of condemnation; and if we say that we have no sin, we
lie, as John says. And we make a covenant with God, entreating Him to
forgive us our sins, as we also forgive our neighbors their debts.
Considering then what we receive and in return for what, let us not
put off nor delay to forgive one another. The offenses committed
against us are slight and trivial, and easily settled; but those
which we have committed against God are great, and need such mercy as
His only is. Take heed therefore, lest for the slight and trivial
sins against you, you shut out for yourself forgiveness from God for
your very grievous sins.
And
lead us not into temptation, O Lord. Is this then what the Lord
teaches us to pray, that we may not be tempted at all? How then is it
said elsewhere, a man untempted, is a man unproved (cf. Psalm 16:3);
and again, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
temptations (J
ames
1:2)?
But d
oes
perchance the entering into temptation mean the being overwhelmed by
the temptation? For temptation is, as it were, like a winter torrent
difficult to cross. Those therefore who are not overwhelmed in
temptations, pass through, showing themselves excellent swimmers, and
not being swept away by them at all; while those who are not such,
enter into them and are overwhelmed. As for example, Judas having
entered into the temptation of the love of money, swam not through
it, but was overwhelmed and was strangled both in body and spirit.
Peter entered into the temptation of the denial; but having entered,
he was not overwhelmed by it, but manfully swam through it, and was
delivered from the temptation.
Listen
again, in another place, to a company of unscathed saints, giving
thanks for deliverance from temptation: You, O God hast proved us;
You have tried us by fire like as silver is tried. You brought us
into the net; You layed afflictions upon our loins. You have caused
men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and water; and you
brought us out into a place of rest (Psalm 65; 10-12). You see them
speaking boldly in regard to their having passed through and not been
pierced. But You brought them out into a place of rest; now their
coming into a place of rest is their being delivered from temptation.
But
deliver us from the evil. If lead us not into temptation implied the
not being tempted at all, He would not have said, But deliver us from
the evil. Now evil is our adversary the devil, from whom we pray to
be delivered. Then after completing the prayer you say Amen; by this
Amen, which means So be it, setting your seal to the petitions of the
divinely-taught prayer.
Source:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/310123.htm
View
my Catholic writings Here.
Friday, June 7, 2024
The difficulty of loving and forgiving our enemies.
St.
Augustine’
s
f
ocus
on the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, forgiveness.
The
difficulty of loving and forgiving our enemies.
From
Sermon 6 on the New Testament, to catechumens preparing for Baptism.
And
forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Touching this
petition again we need no explanation, that it is for ourselves that
we pray. For we beg that our debts may be forgiven us. For debtors
are we, not in money, but in sin. You are saying perchance at this
moment, And you too. We answer, Yes, we too. What, you Holy Bishops,
are you debtors? Yes, we are debtors too. (St. Augustine was at that
time Bishop of Hippo.) What you! Be it far from you, do not yourself
this wrong. I do myself no wrong, but I say the truth; we are
debtors: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.
We
have been baptized, and yet are we debtors. Not that anything then
remained, which was not remitted to us in Baptism, but because in our
lives we are contracting ever what needs daily forgiveness. They who
are baptized, and immediately depart out of this life, come up from
the font without any debt; without any debt they leave the world. But
they who are baptized and are still kept in this life, contract
defilements by reason of their mortal frailty, by which though the
ship be not sunk, yet have they need of recourse to the pump. For
otherwise little by little will that enter in by which the whole ship
will be sunk. And to offer this prayer, is to have recourse to the
pump.
But
we ought not only to pray, but to do alms also, because when the pump
is used to prevent the ship from sinking, both the voices and hands
are at work. Now we are at work with our voices, when we say, Forgive
us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And we are at work with
our hands when we do this, break your bread to the hungry, and bring
the homeless poor into your house. Shut up alms in the heart of a
poor man, and it shall intercede for you unto the Lord.
Although
therefore all our sins were forgiven in the laver of regeneration, we
should be driven into great straits, if there were not given to us
the daily cleansing of the Holy Prayer. Alms and prayers purge away
sins; only let not such sins be committed, for which we must
necessarily be separated from our daily Bread; avoid we all such
debts to which a severe and certain condemnation is due. Call not
yourselves righteous, as though ye had no cause to say, Forgive us
our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Though you abstain from
idolatry, from the consolations of astrologers, from the cures of
enchanters, though ye abstain from the seductions of heretics, from
the divisions of schismatics; though ye abstain from murders, from
adulteries and fornications, from thefts and plunderings, from false
witn
essings,
and all such other sins which I do not name, as have a ruinous
consequence
[….]
;
y
et
after all these are excepted, still there is no want of occasions
whereby a man may sin.
A
man sins in seeing with pleasure what he ought not to see. Yet who
can hold in the quickness of the eye? For from this the eye is said
to have received its very name, from its quickness. Who can restrain
the ear or eye? The eyes may be shut when you will, and are shut in a
moment, but the ears you can only with an effort close: you must
raise the hand and reach them, and if any one hold your hand, they
are kept open, nor can you close them against reviling, impure, or
flattering, and seducing words. And when you hear any things you
ought not to hear, though you do it not, do you not sin with the ear?
For you hear something that is bad with pleasure? How great sins does
the deadly tongue commit! Yea, sometimes sins of such a nature, that
a man is separated from the altar for them. To the tongue pertains
the whole matter of blasphemies, and many idle words again are
spoken, which are not convenient.
But
let the hand do nothing wrong, let the feet run not to any evil, nor
the eye be directed to immodesty; let not the ear be open with
pleasure to filthy talk; nor the tongue move to indecent speech; yet
tell me, who can restrain the thoughts? How often do we pray, my
brethren, and our thoughts are elsewhere, as though we forgot before
whom we are standing, or before whom we are prostrating ourselves! If
all these things be collected together against us, will they not
therefore not overwhelm us, because they are small faults? What
matter is it whether lead or sand overwhelm us? The lead is all one
mass, the sand is small grains, but by their great number they
overwhelm you. So your sins are small. Do you see not how the rivers
are filled, and the lands are wasted by small drops? They are small,
but they are many.
Let
us therefore say every day; and say it in sincerity of heart, and do
what we say, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. It
is an engagement, a covenant, an agreement that we make with God. The
Lord your God says to you, Forgive, and I will forgive. You have not
forgiven; you retain your sins against yourself, not I. I pray you,
my dearly beloved children, since I know what is expedient for you in
the Lord's Prayer, and most of all in that sentence of it, Forgive us
our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; hear me. You are about to
be baptized, forgive everything; whatsoever any man have in his heart
against any other, let him from his heart forgive it. So enter in,
and be sure, that all your sins which you have contracted, whether
from your birth of your parents after Adam with original sin, for
which sins’ sake ye run with babes to the Savior's grace, or
whatever after sins you have contracted in your lives, by word, or
deed, or thought, all are forgiven; and you will go out of the water
as from before the presence of your Lord, with the sure discharge of
all debts.
Now
because by reason of those daily sins of which I have spoken, it is
necessary for you to say, in that daily prayer of cleansing as it
were, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; what will
you do? You have enemies. For who can live on this earth without
them? Take heed to yourselves, love them. In no way can your enemy so
hurt you by his violence, as you hurt yourself if you love him not.
For he may injure your estate, or flocks, or house, or your
man-servant, or your maid-servant, or your son, or your wife; or at
most, if such power be given him, your body. But can he injure your
soul, as you can yourself? Reach forward, dearly beloved, I beseech
you, to this perfection. But have I given you this power? He only has
given it to whom you say, Your will be done as in heaven so in earth.
Yet let it not seem impossible to you.
I
know, I have known by experience, that there are Christian men who do
love their enemies. If it seem to you impossible, you will not do it.
Believe then first that it can be done, and pray that the will of God
may be done in you. For what good can your neighbor's ill do you? If
he had no ill, he would not even be your enemy. Wish him well then,
that he may end his ill, and he will be your enemy no longer. For it
is not the human nature in him that is at enmity with you, but his
sin. Is he therefore your enemy, because he has a soul and body? In
this he is as you are: you have a soul, and so has he: you have a
body, and so has he. He is of the same substance as you are; you were
made both out of the same earth, and quickened by the same Lord. In
all this he is as you are. Acknowledge in him then your brother. The
first pair, Adam and Eve, were our parents; the one our father, the
other our mother; and therefore we are brethren.
But
let us leave the consideration of our first origin. God is our
Father, the Church our Mother, and therefore are we brethren. But you
will say, my enemy is a heathen, a Jew, a heretic, of whom I spoke
some time ago on the words, Your will be done as in heaven so in
earth. O Church, your enemy is the heathen, the Jew, the heretic; he
is the earth. If you are heaven, call on your Father which is in
heaven, and pray for your enemies: for so was Saul an enemy of the
Church; thus was prayer made for him, and he became her friend. He
not only ceased from being her persecutor, but he labored to be her
helper. And yet, to say the truth, prayer was made against him; but
against his malice, not against his nature. So let your prayer be
against the malice of your enemy, that it may die, and he may live.
For if your enemy were dead, you have lost it might seem an enemy,
yet have you not found a friend. But if his malice die, you have at once lost an enemy and found a friend.
But
still you are saying, Who can do, who has ever done this? May God
bring it to effect in your hearts! I know as well as you, there are
but few who do it; great men are they and spiritual who do so. Are
all the faithful in the Church who approach the altar, and take the
Body and Blood of Christ, are they all such? And yet they all say,
Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. What, if God
should answer them, Why do ye ask me to do what I have promised, when
you do not what I have commanded? What have I promised? To forgive
your debts. What have I commanded? That ye also forgive your debtors.
How can you do this, if you do not love your enemies?
What
then must we do, brethren? Is the flock of Christ reduced to such a
scanty number? If they only ought to say, Forgive us our debts, as we
also forgive our debtors, who love their enemies; I know not what to
do, I know not what to say. For must I say to you, If you do not love
your enemies, do not pray? I dare not say so; yea, pray rather that
you may love them. But must I say to you, If you do not love your
enemies, say not in the Lord's Prayer, Forgive us our debts, as we
also forgive our debtors? Suppose that I were to say, Do not use
these words. If you do not, your debts are not forgiven; and if you
do use them, and do not act thereafter, they are not forgiven. In
order therefore that they may be forgiven, you must both use the
prayer, and do thereafter.
I
see some ground on which
I may comfort not some few only, but the multitude of Christians: and
I know that you are longing to hear it. Christ has said, Forgive,
that you may be forgiven. And what do ye say in the Prayer which we
have now been discussing? Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive
our debtors. So, Lord, forgive, as we forgive. This you say, O
Father, which art in heaven, so forgive our debts, as we also forgive
our debtors. For this ye ought to do, and if you do it not, you will
perish.
When your enemy asks pardon, at once forgive him. And is this
much for you to do? Though it were much for you to love your enemy
when violent against you, is it much to love a man who is a
supplicant before you? What have you to say? He was before violent,
and then you hated him. I had rather you had not hated him even then:
I had rather then when you were suffering from his violence, you had
remembered the Lord, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do. I would have then much wished that even at that time
when your enemy was violent against you, you had had regard to the
Lord your God speaking thus.
But perhaps you will say, He did it, but
then He did it as being the Lord, as the Christ, as the Son of God,
as the Only-Begotten, as the Word made flesh. But what can I, an
infirm and sinful man, do? If your Lord be too high an example for
you, turn your thoughts upon your fellow-servant. The holy Stephen
was being stoned, and as they stoned him, on bended knees did he pray
for his enemies, and say, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
They were casting stones, not asking pardon, yet did he pray for
them. I would you were like him; reach forth. Why are you for ever
trailing your heart along the earth? Hear, Lift up your heart, reach
forward, love your enemies. If you can not love him in his violence,
love him at least when he asks pardon. Love the man who says to you,
Brother, I have sinned, forgive me. If you then forgive him not, I
say not merely, that you dost blot this prayer out of your heart, but
you shall be blotted yourself out of the book of God.
But if you then at least forgive him, or let go hatred from your
heart, it is hatred from the heart I bid you forego, and not proper
discipline. What if one who asks my pardon, be one who ought to be
chastised by me! Do what you will, for I suppose that you love your
child even when you chastise him. Thou regardest not his cries under
the rod, because you are reserving for him his inheritance. This I
say then, that you forego from your heart all hatred, when your enemy
asks pardon of you.
But perhaps you will say, he is playing false, he
is pretending. O you judge of another's heart, tell me your own
father's thoughts, tell me your own thoughts yesterday. He asks and
petitions for pardon; forgive, by all means forgive him. If you will
not forgive him, it is yourself you hurt, not him, for he knows what
he has to do. You are not willing to forgive your own fellow-servant;
he will go then to your Lord, and say to Him, Lord, I have prayer my
fellow-servant to forgive me, and he would not; do Thou forgive me.
Hath not the Lord power to release his servant's debts? So he, having
obtained pardon from his Lord, returns loosed, while you remain
bound. How bound? The time of prayer will come, the time must come
for you to say, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors;
and the Lord will answer you, Thou wicked servant, when you owed Me
so great a debt, you asked Me, and I forgave you; should not you also
have had compassion on your fellow-servant, even as I had pity on
you? These words are out of the Gospel, not of my own heart. But if
on being asked, you shall forgive him who begs for pardon, then you
can say this prayer. And if you have not as yet the strength to love
him in his violence, still you may offer this prayer, Forgive us our
debts, as we also forgive our debtors.
Source:
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/160306.htm
View
my Catholic books Here.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
St. Thomas Aquinas on the Lord’s Prayer.
Since
St. Thomas Aquinas can be difficult to follow, his discussion of the
Lord’s prayer will be slightly modified from the way it is
presented by the Saint in his
Summa
Theologica
.
Matthew
6: 9-13;
Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. And forgive us
our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into
temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.
Luke
11: 2-4;
And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive
us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.
Part
One.
Whether
the seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer are fittingly assigned?
I
answer that, The authority of Christ, who composed this prayer,
suffices.
The
Lord’s Prayer is most perfect, because, as Augustine says "if
we pray rightly and fittingly, we can say nothing else but what is
contained in this prayer of our Lord." For since prayer
interprets our desires, as it were, before God, then alone is it
right to ask for something in our prayers when it is right that we
should desire it. Now in the Lord’s Prayer not only do we ask for
all that we may rightly desire, but also in the order wherein we
ought to desire them, so that this prayer not only teaches us to ask,
but also directs all our affections.
The first two petitions: "Hallowed be Thy name" and "Thy kingdom come."
Thus
it is evident that the first thing to be the object of our desire is
the end, and afterwards whatever is directed to the end. Now our end
is God towards Whom our affections tend in two ways: first, by our
willing the glory of God, secondly, by willing to enjoy His glory.
The first belongs to the love whereby we love God in Himself, while
the second belongs to the love whereby we love ourselves in God.
Wherefore the first petition is expressed thus: "Hallowed be Thy
name," and the second thus: "Thy kingdom come," by
which we ask to come to the glory of His kingdom.
Petitions three and four: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and "Give us this day our daily bread."
To
this same end a thing directs us in two ways: in one way, by its very
nature, in another way, accidentally. Of its very nature the good
which is useful for an end directs us to that end. Now a thing is
useful in two ways to that end which is beatitude: in one way,
directly and principally, according to the merit whereby we merit
beatitude by obeying God, and in this respect we ask: "Thy will
be done on earth as it is in heaven"; in another way
instrumentally, and as it were helping us to merit, and in this
respect we say: "Give us this day our daily bread," whether
we understand this of the sacramental Bread, the daily use of which
is profitable to man, and in which all the other sacraments are
contained, or of the bread of the body, so that it denotes all
sufficiency of food, as Augustine says, since the Eucharist is the
chief sacrament, and bread is the chief food: thus in the Gospel of
Matthew we read, "supersubstantial," i.e. "principal,"
as Jerome expounds it.
Petitions five, six and seven: "Forgive us our trespasses." and "And lead us not into temptation," and "Deliver us from evil."
We
are directed to beatitude accidentally by the removal of obstacles.
Now there are three obstacles to our attainment of beatitude. First,
there is sin, which directly excludes a man from the kingdom,
according to 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God; and to this refer
the words, "Forgive us our trespasses." Secondly, there is
temptation which hinders us from keeping God’s will, and to this we
refer when we say: "And lead us not into temptation,"
whereby we do not ask not to be tempted, but not to be conquered by
temptation, which is to be led into temptation. Thirdly, there is the
present penal state which is a kind of obstacle to a sufficiency of
life, and to this we refer in the words, "Deliver us from evil."
Part
Two.
Objection
1. It would seem that the seven petitions of the
Lord’s
Prayer
are
not fittingly assigned. It is useless to ask for that to be hallowed
which is always
holy
.
But the name of
God
is
always
holy
,
according to
Luke
1:49
,
"Holy is His name." Again, His kingdom is everlasting,
according to
Psalm
144:13
,
"Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages." Again,
God’s
will
is always fulfilled, according to
Isaiah
46:10
,
"All My will shall be done." Therefore it is useless to ask
for "the name of
God
to be hallowed," for "His kingdom to come," and for
"His
will
to be done."
Reply
to Objection 1. As
Augustine
says
(De Serm. Dom. in Monte ii, 5), w
hen
we say, "Hallowed be Thy name, we do not mean that
God’s
name
is not
holy
,
but we ask that men may treat it as a
holy
thing," and this pertains to the diffusion of
God’s
glory
among men. When we say, "Thy kingdom come, we do not imply that
God
is
not reigning now," but "we excite in ourselves the desire
for that kingdom, that it may come to us, and that we may reign
therein," as
Augustine
says (ad Probam, Ep. cxxx, 11). The words, "Thy will be done
rightly signify, 'May Thy commandments be obeyed' on earth as in
heaven
,
i.e. by
men
as well as by
angels
"
(De Serm. Dom. in Monte ii, 6). Hence these three petitions will be
perfectly fulfilled in the life to come; while the other four,
according to
Augustine
(Enchiridion cxv), belong to the needs of the present life.
Objection
2. Further, one must withdraw from
evil
before attaining
good
.
Therefore it seems unfitting for the petitions relating to the
attainment of
good
to be set forth before those relating to the removal of
evil
.
Reply
to Objection 2. Since
prayer
is the interpreter of desire, the order of the petitions corresponds
with the order, not of execution, but of desire or
intention,
where the end precedes the things that are directed to the end, and
attainment of
good
precedes removal of
evil
.
Objection
3. Further, one asks for a thing that it may be given to one. Now the
chief
gift
of
God
is the
Holy
Ghost
,
and those
gifts
that we receive through Him. Therefore the petitions seem to be
unfittingly assigned, since they do not correspond to the
gifts
of the
Holy
Ghost
.
Reply
to Objection 3.
Augustine
(De Serm. Dom. in Monte ii, 11) adapts the seven petitions to the
gifts
and
beatitudes
.
He says: "If it is fear
God
whereby blessed are the poor in spirit, let us ask that
God’s
name be hallowed among men with a chaste fear. If it is piety whereby
blessed are the meek, let us ask that His kingdom may come, so that
we become meek and no longer resist Him. If it is
knowledge
whereby blessed are they that mourn, let us
pray
that His
will
be done, for thus we shall mourn no more. If it is
fortitude
whereby blessed ere they that hunger, let us
pray
that our daily bread be given to us. If it is counsel whereby blessed
are the merciful, let us forgive the trespasses of others that our
own may be forgiven. If it is understanding whereby blessed are the
pure in heart, let us
pray
lest
we have a double heart by seeking after worldly things which are the
occasion of our
temptations
.
If it is wisdom whereby blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be
called the children of
God
,
let us
pray
to be delivered from
evil
:
for if we be delivered we shall by that very fact become the free
children of
God
."
Objection
4. Further, according to Luke, only five petitions are mentioned in
the
Lord’s
Prayer
,
as appears from the
eleventh
chapter
.
Therefore it was superfluous for Matthew to mention seven.
Luke
11: 2-4; And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Give
us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also
forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into
temptation.
Reply
to Objection 4. According to
Augustine
(Enchiridion cxvi), "Luke included not seven but five petitions
in the
Lord’s
Prayer
,
for by omitting it, he shows that the third petition is a kind of
repetition of the two that precede, and thus helps us to understand
it"; because, to wit, the
will
of
God
tends chiefly to this—that we come to the
knowledge
of His
holiness
and to reign together with Him. Again the last petition mentioned by
Matthew, "Deliver us from
evil
,"
is omitted by Luke, so that each one may
know
himself to be delivered from
evil
if he be not led into
temptation
.
Objection
5. Further, it seems useless to seek to win the benevolence of one
who forestalls us by his benevolence. Now
God
forestalls
us by His benevolence, since "He first hath loved us"
(1
John 4:19)
.
Therefore it is useless to preface the petitions with the words our
"Father Who art in
heaven
,"
which seem to indicate a desire to win
God’s
benevolence.
Reply
to Objection 5.
Prayer
is offered up to
God
,
not that we may bend Him, but that we may excite in ourselves the
confidence to ask: which confidence is excited in us chiefly by the
consideration of His
charity
in our regard, whereby he wills our
good
—wherefore
we say: "Our Father"; and of His excellence, whereby He is
able to fulfil it—wherefore we say: "Who art in
heaven
."
Source:
https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3083.htm#article9
View
my Catholic books Here.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
St. Alphonsus de Liguori on the Lord’s Prayer.
The Church militant regards herself as entirely composed of sinners; she thinks herself unworthy to call God her Father, and to address to him the seven petitions, which in the name of the faithful she is going to address to him by reciting the Pater noster, (“The Our Father”). Hence she protests that she only dares to address to God this prayer because God himself has commanded her to do so. She then teaches us that we may venture to present to God the seven petitions which contain the whole economy of our salvation, because it is pleasing to him and he himself gives us the command.
We are so miserable, and our mind is so limited, that we do not even know what graces we should ask of God in behalf of our own salvation. Regarding our poverty and our insufficiency, Jesus Christ himself deigned to compose our prayer or to indicate the subjects on which we should address Almighty God. He instructs us to say:
Pater noster, qui es in coelis (“Our Father, who art in heaven). The Apostle St. John says: Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called, and should be the sons of God. It is assuredly only by the effect of extreme love that we worms of the earth have been enabled to become the children of God, not by nature, but by adoption; and such is the immense grace that the Son of God has obtained for us by becoming man; for St. Paul says: You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba (Father). Can a subject wish for greater happiness than to be adopted by his king? Or a creature to be adopted by its Creator? This is what God has done for us; and he wishes that we should address to him with filial confidence the following prayer:
1. Sanctificetur nomem tuum (“Hallowed be Thy name”). God cannot possess a greater sanctity than that which he possesses from all eternity, because he is infinite; hence what we ask in this prayer is merely that God may make known in every place his holy name, and that he may make himself loved by all men: by unbelievers, who know him not; by heretics, who do not know him in the right manner; and by sinners, who know him but do not love him.
2. Adveniat regnum tuum (“Thy kingdom come’’)· Two kinds of dominion God exercises over our souls—the dominion of grace and the dominion of glory. By these words we ask for both, namely, that the grace of God may reign among us in this life, that it may direct and govern us, so that one day we may be judged worthy of glory, and may have the happiness to possess God and be possessed by him for all eternity.
3. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in coelo, et in terra (“Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven”). The whole perfection of a soul consists in the perfect accomplishment of the will of God, as is done by the blessed in heaven. Hence Jesus Christ wishes us to ask the grace to accomplish the will of God upon earth, as the angels and saints accomplish it in heaven.
4. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie (“Give us this day our daily bread”). Such is the text as we find it in St. Luke [Luke 11:3]. By this prayer we ask God for the temporal goods of which we stand in need to sustain our present life. The words “Our daily bread’’ teach us that we should ask for this kind of goods with moderation, after the example of Solomon, who asked only what was necessary: (Give me only the necessaries of life).
It is to be remarked that in the Gospel of St. Matthew [Matt. 6:11], instead of the daily bread, we read, Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. By this supersubstantial bread we must understand, according to the explanation given by the Roman catechism, Jesus Christ himself in the Sacrament of the Altar, that is, in Holy Communion. We ask this heavenly bread every day, Give us this day, because every good Christian should communicate every day, if not really at least spiritually, as we are exhorted by the Council of Trent.
5. Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (“And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us”). To eat worthily of this heavenly bread, we must be free from mortal sin, or at least be washed of it by the blood of the Lamb in the sacrament of penance. We say, free from mortal sin; but it must be observed that if anyone should communicate with an actual affection for some venial sin, he could not be said to communicate without offering some indignity to our Lord—at least if he communicates often.
6. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem (“And lead us not into temptation”). How are these words to be understood? Does God sometimes tempt us—does he lead us into temptation? No; for St. James says: God is not a tempter of evils, and He tempteth no man. This text we must understand as we do that of Isaias: Blind the heart of this people . . . lest they see. God never blinds any sinner, but he often refuses to grant to some, in punishment for their ingratitude, the light that he would have given them had they remained faithful and grateful.
Hence when it is said that God makes any one blind, it is meant that he withholds the light of his grace. This, therefore is the sense of the prayer, and lead us not into temptation; we ask God not to permit us to have the misfortune of being in those occasions of sin in which we might fall. Hence we should always watch and pray as the Lord exhorts us to do, in order not to fall into temptation: Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation. To enter into temptation means the same as to find one’s self in the danger of falling into sin; we should therefore often say to God, Lord, lead us not into temptation.
7. Sed libera nos a malo (“But deliver us from evil”). There are three kinds of evils from which we should ask the Lord to deliver us—the temporal evils of the body, the spiritual evils of the soul, and the eternal evils of the next life. As for the temporal evils of this life, we ought always to be disposed to receive with resignation those that God sends us for the good of our souls, such as poverty, sickness, and desolation; and when we ask God to deliver us from temporal evils we should always do so on condition that they are not necessary nor useful for our salvation.
But the true evils from which we should absolutely pray to be delivered are spiritual evils, sins, which are the cause of eternal evils. Moreover, let us be convinced of this infallible truth, that in the present state of corrupt nature we cannot be saved unless we pass through the many tribulations with which this life is filled: Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
The priest finishes the Lord’s prayer with the word Amen, which he pronounces in a low voice, because he represents the person of Jesus Christ, who is the foundation of all the divine promises. This word is a summary of all the petitions that have been made—petitions the repetition of which pleases the Lord, for the more we pray to God the more he will hear our prayers. The great people of this world are not pleased when they are importuned by petitions; but this importunity is pleasing to God, says St. Jerome. Cornelius a Lapide even assures us that God wishes that we should persevere in this importunity in our prayers.
St. Alphonsus de Liguori, The Holy Mass – the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Alpha Editions, 2020, pp. 58-62.
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