St. Mechtilde’s ‘Our Father’ for the souls in Purgatory.

 

Whenever Saint Mechtilde (a mystic nun 1241 -1298) recited this prayer, she saw legions of souls from Purgatory ascend to Heaven.

 

OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN, I beseech You, O Heavenly Father, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not love You sufficiently, nor render to You all the honor which is Your due, due to You their Lord and Father, Who, by pure grace, have adopted them as Your children. By their sins, rather, have they driven You from their souls, where You none the less wished always to live. In reparation for these faults, I offer You the love and veneration which Your Incarnate Son showed You all during His earthly life, and I offer all the acts of penance and satisfaction which He performed and by which He effaced and atoned for the sins of men.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME, I beg You, O Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not honor, always and fittingly, Your Holy Name, but often they took It in vain and proved unworthy of the name "Christian", by their lives of sin. In reparation for their faults, I offer to You all the honor which Your Well-Beloved Son rendered to Your Name by His words and deeds.

THY KINGDOM COME; I pray You, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always seek or adore Your Kingdom with enough fervor and diligence; this Kingdom, the only place where true rest and peace reign. In reparation for their omissions, through indifference to do what is good, I offer You the Most Holy Desire of Your Son, by which He wished that they also might become heirs of His Kingdom.

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN; I pray You, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always submit their will to Your Will. In reparation for their disobedience, I offer You the perfect conformity of the Heart, full of love, of Your Divine Son with Your Holy Will and the most profound submission which He showed in obeying You unto death on the Cross.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD; I pray You, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist with enough desire, but often without contemplation, or love, or even unworthily, or they neglected to receive It. In reparation for these faults, I offer You the outstanding Holiness and the great contemplation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Divine Son, addressed to You in favor of His enemies when He was on the Cross. 

 

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US; I pray You, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, all the faults of which they have been guilty through succumbing to the Seven deadly Sins and also in not having wished either to love or pardon their enemies. In reparation for these faults, I offer You the out-standing Holiness and the great contemplation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Divine Son, addressed to You in favor of His enemies when he was on the Cross.

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION; I pray You, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, because too often they did not resist the pitfalls of the devil and the flesh, but they followed the Enemy of all goodness. In reparation for all these sins, in thought, word, and deed, I offer You the glorious victory which Our Lord won against the world, as well as His Most Holy Life, His Work and Sorrows, His Suffering and His Most Cruel Death.

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL; and from all punishments through the Infinite Merits of Your Well-Beloved Son and lead us, as well as the Souls in Purgatory, into Your Kingdom of eternal glory. Amen.

The source for her commentary on the Lord’s Prayer: https://www.salvatormundi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Prayer-for-Souls-in-Purgatory.pdf

A short biography of St. Mechtilde courtesy of this site: https://angelusnews.com/faith/saint-of-the-day/mechtilde-2/

St. Mechtilde was born Matilda von Hackenberg-Wippra around the year 1240. She came from a noble family in Saxony, and when she was seven years old, she was so inspired by the lives of the nuns that she went to live at the convent of Helfta. She learned a great deal there, and was known for her humility and her fervent love for God. 

 

Mechtilde was close with the child who would become St. Gertrude the Great, who was given to the nuns at Helfta when she was five. Mechtilde was 15 years older, and took Gertrude under her wing. They shared a strong spirituality and devotion to Christ’s humanity and the Eucharist. 

 

Both nuns were known to be mystics. Mechtilde had her first mystical vision when she received Holy Communion. Jesus appeared to her and held her hands. She said he left an imprint on her heart “like a seal in wax,” and gave her his own heart in the form of a cup, saying, “By my heart you will praise me always; go, offer to all the saints the drink of life from my heart that they may be happily inebriated with it.” 

 

In another vision, Mechtilde wrote that she had seen that “the smallest details of creation are reflected in the Holy Trinity by means of the humanity of Christ, because it is from the same earth that produced them that Christ drew his humanity.” 

 

Because of her visions, Mechtilde was highly revered by her community, and considered a prophet and counsellor. St. Gertrude recorded her teachings and visions in the “Book of Special Grace.” 

 

St. Mechtilde died on Nov. 19, 1298. 

View my Catholic books HERE.

 

 

Give us the Bread of your Will.

Jesus explains the Our Father to Luisa Piccarreta. 

 

I Myself wanted to pray as the first, making my voice resound from one end of the earth to another, and even up high in Heaven, saying: ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven’.  I did not say ‘My Father’, but I called Him Father of the whole human family, so as to engage Him in that which I was going to add:  ‘May all hallow your Name, so that your Kingdom may come, and your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven’.  This was the purpose of Creation, and I asked the Father that it be fulfilled.  

 

As I prayed, the Father surrendered to my supplications, and I formed the seed of a good so great; and so that this seed might be known, I taught my prayer to the Apostles, and they transmitted it to the whole Church, so that, just as the people of the future Redeemer found salvation in Him and disposed itself to receive the promised Messiah, in the same way, with this seed formed by Me, the Church might pray and repeat my very prayer many times, and might dispose Herself to receive the good of recognizing and loving my Celestial Father as their Father, in such a way as to deserve to be loved as children and receive the great good that my Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.

 

In this seed and in this hope that my Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven, the very Saints have formed their sanctity, and the martyrs have shed their blood.  There is no good which does not derive from this seed. And if in Redemption It wanted to come to save lost man, to satisfy for his sins – which man had no power to do – and to give him refuge and many other goods which Redemption contains, now, wanting to display even more love than in Redemption Itself by making my Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven, my Will comes to give man his state of origin, his nobility, the purpose for which he was created.  It comes to open the current between Itself and the human will, in such a way that, absorbed by this Divine Will, being dominated by It, the human will will give It life within itself, and my Will will reign on earth as It does in Heaven.”

 

And when my ‘Fiat Voluntas Tua’ has its fulfillment ‘on earth as it is in Heaven’, then will the complete fulfillment of the second part of the Our Father occur – that is, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’  I said:  ‘Our Father, in the name of all, I ask You for three kinds of bread every day:  the bread of your Will, or rather, more than bread, because if bread is necessary two or three times a day, this one is necessary at each moment and in all circumstances.  Even more, it must be not only bread, but like balsamic air that brings life – the circulation of the Divine Life in the creature.  Father, if this bread of your Will is not given, I will never be able to receive all the fruits of my Sacramental Life, which is the second bread we ask of You every day. 

 

Oh! how my Sacramental Life feels discomforted, because the bread of your Will does not nourish them; on the contrary, it finds the corrupted bread of the human will.  Oh! how  disgusting it is to Me!  How I shun it!  And even though I go to them, I cannot give them the fruits, the goods, the effects, the sanctity,  because I do not find Our bread in them.  And if I give something, it is in small proportion, according to their dispositions, but not all the goods which I contain; and my Sacramental Life is patiently waiting for man to take the bread of the Supreme Will, in order to be able to give all the good of my Sacramental Life.  See then, how the Sacrament of the Eucharist – and not only that one, but all the Sacraments, left to my Church and instituted by Me –  will give all the fruits which they contain and complete fulfillment, when Our  bread, the Will of God, is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Then I asked for the third bread – the material one.

 

How could I say: ‘Give us this day our bread’?  I could do so in view of the fact that, as man would do Our Will, what was Ours would be his, and so the Father would no longer have to give the bread of His Will, the bread of my Sacramental Life and the daily bread of natural life, to illegitimate, usurping, evil children, but to legitimate and good children, who would share in the goods of their Father.  This is why I said:  ‘Give us our bread.’  Then will they eat the blessed bread; everything will smile around them, and Heaven and earth will carry the mark of the harmony of their Creator.

 

After this I added: ‘Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’  So, charity also will be perfect.  Once man has eaten the bread of my Will as my Humanity ate it, then will forgiveness have the mark of heroism, as I had it on the Cross.  Then will the virtues be absorbed into my Will and receive the mark of true heroism and of divine virtues; they will be like many little rivulets, which will gush forth from the bosom of the great sea of my Will.

 

And if I added,  ‘And lead us not into temptation’ – how could God ever lead man to temptation? – […] man is always man, free in himself, since I never take away from him the rights I gave him in creating him; and he, frightened and fearful of himself, tacitly cries out, and prays without  expressing it with words: ‘Give us the bread of your Will, that we may reject all temptations; and by virtue of this bread, deliver us from every evil.  Amen.’

 

See, then, how all the goods of man find again their connection, the tight bond of the ‘Let Us make man in Our image and likeness’, the validity of each of his acts, the restitution of the lost goods, as well as the signature and the assurance that his lost happiness, both terrestrial and celestial, is given back to him.  Therefore, it is so necessary that my Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, that I had no other interest, nor did I teach any other prayer but the ‘Our Father’.  And the Church, faithful executor and depository of my teachings, has it always on Her lips, and in every circumstance; and everyone – learned and ignorant, little and great, priests and lay people, kings and subjects – all pray that my Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

 

Extracts from Luisa Piccarreta’s The Book of Heaven, volume 15; April 14, 1923 and May 2, 1923.

 

View my books on Luisa HERE.

 

The Our Father as explained by Our Lord.

“You need nothing else to sanctify yourselves.”

Based on Chapter 203 of Maria Valtorta’s The Gospel as Revealed to Me.

[Our Lord is speaking to his Apostles.] And now I will teach you how to pray… Listen. When you pray, pray thus: "Our Father, Who are in Heaven, may Your name be held holy, Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven, and may Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread, forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us, and do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One". » 

 

Nothing else is required, My friends. Everything man needs for his spirit and his flesh and blood is contained in these words as in a golden ring. With this prayer you ask for what is useful to the former and the latter two. And if you do what you ask for, you will gain eternal life. It is so perfect a prayer that neither the storms of heresies nor the course of ages will undermine it. […]. 

 

Remember it carefully. Meditate on it continuously. Practice it in your actions. You need nothing else to sanctify yourselves. If one were alone, in a heathen place, without churches, without books, one would already have all the knowledge to meditate on in this prayer and a church in his heart for this prayer. One would have a safe rule of sanctification. 

 

"Our Father". I call Him: "Father". Father of the Word, Father of the Incarnate. That is how I want you to call Him because you are all one with Me, if you remain in Me. Once man had to prostrate himself with his face on the ground to whisper, trembling with fear: "God!" He who does not believe in Me and in My word is still in such paralyzing fear… Consider the interior of the Temple [of Jerusalem during the lifetime of Jesus]. Not God, but the very remembrance of God is concealed from the eyes of the faithful by a treble veil. He who prays is separated by remoteness and veils, everything has been devised to say to him: "You are mud. He is Light. You are contemptible. He is Holy. You are a slave. He is King".

 

But now!… Stand up! Come near Me! I am the Eternal Priest. I can take you by the hand and say: "Come". I can grasp the veils and draw them, and thus throw open the inaccessible place closed so far. Closed? Why? Closed by Sin, yes. But even more closed by the dispirited thought of man. Why closed if God is Love, if God is father? I can, I must, I want to take you not into the dust, but into the azure; not far, but near; not as slaves, but as children on to the heart of God. 

 

Say: "Father! Father!". And never tire repeating this word. Do you not know that every time you say it, Heaven shines because of God's joy? If you said with true love no other word but that one, you would be saying a prayer pleasing to the Lord. "Father! Father!" the little ones say to their fathers. It is the first word they say: "Mother, father". You are the little children of God. I begot you from the old man you were and whom I destroyed by means of My love to give birth to the new man, the Christian. Call, therefore, the Most Holy Father Who is in Heaven, with the first word that little children learn. 

 

"May Your Name be held holy". Oh! Name, which is holier and sweeter than any other name and which the fear of the guilty taught you to conceal under a different one. No, no longer Adonai. He is God. He is the God Who in an excess of love created Mankind. And Mankind, from now onwards, with lips cleansed by the purification that I am preparing, should call Him by His Name, awaiting to fully comprehend the true meaning of the Incomprehensible One, when the best children of Mankind, united to Him, will rise to the Kingdom that I have come to establish.

 

“Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven". Desire its coming with all your strength. If it came, it would be the joy of the earth. The Kingdom of God in hearts, in families, among citizens and nations. Suffer, work, sacrifice yourselves for this Kingdom. Let the earth be a mirror reflecting the life of Heaven in each individual. It will happen. All this will happen one day. Centuries of tears and blood, of errors, persecutions, of darkness relieved by flashes of light radiating from the mystical Light of My Church will precede the moment in which the earth will possess the Kingdom of God. 

 

Oh! My Church: although a boat, it will never be sunk, as it is also a cliff unshakeable by breakers and will hold high the Light, My Light, the Light of God. And it will then be like the intense blazing of a star which, having reached the perfection of its existence, disintegrates, an immeasurable flower of the ethereal gardens, to breathe its existence and love at the feet of its Creator, in a glowing, fiery throb. But it will most certainly come. And then there will be the perfect, blessed eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

 

“And may Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". The submission of one's will to the will of another person can be accomplished only when one reaches perfect love for that creature. The submission of one's will to God's can be achieved only when one achieves possession of the theological virtues in a heroic degree. In Heaven, where everything is faultless, God's will is done. You, children of Heaven, must learn to do what is done in Heaven. 

 

“Give us today our daily bread". When you are in Heaven, God alone will be your nourishment. Beatitude will be your food. But here, you still need bread and since you are the children of God, it is only fair to say: "Father, give us some bread". Are you afraid He will not hear you? Oh! no! Just think: If one of you has a friend and, if he finds out that he has no bread to offer another friend or relative, who has arrived in the middle of the night, goes to his friend saying: "Lend me three loaves, because a guest has arrived and I have nothing to give him to eat", can he possibly hear his friend answer him from inside the house: "Do not bother me, I have already bolted the door and my children are already sleeping beside me. I cannot get up and give you what you want"? No. If he has applied to a true friend and if he insists, he will receive what he asks for. […].

 

But when you pray the Father, you do not turn to a friend of the earth, but you apply to the Perfect Friend Who is the Father of Heaven. That is why I say to you: "Ask, and it will be given to you, search, and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to You". For the one who asks will receive, the one who searches always finds, the one who knocks will have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a roasted fish? A father who did that to his own children would be a criminal. […]. As a sound-minded person would not give a scorpion instead of an egg, with what greater bounty will God give you what you ask for! Because He is good, whereas you are more or less wicked. Ask, therefore, the Father for your bread with humble filial love. 

 

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us" There are material debts and spiritual ones. There are also moral debts. The money or the goods that one has received as a loan and must give back, are a material debt. Esteem extorted and not given back and love wanted and not returned are a moral debt. To obey God, from Whom one would exact much giving Him very little, and to love Him are a spiritual debt. He loves us and is to be loved, as a mother, a wife, a son, from whom so much is exacted, are to be loved.

 

A selfish man wants to receive, but does not give. But an egoist is poles apart from Heaven. We are in debt to everybody. From God to a relative, from a relative to a friend, from a friend to our neighbour, to a servant, to a slave, because they are all beings like ourselves. Woe to him who does not forgive! He will not be forgiven. God, out of justice, cannot remit the debt of a man who is in debt to Him, the Most Holy One, if man does not forgive his fellow man. 

 

"Do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One". Pray with humility that God may avert temptations from you. Oh! humility! To know oneself for what one is! Without losing heart, but to know oneself! Say: "I may give in, even if I do not think I could do it, because I am but an imperfect judge of myself. Therefore, Father, if possible, deliver me from temptations by keeping me so close to You as not to allow the Evil One to harm me". Because, remember, it is not God Who tempts you to evil things, but it is the Evil One who tempts you. Pray the Father that He may support your weakness so that it may not be led into temptation by the Evil One.

View my Catholic books HERE. 

Fix your desires upon heavenly things.

 

St. Teresa of Avila on the petition: Give us this day our Daily Bread. 

 

He teaches us to fix our desires upon heavenly things . . . would He, then, have us trouble about so petty a matter as praying for food? 

 

From The Way of Perfection, by St. Teresa of Avila. The book’s specific purpose was to serve as a guide in the practice of prayer, and it sets forth her counsels and directives for the attainment of spiritual perfection through prayer, not only for her Carmelite daughters but for all souls. 

 

Extracted from chapters 33 and 34.

 

[Note: the Latin "Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie." literally says: our daily bread, give us this day.]

 

While writing this I have been wondering why, after saying "our 'daily' bread", the Lord repeated the idea in the words "Give us this day, Lord." I will tell you my own foolish idea: if it really is foolish, well and good – in any case, it is quite bad enough that I should interfere in such a matter at all. Still, as we are trying to understand what we are praying for, let us think carefully what this means, so that we may pray rightly, and thank Him Who is taking such care about teaching us.

 

In using the words "this day" He seems to me to be thinking of a day of the length of this life. And a day indeed it is! Therefore the Son prays the Father that, since this life lasts no more than a day, He will allow Him to spend it in our service. 

 

As His Majesty has already given His Son to us, by sending Him, of His will alone, into the world, so now, of that same will, He is pleased not to abandon us, but to remain here with us for the greater glory of His friends and the discomfiture of His enemies. He prays for nothing more than this "to-day" since He has given us this most holy Bread. He has given it to us for ever, as I have said, as the sustenance and manna of humanity. We can have it whenever we please and we shall not die of hunger save through our own fault, for, in whatever way the soul desires to partake of food, it will find joy and comfort in the Most Holy Sacrament. 

 

With regard to other bread – the bread of bodily necessaries and sustenance – I neither like to think that the Lord is always being reminded of it nor would I have you remember it yourselves. Keep on the level of the highest contemplation, for anyone who dwells there no more remembers that he is in the world than if he had already left it – still less does he think about food. Would the Lord ever have insisted upon our asking for food, or taught us to do so by His own example? Not in my opinion. He teaches us to fix our desires upon heavenly things and to pray that we may begin to enjoy these things while here on earth: would He, then, have us trouble about so petty a matter as praying for food? As if He did not know that, once we begin to worry about the needs of the body, we shall forget the needs of the soul!

 

Join with the Lord, then, daughters, in begging the Father to let you have your Spouse to-day, so that, as long as you live, you may never find yourself in this world without Him. Let it suffice to temper your great joy that He should remain disguised beneath these accidents of bread and wine, which is a real torture to those who have nothing else to love and no other consolation. Entreat Him not to fail you but to prepare you to receive Him worthily.

 

As for that other bread, have no anxiety about it if you have truly resigned yourselves to God's will. I mean that at these hours of prayer you are dealing with more important matters and there is time enough for you to labor and earn your daily bread. Try never at any time to let your thoughts dwell on this; work with your body, for it is good for you to try to support yourselves, but let your soul be at rest. Leave anxiety about this to your Spouse, as has been said at length already, and He will always bear it for you. Do not fear that He will fail you if you do not fail to do what you have promised and to resign yourselves to God's will. 

 

I assure you, daughters, that, if I myself were to fail in this, because of my wickedness, as I have often done in the past, I would not beg Him to give me that bread, or anything else to eat. Let Him leave me to die of hunger. If, then, you are really surrendering yourselves to God, as you say, cease to be anxious for yourselves, for He bears your anxiety, and will bear it always. 

 

It is as though a servant had gone into service and were anxious to please his master in everything. The master is bound to give him food for so long as he remains in his house, and in his service, unless he is so poor that he has food neither for his servant nor for himself. It would not be right for the servant to go to his master every day and ask him for food when he knew that his master would see that it was given him and so he would be sure to receive it. To do this would be a waste of words. His master would quite properly tell him that he should look after his own business of serving and pleasing him, for, if he worried himself unnecessarily, he would not do his work as well as he should. 

 

So, sisters, those who will may worry about asking for earthly bread; let our own task be to beg the Eternal Father that we may merit our heavenly bread, so that, although our bodily eyes cannot feast themselves on the sight of Him since He is thus hidden from us, He may reveal Himself to the eyes of the soul and may make Himself known to us as another kind of food, full of delight and joy, which sustains our life.

 

Do you suppose that this most holy food is not ample sustenance even for the body and a potent medicine for bodily ills? I am sure that it is. For, unless we want to be foolish and to close our minds to facts, we cannot suppose that this is the work of the imagination, as it is when we think of the Lord on the Cross, or of other incidents of the Passion, and picture within ourselves how these things happened. This is something which is happening now; it is absolutely true; and we have no need to go and seek Him somewhere a long way off. For we know that, until the accidents of bread have been consumed by our natural heat, the good Jesus is with us and we should come to Him. If, while He went about in the world, the sick were healed merely by touching His clothes, how can we doubt that He will work miracles when He is within us, if we have faith, or that He will give us what we ask of Him since He is in our house?

 

You may be in the habit of praying while looking at a picture of Christ, but at a time like this it seems foolish to me to turn away from the living image – the Person Himself – to look at His picture. Would it not be foolish if we had a portrait of someone whom we dearly loved and, when the person himself came to see us, we refused to talk with him and carried on our entire conversation with the portrait?

 

I do not tell you to say no prayers at all, for if I did you would take hold of my words and say I was talking about contemplation, which you need practise only if the Lord brings you to it. No: you should say the Paternoster, realize that you are verily and indeed in the company of Him Who taught it you and kiss His feet in gratitude to Him for having desired to teach you and beg Him to show you how to pray and never to leave you.

Source: 

https://www.ourladyswarriors.org/saints/wayperf.htm

View my Catholic books Here.

Love is the measure of our ability to bear crosses.

 St. Teresa of Avila on the petition of the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done; as in Heaven, so on earth.

From The Way of Perfection, by St. Teresa of Avila. The book’s specific purpose was to serve as a guide in the practice of prayer, and it sets forth her counsels and directives for the attainment of spiritual perfection through prayer, not only for her Carmelite daughters but for all souls. 

 

Excerpted from Chapter 32.

 

What we give is in itself nothing at all by comparison with all that has been given us and with the greatness of Our Lord. But in truth, my Lord, Thou dost not leave us with nothing to give and we give all that we can – I mean if we give in the spirit of these words: "Thy will be done; as in Heaven, so on earth."

 

But as it is, though my will is not yet free from self-interest, I give it to Thee freely. For I have proved, by long experience, how much I gain by leaving it freely in Thy hands. O friends, what a great gain is this – and how much we lose through not fulfilling our promises to the Lord in the Paternoster, and giving Him what we offer Him!

 

Before I tell you in what this gain consists, I will explain to you how much you are offering, lest later you should exclaim that you had been deceived and had not understood what you were saying. It seems very easy to say that we will surrender our will to someone, until we try it and realize that it is the hardest thing we can do if we carry it out as we should. Our superiors do not always treat us strictly when they see we are weak; and sometimes they treat both weak and strong in the same way. That is not so with the Lord; He knows what each of us can bear, and, when He sees that one of us is strong, He does not hesitate to fulfill His will in him.

 

Do not fear that He will give you riches or pleasures or great honors or any such earthly things; His love for you is not so poor as that. And He sets a very high value on what you give Him and desires to recompense you for it since He gives you His Kingdom while you are still alive. Would you like to see how He treats those who make this prayer from their hearts? Ask His glorious Son, Who made it thus in the Garden. Think with what resolution and fullness of desire He prayed; and consider if the will of God was not perfectly fulfilled in Him through the trials, sufferings, insults and persecutions which He gave Him, until at last His life ended with death on a Cross.

 

So you see, daughters, what God gave to His best Beloved, and from that you can understand what His will is. These, then, are His gifts in this world. He gives them in proportion to the love which He bears us. He gives more to those whom He loves most, and less to those He loves least; and He gives in accordance with the courage which He sees that each of us has and the love we bear to His Majesty. When He sees a soul who loves Him greatly, He knows that soul can suffer much for Him, whereas one who loves Him little will suffer little.

 

For my own part, I believe that love is the measure of our ability to bear crosses, whether great or small. So if you have this love, sisters, try not to let the prayers you make to so great a Lord be words of mere politeness but brace yourselves to suffer what His Majesty desires. For if you give Him your will in any other way, you are just showing Him a jewel, making as if to give it to Him and begging Him to take it, and then, when He puts out His hand to do so, taking it back and holding on to it tightly.

 

The aim of all my advice to you in this book is that we should surrender ourselves wholly to the Creator, place our will in His hands and detach ourselves from the creatures.

 

In this matter, as I have already said, we can do nothing of ourselves, either by working hard or by making plans, nor is it needful that we should. For everything else hinders and prevents us from saying "Fiat voluntas tua": that is, may the Lord fulfill His will in me, in every way and manner which Thou, my Lord, desirest. If Thou wilt do this by means of trials, give me strength and let them come. If by means of persecutions and sickness and dishonor and need, here I am, my Father, I will not turn my face away from Thee nor have I the right to turn my back upon them. For Thy Son gave Thee this will of mine in the name of us all and it is not right that I for my part should fail. Do Thou grant me the grace of bestowing on me Thy Kingdom so that I may do Thy will, since He has asked this of me. Dispose of me as of that which is Thine own, in accordance with Thy will.

 

But the poor soul, despite its desires, is often unable to do all it would like, nor can it do anything at all unless it is given the power. But even if we do all that is in us, how can we repay God, since, as I say, we have nothing to give save what we have first received? We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can – namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us. Anything else must be a hindrance to the soul which the Lord has brought to this state. It causes it, not profit, but harm, for nothing but humility is of any use here, and this is not acquired by the understanding but by a clear perception of the truth, which comprehends in one moment what could not be attained over a long period by the labor of the imagination – namely that we are nothing and that God is infinitely great.

 

I will give you one piece of advice: do not suppose that you can reach this state by your own effort or diligence; that would be too much to expect. On the contrary, you would turn what devotion you had quite cold. You must practice simplicity and humility, for those are the virtues which achieve everything. You must say: "Fiat voluntas tua."

 

Online source: https://www.ourladyswarriors.org/saints/wayperf.htm

 

View my Catholic books Here.

 

 

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 (James 1:2)? 

 

But does 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.   


  

The difficulty of loving and forgiving our enemies.

St. Augustine’s focus 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 witnessings, and all such other sins which I do not name, as have a ruinous consequence [….]; yet 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.