PART IV : THE LORD'S PRAYER
PRAYER
Importance Of Instruction On Prayer
One of the duties of the pastoral office, which is of the
highest importance to the spiritual interests of the faithful, is to instruct
them on Christian prayer; the nature and efficacy of which must remain unknown
to many, if not taught by the pious and faithful diligence of the pastor. To
this, therefore, should the care of the pastor be directed in a special manner,
that his devout hearers may understand how and for what they are to ask God.
Whatever is necessary to the performance of the duty of
prayer is comprised in that divine formula which Christ the Lord deigned to
make known to His Apostles, and through them and their successors to all
Christians. Its thoughts and words should be so deeply impressed on the mind
and memory as to be ever in readiness. To assist pastors, however, in teaching
the faithful concerning this prayer, we have set down from those writers who
are conspicuous for learning and fullness in this matter, whatever appeared to
us most suitable, leaving it to pastors to draw upon the same sources for
further information, should they deem it necessary.
Necessity of Prayer
In the first place the necessity of prayer should be
insisted upon. Prayer is a duty not only recommended by way of counsel, but
also commanded by obligatory precept. Christ the Lord declared this when He
said: We should pray always. This necessity of prayer the Church points out in
the prelude, if we may so call it, which she prefixes to the Lord's Prayer:
Admonished by salutary precepts, and taught by divine instruction, we presume
to say, etc.
Therefore, since prayer is necessary to the Christian,
the Son of God, yielding to the request of the disciples, Lord, teach us to
pray, gave them a prescribed form of prayer, and encouraged them to hope that
the objects of their petitions would be granted. He Himself was to them a model
of prayer; He not only prayed assiduously, but watched whole nights in prayer.
The Apostles, also, did not omit to recommend this duty
to those who had been converted to the faith of Jesus Christ. St. Peter and
Besides, so various are our temporal and spiritual
necessities, that we must have recourse to prayer as the best means for
communicating our wants and receiving whatever we need. For since God owes
nothing to anyone, we must ask of Him in prayer those things we need, seeing
that He has constituted prayer as a necessary means for the accomplishment of
our desires, particularly since it is clear that there are blessings which we
cannot hope to obtain otherwise than through prayer. Thus devout prayer has
such efficacy that it is a most powerful means of casting out demons; for there
is a certain kind of demon which is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.
Those, therefore, who do not practice assiduous and
regular prayer deprive themselves of a powerful means of obtaining gifts of
singular value. To succeed in obtaining the object of your desires, it is not
enough that you ask that which is good; your entreaties must also be assiduous.
Every one that asketh, says
The Fruits of Prayer
Moreover, this necessity of prayer is also productive of
the greatest delight and usefulness, since it bears most abundant fruits. When
it is necessary to instruct the faithful concerning these fruits, pastors will
find ample matter in sacred writers. We have made from these sources a
selection which appeared to us to suit the present purpose.
Prayer Honours God
The first fruit which we receive is that by praying we
honour God, since prayer is a certain act of religion, which is compared in
Scripture to a sweet perfume. Let my prayer, says the Prophet, be directed as
incense in thy sight. By prayer we confess our subjection to God; we
acknowledge and proclaim Him to be the author of all good, in whom alone we
center all our hopes, who alone is our refuge, in all dangers and the bulwark
of our salvation. Of this fruit we are admonished also in these words: Call
upon me in the day of trouble; I -will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Prayer Obtains What We Request
Another most pleasing and invaluable fruit of prayer is
that it is heard by God. Prayer is the key of heaven, says
Proof
Nor can we, for a moment, doubt that God in His goodness
awaits and is at all times ready to hear our petitions -- a truth to which the
Sacred Scriptures bear ample testimony. Since, however, the texts are easy of
access, we shall content ourselves with citing as an example the words of
Isaias: Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will hear: thou shalt cry, and he
will say, "Here I am"; and again, It shall come to pass, that before
they call, I will hear: as they are yet speaking, I will hear. With regard to
instances of persons, who have obtained from God the objects of their prayers,
they are almost innumerable, and too well known to require special mention.
Unwise And Indevout Prayers Unheard
Sometimes, indeed, it happens that what we ask of God we
do not obtain. But it is then especially that God looks to our welfare, either
because He bestows on us other gifts of higher value and in greater abundance,
or because what we ask, far from being necessary or useful, would prove
superfluous and injurious. God, says
Sometimes, also, such is the remissness and negligence
with which we pray, that we ourselves do not attend to what we say. Since
prayer is an elevation of the soul to God, if, while we pray, the mind, instead
of being fixed upon God, is distracted, and the tongue slurs over the words at
random, without attention, without devotion, with what propriety can we give to
such empty sounds the name of Christian prayer?
We should not, therefore, be at all surprised, if God
does not comply with our requests; either because by our negligence and
indifference we almost show that we do not really desire what we ask, or
because we ask those things, which, if granted, would be prejudicial to our
interests.
To Devout Prayer And Dispositions God Grants More Than Is
Asked
On the other hand, to those who pray with devout
attention, God grants more than they ask. This the Apostle declares in his
Epistle to the Ephesians, and the same truth is unfolded ill the parable of the
prodigal son, who would have deemed it a kindness to be admitted into the
number of his father's servants.
Nay, God heaps His favours not only on those who seek
them, but also on those who are rightly disposed; and this, not only with
abundance, but also with readiness. This is shown by the words of Scripture:
The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor. For God hastens to grant the inner
and hidden desires of the needy without awaiting their utterance.
Prayer Exercises And Increases Faith
Another fruit of prayer is, that it exercises and
augments the virtues of the soul, particularly the virtue of faith. As they who
have not faith in God, cannot pray as they ought, for how can they call on him,
whom they have not believed ? so the faithful, in proportion to the fervour of
their prayers, possess a stronger and a more assured faith in the protecting
providence of God, which requires principally that in all needs we have
recourse to Him.
Prayer Strengthens Our Hope In God
God, it is true, might bestow on us all things abundantly,
although we did not ask them or even think of them, just as He bestows on the
irrational creation all things necessary for the support of life. But our most
bountiful Father wishes to be invoked by His children; He wishes that, praying
as we ought each day of our lives, we may pray with increased confidence. He
wishes that in obtaining our requests we may more and more bear witness to and
declare His goodness towards us.
Prayer Increases Charity
Our charity is also augmented. In recognising God as the
author of every blessing and of every good, we are led to cling to Him with the
most devoted love. And as those who cherish a mutual affection become more
ardently attached by frequent interviews and conversations, so the oftener the
soul prays devoutly and implores the divine mercy, thus holding converse with
God, the more exquisite is the sense of delight which she experiences in each
prayer, and the more ardently is she inflamed to love and adore Him.
Prayer Disposes The Soul For Divine Blessings
Furthermore, God wishes us to make use of prayer, in
order that burning with the desire of asking what we are anxious to obtain, we
may thus by our perseverance and zeal make such advances in spiritual life, as
to be worthy to obtain those blessings which the soul could not obtain before
because of its dryness and lack of devotion.
Prayer Makes Us Realise Our Own Needfulness
Moreover, God wishes us to realise, and always keep in
mind, that, unassisted by His heavenly grace, we can of ourselves do nothing,
and should therefore apply ourselves to prayer with all the powers of our
souls.
Prayer Is A Protection Against The Devil
The weapons which prayer supplies are most powerful
against our bitterest foes. With the cries of our prayers, says St. Hilary, we
must fight against the devil and his armed hosts.
Prayer Promotes A Virtuous Life
From prayer we also derive this important advantage that
though we are inclined to evil and to the indulgence of various passions, as a
consequence of our natural frailty, God permits us to raise our hearts to Him,
in order that while we address Him in prayer, and endeavour to deserve His
gifts, we may be inspired with a love of innocence, and, by effacing our sins,
be purified from every stain of guilt.
Prayer Disarms The Divine Vengeance
Finally, as
The Parts Of Prayer
The necessity and advantages of Christian prayer being
explained, the faithful should also know how many, and what are the parts of
which it is composed; for that this pertains to the perfect discharge of this
duty, we learn from the Apostle. In his Epistle to Timothy, exhorting to pious
and holy prayer, he carefully enumerates the parts of which it consists: I
desire therefore first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all men. Although the shades of distinction between
these different parts of prayer are delicate, yet the pastor, should he deem
the explanation useful to his people, should consult, among others, St. Hilary
and
The Two Chief Parts Of Prayer Petition And Thanksgiving
There are two principal parts of prayer, petition and thanksgiving,
and since these are the sources, as it were, from which all the others spring,
they appear to us to be of too much importance to be omitted. For we approach
God and offer Him the tribute of our worship, either to obtain some favour, or
to return Him thanks for those with which His bounty every day enriches and
adorns us. God Himself indicated both these most necessary parts of prayer when
He declared by the mouth of David: Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Who does not perceive how much we stand in need of the
goodness and beneficence of God, if he but consider the extreme destitution and
misery of man?
On the other hand, all that have eyes and understanding
know God's loving kindness toward man and the liberal bounty He exercises in
our behalf. Wherever we cast our eyes, wherever we turn our thoughts, the
admirable light of the divine goodness and beneficence beams upon us. What have
we that is not the gift of His bounty? If, then, all things are the gifts and
favours bestowed on us by His goodness, why should not everyone, as much as
possible, celebrate the praises of God, and thank Him for His boundless
beneficence.
Degrees Of Petition And Thanksgiving
Of these duties of petition and thanksgiving each
contains many subordinate degrees. In order, therefore, that the faithful may
not only pray, but also pray in the best manner, the pastor should propose to
them the most perfect mode of praying, and should exhort them to use it to the
best of their ability.
The Highest Degree Of Prayer: The Prayer Of The Just
What, then, is the best manner and the most exalted
degree of prayer? It is that which is made use of by the pious and the just.
Resting on the solid foundation of the true faith, they rise successively from
one degree of prayer and virtue to another, until, at length, they reach that
height of perfection, whence they can contemplate the infinite power, goodness,
and wisdom of God; where, too, they are animated with the assured hope of
obtaining not only those blessings which they desire in this life, but also
those unutterable rewards which God has pledged Himself to grant to him who
piously and religiously implores His assistance.
Soaring, as it were, to heaven, on these two wings, the
soul approaches, in fervent desire, the Divinity; adores with supreme praise
and thanksgiving Him from whom she has received such inestimable blessings;
and, like an only child, animated with singular piety and profound veneration,
trustfully tells her most beloved Father all her wants.
This sort of prayer the Sacred Scriptures express by the
words pouring out. In his sight, says the Prophet, I pour out my proyer, but
before him I declare my trouble. This means that he who comes to pray should
conceal or omit nothing, but pour out all, flying with confidence into the
bosom of God, his most loving Father. To this the Sacred Scriptures exhort us
in these words: Pour out thy heart before him, cast thy care upon the Lord.
This is that degree of prayer to which
The Second Degree Of Prayer: The Prayer Of Sinners
Another degree of prayer is that of those who are weighed
down by the guilt of mortal sin, but who strive, with what is called dead
faith, to raise themselves from their condition and to ascend to God. But, in
consequence of their languid state and the extreme weakness of their faith,
they cannot raise themselves from the earth. Recognising their crimes and stung
with remorse of conscience, they bow themselves down with humility, and, far as
they are removed from God, implore of Him with penitential sorrow, the pardon
of their sins and the peace of reconciliation.
The prayers of such persons are not rejected by God, but
are heard by Him. Nay, in His mercy, He generously invites such as these to
have recourse to Him, saying: Come to me, all you that labour, and are heavily
laden, and I will refresh you, of this class was the publican, who, though he
did not dare to raise his eyes towards heaven, left the Temple, as (our Lord)
declares, more justified than the Pharisee.
The Third Degree Of Prayer: The Prayer Of Unbelievers
A third degree of prayer is that which is offered by
those who have not as yet been illumined with the light of faith; but who, when
the divine goodness illumines in their souls the feeble natural light, are
strongly moved to the desire and pursuit of truth and most earnestly pray for a
knowledge of it.
If they persevere in such dispositions, God, in His
mercy, will not neglect their earnest endeavours, as we see verified by the
example of Cornelius the centurion. The doors of the divine mercy are closed
against none who sincerely ask for mercy.
The Lowest Degree Of Prayer: The Prayer Of The Impenitent
The last degree is that of those who not only do not
repent of their sins and enormities, but, adding crime to crime, dare
frequently to ask pardon of God for those sins, in which they are resolved to
continue. With such dispositions they would not presume to ask pardon from
their fellow-man.
The prayer of such sinners is not heard by God. It is
recorded of Antiochus: Then this wicked man prayed to the Lord, of whom he was
not to obtain mercy. Whoever lives in this deplorable condition should be
vehemently exhorted to wean himself from all affection to sin, and to return to
God in good earnest and from the heart.
What We Should Pray For
Under the head of each Petition we shall point out in its
proper place, what is, and what is not a proper object of prayer. Hence it will
suffice here to remind the faithful in a general way that they ought to ask of
God such things as are just and good, lest, praying for what is not suitable,
they may be repelled in these words: You know not what you ask. Whatever it is
lawful to desire, it is lawful to pray for, as is proved by the Lord's ample
promise: You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you, words
in which He promises to grant all things.
Spiritual Goods
In the first place, then, the standard which should
regulate all our wishes is that we desire above all else God, the supreme Good.
After God we should most desire those things which unite us most closely to
Him; while those which would separate us from Him, or occasion that separation,
should have no share whatever in our affections.
External Goods And Goods Of Body
Taking, then, as our standard the supreme and perfect
Good, we can easily infer how we are to desire and ask from God our Father
those other things which are called goods. Goods which are called bodily, such
as health, strength, beauty and those which are external, such as riches,
honours, glory, often supply the means and give occasion for sin; and, therefore,
it is not always either pious or salutary to ask for them. We should pray for
these goods of life only in so far as we need them, thus referring all to God.
It cannot be deemed unlawful to pray for those things for which Jacob and
Solomon prayed. If, says Jacob, he shall give me bread to eat and raiment to
put on, the Lord shall be my God. Give me, says Solomon, only the necessaries
of life.
But when we are supplied by the bounty of God with
necessaries and comforts, we should not forget the admonition of the Apostle:
Let them that buy, be as if they possessed not, and those that use this world,
as if they used it not; for the figure of this world passeth away; and again,
If riches abound, set not your heart upon them. God Himself teaches us that only
the use and fruit of these things belong to us and that we are obliged to share
them with others. If we are blessed with health, if we abound in other external
and corporal goods, we should recollect that they are given to us in order to
enable us to serve God with greater fidelity, and as the means of lending
assistance to others.
Goods Of The Mind
It is also lawful to pray for the goods and adornments of
the mind, such as a knowledge of the arts and sciences, provided our prayers
are accompanied with this condition, that they serve to promote the glory of
God and our own salvation.
The only thing which can be absolutely and
unconditionally the object of our wishes, our desires and our prayers, is, as
we have already observed, the glory of God, and, next to it, whatever can serve
to unite us to that supreme Good, such as faith and the fear and love of God,
of which we shall treat at length when we come to explain the Petitions.
For Whom We Ought to Pray
The objects of prayer being known, the faithful are next
to be taught for whom they are to pray. Prayer comprehends petition and
thanksgiving. We shall first treat of petition.
The Prayer Of Petition Should Be Offered For All
We are to pray for all mankind, without exception of
enemies, nation or religion; for every man, be he enemy, stranger or infidel,
is our neighbour, whom God commands us to love, and for whom, therefore, we
should discharge a duty of love, which is prayer. To the discharge of this duty
the Apostle exhort: when he says: I desire that prayer be made for all men. In
such prayers we should first ask for those things that concern spiritual
interests, and next for what pertains to temporal welfare.
Those For Whom We Should Especially Offer Our Petitions:
Pastors
Before all others the pastors of our souls have a right
to our prayers, as we learn from the example of the Apostle in his Epistle to
the Colossians, in which he asks them to pray for him, that God may open unto
him a door of speech, a request which he also makes in his Epistle to the
Thessalonians. In the Acts of the Apostles we also read that prayers were
offered in the Church without intermission for Peter. St. Basil, in his work On
Morals, urges to a faithful compliance with this obligation. We must, he says,
pray for those who are charged with preaching the word of truth.
Rulers Of Our Country
In the next place, as the same Apostle teaches, we should
pray for our rulers.
Who does not know what a singular blessing a people enjoy
in public officials who are just and upright? We should, therefore, beseech God
to make them such as they ought to be, fit persons to govern others.
The Just
To offer up our prayers also for the good and pious is a
practice taught by the example of holy men. Even the good and the pious need
the prayers of others.
Enemies And Those Outside The Church
The Lord has also commanded us, to pray for those that
persecute and calumniate us. The practice of praying for those who are not
within the pale of the Church, is, as we know on the authority of
Many examples prove that prayers for such as these are
very efficacious when offered from the heart. Instances occur every day in
which God rescues individuals of every condition of life from the powers of
darkness, and transfers them into the
The Dead
Prayers for the dead, that they may be liberated from the
fire of purgatory, are derived from Apostolic teaching. But on this subject we
have said enough when explaining the Holy Sacrifice of the
Sinners
Those who are said to sin unto death derive little
advantage from prayers and supplications. It is, however, the part of Christian
charity to offer up our prayers and tears for them, in order, if possible, to
obtain their reconciliation with God.
With regard to the execrations uttered by holy men
against the wicked, it is certain, from the teaching of the Fathers, that they
are either prophecies of the evils which are to befall sinners or denunciations
of the crimes of which they are guilty, that the sinner may be saved, but sin
destroyed.
The Prayer Of Thanksgiving Should Be Offered For All
In the second part of prayer we render most grateful
thanks to God for the divine and immortal blessings which He has always
bestowed, and still continues to bestow every day on the human race.
Our Thanksgiving Should Especially Be Offered: For The
Saints
This duty we discharge especially when we give singular
praises to God for the victory and triumph which all the Saints, aided by His
goodness, have achieved over their domestic and external enemies.
For The Blessed Virgin Mary
To this sort of prayer belongs the first part of the
Angelic Salutation, when used by us as a prayer: Hail Mary, full of grace, the
Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. For in these words we render
to God the highest praise and return Him most gracious thanks, because He has
bestowed all His heavenly gifts on the most holy Virgin; and at the same time
we congratulate the Virgin herself on her singular privileges.
To this form of thanksgiving the Church of God has wisely
added prayers and an invocation addressed to the most holy Mother of God, by
which we piously and humbly fly to her patronage, in order that, by her
intercession, she may reconcile God to us sinners and may obtain for us those
blessings which we stand in need of in this life and in the life to come. We,
therefore, exiled children of Eve, who dwell in this vale of tears, should
constantly beseech the Mother of mercy, the advocate of the faithful, to pray
for us sinners. In this prayer we should earnestly implore her help and
assistance; for that she possesses exalted merits with God, and that she is
most desirous to assist us by her prayers, no one can doubt without impiety and
wickedness.
To Whom We Should Pray
To God
That God is to be prayed to and His name invoked is the
language of the law of nature, inscribed upon the human heart. It is also the
doctrine of Holy Scripture, in which we hear God commanding: Call upon me in
the day of trouble. By the word God, we mean the three Persons (of the adorable
Trinity).
To The Saints
We must also have recourse to the intercession of the
Saints who are in glory. That the Saints are to be prayed to is a truth so
firmly established in the
God And The Saints Addressed Differently
To remove, however, the possibility of error on the part
of the unlearned it will be found useful to explain to the faithful the
difference between these two kinds of invocation.
We do not address God and the Saints in the same manner,
for we implore God to grant us blessings or to deliver us from evils; while we
ask the Saints, since they are the friends of God, to take us under their patronage
and to obtain for us from God whatever we need. Hence we make use of two
different forms of prayer. To God, we properly say: Have mercy on us, Hear us;
but to the Saints, Pray for us. Still we may also ask the Saints, though in a
different sense, that they have mercy on us, for they are most merciful. Thus
we may beseech them that, touched with the misery of our condition, they would
interpose in our behalf their influence and intercession before God.
In the performance of this duty, it is strictly incumbent
on all not to transfer to any creature the right which belongs exclusively to
God. For instance, when we say the Our Father before the image of a Saint we
should bear in mind that we beg of the Saint to pray with us and to obtain for
us those favours which we ask of God, in the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, --
in a word, that he become our interpreter and intercessor with God. That this
is an office which the Saints discharge,
Preparation for Prayer
In Scripture we read: Before prayer, prepare thy soul,
and be not as a man that tempteth God. He tempts God who prays well but acts
badly, and while he converses with God allows his mind to wander.
Since, then, the dispositions with which we pray are of
such vital importance, the pastor should teach his pious hearers how to pray.
Humility
The first preparation, then, for prayer is an unfeigned
humility of soul, an acknowledgment of our sinfulness, and a conviction that,
when we approach God in prayer, our sins render us undeserving, not only of
receiving a propitious hearing from Him, but even of appearing in His presence.
This preparation is frequently mentioned in the
Scriptures: He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble, and he hath not
despised their petitions; the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce
the clouds. Many other passages of the same kind will suggest themselves to
learned pastors. Hence we abstain from citing more here.
Two examples, however, at which we have already glanced
in another place, and which are apposite to our purpose, we shall not pass over
in silence. The publican, who, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up
his eyes toward heaven, and the woman, a sinner, who, moved with sorrow, washed
the feet of Christ the Lord, with her tears, illustrate the great efficacy
which Christian humility imparts to prayer.
Sorrow For Sin
The next (preparation) is a feeling of sorrow, arising
from the recollection of our past sins, or, at least, some sense of regret,
that we do not experience that sorrow. If the sinner bring not with him to
prayer both, or, at least one of these dispositions, he cannot hope to obtain
pardon.
Freedom From Violence, Anger, Hatred And Inhumanity
There are some crimes, such as violence and murder, which
are in a special way obstacles to the efficacy of our prayers, and we must,
therefore, preserve our hands unstained by outrage and cruelty. Of such crimes
the Lord says by the mouth of Isaias: When you stretch forth your hands, I will
turn away my eyes from you; and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear, for
your hands are full of blood
Anger and strife we should also avoid, for they have
great influence in preventing our prayers from being heard. Concerning them the
Apostle says: l will that men pray in every place lifting up pure hands,
without anger and contention.
Implacable hatred of any person on account of injuries
received we must guard against; for while we are under the influence of such
feelings,- it is impossible that we should obtain from God the pardon of our
sins. When you shall stand to pray, He says, forgive, if you have aught against
any man; and, if you will not forgive men, neither will your heavenly Father
forgive you your offences.
Hardness and inhumanity to the poor we should also avoid.
For concerning men of this kind it was said He that stoppeth his ear against
the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard.
Freedom From Pride And Contempt Of God's Word
What shall we say of pride? How much it offends God, we
learn from these words: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble. What of the contempt of the divine oracles? He that turneth away his
ears, says Solomon, from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination.
Here, however, we are not to understand that we are
forbidden to pray for the forgiveness of the injuries we have done, of murder,
anger, insensibility to the wants of the poor, of pride, contempt of God's
word, in fine, of any other sin.
Faith And Confidence
Faith is another necessary quality for this preparation
of soul. Without faith, we can have no knowledge of the omnipotence or mercy of
the supreme Father, which are the sources of our confidence in prayer, as Christ
the Lord Himself has taught: All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer,
believing, you shall receive.
The chief requisite, therefore, of a good prayer is, as
we have already said, a firm and unwavering faith. This the Apostle shows by an
antithesis: How shall they call on him whom they have not believed? Believe,
then, we must, both in order to pray, and that we be not wanting in that faith
which renders prayer fruitful. For it is faith that leads to prayer, and it is
prayer that, by removing all doubts, gives strength and firmness to faith. This
is the meaning of the exhortation of St. Ignatius to those who would approach
God in prayer: Be not of doubtful mind in prayer; blessed is he who hath not
doubted. Wherefore, to obtain from God what we ask, faith and an assured
confidence, are of first importance, according to the admonition of St. James:
Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.
Motives Of Confidence In Prayer
There is much to inspire us with confidence in prayer.
Among these are to be numbered the beneficence and bounty of God, displayed
towards us, when He commands us to call Him Father, thus giving us to
understand that we are His children. Again there are the numberless instances
of those whose prayers have been heard.
Further we have as our chief advocate, Christ the Lord,
who is ever ready to assist us, as we read in
Finally, the Holy Ghost is the author of our prayers; and
under His guiding influence, we cannot fail to be heard. We have received the
spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, "Abba, (Father)." This
spirit succours our infirmity and enlightens our ignorance in the discharge of
the duty of prayer; nay, even, as the Apostle says, He asketh for us with
unspeakable groanings.
Should we, then, at any time waver, not being
sufficiently strong in faith, let us say with the Apostles: Lord, increase our
faith; and, with the father (of the demoniac): Help my unbelief.
Correspondence With God's Will
But what most ensures the accomplishment of our desires
is the union of faith and hope with that conformity of all our thoughts, actions,
and prayers to God's law and pleasure. If, He says, you abide in me, and my
words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto
you.
Fraternal Charity
In order, however, that our prayers may have this power
of obtaining all things from God, we must, as was previously served, forget
injuries, cherish sentiments of good will, and practice kindness towards our
neighbour.
How to Pray Well
The manner of praying is also a matter of the highest
moment. Though prayer in itself is good and salutary, yet if not performed in a
proper manner it is unavailing. Often we do not obtain what we ask, because, in
the words of St. James, we ask amiss. Pastors, therefore, should instruct the
faithful in the best manner of asking well and of making private and public
prayer. The rules of Christian prayer have been formed on the teaching of
Christ the Lord.
We Must Pray In Spirit And In Truth
We must, then pray in spirit and in truth; for the
heavenly Father seeks those who adore Him in spirit and in truth. He prays in
this manner whose prayer proceeds from an interior and intense ardour of soul.
Mental Prayer
This spiritual manner of praying does not exclude the use
of vocal prayer. Nevertheless, that prayer which is the vehement outpouring of
the soul, deservedly holds the first place; and although not uttered with the
lips, it is heard by God to whom the secrets of hearts are open. He heard the
silent prayer of Anna, the mother of Samuel, of whom we read, that she prayed,
shedding many tears and only moving her lips. Such was also the prayer of
David, for he says: My heart hath said to thee, my f ace hath sought thee. In
reading the Bible one will meet many similar examples.
Vocal Prayer
But vocal prayer has also its advantages and necessity.
It quickens the attention of the mind, and kindles the fervour of him who
prays. We sometimes, says
Private And Public Prayer
There are two sorts of prayer, private and public.
Private prayer is employed in order to assist interior attention and devotion;
whereas in public prayer, which has been instituted to excite the piety of the
faithful, and has been prescribed for certain fixed times, the use of words is
indispensably required.
Those Who Do Nor Pray In Spirit
This practice of praying in spirit is peculiar to
Christians, and is not at all used by infidels. Of these Christ the Lord has
said: When you pray, speak not much, as the heathens; for they think that in
their much speaking they may be heard. Be not ye, therefore, like to them, for
your Father knoweth what is needful for you before you ask him.
But though (our Lord) prohibits loquacity, He is so far
from forbidding continuance in prayer which proceeds from the eager and
prolonged devotion of the soul that by His own example He exhorts us to such
prayer. Not only did He spend whole nights in prayer, but also prayed the third
time, saying the self-same words. The inference, therefore, to be drawn from
the prohibition is that prayers consisting of mere empty sounds are not to be
addressed to God.
Those Who Do Not Pray In Truth
Neither do the prayers of the hypocrite proceed from the
heart; and against the imitation of their example, Christ the Lord warns us in
these words: When ye pray, ye shall not be as the hypocrites that love to stand
and pray in the synagogues, and corners of the streets, that they may be seen
by men. Amen I say, to you they have received their reward. But thou, when thou
shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy
Father in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. Here the
word chamber may be understood to mean the human heart, which we should not
only enter, but should also close against every distraction from without that
could deprive our prayer of its perfection. For then will our heavenly Father,
who sees perfectly our hearts and secret thoughts, grant our petitions.
We Must Pray With Perseverance
Another necessary condition of prayer is constancy. The great
efficacy of perseverance, the Son of God exemplifies by the conduct of the
judge, who, while he feared not God, nor regarded man, yet, overcome by the
persistence and importunity of the widow, yielded to her entreaties." In
our prayers to God we should, therefore, be persevering.
We must not imitate the example of those who become tired
of praying, if, after having prayed once or twice, they succeed not in
obtaining the object of their prayers. We should never be weary of the duty of
prayer, as we are taught by the authority of Christ the Lord and of the
Apostle. And should the will at any time fail us, we should beg of God by
prayer the strength to persevere.
We Must Pray In The Name Of Jesus Christ
The Son of God would also have us present our prayers to
the Father in His name; for, by His merits and the influence of His mediation,
our prayers acquire such weight that they are heard by our heavenly Father. For
He Himself says in St. John: Amen, Amen, I say unto you, if you ask the Father
any thing in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto you have not asked any
thing in my name: ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full; and
again: Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do.
We Must Pray With Fervour, Uniting Petition To
Thanksgiving
Let us imitate the fervour of the Saints in prayer; and
to petition let us unite thanksgiving, imitating the example of the Apostles,
who, as may be seen in the Epistles of St. Paul, always observed this salutary
practice.
Fasting And Almsdeeds Should Be Joined To Prayer
To prayer let us unite fasting and almsdeeds. Fasting is
most intimately connected with prayer. For the mind of one who is filled with
food and drink is so borne down as not to be able to raise itself to the
contemplation of God, or even to understand what prayer means.
Almsdeeds have also an intimate connection with prayer.
For what claim has he to the virtue of charity, who, possessing the means of
affording relief to those who depend on the assistance of others, refuses help
to his neighbour and brother ? How can he, whose heart is devoid of charity,
demand assistance from God unless, while imploring the pardon of his sins, he
at the same time humbly beg of God to grant him the virtue of charity ?
This triple remedy was, therefore, appointed by God to
aid man in the attainment of salvation. For by sin we offend God, wrong our
neighbour, or injure ourselves. The wrath of God we appease by pious prayer;
our offences against man we redeem by almsdeeds; the stains of our own lives we
wash away by fasting. Each of these remedies, it is true, is applicable to
every sort of sin; they are, however, peculiarly adapted to those three which
we have specially mentioned.
OPENING WORDS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER
"Our Father who art in heaven"
Importance Of Instruction On These Words
The form of Christian prayer given us by Jesus Christ is
so composed and arranged that before coming to requests and petitions certain
words must be used as a sort of preface calculated to increase our confidence
in God when we are about to address Him devoutly in prayer; and this being so
it will be the pastor's duty to explain each of these words separately and with
precision, so that the faithful may have recourse to prayer more readily
because of the knowledge that they are going to commune and converse with a God
who is also their Father. Regarding this preface, if we merely consider the
number of words of which it is composed, it is brief indeed; but if we regard
the ideas, it is of the greatest importance and replete with mysteries.
"Father"
The first word, which, by the order and institution of
God we employ in this prayer, is Father. Our Saviour could, indeed, have
commenced this divine prayer with some other word, conveying more the idea of
majesty, such, for instance, as Lord or Creator. Yet He omitted all such
expressions because they might rather inspire fear, and instead of them He has
chosen a term inspiring confidence and love in those who pray and ask anything
of God; for what is sweeter than the name Father, conveying, as it does, the
idea of indulgence and tenderness ? The reasons why this name Father is
applicable to God, can be easily explained to the faithful by speaking to them
on the subjects of creation, providence, and redemption.
God Is Called Father Because He Created Us
Thus having created man to His own image -- a favour He
accorded to no other living creature -- it is with good reason that, in view of
this unique privilege with which He has honoured man, Sacred Scripture calls
God the Father of all men; not only of the faithful, but also of the
unbelieving.
God Is Called Father Because He Provides For Us
From His providence also may be drawn an argument. By a
special superintending care and providence over our interests God displays a
paternal love for us.
God's Care For Us Is Seen In The Appointment Of Guardian
Angels
But in order to comprehend more clearly the fatherly care
of God for men, it will be well in the explanation of this particular point to
say something regarding the guardian Angels under whose protection men are
placed.
By God's providence Angels have been entrusted with the
office of guarding the human race and of accompanying every human being so as
to preserve him from any serious dangers. Just as parents, whose children are
about to travel a dangerous and infested road, appoint guardians and helpers
for them, so also in the journey we are making towards our heavenly country our
heavenly Father has placed over each of us an Angel under whose protection and
vigilance we may be enabled to escape the snares secretly prepared by our
enemy, repel the dreadful attacks he makes on us, and under his guiding hand
keep the right road, and thus be secure against all false steps which the wiles
of the evil one might cause us to make in order to draw us aside from the path
that leads to heaven.
How We Are Helped By The Angels
And the immense advantage springing from the special care
and providence of God with regard to men, the execution of which is entrusted
to Angels, who by nature hold an intermediate place between God and man, will
be clear from a multitude of examples with which Sacred Scripture supplies us
in abundance, and which show that in God's goodness it has often happened that
Angels have wrought wondrous works under the very eyes of men. This gives us to
understand that many and equally important services, which do not fall under
our sight, are wrought by our Angels, the guardians of our salvation, in our
interest and for our advantage.
The Angel Raphael, the divinely appointed companion and
guide of Tobias, conducted him and brought him back safe and sound; saved him
from being devoured by an enormous fish; made known to him the extremely useful
properties possessed by the liver, gall and heart of the monster; expelled the
demon; repressed and fettered his power and prevented him from injuring Tobias;
taught the young man the true and legitimate notion and use of matrimony; and
finally restored to the elder Tobias the use of his sight.
In the same way the Angel who liberated the Prince of the
Apostles, will supply copious material for the instruction of the pious flock
regarding the striking fruits of the vigilance and protection of the Angels.
The pastor need do no more than depict the Angel lighting up the darkness of
the prison, touching Peter's side and awakening him from his sleep, loosing his
chains, breaking his bonds, ordering him to rise, to take up his sandals and to
follow; and then the pastor will point out how Peter was led forth out of
prison by the same Angel, how he was enabled to pass without let or hindrance
through the midst of the guard, how the doors were thrown open, and finally how
he was placed in safety.
The historical part of Sacred Scripture, as we have
already remarked, is full of such examples, all of which go to show the extent
of the benefits bestowed by God on man through the ministry and intervention of
Angels whom He deputes not only on particular and private occasions, but also
appoints to take care of us from our very births. He furthermore appoints them
to watch over the salvation of each one of the human race.
This teaching, if carefully explained, will have the
effect of interesting and compelling the minds of the faithful to acknowledge
and venerate more and more the paternal care and providence of God towards
them.
God's Care For Us Seen In The Love He Has Ever Shown To
Man
And here the pastor should especially praise and proclaim
the treasures of God's goodness towards the human race. Though from the time of
our first parents and from the moment of our first sin down to this very day we
have offended Him by countless sins and crimes, yet He still retains His love
for us and never renounces His singular solicitude for our welfare.
To imagine that He has forgotten us would be an act of
folly and nothing short of a most outrageous insult. God was angry with the
Israelites because of the blasphemy they had been guilty of in imagining that
they had been abandoned by providence. Thus do we read in Exodus: They tempted
the Lord, saying: "Is the Lord amongst us or not?" and in Ezechiel
the divine anger is inflamed against the same people for having said: The Lord
seeth us not: the Lord hath forsaken the earth. These examples should suffice
to deter the faithful from entertaining the criminal notion that God can ever
possibly forget mankind. To the same effect we may read in Isaias the complaint
uttered by the Israelite. against God; and, on the other hand, the kindly similitude
with which God refutes their folly: Sion said: "The Lord hath forsaken me,
and the Lord hath forgotten me." To which God answers: Can a woman forget
her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should
forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have engraven thee in my hands.
Although these passages clearly establish the point under
discussion, yet thoroughly to convince the faithful that never for a moment can
God forget man or cease to lavish on him tokens of His paternal tenderness, the
pastor should still further confirm this by the striking example of our first
parents. They had ignored and violated God's command. When you hear them
sharply accused and that dreadful sentence of condemnation pronounced against
them: Cursed is the earth in thy work, with labour and toil shalt thou eat
thereof all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee; and thou shalt eat the herbs of the earth; " when you see them
driven out of Paradise; when you read that to preclude all hope of their return
a cherub was stationed at the entrance of Paradise, brandishing a flaming sword
turning every way; and finally, when you know that, to avenge the injury done
Him, God had afflicted them with punishments, internal and external, would you-
not be inclined to think that man's case was hopeless? Would you not consider
that not only was he bereft of all divine help, but was even abandoned to every
misfortune? Yet, surrounded as he then was by so many evidences of divine wrath
and vengeance, a gleam of the goodness of God towards him is seen to shine
forth. For the Lord God, says Sacred Scripture, made for Adam and his wife
garments of skins and clothed them, which was a very clear proof that at no
time would God abandon man.
This truth, that the love of God can be exhausted by no
human iniquity, was indicated by David in these words: Will God in his anger
shut up his mercies? It was set forth by Habacuc when, addressing God, he said:
When thou art angry thou wilt remember mercy; and by Micheas, who thus
expresses it: Who is a God like to thee who takest away iniquity and passest by
the sin of the remnant of thy inheritance? He will send his fury in no more,
because he delighteth in mercy.
And thus precisely does it happen. At the very moment
when we imagine ourselves to be utterly lost and altogether bereft of His
protection, then it is that God in His infinite goodness seeks us out in a
special way and takes care of us. Even in His anger He stays the sword of His
justice, and ceases not to pour out the inexhaustible treasures of His mercy.
God Is Called Father Because He Has Granted Us Redemption
The creation of the world and God's providence are, then,
of great weight in bringing into relief the singular love of God for the human
race and the special care He takes of man. But far above these two shines the
work of redemption, so much so indeed that our most bountiful God and Father
has crowned His infinite goodness towards us by granting us this third favour.
Accordingly the pastor should instruct his spiritual
children and constantly recall to their minds the surpassing love of God for
us, so that they may be fully alive to the fact that having been redeemed in a
wonderful manner they are thereby made the sons of God. To them, says St. John,
He gave power to be made the sons of God . . . and they are born of God.
This is why Baptism, the first pledge and token of our
redemption, is called the Sacrament of regeneration; for it is by Baptism that
we are born children of God: That which is born of the Spirit, says our Lord,
is spirit; and: You must be born again. In the same way we have the words of
St. Peter: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the
word of God who liveth.
By reason of this redemption we have received the Holy
Ghost and have been made worthy of the grace of God. As a consequence of this
gift we are the adopted sons of God, as the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans
when he said: Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you
have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: "Abba,
Father." The force and efficacy of this adoption are thus set forth by St.
John: Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we
should be called, and should be the sons of God.
Duties We Owe Our Heavenly Father
These points having been explained, the faithful should
be reminded of all they owe in return to God, their most loving Father, so that
they may be aware of the extent of the love, piety, obedience and respect they
are bound to render to Him who has created them, who watches over them, and who
has redeemed them; and with what hope and trust they should invoke Him.
But to enlighten the ignorant and to correct the false
ideas of such as imagine prosperity and success in life to be the only test
that God preserves and maintains His love towards us, and that the adversities
and trials which come from His hand are a sign that He is not well disposed
towards us and that He entertains hostile dispositions towards us, it will be
necessary to point out that even if the hand of the Lord sometimes presses
heavily upon us, it is by no means because He is hostile to us, but that by
striking us He heals us, and that the wounds coming from God are remedies.
He chastises sinners so as to improve them by this
lesson, and inflicts temporal punishments in order to deliver them from eternal
torments. For though He visits our iniquities with a rod and our sins with
stripes, yet his mercy he will not take away from us.
The faithful, therefore, should be recommended to
recognise in such chastisements the fatherly love of God, and ever to have in
their hearts and on their lips the saying of Job, the most patient of men: He
woundeth and cureth; he striketh and his hands shall heal; as well as to repeat
frequently the words written by Jeremias in the name of the people of Israel:
Thou hast chastised me and I was instructed, as a young bullock unaccustomed to
the yoke: convert me and I shall be converted; for thou art the Lord my God;
and to keep before their eyes the example of Tobias who, recognising in the
loss of his sight the paternal hand of God raised against him, cried out: I
bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because thou hast chastised me and thou hast
saved me.
In this connection the faithful should be particularly on
their guard against believing that any calamity or affliction that befalls them
can take place without the knowledge of God; for we have His own words: A hair
of your heads shall not perish. Let them rather find consolation in that divine
oracle read in the Apocalypse: Those whom I love I rebuke and chastise; and let
them find comfort in the exhortation addressed by St. Paul to the Hebrews: My
son, neglect not the discipline of the Lord; neither be thou weaned whilst thou
art rebuked by him: for whom the Lord loveth he chastiseth, and he scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth.... But if you be without chastisement, ... then
are you bastards and not sons.... Moreover if we have had the fathers of our
flesh for instructors, and we reverenced them, shall we not much more obey the
Father of spirits and live?
"Our"
When we invoke the Father and when each one of us calls
Him our Father, we are to understand thereby that from the privilege and gift
of divine adoption it necessarily follows that all the faithful are brethren
and should love each other as such: You are all brethren for one is your Father
who is in heaven." This is why the Apostles in their Epistles address all
the faithful as brethren.
Another necessary consequence of this adoption is that
not only are the faithful thereby united in the bonds of brotherhood, but that,
the Son of God being truly man, we are called and really are his brethren also.
Thus, in his Epistle to the Hebrews the Apostle, speaking of the Son of God,
wrote as follows: He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: "I will
declare thy name to my brethren. And long before this, David had foretold this
of Christ the Lord; while Christ Himself thus addresses the women in the
Gospel: Go, tell my brethren that they go into Galilee; there they shall see
me. These words, as we know, He pronounced only after His Resurrection and when
He had already put on immortality, thus showing that no one is at liberty to
imagine that the bonds of brotherhood with us have been severed by His
Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. Not only has the Resurrection of Christ
not dissolved this union and love, but we know that one day, when from His
throne of glory and majesty He shall judge mankind of all ages, He will call
even the very least of the faithful by the name of brethren.
Indeed, how can we be other than brethren of Christ,
seeing that we are called His co-heirs? Doubtless He is the first begotten, the
appointed heir of all things; but we are begotten in the second place after
Him, and are His co-heirs according to the measure of heavenly gifts we receive
and according to the extent of the charity by which we show ourselves servants
and cooperators of the Holy Ghost. He it is who by His inspirations moves and
inflames us to virtue and good works, in order that we may be strengthened by
His grace valiantly to undertake the combat that must be waged to secure
salvation. And if we wisely and firmly carry on this combat we shall at the
close of our earthly career be rewarded by our heavenly Father with the just
recompense of that crown promised and held out to all those who run the same
course. God, says the Apostle, is not unjust that He should forget your work and
love.
Dispositions That Should Accompany The Words, "Our
Father": Fraternal Regard
How sincere should be the manner in which we ought to
utter the word our, we learn from St. Chrysostom. God, he says, listens
willingly to the Christian who prays not only for himself but for others;
because to pray for ourselves is an inspiration of nature; but to pray for
others is an inspiration of grace; necessity compels us to pray for ourselves,
whereas fraternal charity calls on us to pray for others. And he adds: That
prayer which is inspired by fraternal charity is more agreeable to God than
that which is dictated by necessity.
In connection with the important subject of salutary
prayer, the pastor should be careful to remind and exhort all the faithful of
every age, condition and rank, never to forget the bonds of universal
brotherhood that bind them, and consequently ever to treat each other as
friends and brothers, and never to seek arrogantly to raise themselves above
their neighbours.
Though there are in the Church of God various gradations
of office, yet this diversity of dignity and position in no way destroys the
bond of fraternal union; just as in the human body the various uses and
different functions of our organs in no way cause this or that part of the body
to lose the name or office of an organ of the body.
Take, for instance, one who wields kingly power. If he is
a Christian, is he not the brother of all those united in the communion of the
Christian faith? Yes, beyond all doubt; and why? Because there is not one God
giving existence to the rich and noble, and another giving existence to the
poor and to subjects. There is but one God, the Father and Lord of all; and
consequently we have all the same nobility of spiritual birth, all the same dignity,
all the same glory of race; for all have been regenerated by the same Spirit
through the same Sacrament of faith, and have been made children of God and
co-heirs to the same inheritance. The wealthy and great have not one Christ for
their God; the poor and lowly, another; they are not initiated by different
Sacraments; nor can they expect a different inheritance in the kingdom of
heaven. We are all brethren and, as the Apostle says in his Epistle to the
Ephesians: We are members of Christ's body, of his flesh and of his bones. This
is a truth which the same Apostle thus expresses in his Epistle to the
Galatians: You are the children of God, by faith in Jesus Christ; for as many
of you as have been baptised in Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither
Greek nor Jew, neither bond nor free, neither male nor female; for you are all
one in Christ Jesus.
Now this is a point which calls for accuracy on the part
of the pastor of souls, and one on which he should purposely dwell at
considerable length; for it is a subject that is calculated both to strengthen
and animate the poor and lowly, and to restrain and repress the arrogance of
the rich and powerful. Indeed it was to remedy this latter evil that the
Apostle insisted on brotherly charity and so often impressed it on the ears of
his hearers.
Filial Confidence And Piety
Do not, then, forget, oh Christian, that when about to
address this prayer to God, you ought to approach Him as a son to his Father;
and hence in beginning your prayers and in pronouncing the words Our Father you
should consider the rank to which God in His goodness has raised you when He
commands you to fly to Him, not as a timid and fearful servant to his master,
but willingly and confidently, like a child to its father.
In this remembrance and in this thought, consider with
what fervour and piety you should pray. Endeavour to act as becomes a child of
God; that is to say, see that your prayers and actions are never unworthy of
that divine origin with which He has been pleased in His infinite bounty to
ennoble you. It is to the discharge of this duty that the Apostle exhorts us
when he says: Be ye therefore imitators of God as most dear children, so that
what the Apostle wrote to the Thessalonians may be truly said of us: You are
all the children of light, and the children of the day.
"Who art in Heaven"
Meaning Of These Words
All who have a correct idea of God will grant that He is
where and in all places. This is not to be taken in the sense that He is
distributed into parts and that He occupies and governs one place with one part
and another place with another part. God is a Spirit, and therefore utterly
incapable of division into parts. Who will dare to assign to any particular
place or circumscribe within any limits that God who says of Himself: Do I not
fill heaven and earth? On the contrary, these words must be taken in this
sense, that by His power and virtue He embraces heaven and earth and all things
contained therein; but that He Himself is not contained in any place. God is
present to all things, either creating them, or preserving them after He has
created them; but He is confined to no place, is limited by no bounds, nor in
any way hindered from being everywhere present by His substance and power, as
is indicated by holy David in the words: If I ascend into heaven thou art
there.
But though God is present in all places and in all
things, without being bound by any limits, as has been already said, yet in
Sacred Scripture it is frequently said that He has His dwelling in heaven. And
the reason is because the heavens which we see above our heads are the noblest
part of the world, remain ever Incorruptible, surpass all other bodies in
power, grandeur and beauty, and are endowed with fixed and regular motion.
God, then, in order to lift up the minds of men to
contemplate His infinite power and majesty, which are so preeminently visible
in the work of the heavens, declares in Sacred Scripture that heaven is His
dwelling-place. Yet at the same time He often affirms, what indeed is most
true, that there is no part of the universe to which He is not present
intimately by His nature and His power.
Lessons Taught By The Words, "Who Art In
Heaven"
In connection with this consideration, however, let the
faithful keep before their minds not only the image of the common Father of
all, but also of a God reigning in heaven; and hence when about to pray, let
them remember that they should raise heart and soul to heaven, and that the
more the name of Father inspires them with hope and trust, the more should the
sublime nature and divine majesty of our Father who is in heaven inspire them
with sentiments of Christian humility and respect.
These words, furthermore, determine what we ought to ask
of God in prayer; for every demand regarding the needs and wants of this life,
if it have not some reference to the goods of heaven and if it be not directed
to that end, is vain and unworthy of a Christian.
Let the pastor, therefore, instruct his pious hearers
regarding this particular element of prayer, confirming his own words by the
authority of the Apostle: If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Mind the things that
are above, not the things that are upon the earth.
THE FIRST PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER : "HALLOWED
BE THY NAME"
Why This Petition Is Placed First
What we are to ask of God and in what order, the Master
and Lord of all has Himself taught and commanded. For prayer is the ambassador
and interpreter of our thoughts and desires; and consequently we pray well and
properly when the order of our petitions follows the order in which the things
sought are desirable.
Now, genuine charity tells us to direct our whole soul
and all our affections to God, for He alone being the one supreme Good, it is
but reasonable that we love Him with superior and singular love. On the other
hand, God cannot be loved from the heart and above all things else, unless we
prefer His honour and glory to all things created. For all the good that we or
others possess, all that in any way bears the name of good, comes from Him, and
is therefore inferior to Him, the sovereign Good.
Hence, that our prayers may be made with due order, our
Saviour has placed this Petition regarding the sovereign Good at the head of
all the other Petitions of the Lord's Prayer, thus showing us that before
asking the things necessary for ourselves or for others, we ought to ask those
that appertain to God's honour, and to manifest and make known to Him the
affections and desires of our hearts in this regard. Acting thus, we shall be
faithful to the claims and rules of charity, which teaches us to love God more
than ourselves and to ask, in the first place, those things we desire on His account,
and next, those things we desire on our own.
Object Of The First Three Petitions
But as our desires and petitions concern such things only
as are needed, and as nothing can be added to God; that is to say. to the
Divine Nature, nor can His Divine Substance, which is ineffably rich in all
perfection, be in any way increased, we must remember that the things we ask of
God on God's own account are extrinsic and concern His exterior glory.
Thus we desire and beg that His name may be more and better
known in the world, that His kingdom may be extended, and that each day new
servants may come to obey His holy will. These three things, His name, His
kingdom, and obedience (to His will), do not appertain to the intrinsic nature
and perfection of God, but are extrinsic thereto.
To enable the faithful to understand still more clearly
the force and bearing of these Petitions, the pastor should take care to point
out to them that the words, On earth as it is in heaven, may be understood of
each of the first three Petitions, as follows: Hallowed be thy name on earth as
it is in heaven; Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven; and, Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
Hallowed Be Thy Name
In praying that the name of God may be hallowed, our
meaning is that the sanctity and glory of the divine name may be increased.
On Earth As It Is In Heaven"
But in this connection the pastor should observe and
should point out to his pious hearers that our Saviour does not in this
expression say that the name of God is to be sanctified on earth in the same
manner as it is in heaven; that is, that its earthly sanctification is to be
equal in magnificence to its heavenly, a thing which is absolutely impossible,
but only that such sanctification proceed from love and from the inmost
affections of the soul. True, indeed, the divine name has in itself no need to
be sanctified, since it is terrible and -holy,' as God Himself in His very
Nature is holy, nor can any holiness be attributed Him which He has not
possessed from all eternity; yet seeing that here below an honour far inferior
to that which He deserves is rendered to Him, and that sometimes even He is
dishonoured by cursing and blasphemy, we therefore desire and beg that His name
may be exalted here on earth with praise, honour, and glory, after the example
of that praise, honour and glory which are given Him in heaven.
What Sanctification of God's Name we should Pray For
That The Faithful May Glorify Him
In other words we pray that our minds, our souls and our
lips may be so devoted to the honour and worship of God as to glorify Him. with
all veneration both interior and exterior, and, after the model of the heavenly
citizens, to celebrate with all our might the greatness, the glory and the
holiness of the name of God.
That Unbelievers May Be Converted
Thus, then, as the heavenly spirits with perfect
unanimity exalt and glorify God, so do we pray that the same be done over all
the earth; that all nations may come to know, worship, and reverence God; that
all without a single exception may embrace the Christian religion, may devote
themselves wholly to the service of God, and may be convinced that in Him is
the source of all sanctity and that there is nothing pure, nothing holy, that does
not proceed from the sanctity of His divine name. According to the testimony of
the Apostle, The church is cleansed by the laver of water in the word of life.
and the word of life signifies the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Ghost in which we are baptised and sanctified.
And since there is no expiation, no purity, no integrity,
in him over whom the divine name has not been invoked, we desire and pray that
all mankind may abandon the darkness of their impious infidelity, and, enlightened
by the rays of divine light, may come to recognise the power of this name and
look to it alone for true sanctity, and that thus receiving the Sacrament of
Baptism in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, they may receive the
plenitude of sanctity from the right hand of God Himself.
That Sinners May Be Converted
Moreover, our desires and our supplications extend
equally to those, who, stained with sin and wickedness, have lost the purity of
their Baptism and their robe of innocence, thus permitting the unclean spirit
to take up his abode once more in their unhappy souls. We therefore desire and
pray God that in these also His name may be sanctified; that they may reenter
into themselves and, returning to a right frame of mind, may recover their
former holiness through the Sacrament of Penance, and become once more the pure
and holy temple and dwelling-place of God.
That God May Be Thanked For His Favours
Finally, we pray that God may make His light to shine on
the minds of all, so as to enable them to see that every best gift and e very
perfect gift coming from the Father of lights, is conferred on us by Him, and
consequently that temperance, justice, life, health, in a word, all goods of
soul, body and possessions, all goods both natural and supernatural, must be
recognised as gifts given by Him from whom, as the Church proclaims, proceed
all blessings. If the sun by its light, if the stars by their motion and
revolutions, are of any advantage to man; if the air with which we are surrounded
serves to sustain us; if the earth with its abundance of produce and its fruits
furnishes the means of subsistence to all men; if our rulers by their vigilance
enable us to enjoy peace and tranquillity, it is to the infinite goodness of
God that we owe these and innumerable blessings of a similar kind,-nay, those
very causes which philosophers call secondary, we should regard as so many
hands of God, wonderfully fashioned and fitted for our use, by means of which
He distributes His blessings and diffuses them everywhere in profusion.
That The Church May Be Recognised By All
But what we most particularly ask in this Petition is
that all may acknowledge and revere the spouse of Jesus Christ, our most holy
mother the Church, in which alone is to be found the copious and inexhaustible
fountain that cleanses and effaces all the stains of sin, and from which are
drawn all the Sacraments of salvation and sanctification, those Sacraments
through which, like so many sacred channels, is diffused over us by the hand of
God the dew, of sanctity. To that Church alone and to those whom she embraces
in her bosom and holds in her arms, appertains the invocation of that divine
name, outside of which there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby
we must be saved.
What Sanctification Of God's Name We Should Practice
The pastor should be careful to insist particularly on
the fact that it is the duty of a good son not only to pray to God his Father
in words, but also to endeavour by his conduct and actions to promote the
sanctification of the divine name. And would to God there were none who, though
continually praying for the sanctification of God's name, yet, as far as in
them lies, violate and profane it by their deeds, and by whose fault God
Himself is sometimes blasphemed. It was of such as these that the Apostle said:
The name of God through you is blasphemed among the Gentiles; and in Ezechiel
we read: They entered among the nations whither they went, and profaned my holy
name, when it was said of them: "This is the people of the Lord, and they
are come forth out of his land"; for according to the sort of life and
conduct led by those professing a particular religion, so precisely in the eyes
of the unlettered multitude will be the opinion held of that religion and of
its author.
Those, therefore, who live according to the dictates of
the Christian religion which they have embraced, and who regulate their prayers
and actions by its precepts, furnish others with a powerful motive for greatly
praising, honouring and glorifying the name of our heavenly Father. As for us,
it is a duty which the Lord has imposed on us, to lead others by shining deeds
of virtue to praise and glorify the name of God. This is how He addresses us in
the Gospel: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works and glorify your Father who is in heaven; and the Prince of the Apostles
says: Having your conversation good among the Gentiles, that they may, by the
good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God.
THE SECOND PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER : "THY
KINGDOM COME"
Importance Of Instruction On This Petition
The kingdom of heaven which we pray for in this second
Petition is the great end to which is referred, and in which terminates all the
preaching of the Gospel; for from it St. John the Baptist commenced his
exhortation to penance: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. With
it also the Saviour of the world opened His preaching. In that admirable
discourse on the mount in which He points out to His disciples the way to
happiness, having proposed, as it were, the subject-matter of His discourse,
our Lord commences with the kingdom of heaven: Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Again, to those who would detain Him with
them, He assigns as the necessary cause of His departure: To other cities,
also, I must preach the kingdom of God; therefore am I sent. This kingdom He
afterwards commanded the Apostles to preach. And to him who expressed a wish to
go and bury his father, He replied: Go thou, and preach the kingdom of God. And
after He had risen from the dead, during those forty days in which He appeared
to the Apostles, He spoke of the kingdom of God.
This second Petition, therefore, the pastor should treat
with the greatest attention, in order to impress on the minds of his faithful
hearers its great importance and necessity.
Greatness Of This Petition
In the first place pastors will be greatly assisted
towards an accurate and careful explanation of this Petition by the thought
that (the Redeemer Himself) commanded this Petition, although united to the
others, to be also offered separately, in order that we may seek with the
greatest earnestness that for which we pray; for He says: Seek first the
kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.
So great and so abundant are the heavenly gifts contained
in this Petition, that it includes all things necessary for the security of
soul and body. The king who pays no attention to those things on which depends
the safety of his kingdom we should deem unworthy of the name. If a man is so
anxious for the welfare of his kingdom, what must be the solicitude, what the
providential care, with which the King of kings guards the life and safety of
man?
We compress, therefore, within the small compass of this
Petition for God's kingdom all that we stand in need of in our present
pilgrimage, or rather exile, and all this God graciously promises to grant us;
for He immediately subjoins: All these things shall be added unto you. Thus
does he declare that He is that king who with bountiful hand bestows upon man
an abundance of all things, whose infinite goodness enraptured David when he
sang: The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing.
Necessity Of Rightly Making This Petition
It is not enough, however, that we utter an earnest
petition for the kingdom of God; we must also add to our prayer the use of all
those means by which that kingdom is sought and found.- The five foolish
virgins uttered earnestly the same petition in these words: Lord, Lord, open to
us; but they used not the means necessary to secure its attainment, and were
therefore rightly excluded. For God Himself has said: Not every one that saith
to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Motives For Adopting The Necessary Means
The priest, therefore, who is charged with the care of
souls, should draw from the exhaustless fountain of the divine Scriptures those
powerful motives which are calculated to move the faithful to the desire and
pursuit of the kingdom of heaven, which portray in vivid coloring our
deplorable condition, and which should make so sensible an impression upon them
that, entering into themselves, they may call to mind that supreme happiness
and those unutterable goods with which the eternal abode of God our Father
abounds.
Here below we are exiles, inhabitants of a land in which
dwell those demons whose hatred for us cannot be softened, who are the
determined and implacable foes of mankind. What shall we say of those intestine
conflicts and domestic battles in which the soul and the body, the flesh and
the spirit, are continually engaged against each other, in which we have always
to fear defeat, nay, in which instant defeat becomes inevitable, unless we be
defended by the protecting hand of God? Feeling this weight of misery the
Apostle exclaims: Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of
this death?
The misery of our condition, it is true, strikes us at once
of itself; but if contrasted with that of other creatures, it strikes us still
more forcibly. Although irrational and even inanimate, the lower creatures are
seldom seen so to depart from the acts, the instincts and the movements
imparted to them by nature, as to fail of obtaining their appointed and
determined end. This is so obvious in the case of beasts, fishes and birds that
there is no need to dwell on it. But if we look to the heavens, do we not
behold the verification of these words of David? For ever, O Lord, thy word
standeth firm in the heavens. Constant in their motions, uninterrupted in their
revolutions, they never depart in the least from the laws divinely prescribed.
The earth, too, and universal nature, as we at once perceive, adhere strictly
to, or at least depart but very little from the laws of their being.
But unhappy man is guilty of frequent falls. Seldom does
he carry out his good resolutions; often he abandons and despises what he has
well commenced; his best purposes which pleased for a time, are often suddenly
abandoned, and he plunges into designs as degrading as they are pernicious.
What then is the cause of this misery and inconstancy?
Manifestly a contempt of the divine inspirations. We close our ears to the
admonitions of God, our eyes to the divine lights which shine before us; nor do
we hearken to those salutary commands which are delivered by our heavenly
Father.
To paint to the eyes of the faithful the misery-of man's
condition, to detail its various causes, and to point out the efficacious
remedies are, therefore, among the objects which should employ the zealous
exertions of the pastor. In the discharge of this duty, his labor will be not a
little lightened if he consults what has been said on the subject by those holy
men, John Chrysostom and Augustine, and still more if he refers to our
exposition of the Creed. For with a knowledge of these truths, who will be so
obstinate in sin as not to endeavour, with the help of God's preventing grace,
to rise, like the prodigal son spoken of in the Gospel, to stand erect, and
hasten into the presence of his heavenly Father and king ?
"Thy Kingdom"
Having pointed out the advantages to be derived by the
faithful from this Petition, the pastor should next explain the favours which
it seeks. This becomes the more necessary as the words, kingdom of God, have a
variety of significations, the exposition of each of which will not be found
without its advantages in elucidating other passages of Scripture, and is
necessary to a knowledge of the present subject.
The Kingdom Of Nature
In their ordinary sense, which is frequently employed by
Scripture, the words, kingdom of God, signify not only that power which God
possesses over all men and over the entire universe, but, also, His providence
which rules and governs all things. In his hands, says the Prophet, are all the
ends of the earth. The word ends includes those things also which lie buried in
the depths of the earth, and are concealed in the most hidden recesses of creation.
In this sense Mardochaeus exclaims: O Lord, Lord, almighty king, for all things
are in thy power, and there is none that can resist thy will: thou art God of
all, and there is none that can resist thy majesty.
The Kingdom Of Grace
By the kingdom of God is also understood that special and
singular providence by which God protects and watches over pious and holy men.
It is of this peculiar and admirable care that David speaks when he says: The
Lord rules me, I shall want nothing, and Isaias: The Lord our king he will save
us.
But although, even in this life, the pious and holy are
placed, in a special manner, under this kingly power of God; yet our Lord
Himself informed Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, that is to say,
had not its origin in this world, which was created and is doomed to perish. In
this perishable way power is exercised by kings, emperors, commonwealths,
rulers, and all whose titles to the government of states and provinces is
founded upon the desire or election of men, or who have intruded themselves, by
violent and unjust usurpation, into sovereign power.
Not so Christ the Lord, who, as the Prophet declares, is
appointed king by God, and whose kingdom, as the Apostle says, is justice: The
kingdom of God's justice and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Christ our Lord
reigns in us by the interior virtues of faith, hope and charity. By these
virtues we are made a portion, as it were, of His kingdom, become subject in a
special manner to God, and are consecrated to His worship and veneration; so
that, as the Apostle could say: I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, we
too are able to say: I reign, yet not , but Christ reigneth in me.
This kingdom is called justice, because it has for its
basis the justice of Christ the Lord. Of it our Lord says in St. Luke: The
kingdom of God is within you. For although Jesus Christ reigns by faith in all
who are within the bosom of our holy mother, the Church; yet in a special
manner He reigns over those who are endowed with a superior faith, hope and
charity, and have yielded themselves pure and living members to God. It is in
these that the kingdom of God's grace is said to consist.
The Kingdom Of Glory
By the words kingdom of God is also meant that kingdom of
His glory, of which Christ our Lord says in St. Matthew: Come ye blessed of my
Father, possess the kingdom which was prepared for you from the beginning of
the world. This kingdom the thief, when he had admirably acknowledged his
crimes, begged of Christ in the words related by St. Luke: Lord, remember me,
when thou comest into thy kingdom. Of this kingdom St. John speaks when he
says: Unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God; and of it the Apostle says to the Ephesians: No fornicator,
or unclean, or covetous person (which is a serving of idols) hath inheritance
in the kingdom of Christ and of God. To it also refer some of the parables made
use of by Christ the Lord when speaking of the kingdom of heaven.
But the kingdom of grace must precede that of glory; for
God's glory cannot reign in anyone in whom His grace does not already reign.
Grace, according to the Redeemer, is a fountain of water springing up to
eternal life; while as regards glory, what can we call it except a certain
perfect and absolute grace? As long as we are clothed with this frail mortal
flesh, as long as we wander in this gloomy pilgrimage and exile, weak and far
away from God, we often stumble and fall, because we rejected the aid of the
kingdom of grace, by which we were supported. But when the light of the kingdom
of glory, which is perfect, shall have shone upon us, we shall stand forever
firm and secure. Then shall all that is defective and unsuitable be utterly
removed; then shall every infirmity be strengthened and invigorated; in a word,
God Himself will then reign in our souls and bodies. But on this subject we
have dealt already at greater length in the exposition of the Creed, when
speaking of the resurrection of the flesh.
"Come"
Having thus explained the ordinary acceptation of the
words, kingdom of God, we now come to point out the particular objects
contemplated by this Petition.
We Pray For The Propagation Of The Church
In this Petition we ask God that the kingdom of Christ,
that is, His Church, may be enlarged; that Jews and infidels may embrace the
faith of Christ and the knowledge of the true God; that schismatics and
heretics may return to soundness of mind, and to the communion of the Church of
God which they have deserted; and that thus may be fulfilled and realised the
words of the Lord, spoken by the mouth of Isaias: Enlarge the place of thy
tent, and stretch out the skins of thy tabernacles; lengthen thy cords, and
strengthen thy stakes, for thou shalt pass on to the right hand and to the
left, for he that made thee shall rule over thee. And again: The Gentiles shall
walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising; lift up thy eyes
round about and see; all these are gathered together, they are come to thee;
thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side.
For The Conversion Of Sinners
But in the Church there are to be found those who profess
they know God, but in their works deny Him; whose conduct shows that they have
only a deformed faith; who, by sinning, become the dwelling-place of the devil,
where the demon exercises uncontrolled dominion. Therefore do we pray that the
kingdom of God may also come to them so that the darkness of sin being
dispelled from around them, and their minds being illumined by the rays of the
divine light, they may be restored to their lost dignity of children of God;
that heresy and schism being removed, and all offences and causes of sins being
eradicated from His kingdom, our heavenly Father may cleanse the floor of His
Church; and that, worshipping God in piety and holiness, she may enjoy
undisturbed peace and tranquillity.
That Christ May Reign Over All
Finally, we pray that God alone may live, alone may reign
within us; that death may no longer exist, but may be absorbed in the victory
achieved by Christ our Lord, who, having broken and scattered the power of all
His enemies, may, in His might, subject all things to His dominion.
Dispositions That Should Accompany This Petition
The pastor should also be mindful to teach the faithful,
as the nature of this Petition demands, the thoughts and reflections with which
their minds should be impressed in order to offer this prayer devoutly to God.
We Should Prize God's Kingdom Above All Things
He should exhort them, in the first place, to consider
the force and import of that similitude of the Redeemer: The kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure hidden in a field: which when a man hath found he hideth,
and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
He who knows the riches of Christ the Lord will despise all things when
compared to them; to him wealth, riches, power, will appear as dross. Nothing
can be compared to, or stand in competition with that inestimable treasure.
Whoever, then, is blessed with this knowledge will say with the Apostle: I
esteem all things to be but loss, and count them but as dung, that I may gain
Christ. This is that precious jewel of the Gospel, and he who sells all his
earthly goods to purchase it shall enjoy an eternity of bliss.
Happy we, should Jesus Christ shed so much light on us,
as to enable us to discover this jewel of divine grace, by which He reigns in
the hearts of those that are His. Then should we be prepared to sell all that
we have on earth, even ourselves, to purchase and secure its possession; then
might we say with confidence: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
But would we know the incomparable excellence of the
kingdom of God's glory, let us hear the words and teaching of the Apostle: Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man,
what things God hath prepared for them that love him.
We Must Realise That We Are Exiles
To obtain the object of our prayers it will be found most
helpful to reflect within ourselves who we are, -- namely, children of Adam,
exiled from Paradise by a just sentence of banishment, and deserving, by our
unworthiness and perversity, to become the objects of God's supreme hatred, and
to be doomed to eternal punishment.
This consideration should excite in us humility and
lowliness. Thus our prayers will be full of Christian humility; and wholly
distrusting ourselves, like the publican, we will fly to the mercy of God.
Attributing all to His bounty we will render immortal thanks to Him who has
imparted to us that Holy Spirit, relying on whom we are emboldened to say: Abba
(Father).
We Must Labor To Obtain God's Kingdom
We should also be careful to consider what is to be done,
what avoided, in order to arrive at the kingdom of heaven. For we are not
called by God to lead lives of ease and indolence. On the contrary, He declares
that the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away; and,
If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. It is not enough,
therefore, that we pray for the kingdom of God; we must also use our best
exertions. It is a duty incumbent on US to cooperate with the grace of God, to
use it in pursuing the path that leads to heaven. God never abandons us; He has
promised to be with us at all times. We have therefore only this to see to,
that we forsake not God, or abandon ourselves.
In this kingdom of the Church, God has provided all those
succours by which He defends the life of man, and accomplishes his eternal
salvation; whether they are invisible to us, such as the hosts of angelic
spirits, or visible, such as the Sacraments, those unfailing sources of
heavenly grace. Defended by these divine safeguards, not only may we securely
defy the assaults of our most determined enemies, but may even lay prostrate,
and trample under foot, the tyrant himself with all his nefarious legions.
Recapitulation
To conclude, let us then earnestly implore the Spirit of
God that He may command us to do all things in accordance with His holy will;
that He may so overthrow the empire of Satan that it shall have no power over
us on the great accounting day; that Christ may be victorious and triumphant;
that the divine influence of His law may be spread throughout the world; that
His ordinances may be observed; that there be found no traitor, no deserter;
and that all may so conduct themselves, as to come with joy into the presence
of God their King, and may reach the possession of the celestial kingdom, prepared
for them from all eternity, in the fruition of endless bliss with Christ Jesus.
THE THIRD PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER : "THY WILL
BE DONE"
The Relation Of This Petition To The Previous One
Whoever desires to enter into the kingdom of heaven should
ask of God that His will may be done. For Christ the Lord has said: Not every
one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Consequently this Petition follows immediately after the one
which prays for the kingdom of heaven.
Necessity Of This Petition
In order that the faithful may know the necessity of this
Petition and the numerous and salutary gifts which we obtain through it, the
pastor should direct their attention to the misery and wretchedness in which
the sin of Adam has involved mankind.
Man's Proneness To Act Against God's Will
From the beginning God implanted in all creatures an
inborn desire of pursuing their own happiness that, by a sort of natural
impulse, they may seek and desire their own end, from which they never deviate,
unless impeded by some external obstacle.- This impulse of seeking God, the
author and father of his happiness, was in the beginning all the more noble and
exalted in man because of the fact that he was endowed with reason and
judgment. But, while irrational creatures, which, at their creation were by
nature Food, continued, and still continue in that original state
and-condition, unhappy man went astray, and lost not only original justice,
with which he had been supernaturally gifted and adorned by God, but also
obscured that singular inclination toward virtue which had been implanted in
his soul. All, He says, have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together;
there is none that doth good, no, not one. For the imagination and thought of
man's heart are prone to evil from his youth. Hence it is not difficult to
perceive that of himself no man is wise unto salvation; that all are prone to
evil; and that man has innumerable corrupt propensities, since he tends
downwards and is carried with ardent precipitancy to anger, hatred, pride.
ambition, and to almost every species of evil.
Man's Blindness Concerning God's Will
Although man is continually beset by these evils, yet his
greatest misery is that many of these appear to him not to be evils at all. It
is a proof of the most calamitous condition of man, that he is so blinded by
passion and cupidity as not to see that what he deems salutary generally
contains a deadly poison, that he rushes headlong after those pernicious evils
as if they were good and desirable, while those things which are really good
and virtuous are shunned as the contrary. Of this false estimate and corrupt judgment
of man God thus expresses His detestation: Woe to you that call evil good, and
good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
In order, therefore, to delineate in vivid coloring the misery of our condition, the Sacred Scripture com