Jesus Christ, after he came to this life, and was grown to manhood, when he
was thirty years old in his human nature, began to work miracles, and chose
the twelve disciples whom we call apostles. These were afterwards always
with him, and he taught them all the wisdom which stands in holy books, and
through them established all christianity. Then said they to Jesus, "Sir,
teach us how we may pray." Jesus answered, and thus said, "Pray in these
words to my Father and your Father, God Almighty: Pater noster, that is in
English, Thou, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Be thy will on earth as in heaven. Give us to-day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them who trespass
against us. And lead thou us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil.
So be it."
God, the Father Almighty, has one Son naturally, and many adoptively.
Christ is the Son of God, seeing that the Father begot him of himself
without any mother. The Father has no body, nor begot he his Son in that
wise which men do: but his Wisdom, with which he wrought all creatures, is
his Son, who is ever of the Father and with the Father, God of God, as
mighty as the Father. We men are children of God, because he made us; and
afterwards, when we were undone, {261} he sent his own Son for our
redemption. Now are we children of God, and Christ is our brother, if we
will duly obey the Father, and with all our mind worship him. Christ is our
head, and we are his limbs: he is invested with our humanity, and he has
our body, which he received of the holy maiden Mary; therefore may we
manifestly cry to him, as to our brother, if we so observe our brotherhood
as he has taught us; that is, that we should not allow the devil with any
evil practices to seduce us from the brotherhood of Christ.
Verily the man who imitates the devil is a child of the devil, not by
nature nor by creation, but by that imitation and evil deserts. And the man
who makes himself acceptable to God is a child of God, not naturally, but
by creation and by good deserts, as Christ said in his gospel, "He who
doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and my
mother, and my sister." Now therefore all christian men, whether high or
low, noble or ignoble, and the lord, and the slave, are all brothers, and
have all one Father in heaven. The wealthy is not better on that account
than the needy. As boldly may the slave call God his Father as the king. We
all are alike before God, unless any one excel another in good works. The
rich for his wealth is not to despise the poor; for the poor is before God
often better than the rich. God is our Father, therefore should we all be
brothers in God, and hold the brotherly bond unbroken; that is, true peace,
so that each of us love other as himself, and command to no one that which
he would not another should command to him. He who observes this is a child
of God, and Christ, and all holy persons who thrive to God, are his
brothers and his sisters.
We say, "Pater noster qui es in coelis," that is, "Our {263} Father which
art in heaven;" for God the Father is in heaven, and he is everywhere, as
he himself said, "I fill with myself heaven and earth." And again, the holy
gospel says thus concerning him, "Heaven is his throne, and earth is his
footstool." We turn eastward when we pray, because from thence the heaven
rises; not as though his dwelling be particularly in the east part, and
that he forsakes the west or other parts, who is everywhere present, not
through the space of the place, but by the presence of his majesty. When we
turn our face to the east part, where the heaven rises, which rises over
all bodily things, then should our mind be thereby admonished that it turn
to the highest and first nature, that is, God. We should also know that the
sinful is called earth, and the righteous is called heaven; for in
righteous men is a dwelling-place of God, and the good man is a temple of
the Holy Ghost. So also, on the other hand, the wicked man is a temple of
the devil, and an habitation of the devil: therefore there is as great a
difference between good and evil men as there is between heaven and earth.
In the Pater noster are seven prayers. In the first two words are no
prayers, but praises: that is, "Our Father which art in heaven." The first
prayer is, "Sanctificetur nomen tuum:" that is, "Hallowed be thy name."
This is not to be so understood as if the name of God were not sufficiently
holy, who ever was holy, and ever will be, and who blesses and hallows us
all: but these words are thus to be understood, that his name be hallowed
in us, and that he grant us that we may bless his name with our mouth, and
give us the thought that we may understand that nothing is so holy as his
name.
The second prayer is, "Adveniat regnum tuum:" that is, in our tongue, "Thy
kingdom come." Ever was God's kingdom, and ever will be: but it is so to be
understood, that his kingdom be over us, and he reign in us, and that we
{265} with all obedience be subject to him, and that our kingdom be
realized and fulfilled to us, as Christ has promised to us, that he would
give us an eternal kingdom, thus saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father,
and possess the kingdom that was prepared for you from the beginning of the
world." This will be our kingdom, if we now will merit it; and we shall be
God's kingdom, when Christ delivers us to his Father on doomsday, as the
holy writ says, "Cum tradiderit regnum Patri suo:" that is, "When he shall
deliver the kingdom to his Father." What is the kingdom that he shall
deliver to his Father, but those holy persons, both men and women, which he
redeemed from hell-torment by his own death? These he will deliver to his
own Father at the end of this world, and they will then be God's kingdom,
and will reign with God for ever, both with soul and with body, and will
then be like unto angels.
The third prayer is, "Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra:" that
is, "Thy will be done on earth as in heaven." That is, As the angels in
heaven obey thee, and in every way attach themselves to thee, so also may
men, who are on earth and formed of earth, be obedient to thy will, and
with all fervour attach themselves to thee. In those men verily God's will
is done, who work according to God's will. Our soul is heavenly, and our
body is earthly. Now, with these words, we also pray that God's will be
done both in our soul and in our body, that both may obey him, and that he
may preserve and shield both our soul and our body from the temptations of
the devil.
The fourth prayer is, "Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie:" that is,
in our tongue, "Give us to-day our daily bread." This is to be understood
in three senses: that he give us food for our body, and give ghostly bread
to our soul. The ghostly bread is the commandment of God, on which we
should daily meditate, and with works fulfil; for as {267} the body lives
by bodily meats, so shall the soul live by the precepts of God, and by
ghostly meditations. The body quickly wastes away and decays, if its
sustenance is withdrawn from it; in like manner the soul perishes, if it
has not ghostly sustenance, that is, God's commandments, on which it shall
thrive and be cherished. The ghostly bread is also the holy housel, with
which we confirm our belief; and through partaking of the holy housel our
sins will be forgiven us, and we shall be strengthened against the
temptations of the devil. Therefore should we frequently cleanse and
confirm our soul with ghostly refection. Yet may not he who is polluted
with deadly sins dare to partake of God's housel, unless he first atone for
his sins: if he do otherwise, he will partake of it to his own injury. The
bread, as we said, betokens three things. One is sustenance of the body;
the second, of the soul; the third is the partaking of the holy housel. For
these three things we should pray daily to the Lord.
The fifth prayer is, "Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos
dimittimus debitoribus nostris:" that is, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive those men who trespass against us." We should do as we promise in
these words, that is, we should be merciful to each other, and, for the
great love of God, forgive those men who trespass against us, that God
Almighty may forgive us our sins. But if we will not forgive the little
trespasses of those men who have angered us, then will not God forgive us
our great and many sins: as Christ himself said, "When ye stand at your
prayers, forgive whatever ye have in your mind against any man, and your
Father, which is in heaven, will forgive you your sins. But if ye will not,
with inward heart, forgive those who anger you, then your Father, which is
in heaven, will not forgive you your sins; but he will command you to be
bound and set in prison, that is, in hell-torment; and there the devil will
torture you, until ye shall have suffered for all your trespasses, until ye
{269} come to one farthing." It is, however, taught, according to the book
of God, that wise men should institute correction for foolish men, so that
they lay aside their folly and their evil practices, and should,
nevertheless, love the man as their own brother.
The sixth prayer is, "Et ne nos inducas in tentationem:" that is, "Permit
not, thou, O God, that we be led into temptation." One thing is temptation,
another thing is trial. God tempts no man, but, nevertheless, no man comes
to the kingdom of God, unless he has been tried: therefore we should not
pray that God try us not, but we should pray to God to shield us, so that
we sink not under trial. The devil may try every man, whether he be aught
or naught; whether he love God with inward heart, or act with hypocrisy. As
a man tries gold in the fire, so God tries the mind of man in divers
trials, whether he be steadfast. God knows full well, how it befalls in
trial; but yet a man will have no great honour, unless he have been tried.
By trial he shall flourish, if he withstand temptations. If he fall, let
him rise again: that is, if he sin, let him earnestly atone for it, and
cease therefrom afterwards; for no atonement will avail, if there be not
cessation. The man who frequently sins and frequently atones, angers God;
and the more he sins the more he will be subject to the devil, and God will
then forsake him, and he will go as the devil shall direct him, as a
shattered ship at sea, which goes as the wind drives it. The good man the
more he is tried the more cheerful he will be, and the nearer to God, until
with full honour he shall go from this life to the life eternal. And the
evil man, the oftener he sinks under trial, the more wicked he will be, and
the nearer to the devil, until he goes from this life to eternal torment,
if he would not cease previously, when he could and might. God therefore
often awaits the evil man, and leaves him time, that he may cease from his
wicked deeds, and before his end turn his mind to God, if he will. But if
he will not, that he be, {271} without any exculpation, very justly be
thrust into the hand of the devil. Therefore is it now better for christian
men, that with hardships and toil they earn the everlasting kingdom and
eternal bliss with God and with all his saints, than that they by softness
and evil lusts earn eternal tortures with all the devils in hell-torment.
The seventh prayer is, "Sed libera nos a malo:" that is, "But deliver us
from evil:" deliver us from the devil and from all his wiles. God loves us,
and the devil hates us. God feeds and comforts us, and the devil will slay
us if he may; but he will be prevented through the protection of God, if we
will not fordo ourselves with evil practices. Therefore should we eschew
and despise the vicious devil with all his devices, for there behoves him
nothing for us, and we should love and follow our Lord, who will lead us to
everlasting life.
In the Pater noster there are, as we before said, seven prayers. The first
three prayers are begun by us in this world, but they will ever be unended
in the world to come. The hallowing of the great name of God began with us
men when Christ became incarnate with our humanity; but the same hallowing
will continue to eternity, because in the life eternal we shall ever bless
and praise the name of God. And God reigns now, and his kingdom stands for
ever, without end, and the will of God will be fulfilled in this life by
good men: the same will will continue to all eternity. The other four
prayers belong to this life, and with this life end.
In this life we require bread, and instruction, and partaking of the
housel. In the life to come we require no earthly food, for we shall then
be nourished with heavenly meats. Here we require instruction and wisdom.
In the heavenly life all will be full wise, and in ghostly lore full
skilled, those who now, through the precepts of wise men, are obedient to
the commandments of God. And here we require to partake of the {273} holy
housel for our amendment, for in the heavenly dwelling we shall have the
body of Christ with us, with which he reigns to eternity.
In this world we pray for forgiveness of our sins, and not in that to come.
The man who will not repent of his sins in this life, will obtain no
forgiveness in that to come. And in this life we pray God to shield us
against the temptations of the devil, and to deliver us from evil. In the
life eternal there will be no temptation and no evil; for there will come
no devil nor evil man who may trouble or hurt us. There will be in concord
soul and body, which now in this life strive with each other. There will be
no sickness, no toil, no lack of any goodness, but Christ will be with us
all, and will do all things for us, without reproach, with all alacrity.
Christ instituted this prayer, and so confined it within a few words, that
all our needs, both ghostly and bodily, are therein included; and this
prayer he instituted for all christian men in common. He says not in that
prayer, 'My Father, which art in heaven,' but says, "Our Father;" and so
forth all the words which follow speak universally of all christian men.
Herein is manifested how much God loves unity and concord among his people.
According to the book of God all christian men should be so united as
though they were one man: wo therefore to the man who breaks that unity
asunder. So as we have in one body many limbs, and they all obey one head,
so also we many christian men should obey Christ in unity; for he is our
head, and we are his limbs. We may see in our own bodies how each limb
serves another. The feet bear the whole body, and the eyes lead the feet,
and the hands prepare the sustenance. Soon will the head lie down, if the
feet bear it not; and soon will all the limbs perish together, if the hands
put not the sustenance to the mouth. In like manner the rich man, who sits
on his high seat, will soon discontinue his feasting, if the servants {275}
discontinue their toils. Let the rich be mindful that of all the good
things which God has lent him, he shall render an account how he employed
them.
He is thy hand or thy foot, who supplieth thy wants. He is thine eye who
teacheth thee wisdom, and bringeth thee into the right way. He who
protecteth thee as a father is, as it were, thy head. As the head requireth
the other members, so these members require the head. If one limb be
diseased, all the others suffer with that one. So also should we, if one of
our fellows be in any distress, all lament his evil, and meditate
concerning its reparation, if we can repair it. And in all things we should
hold peace and unity, if we will have the great distinction of being
children of God, who is in heaven, in which he ruleth with all his saints,
through all ages, to eternity. Amen.
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