understood in four different ways: first of all according as the
Prophets are wont "to predict the future under the figure of
imprecations," as S. Augustine says[167]; secondly, in that
certain temporal evils are sometimes sent by God upon sinners
for their amendment; thirdly, these denunciations may be
understood, not as demanding the punishment of men themselves,
but as directed against the kingdom of sin, in the sense that by
men being corrected sin may be destroyed; fourthly, in that the
Prophets conform their wills to the Divine Justice with regard
to the damnation of sinners who persevere in their sin.
2. Further, to be revenged upon our enemies means evil for our enemies.
But the Saints seek to be avenged upon their enemies: _How long, O Lord,
dost Thou not judge and revenge our blood on them that dwell on the
earth?_[168] And in accordance with this we find them rejoicing in the
vengeance taken upon sinners: _The just shall rejoice when he shall see
the revenge._[169] It would seem, then, that we ought rather to pray
against our enemies than for them.
But, on the contrary, as S. Augustine says:[170] "The vengeance
of the martyrs is the overthrow of the empire of sin under whose
dominion they suffered so much"; or, as he says elsewhere[171]:
"They demand vengeance, not by word of mouth, but by very
reason, just as the blood of Abel cried out from the earth."
Moreover, they rejoice in this vengeance, not for its own sake,
but because of the Divine Justice.
3. Lastly, a man's deeds and his prayers cannot be in opposition. But
men sometimes quite lawfully attack their enemies, else all wars would
be illegal. Hence we ought not to pray for our enemies.
But it is lawful to assail our enemies that so they may be
hindered from sin; and this is for their good and for that of
others. In the same way, then, it is lawful to pray for temporal
evils for our enemies to the end that they may be corrected. In
this sense our deeds and our prayers are not in opposition.
* * * * *
_S. Augustine:_ If there were no wicked folk, then for whom could we be
supposed to pray when we are told: _Pray for your enemies_? Perhaps you
would like to have good enemies. Yet how could that be? For unless you
yourself are bad you will not have good people for enemies; and if, on
the contrary, you are good, then no one will be your enemy save the
wicked folk (_Sermon_, xv., _on Ps._ xxv. 8).
"Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold us, and shew us
the light of Thy mercies: And send Thy fear upon the nations,
that have not sought after Thee: that they may know that there
is no God beside Thee, and that they may shew forth Thy wonders.
Lift up Thy hand over the strange nations, that they may see Thy
power."[172]
On the Seven Petitions of the _lord's Prayer_.
The Lord's Prayer is the most perfect of all prayers, for, as S.
Augustine says to Proba[173]: "If we pray rightly and fittingly we can
say nothing else but what is set down in the _Lord's Prayer_." And since
prayer is, in a sort, the interpreter of our desires before God, we can
only rightly ask in prayer for those things which we can rightly desire.
But in the _Lord's Prayer_ not only do we have petitions for all those
things which we can rightly desire, but they are set forth in the order
in which they are to be desired. Hence this prayer not only teaches us
how to pray, but serves as the norm of all our dispositions of mind.
For it is clear that we desire first the end and then the means to the
attainment of that end. But our end is God, towards Whom our desires
tend in two ways: first, in that we desire God's glory; secondly, in
that we desire to enjoy that glory ourselves. The former of these
pertains to that love wherewith we love God in Himself, the latter to
that charity wherewith we love ourselves in God. Hence the first
petition runs: _Hallowed be Thy Name_, wherein we pray for God's glory;
and the second runs: _Thy kingdom come_, wherein we pray that we may
come to the glory of His kingdom.
But to this said end things lead us in two ways: viz., either
_essentially_ or _accidentally_. Things which are useful for the
attainment of that end _essentially_ lead us to it. But a thing may be
useful as regards that end which is the possession of God in two ways:
namely, _directly and principally_, that is, according to the merits by
which we merit the possession of God by obeying Him; and in accordance
with this runs the petition: _Thy Will be done on earth as it is in
Heaven_; also _instrumentally_ as assisting us to merit, whence the
petition: _Give us this day our daily bread_. And this is true whether
we understand by this "bread" that Sacramental Bread, the daily use of
Which profits man, and in Which are comprised all the other Sacraments;
or whether we understand it of material bread so that "bread" here means
all that is sufficient for the support of life--as S. Augustine explains
it to Proba.[174] For both the Holy Eucharist is the chief of
Sacraments, and bread is the chief of foods, whence in the Gospel of S.
Matthew we have the term "super-substantial" or "special" applied to it,
as S. Jerome explains it.[175]
And we are lead, as it were, _accidentally_ to the possession of God by
the removal of impediments from our path. Now there are three things
which impede us in our efforts after the possession of God. The first of
these is sin, which directly excludes us from the kingdom: _Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, ... etc., shall possess the kingdom of
God_;[176] hence the petition: _Forgive us our trespasses_.... And the
second impediment is temptation which hinders us from obeying the Divine
Will; whence the petition: _And lead us not into temptation_; in which
petition we do not pray that we may not be tempted, but that we may not
be overcome by temptation, for this is the meaning of being led into
temptation. And the third hindrance lies in our present penal state
which prevents us from having "the sufficiency of life"; and for this
reason we say: _Deliver us from evil_.
Some, however, argue that these seven petitions are not very
appropriate, thus:
1. It seems idle to pray that that may be hallowed which is already
hallowed or holy. But the Name of God is holy: _And holy is His
Name_.[177] Similarly, His kingdom is everlasting: _Thy kingdom_, O
Lord, _is a kingdom of all ages_.[178] God's Will, too, is always
fulfilled: _And all My Will shall be done_.[179] Hence it is idle to
pray that God's Name may be hallowed, that His kingdom may come, and
that His Will may be done.
But, as S. Augustine says,[180] when we say, _Hallowed be Thy
Name_, we do not make this petition as though God's Name were
not holy, but that It may be held holy by men; in other words,
that God's glory may be propagated amongst men. And when we say,
_Thy kingdom come_, it is not as though we meant that God did
not reign, but, as S. Augustine says to Proba[181]: "We stir up
our desires for that kingdom, that it may come upon us and that
we may reign in it." Lastly, when we say, _Thy Will be done_,
this is rightly understood to mean: May Thy precepts be obeyed
_on earth as in Heaven_--that is, as by Angels, so by men. These
three petitions, then, will receive their perfect fulfilment in
the life to come; but the remaining four, as S. Augustine says,
refer to the necessities of the present life.[182]
2. But further, to depart from evil must precede the pursuit of what is
good. Hence it hardly seems appropriate to place those petitions which
are concerned with the pursuit of what is good before those which refer
to the departing from evil.
Yet since prayer is the interpreter of our desires the order of
these petitions does not correspond to the order of attainment
but of desire or intention; in this order, however, the end
precedes the means to the end, the pursuit of good comes before
the departure from evil.
3. But once more, we ask for something in order that it may be given us.
But the chief gift of God is the Holy Spirit and those things which are
given us through Him. Hence these petitions do not seem to be very
appropriate since they do not correspond to the Gifts of the Holy
Spirit.
S. Augustine[183], however, adapts these seven petitions to the
Gifts of the Holy Spirit and to the Beatitudes; he says: "If we
have the _fear of God_ by which the poor in spirit are blessed,
we pray that God's Name may be hallowed among men by chaste
fear. If we have _piety_, by which the meek are blessed, we pray
that His kingdom may come, that we may be meek, and that we may
not withstand It. If we have _knowledge_, by which they that
mourn are blessed, we pray that His will may be done, and that
so we may not mourn. If we have _fortitude_, by which they that
hunger are blessed, we pray that our daily bread may be given
us. If we have _counsel_, by which they that are merciful are
blessed, let us forgive our debtors that we ourselves may be
forgiven. If we have _understanding_, by which the clean of
heart are blessed, let us pray that we may not have a double
heart that pursues after temporal things whence temptations come
to us. If we have _wisdom_, whence the peace-makers are
blessed--for they shall be called the sons of God--let us pray
that we may be delivered from evil, for that very deliverance
will make us the free sons of God."
4. Again, according to S. Luke,[184] there are only five petitions in
the Lord's Prayer. Hence it would seem superfluous to have seven in S.
Matthew.
But, as S. Augustine says[185]: "S. Luke only includes five
petitions and not seven in the Lord's Prayer, for he shows that
the third petition is, in a sense, only a repetition of the two
preceding ones; by omitting it he makes us see that God's will
is more especially concerned with our knowledge of His sanctity
and with our reigning with Him. But Luke has omitted Matthew's
last petition, _Deliver us from evil_, in order to show us that
we are delivered from evil just precisely as we are not led into
temptation."
5. And lastly, it seems idle to try to stir up the benevolence of one
who is beforehand with his benevolence. But God does forestall us with
His benevolence, for _He hath first loved us_.[186] Consequently it
seems superfluous to preface our petitions with the words _Our Father
Who art in Heaven_, words which seem intended to stir up God's
benevolence.
But we must remember that prayer is not directed to God in order
to prevail upon Him, but in order to excite ourselves to
confidence in our petitions. And this confidence is especially
excited in us by consideration of His love towards us whereby He
wishes us well, wherefore we say, _Our Father_; and of His
pre-eminent power whereby He is able to assist us, whence we
say, _Who art in Heaven_.
* * * * *
_Cajetan:_ The first three petitions of the _Lord's Prayer_ can also be
referred to that which we principally desire, so that all three regard
mainly that love wherewith we love God in Himself, and secondarily that
love wherewith we love ourselves in God. And the proof of this is that
in each of the first three we have the pronoun _Thine_, but in the last
four the pronoun _our_. Thus the first petition asks for the effective
and enduring praise of God's Name; the second, that He--and not the
devil, nor the world, nor the flesh, nor sin--may reign effectively; the
third, that His Will may be effectively fulfilled. For these things are
not now absolutely so with God, and this by reason of the multitude of
sins, and also because the mode of their present fulfilment is hidden.
And the word _effectively_ is introduced into each clause by reason of
the subjoined qualification _on earth as it is in Heaven_, for this
qualifies each of the foregoing clauses. Hence rightly do our desires
first of all aim at, wish for, and pray that--even as something good for
God Himself--He may be sanctified in His Name; that He may be
permanently uplifted above all things--on earth as in Heaven; that
He--not sin--may reign--on earth as in Heaven; that His Will--none
other--may be done--on earth as in Heaven (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 9).
_S. Augustine:_ O Eternal Truth, True Love and lovable Eternity! Thou
art my God; for Thee do I sigh night and day! And when I first knew Thee
Thou didst snatch me up so that I saw that That really was Which I saw,
and that I who saw was really not--as yet. And Thou didst beat back my
weak gaze, pouring out Thy light upon me in its intensity; and I
trembled with love and with horror. For I found myself to be far away
from Thee in a land that was unlike Thee; it was as though I heard Thy
Voice from on high, saying: "I am the Food of grown men, grow, and thou
shalt eat Me, but thou shalt not be changed into Me" (_Confessions_,
VII. x. 2).
_S. Augustine:_ And the faithful are well aware of that Spiritual Food
Which you, too, will soon know and Which you are to receive from God's
altar. It will be your food, nay, your daily food, needful for this
life. For are we not about to receive the Eucharist wherein we come to
Christ Himself, and begin to reign with Him for ever? The Eucharist is
our daily Bread. But let us so receive it as to be thereby refreshed,
not in body merely but in mind. For the power which we know to be
therein is the power of Unity whereby we are brought into union with His
Body and become His members. Let us be What we receive; for then It will
be truly our daily bread.
Again, what I set before you is your daily bread; and what you hear read
day by day in the church is your daily bread; and the hymns you hear and
which you sing--they are your daily bread. For these things we need for
our pilgrimage. But when we get There are we going to hear a book read?
Nay, we are going to hear the Word Himself; we are going to see the Word
Himself; we are going to eat Him, to drink Him, even as the Angels do
already. Do the Angels need books, or disputations, or readers? Nay, not
so. But by seeing they read, for they see the Truth Itself and are sated
from that Fount whence we receive but the sprinkling of the dew
(_Sermon_, lvii., _on S. Matt._ vi. 7).
_S. Augustine:_ When ye say _Give us this day our daily bread_, ye
profess yourselves God's beggars. Yet blush not at it! The richest man
on earth is God's beggar. The beggar stands at the rich man's door. But
the rich man in his turn stands at the door of one richer than he. He is
begged from, and he, too, has to beg. If he were not in need he would
not beseech God in prayer. But what can the rich man need? I dare to say
it: he needs even his daily bread! For how is it that he abounds with
all things, save that God gave them to him? And what will they have if
God but withdraw His hand? (_Sermon_, lvi. 9, _on S. Matt._ vi.).
_S. Augustine:_ Think not that you have no need to say _Forgive us our
trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us_.... He who looks
with pleasure at what he should not--sins. Yet who can control the
glance of the eye? Indeed, some say that the eye is so called from its
swiftness (_oculus a velocitate_). Who can control his eyes or his ears?
You can close your eyes when you like, but how quickly they open again!
You can shut your ears with an effort; put up your hand, and you can
touch them. But if someone holds your hands your ears remain open, and
you cannot then shut out cursing words, impure words, flattering and
deceitful words. When you hear something which you should not--do you
not sin with your ears? What when you hear some evil thing with
pleasure? And the death-dealing tongue! How many sins it commits!
(_Sermon_, lvi. 8).
_S. Augustine:_ Indeed, our whole righteousness--true righteousness
though it be, by reason of the True Good to Whom it is referred,
consists rather, as long as we are in this life, in the remission of our
sins than in the perfection of our virtues. And the proof of this is the
Prayer of the whole City of God which is in pilgrimage on this earth.
For by all Its members It cries to God: _Forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive them the trespass against us_! And this Prayer is of no avail
for those whose faith is without works--dead; but only for those whose
faith worketh through charity. For though our reason is indeed subject
to God, yet in this our mortal condition, in this corruptible body which
weigheth down the soul, our reason does not perfectly control our vices,
and hence such prayer as this is needful for the righteous (_Of the City
of God_, xix. 27).
"Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may
glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that
He may give life everlasting to all whom Thou hast given Him.
And this is life everlasting, that they may know Thee, the only
true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent."[187]
Rhythm in Honour of the Blessed Sacrament, said to have been composed by
S. Thomas on his Death-Bed.[188]
Adoro Te devote, latens Deitas,
Quae sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit,
Quia Te contemplans totum deficit.
Visus, tactus gustus, in Te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur;
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius,
Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius.
In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et humanitas;
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro poenitens.
Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor,
Deum tamen meum Te confiteor;
Fac me Tibi semper magis credere,
In Te spem habere, Te diligere.
O memoriale mortis Domini,
Panis vivus, vitam praestans homini,
Praesta meae menti de Te vivero,
Et Te illi semper dulce sapere.
Pie Pellicane Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda Tuo Sanguine,
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.
Jesu Quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro fiat illud quod tam sitio,
Ut Te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beatus Tuae gloriae!
(An Indulgence of 100 days for the recitation of this rhythm. _S. Congr.
of Indulgences_, December 20, 1884.)
X
Is Prayer Peculiar to Rational Creatures?
Prayer is an act of the reason, as we have shown above. And rational
creatures are so termed because of the possession of reason.
Consequently prayer is peculiar to them.
As we have said above, prayer is an act of the reason by which a person
pleads with his superior, just in the same way as a command is an act of
the reason by which an inferior is directed to do something. Prayer,
then, properly pertains to one who has the use of reason and who also
has a superior with whom he can plead. The Persons of the Trinity have
no superior; the brute animals have no reason. Hence prayer belongs
neither to the Divine Persons nor to the brute creation, but is peculiar
to rational creatures.
Some, however, argue that prayer cannot be peculiar to rational
creatures, thus:
1. To ask and to receive belong to the same person. But the Divine
Persons receive: the Son, namely, and the Holy Spirit. Consequently They
can also pray; indeed it is the Son Himself Who says, _I will ask the
Father_,[189] and the Apostle says of the Holy Spirit, _The Spirit
Himself asketh for us_.[190]
But it belongs to the Divine Persons to receive by Their nature,
whereas to pray belongs to one who receives through grace. The
Son is said to ask or pray according to the nature He took upon
Himself--that is according to His Human, and not according to
His Divine, Nature; the Holy Spirit, too, is said to petition
because He makes us petition.
2. But further, the Angels are superior to the rational creation since
they are intellectual substances; but it belongs to the Angels to pray,
for it is said in the Psalm[191]: _Adore Him, all ye His Angels_.
But the intellect and the reason are not different faculties in
us, though they do differ in the sense that one is more perfect
than the other. Consequently the intellectual creation, such as
are the Angels, is sometimes distinguished from the rational
creation, but at other times both are embraced under the one
term "rational." And it is in this latter sense of the term
"rational" that prayer is said to be peculiar to the rational
creation.
3. Lastly, he prays who calls upon God; for it is chiefly by prayer that
we call upon God. But the brute animals also call upon God, for the
Psalmist says: _Who giveth to beasts their food, and to the young ravens
that call upon Him._[192]
But the young ravens are said to call upon God by reason of
those natural desires by which all things, each in their own
fashion, desire to obtain the Divine goodness. In the same way
brute animals are said to obey God by reason of the natural
instinct by which they are moved by God.
"Reward them that patiently wait for Thee, that Thy Prophets may
be found faithful: and hear the prayers of Thy servants.
According to the blessing of Aaron over Thy people, and direct
us into the way of justice, and let all know that dwell upon the
earth, that Thou art God the beholder of all ages."[193]
XI
Do the Saints in Heaven Pray for Us?
_This is he who prayeth much for the people and for all the holy city,
Jeremias the Prophet of God._[194]
As S. Jerome says,[195] Vigilantius's error lay in maintaining that
"while we live we can mutually pray for one another; but after we are
dead no one's prayer for another is heard, and this is especially clear
in the case of the Martyrs who were unable to obtain by their prayers
vengeance for their blood."
But this is altogether false; for since prayer for others springs from
charity, the more perfect the charity of those who are in Heaven the
more they pray for those wayfarers on earth who can be helped by their
prayers. And the more knit they are to God the more efficacious are
their prayers; for the Divine harmony demands that the superabundance of
those who are in the higher position should redound upon those who are
lower, just as the brightness of the sun renders the atmosphere itself
luminous. Whence Christ Himself is said to be _Approaching of Himself to
God to intercede for us_.[196] Whence, too, S. Jerome's reply to
Vigilantius: "If the Apostles and Martyrs, when they were still in the
body, and had still to be solicitous on their own account, prayed for
others, how much more when they have won the crown, when they have
gained the victory and the triumph?"
Yet some maintain that the Blessed in Heaven do not pray for us, thus:
1. A man's acts are more meritorious for himself than for another. But
the Saints who are in Heaven neither merit for themselves nor pray for
themselves, for they have already attained the goal of their desires.
Hence neither do they pray for us.
But the Saints who are in our Fatherland lack no
Blessedness--since they are Blessed--save the glory of the body,
and for this they pray. But they pray for us who still lack the
ultimate perfection of Blessedness; and their prayers are
efficacious by reason of their previous merits and of the Divine
acceptation of their prayers.
2. But once more: the Saints are perfectly conformed to the Will of God,
and consequently will nothing but what He wills. But what God wills is
always fulfilled. Hence it is idle for the Saints to pray for us.
But the Saints obtain that which God wills should come about
through the medium of their prayers; and they ask for what they
think is, by God's Will, to be fulfilled through their prayers.
3. And yet again: just as the Saints in Heaven are superior to us so
also are they who are in Purgatory--for they cannot sin. Those, however,
who are in Purgatory do not pray for us, but rather we for them. It
follows, then, that neither can the Saints in Heaven pray for us.
But though those who are in Purgatory are superior to us in that
they cannot sin, yet are they our inferiors as regards the
penalties they suffer; hence they are not in a state to pray for
us, but rather we for them.
4. Once more: if the Saints in Heaven could pray for us it would follow
that the prayers of the holiest Saints would be the most efficacious,
and that consequently we ought not to ask the inferior Saints to pray
for us, but only the greatest ones.
But God desires inferior things to be helped by all that are
superior, and consequently we have to implore the aid of not
only the chief Saints but also of the lesser; else it would
follow that we ought to implore mercy from God alone. And it may
sometimes happen that the petition made to a lesser Saint is
more efficacious, either because we ask him more devoutly, or
because God wishes thus to show forth his sanctity.
5. Lastly, Peter's soul is not Peter. Consequently if the souls of the
Saints could pray for us, we ought--as long as their souls are separated
from their bodies--to appeal, not to Peter to help us, but to Peter's
soul; whereas the Church does the contrary. From which it would seem
that the Saints, at all events previous to the Resurrection, do not pray
for us.