Chapter IV.
In order to establish new faithful in the form of prayer, she presents to them, as though in a mirror, the Lord's Prayer in a few words.
Now what remains, if not prayer? And do not think that it is a small matter to know how to pray. The holy apostles said to the Lord Jesus: Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples. Then the Lord gave the prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven: give us this day our daily bread: and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Luke 11:1 et seq.). You see how brief a speech, and full of virtues: the first discourse of how great grace it is!
O man! You did not dare to lift your face to the sky, you directed your eyes to the ground, and suddenly you received the grace of Christ, all your sins are forgiven. You have become a good son from a wicked servant; therefore, presume not from your own works, but from the grace of Christ: for by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:5), says the Apostle. Therefore, this is not arrogance, but faith: to preach what you have received is not pride, but devotion. Therefore, lift up your eyes to the Father, who begot you through the baptism: to the Father who redeemed you through the Son, and say: Our Father. This is a good presumption, but one that is humble. You say Father as if you were a son: but do not claim any special privilege for yourself. The Father belongs exclusively to Christ, but is a Father for all of us in common; because He begot only Him, but created us. Therefore, say also by grace: Our Father; so that you may deserve to be a son. Commend yourself in the sight and consideration of the Church.
Our Father, who art in heaven. What is in heaven? Listen to the Scripture saying: The Lord is high above all heavens (Psalm 113:4). And everywhere you have that the Lord is above the heavens of heavens, as if not in the heavens and the angels, as if not in the heavens and the dominions. But in those heavens, of which it is said: The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:2). Heaven is there, where guilt has ceased; heaven is there, where crimes are punished; heaven is there, where there is no wound of death.
Our Father, who art in heaven: hallowed be thy name. What does 'hallowed' mean? It is as if we wish that he who says 'Be holy, for I am holy' (Leviticus 19:2) may be hallowed by something added from our prayer of sanctification. No, but let him be hallowed in us, so that his sanctification may come to us.
Our Father, who art in heaven: hallowed be thy name: thy kingdom come. As if the kingdom of God were not eternal. Jesus himself says: I was born for this (John 18:37); and you say to the Father: Thy kingdom come (Luke 17:21); as if it has not come. But then the kingdom of God comes, when you have attained his grace (On the Consecration, dist. 2, c. In calicem, § Thy will be done). For he himself says: The kingdom of God is within you.
Thy kingdom come: thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: give us this day our daily bread. By the blood of Christ, all things have been reconciled, either in heaven or on earth: the heaven has been sanctified, the devil has been cast down. Where does he wander? Wherever there is man, whom he has deceived. Thy will be done, that is, let there be peace on earth, as in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. I remember my discussion on the sacraments (Sup. lib. IV, cap. 4). I told you that before the words of Christ that are offered, it is called bread; when the words of Christ have been spoken, it is no longer called bread, but is called the body (De Consec., dist. 2, c. In calicem, § Dixi vobis). So why in the Lord's Prayer that follows afterwards does it say: Give us our bread (John 6:35)? Indeed, he said bread, but ἐπιούσιον, which means supersubstantial. This bread is not the one that goes into the body, but that bread of eternal life, which supports the substance of our souls (On the Consecration, dist. 2, chap. Non iste panis). Therefore, it is called ἐπιούσιος in Greek; but in Latin it is called daily bread, which the Greeks say is coming; because the Greeks say τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν ἡμέραν, meaning the coming day. Therefore, what the Latin said, and what the Greek said, both seem useful: the Greek expressed both with one word, the Latin said daily.
If daily bread is necessary, why do you take it after a year, as the Greeks in the East are accustomed to do? Receive daily what will benefit you daily. Live in such a way that you deserve to receive daily. Whoever does not deserve to receive daily does not deserve to receive after a year. Just as the holy Job offered a daily sacrifice for his sons (Job, I, 5) lest they may have sinned in their hearts or in their words. Therefore, you hear that whenever the sacrifice is offered, it signifies the death of the Lord, the resurrection of the Lord, the elevation of the Lord, and the forgiveness of sins. And you do not take this bread of life as something that is not daily (I Cor. XI, 26)? Who has a wound, needs medicine. The wound is because we are under sin: medicine is a heavenly and venerable sacrament.
Give us this day our daily bread. If you receive it daily, it is daily for you today. If Christ is for you today, He rises for you daily. How? You are my son, I have begotten you today (Psalm 2:7). Therefore, today is when Christ rises. He is the same yesterday and today, as the apostle Paul says (Hebrews 13:8). But he also says elsewhere: The night is far spent, the day is at hand (Romans 13:12): yesterday's night has passed, today's day has approached.
It follows: Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. What is a debt but a sin? Therefore, if you had not received money on loan, you would not be in need; and thus the sin is imputed to you. You had money, with which you were born rich. You were rich, made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. I, 26): you lost what you had, that is, humility, when you desired to vindicate arrogance; you lost money, just as Adam became naked (Gen. III, 7): you accepted a debt from the devil, which was not necessary. And therefore, you who were free in Christ, became a debtor to the devil. Your caution was held by the enemy, but the Lord crucified it and wiped it out with his blood (Colossians 2:14): he took away your debt, he restored freedom to you.
Therefore he says: And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Consider what you say: Just as I forgive, so you also forgive me? If you forgive, you agree well, so that you may be forgiven. If you do not forgive, how do you expect to be forgiven?
And do not allow us to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil. See what he says: And do not allow us to be led into temptation, which we cannot bear. He does not say: Do not lead us into temptation, but rather he wants such a temptation as can be borne by human condition, like an athlete; and let everyone be freed from evil, that is, from the enemy, from sin.
But the Lord is powerful, who has taken away your sin, and forgiven your transgressions, to protect and guard you against the snares of the opposing devil, so that the enemy, who is accustomed to generating fault, does not creep upon you. But those who commit themselves to God do not fear the devil; for if God is for us, who is against us? To Him, therefore, be praise and glory from ages, and now, and always, and forever and ever. Amen.
Book Six