Chapter XI.
The third part treats of the form of prayer in three ways.
1. And it came to pass, when he was in a certain place, etc. After he delivered to the disciples the form of teaching and the form of living, in this part he bestows the form of prayer, through which the grace of knowing and of living rightly is obtained. This part has three parts: in the first of which the example of prayer is set forth; in the second, instruction is added, at the place: And he said to them: When you pray, etc.; in the third, an incentive to prayer is subjoined, at the place: And he said to them: Which of you, etc.
Concerning the example of prayer, two things are introduced: the first is the solicitude of the Lord for praying, the second is the readiness of the disciples for imitating.
(Verse 1.). First, therefore, with regard to the solicitude of the Lord in praying, it is said: And it came to pass, when he was in a certain place praying: a certain place, that is, solitary and secret, because such places are suited to prayer, according to that passage in Matthew 6: "But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret." The Lord prays as a proof of his true humanity, according to what is said below in chapter 22: "Being in agony, he prayed more at length." As an aid to our weakness, according to that passage in Hebrews 5: "He was heard in all things for his reverence"; and Romans 8: "What we should pray for as we ought, we do not know; but the Spirit himself," namely of the Lord Jesus, "helps our weakness." As an example of perfect virtue: whence it is said in Matthew 26: After he had prayed, he said to the disciples themselves: "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation." For this reason also he was frequently devoted to prayer, so that he might teach that one must always pray, according to that passage in 1 Thessalonians 5: "Pray without ceasing." And he also prayed at length, as it is said above in chapter 6: "It came to pass"; "and he was spending the whole night in prayer." And therefore perhaps a certain place is mentioned here, to show that those who pray must seek a secret place; but the time is passed over in silence, to show that one must pray at every time without distinction, according to what is said below in chapter 18: "It is necessary to pray always and not to lose heart"; and Sirach 18: "Do not be hindered from praying always."
3. Second, as regards the readiness of the disciples in imitating, there is added: When he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray. Rightly did the disciples ask of the Lord how they themselves ought to pray, lest perchance they should ask something contrary to his will; whence Wisdom 9: "What man shall be able to know the counsel of God, or who shall be able to think what God wills? For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain." Therefore teach us to pray, since you are our Lord; whence Isaiah 48: "I am the Lord, teaching you profitable things." — And that he ought to be heard, he shows by a comparison, when he adds: As John also taught his disciples. For to know how to pray to God pertains to the doctrine of piety, since in prayer God is especially worshipped. Whence the Prophet said in the Psalm: "I will enter into your house, I will adore," etc.; and Chrysostom: "The soul offers prayer alone as a spiritual tribute from its inmost depths. Great indeed is the dignity of prayer. As soon as it proceeds from the mouth, the Angels receive it in their hands and offer it before God, as the Angel says in Tobit 12: I offered your prayer before God, " etc. Therefore it is thus carefully taught and sought on account of its excellence; nor only on account of this, but also on account of its efficacy, according to Mark 11: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you shall receive it, and it shall come to you"; and James last chapter: "Pray for one another, that you may be saved; for the continual prayer of a just man avails much. Elijah was a man," etc.
Whence through this it is intimated to us that prayer is greatly to be loved, because through it is obtained the attainment of every good and the removal of every evil; whence Tobit 12: "Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving, more than to lay up treasures. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it is that which purges sins and causes one to find mercy and eternal life."
4. (Verse 2). And he said to them: When you pray, etc. After the example of prayer he subjoins the instruction on prayer, in which first is handed down the form of invoking, and second, the form of petitioning, at the words: Hallowed be your name.
As regards the form of invoking, he says: And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, that is, first invoke the Father. Say, I say, not with the voice only, but also with the heart, lest perchance that word of Isaiah 29 be said to you: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Say not only with the heart, but also with the mouth, because vocal prayer is acceptable to God, according to the Psalm: "I will praise the Lord exceedingly with my mouth"; and this both because it avails for arousing the memory, for dispelling drowsiness, for kindling desire, for rendering homage, for expressing joy, and for showing an example.
Now we invoke the name of the Father. For he himself is Father by reason of the condition of nature, according to that passage in Ephesians 3: "From whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named." Hence Malachi 2: "Have we not all one father?" He is also Father by reason of the conferral of grace: Romans 8: "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry: Abba, Father"; and Galatians 4: "Because you are sons of God, God sent the spirit of his Son crying: Abba, Father." He is also Father by reason of the consummation of glory, according to that passage in Jeremiah 3: "You shall call me Father and shall not cease to walk after me." Since therefore in the name of the Father God is understood as the founder of nature, the bestower of grace, the consummator of glory, by this very fact it is given to understand that he is the one from whom alone we ought to ask.
5. But since Matthew describes the prayer as expounded to the Apostles, to whom the Lord explained the other things, therefore he explicitly touches upon these three, saying: Father, by reason of nature; our, by reason of grace; who art in heaven, by reason of glory. Luke however expresses it as handed down to lesser disciples, and therefore transmits a more implicit form. Both however agree in the invocation of the name of the Father, so that by this one name man may be stirred to reverence and confidence, without which two wings prayer has no efficacy. Now reverence is had from the name of the Father: hence Malachi 1: "If I am a father, where is my honor?"; and Sirach 3: "The glory of a man is from the honor of his father." Confidence is also had, according to that passage in Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?" etc.; and below in the same passage: "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children" etc. And Bernard: "The prayer which is sweetened by the paternal name gives me confidence in obtaining all my petitions."
6. Hallowed be thy name. After the invocation he adds the petition. Now he asks for three things principally in this prayer. And in this Matthew and Luke agree, but they differ in the explication, because for the reason previously assigned Matthew sets forth more explicit petitions; hence Matthew posits seven, Luke five, but in these five those seven are implicitly contained.
7. Now the distinction, order, and sufficiency of these is evident as follows. For three things are to be sought from God the Father: the first and principal is the consummation of glory, the second is the conservation of grace, the third is the granting of pardon. And these three are ordered according to the degree and order of greater dignity.
Now two things concur toward the consummation of glory, namely perfect knowledge and perfect reverence, and according to these are the first two petitions.
For the preservation of grace, the continual supply of heavenly nourishment suffices, and this is sought in the third petition.
For the granting of pardon, two things concur, namely the remission of fault and the removal of punishment, and these are sought in the two last petitions.
But since the perfection of reverence is considered not only in affection but also in effect, therefore to the first two petitions Matthew adds a third, namely "Thy will be done." Again, because the removal of punishment is considered not only with respect to the repulsion of temptations but also with respect to the removal of afflictions and tribulations, therefore to the two last petitions Matthew adds a seventh: "But deliver us from evil." And thus the sufficiency of the petitions according to both Evangelists is clear.
8. The nobility of this prayer is also evident. Although it is most brief, it contains within itself every prayer and everything to be asked for, since one who petitions either seeks the removal of evil or the bestowal of good. If evil, either the evil of fault or the evil of punishment: either the evil that we suffer or the evil that we commit ; and thus there are two petitions. But the evil of punishment can be subdivided, for a certain kind is an occasion of fault, and thus is temptation; a certain kind merely holds the character of punishment, and thus is tribulation; and so from that petition the two last are derived. But if we seek good: either eternal or temporal. If eternal, either on the part of the intellect or on the part of the affection, and thus two petitions. But the affection must be ordered with respect to majesty and with respect to goodness: and thus that petition is doubled by the first division but tripled by subdivision. But if a temporal good is sought, either by reason of the mind or by reason of the body. But because bodily good ought not to be desired except for the sake of the spiritual: therefore according to both Luke and Matthew one petition is made concerning both.
And thus the sufficiency of the divisions through opposite and immediate members is clear, and the concord between the Evangelists is clear, and the fittingness of the diversity is clear.
9. There are therefore five petitions according to Luke, ordered according to greater and lesser nobility. In the first is sought perfect knowledge or wisdom in the intellect; in the second, perfect reverence in the affection; in the third, sufficiency in sustenance; in the fourth, pardon in guilt; in the fifth, victory in conflict.
And in these five are implied the seven petitions, and thereby the seven virtues, the seven gifts, the seven beatitudes, and all petitions. Whence the Gloss says on that passage of Matthew chapter six: Deliver us from evil: " Nothing is lacking that is not contained in these seven petitions, whether it pertains to the present or to the future life."
10. First therefore, as regards knowledge or wisdom in the intellect, he says: Hallowed be thy name, that is, may thy name appear holy, that is, thy knowledge: whence in the Psalm: "Known in Judea is God, in Israel great is his name." And this knowledge begins in grace but is consummated in glory: concerning which, Malachi 1: "From the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name is great among the nations: and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation." This, however, will be verified in glory, when, according to that passage of Jeremiah 31, "a man shall teach his neighbor no more, nor a man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them even to the greatest, says the Lord."
11. And note that by a threefold knowledge the name of God is hallowed in us, since in itself it is always holy. The first is the knowledge by which he is known through faith, according to that passage of Hebrews 11: "He who approaches must believe that he exists." — The second, by which he is known as to what he is not: concerning which Augustine says: "You comprehend much if you comprehend what God is not."
The third is that by which he is known as he is: concerning which 1 Corinthians 13: "Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I have been known."
The first knowledge liberates from foolishness, concerning which in the Psalm: "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God."