The second, from idolatry, by which what is not God is worshipped: concerning which 1 Corinthians 8: "Concerning those things that are sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — since indeed there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things," etc.
The third liberates from all misery; and this will be in the homeland, when the gift of wisdom and peace will be fulfilled, through which we are called sons of God. And then the name of God will be holy in us: whence 1 John 3: "Beloved, now we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." Therefore perfect knowledge makes us like him, and perfect likeness makes us sons, and perfect filiation makes us worthy of the sanctification of the divine name. Whence Chrysostom: "The name of God is hallowed in us when, knowing him to be holy, we fear and watch with solicitude, lest perhaps we violate the sanctity of his name in us." This, however, will be when we are totally free for him, and our minds are impeded by no distraction: which will be in glory, according to that passage of the Psalm:
"In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to you; I will worship toward your holy temple and will confess your name, for your mercy and your truth; for you have magnified your holy name above all things."
12. Second, as regards perfect reverence in affection he adds: Thy kingdom come. For then God perfectly reigns in us, when we are entirely subject to him, which will be at the end, according to that passage in First Corinthians 15: "Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father." "For he must reign, until he puts his enemies under his feet"; and further: "When all things shall have been subjected to him, then the Son himself also shall be subject to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all." Moreover, this kingdom, by which God reigns in the Saints, also makes the Saints themselves reign and be kings, according to that passage in Revelation 5: "Thou hast redeemed us to God in thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth." This is the kingdom to be sought and desired; concerning which in the Psalm: "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages"; and Revelation 11: "There were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this world has become our Lord's and his Christ's, his Son's, and they shall reign forever and ever, Amen."
Through the coming of this kingdom, power does not increase for God, but perfect obedience increases in men. And therefore Matthew adds after this petition: "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth." For earthly beings do not perfectly obey God as heavenly beings do; and the Lord was intimating this in John 18: "My kingdom is not of this world"; and this is because the devil reigns in those who obey him, according to that passage in Ephesians 6: "The world-rulers of this darkness." But at the final judgment his power shall be taken away, when the whole world shall be subject to God, according to that passage in Daniel 7: "He gave him power and honor and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him."
13. (Verse 3). Third, as regards sufficiency in sustenance he adds: Give us this day our daily bread: where principally the bread of spiritual nourishment is sought: whence Matthew 6:
, give us this day our supersubstantial bread. But because not only this is petitioned for, but everything that is necessary for the present life: therefore, when the Church regularly recites the Lord's Prayer according to this [version], she does not say supersubstantial according to it, but adds daily according to Luke, in order to show that she petitions for whatever is necessary for the sustenance of this life, which is understood by today . Whence, as Jerome says, whether one says daily, or supersubstantial, both are consonant with the Hebrew truth. For in the Hebrew language one word, that is sogolla, comprehends both meanings. So also among us daily comprehends both breads, namely spiritual and corporal, because both are daily necessary for us and daily to be received from the Lord, and therefore daily to be petitioned for. And this is what Bede says in the Gloss: "Bread is called daily because it is here necessary, inasmuch as it must be bestowed upon soul and flesh, whether it be taken spiritually, or corporally, or in both ways."
Whence note that a fivefold bread is petitioned for here. The first is the sustenance of the present life, concerning which it is said in Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "The beginning of the life of man is water and bread and clothing."
The second is the understanding of Sacred Scripture, concerning which Lamentations four: "The little ones asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them."
The third bread is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, concerning which Wisdom sixteen: "You provided them with prepared bread from heaven, having in itself every delight and every sweetness of flavor"; and John six: "The bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world." The fourth is the assistance of grace, concerning which in the Psalm: "Man ate the bread of Angels"; and below in the fourteenth [chapter]: "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God."
The fifth is the service of obedience, concerning which it is said in John four: "My food is to do the will of my Father, who is in heaven"; and concerning this, Third Kings nineteen: "Elijah looked, and behold, at his head a hearth-cake," in whose strength he walked and arrived "even to the mountain of God, Horeb." - With these breads the Lord refreshes us: which was signified in John six, where it is said that from five loaves he satisfied five thousand men. And therefore each of these is always to be petitioned for, according to that passage in the same place: "Lord, always give us this bread."
15. (Vers. 4.). Fourth, with respect to pardon from guilt, he adds: And forgive us our sins, and this with regard to the guilt of obligation: whence in Matthew 6 they are called debts. For sins make us debtors of those things which we cannot pay; whence in the Psalm: "The sinner shall borrow and shall not pay," etc. These are the debts, by which the Shunammite woman was bound, in 4 Kings 4, who could not pay until Elisha multiplied the oil. Through the oil of Christ's mercy our sins are paid and forgiven.
But because "judgment without mercy shall be done to him who has not shown mercy," according to what is said in James 2; therefore he adds a condition: Since we ourselves also forgive everyone indebted to us. This condition is indeed necessary for obtaining pardon of sins; whence Sirach 28: "Forgive your neighbor who harms you, and then when you pray, your sins shall be loosed. Man preserves anger against man, and seeks remedy from God?" — as if to say: he seeks in vain. Whence Matthew 6: "If you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins; but if you do not forgive, neither will your Father forgive you your sins." Whence also in Matthew 18 he proposes the parable of the wicked servant, at the end of which he adds: "So shall your heavenly Father do to you, if you do not each forgive your brother from your hearts." And this rightly, because whoever flees the law of clemency falls under the law of justice; concerning which above in chapter six: "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven"; "for with the same measure with which you have measured, it shall be measured back to you." The Lord added this condition here to show that what is said is true,
which is said in Judith 9: "The prayer of the humble and the meek has always been pleasing to you," but that of the proud and the slanderous, never. Whence Isaiah 1: "When you multiply prayer, I will not hear; for your hands are full of blood." Whence Chrysostom: "If he who has been injured prays in vain unless he has forgiven, how, do you think, does he pray who has not been injured, if he himself through injustice injures and burdens others? But he who does not pray as Christ taught is not a disciple; nor does the Father hear a prayer which the Son did not teach. For the Father knows the mind and words of his Son; he does not accept what human presumption has devised, but what the wisdom of Christ has set forth."
16. Fifth, with respect to victory in conflict, he adds: And lead us not into temptation, that is, do not permit us to be led in, that is, to be overcome; because, as is said in James 1, "God is no tempter of evils; but each one is tempted, drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence."
And note that he does not ask not to be tempted, because temptation proves a man, according to that saying of the Psalm: "Prove me, O Lord, and try me"; and Ecclesiasticus thirty-four: "He who has not been tempted knows little." But he asks not to be overcome or conquered by temptation, but to conquer and triumph. This indeed must be asked on account of the faithfulness of divine aid, concerning which First Corinthians ten: "God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make also with the temptation an outcome, that you may be able to endure." It must also be asked on account of recognizing our own weakness, according to that saying of Second Chronicles twenty: "In us indeed there is not so great a strength that we can resist this multitude which rushes upon us. But since we do not know what we ought to do, this alone remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you." Whence Chrysostom: "Let them recognize that they are weak, and the knowledge of weakness will extinguish the cause of glorying," because, according to what is said in First Maccabees three, "not in the multitude of an army is the victory of war, but from heaven is strength."
17. Since therefore tribulation is a temptation, according to that saying of James one: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation," etc.; therefore he who is delivered from every evil of temptation is delivered consequently from the evil of tribulation: and therefore it is not necessary to add further: Deliver us from evil, as though it were an entirely different petition, but to be unfolded as though included within this one. And this is what Bede says in the Gloss: "Let each one know that he is delivered from evil in this, that he is not led into temptation."
Luke therefore ends the prayer at temptation, in which there is doubt about standing or falling: and therefore he does not add Amen, which is a sign of certainty that the prayer has been heard: Matthew however ends at deliverance from every evil of punishment and thereby from death: concerning which First Corinthians fifteen: "But last of all, the enemy death shall be destroyed," and after these things there is certainty of salvation: therefore he ends by saying Amen, which is a sign of certainty for that time.
But because, as long as we are here, we do not attain to this certainty; therefore it is said quietly and in a low voice by the priest, while the rest in the Mass is said in an elevated voice.
There are also other reasons of fittingness: but let this suffice for the present.
18. And he said to them: Which of you, etc. After the example and instruction, he here subjoins thirdly an incitement to prayer, by which we are invited to pray frequently and confidently. And this part has two sections: in the first is proposed an incitement to frequency of prayer; in the second, to confidence in praying, at the place: But which of you asks a father, etc. For these are the two things which most greatly empty the fruit of prayer of its effect, namely negligence and distrust.
Concerning the incitement to frequency, two things are intimated. The first is the inciting similitude; the second is the informative instruction, at the place: And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you.
As for the inciting similitude to frequency of prayer, three things are introduced. The first is the petitioning opportunity; the second is the refusing difficulty; the third is the importunity that obtains, so that from this it may be shown how great is the efficacy of importunate and continual prayer.
19. (Verse 8.). First, therefore, as regards the petitioning opportunity, he says: Which of you shall have a friend, etc. This is read interrogatively, but the Gloss holds that it should be read permissively: " Which, that is, someone, or if anyone. " This, however, is said to show the preciousness of a true friend, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 6: "To a faithful friend there is no comparison, and no weighing of gold and silver is worthy against the goodness of his fidelity"; and again: "A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality, and he who fears the Lord shall find him." — To this friend, therefore, one has recourse with confidence, and so it is added: And he shall go to him at midnight, because, as is said in Proverbs 17, "he who is a friend loves at all times, and a brother is proven in distress."
And to such a one the need is set forth with confidence; for which reason it is added: And he shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves; and this he supports by the law of piety and charity, concerning which it is said in Isaiah 58: "Break your bread for the hungry"; and Ecclesiastes 11: "Cast your bread upon the passing waters."