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Let these persons, then, know that, the more reliance
they place on these things and ceremonies, the less
confidence they have in God, and that they will not
obtain of God that which they desire.
There are certain persons who pray for their own
ends rather than for the honour of God. Although they
suppose that a thing will be done if it be for the
service of God, and not otherwise, yet, because of
their attachment to it and the vain rejoicing which
they have in it, they multiply a large number of
petitions for a thing, when it would be better for
them to substitute others of greater importance to
them, such as for the true cleansing of their
consciences, and for a real application to things
concerning their own salvation, leaving to a much
later season all those other petitions of theirs
which are not of this kind.
And in this way they would attain that which is of
the greatest importance to them, and at the same time
all the other things that are good for them (although
they might not have prayed for them), much better and
much earlier than if they had expended all their
energy on those things. For this the Lord promised,
through the Evangelist, saying: 'Seek ye first and
principally the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these other things shall be added unto
you.'[682]
2. This is the seeking and the asking that is most
pleasing to God, and, in order to obtain the
fulfilment of the petitions which we have in our
hearts, there is no better way than to direct the
energy of our prayer to the thing that most pleases
God.
For then not only will He give that which we ask
of Him, which is salvation, but also that which He
sees to be fitting and good for us, although we pray
not for it. This David makes clear in a psalm where
he says: 'The Lord is nigh unto those that call upon
Him in truth,[683] that beg Him for the things that
are in the highest degree true, such as salvation;
for of these he then says: 'He will fulfill the will
of them that fear Him, and will hear their cries, and
will save them. For God is the guardian of those that
truly love Him.'[684]
And thus, this nearness to God of which David here
speaks is naught else than His being ready to satisfy
them and grant them even that which it has not passed
through their minds to ask. Even so we read that,
because Solomon did well in asking God for a thing
that was pleasing to Him -- namely, wisdom to lead
and rule his people righteously -- God answered him,
saying: 'Because more than aught else thou didst
desire wisdom, and askedst not victory over thine
enemies, with their deaths, nor riches, nor long
life, I will not only give thee the wisdom that thou
askest to rule My people righteously, but I will
likewise give thee that which thou hast not asked --
namely, riches and substance and glory -- so that
neither before thee nor after thee shall there be any
king like unto thee.'[685]
And this He did, giving him peace also from his
enemies, so that all around him should pay tribute to
him and trouble him not: We read of a similar
incident in Genesis, where God promised Abraham to
increase the generation of his lawful son, like the
stars of Heaven, even as he had asked of Him, and
said to him: 'Likewise I will increase the son of the
bondwoman, for he is thy son.'[686]
3. In this way, then, the strength of the will and
its rejoicing must be directed to God in our
petitions, and we must not be anxious to cling to
ceremonial inventions which are not used or approved
by the Catholic Church.
We must leave the method and manner of saying Mass
to the priest, whom the Church sets there in her
place, giving him her orders as to how he is to do
it. And let not such persons use new methods, as if
they knew more than the Holy Spirit and His Church.
If, when they pray in their simplicity, God hears
them not, let them not think that He will hear them
any the more however many may be their inventions.
For God is such that, if they behave towards Him as
they should, and conformably to His nature, they will
do with Him whatsoever they will; but, if they act
from selfish ends, they cannot speak with Him.
4. With regard to further ceremonies connected
with prayer and other devotions, let not the will be
set upon other ceremonies and forms of prayer than
those which Christ taught us.[687]
For it is clear that, when His disciples besought
Him that He would teach them to pray, He would tell
them all that is necessary in order that the Eternal
Father may hear us, since He knew the Father's nature
so well. Yet all that He taught them was the Pater
Noster, with its seven petitions, wherein are
included all our needs, both spiritual and temporal;
and He taught them not many other kinds of prayer,
either in words or in ceremonies.
On the contrary, He told them that when they
prayed they ought not to desire to speak much, since
our heavenly Father knows well what is meet for us.
He charged them only, but with great insistence, that
they should persevere in prayer (that is, in the
prayer of the Pater Noster), saying elsewhere: 'It
behoves us always to pray and never to fail.'[688]
But He taught not a variety of petitions, but rather
that our petitions should be repeated frequently and
with fervour and care. For, as I say, in them is
contained all that is the will of God and all that is
meet for us.
Wherefore, when His Majesty drew near three times
to the Eternal Father, He prayed all these three
times, using those very words of the Pater Noster, as
the Evangelists tell us, saying: 'Father, if it
cannot be but that I must drink this cup, Thy will be
done.'[689] And the ceremonies which He taught us to
use in our prayers are only two.
Either we are to pray in the secret place of our
chamber, where without noise and without paying heed
to any we can pray with the most perfect and pure
heart, as He said in these words: 'When thou shalt
pray, enter into thy chamber and shut the door and
pray.'[690]
Or else He taught us to go to a solitary and
desert place, as He Himself did, and at the best and
quietest time of night. And thus there is no reason
to fix any limit of time, or any appointed days, or
to set apart one time more than another for our
devotions, neither is there any reason to use other
forms, in our words and prayers, nor phrases with
double meanings, but only those which the Church uses
and in the manner wherein she uses them; for all are
reduced to those which we have described -- namely,
the Pater Noster.
5. I do not for this reason condemn -- nay, I
rather approve -- the fixing of days on which certain
persons sometimes arrange to make their devotions,
such as novenas, or other such things. I condemn only
their conduct as concerns the fixity of their methods
and the ceremonies with which they practise them.
Even so did Judith rebuke and reprove the people of
Bethulia because they had limited God as to the time
wherein they awaited His mercy, saying: 'Do ye set
God a time for his mercies?' To do this, she says, is
not to move God to clemency, but to awaken His
wrath.[691] |