Aquinas on the Lord's Prayer: Five Qualities of Prayer (Pt 1)

Lord, teach us how to pray... J-J Tissot

We continue October's posts with the writings of St Thomas Aquinas on the prayers used in the Rosary. From the Angelic Salutation, we shift our focus to what he wrote on the Lord's prayer. 

I have included my own (fairly literal) English translation, together with a number of Scriptural references and notes.

Explanation of the Lord’s Prayer

Expositio in orationem dominicam

Five Qualities of Prayer

Among (all) other prayers, the Lord's Prayer occupies first place; it has five excellent qualities that are required in prayer: for prayer must be reliable, direct, ordered, devout and humble.

Inter alias orationes oratio dominica principalior invenitur. Habet enim quinque excellentia, quae in oratione requiruntur. Debet enim esse oratio secura,[L1] recta, ordinata, devota et humilis.

It must in truth be reliable, “Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace”.[1] It must not be deficient in faith: for it is written: “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” [2] Reasonably this prayer is most reliable, for it was formed by our Advocate, Who is the most wise Petitioner and in Whom are all the treasures of Wisdom;[3] so that is written: “We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Just:” [4] whence St Cyprian says: “Since we have Christ as Advocate with the Father for our sins, when we pray on account of our sins, we set forth the words of our Advocate.

Secura [L1] quidem, ut cum fiducia adeamus ad thronum gratiae eius, ut dicitur Hebr. IV. In fide etiam non deficiens: dicitur enim Iac. I, 6: postulet autem in fide, nihil haesitans. Rationabiliter autem haec oratio est securissima: est enim ab advocato nostro formata, qui est sapientissimus petitor, in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae, ut dicitur ad Coloss. II, de quo dicitur I Ioan. II: advocatum habemus apud patrem, Iesum Christum iustum; unde dicit Cyprianus in Lib. de oratione dominica: cum Christum habeamus advocatum apud patrem pro peccatis nostris, quando pro delictis nostris petimus, advocati nostri verba proponamus.

Further, it appears even more reliable because He Who hears the prayer together with His Father is He Who taught us to pray: “He shall cry to me, and I will hear him:”[5] Whence writes St Cyprian: “It is a friendly, familiar and devout prayer to ask of the Lord in his own words. Whence no-one ever finishes this prayer without fruit; venial sins are remitted through this prayer, (so writes St Augustine).

Ulterius securior apparet ex hoc quod ipse qui orationem exaudit cum patre, docuit nos orare, secundum illud Psal. XC, 15: clamabit ad me, et ego exaudiam eum. Unde dicit Cyprianus: amica, familiaris et devota oratio, dominum de suo rogare. Unde ab hac oratione nunquam sine fructu receditur: nam per eam venialia dimittuntur, ut dicit Augustinus.

References

[1] Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace: that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid. Adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae : ut misericordiam consequamur, et gratiam inveniamus in auxilio opportuno. [Heb. iv. 16]

[2] But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind. Postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans : qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur et circumfertur :[Iac. i. 6]

[3] In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi.[ Col., ii. 3.]

[4] My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just: Filioli mei, haec scribo vobis, ut non peccetis. Sed et si quis peccaverit, advocatum habemus apud Patrem, Jesum Christum justum : [I Joan. ii. 3]

[5] Cyprianus in Lib. de oratione dominica.

[6] He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. Clamabit ad me, et ego exaudiam eum; cum ipso sum in tribulatione; eripiam eum, et glorificabo eum. [Ps. xc. 15]

[7] Cyprianus in Lib. de oratione dominica.

[8] "Enchir., lxxviii.

Notes

[L1] secura: from sē-cūrus, a, um, adj. se = sine and cura, i. q. non or nihil curans, free from care, careless, unconcerned, untroubled [LS]; free from danger, safe, secure; assured, reliable [DMLBS]. In considering the oratio dominica, or any prayer,, it is possible to speak of the actor (the person praying), the act (the praying) and the direct object (the prayer). "securus" seems to be an adjective qualifying the direct object. The usual translation in this context is "confident;" this latter, however, surely qualifies the actor rather than the object. For this reason, I construe it in the sense that the Lord's Prayer is a reliable prayer because its author is Our Lord Himself, our own "Advocate."

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.