We continue October's posts with the writings of St Thomas Aquinas on the prayers used in the Rosary. We began with the Angelic Salutation and then shifted our focus to what he wrote on the Lord's Prayer.
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| Lord, teach us how to pray... J-J Tissot. |
The footnote references follow each section.
What does God will?
But what is it that is said? Does not psalm cxiii say: “ Whatsoever the Lord hath pleased he hath done.”[1] If he has done all that He wills in heaven and on earth, what is this which He says: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?” To amswer this it must be known that God wants three things for us and that we pray that these may be accomplished. The first thing that God wants for us is that wh may have eternal life. Whoever makes something for a particular end, wills for that thing that for which He made it. Now God made man but not for nothing, for, as ii is said: “Hast thou made all the children of men in vain?”[2]
Sed quid est quod dicitur? Nonne in Psal. CXIII, 3; dicitur: omnia quaecumque voluit fecit? Si omnia facit quae vult in caelo et in terra, quid est hoc quod dicit: fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo, et in terra? Ad hoc sciendum est, quod Deus tria vult de nobis, et nos petimus quod haec impleantur. Primum quidem quod Deus vult de nobis, est quod nos habeamus vitam aeternam. Quicumque enim facit aliquid propter aliquem finem, vult de illa re illud pro quo facit eam. Deus autem fecit hominem, sed non pro nihilo: quia, sicut dicitur in Psal. LXXXVIII, 48: numquid vane constituisti omnes filios hominum.
[1] Whatsoever the Lord hath pleased he hath done, in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps. Omnia quaecumque voluit Dominus fecit, in caelo, in terra, in mari et in omnibus abyssis. [Ps. cxxxiv. 6]
[2] Remember what my substance is for hast thou made all the children of men in vain? Memorare quae mea substantia; numquid enim vane constituisti omnes filios hominum? [Ps. lxxxviii. 48]
He made men, therefore, for a purpose, but not for pleasures because animals have these, but that they might have eternal life. The Lord therefore wills that men have eternal life. Now when that for which a thing was made is accomplished, it is said that it is saved; when this is not accomplished, that thing is said to be lost. Now God made man for for eternal life. When eternal life is attained, he is saved; and this is what the Lord wills: “And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting.”[3] Now this will has been fulfilled in the case of the Angels and the saints who are in the heavenly home of their Father, for they see, know and enjoy God. But we desire that, just as the will of God has been done for the blessed who are in heaven, so it should be done for us who are on earth. And this is what we pray for when we say: “Thy will be done” in us who are on earth, as it for the saints who are in heaven.
Fecit ergo homines propter aliquid, sed non propter voluptates, quia et bruta habent eas, sed ut habeant vitam aeternam. Vult ergo dominus ut homo habeat vitam aeternam. Quando vero aliquid consequitur illud ad quod factum est, dicitur quod salvatur; quando vero non consequitur, dicitur quod res illa perditur. Deus autem fecit hominem propter vitam aeternam. Cum ergo consequitur vitam aeternam, salvatur; et hoc vult dominus: Ioan. VI, 40: haec est autem voluntas patris mei qui misit me, ut omnis qui videt filium et credit in eum, habeat vitam aeternam. Haec autem voluntas iam completa est in Angelis et in sanctis qui sunt in patria, quia vident Deum et cognoscunt, et fruuntur eo; sed nos desideramus quod sicut voluntas Dei completa est in beatis qui sunt in caelis, ita compleatur in nobis qui sumus in terra: et hoc petimus cum oramus: fiat voluntas tua in nobis qui sumus in terra, sicut in sanctis qui sunt in caelo.
[3] And this is the will of my Father that sent me: that every one who seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have life everlasting, and I will raise him up in the last day. Haec est autem voluntas Patris mei, qui misit me : ut omnis qui videt Filium et credit in eum, habeat vitam aeternam, et ego resuscitabo eum in novissimo die. [Ioan. vi.40]
The Commandments: God’s will
It is also the will of God that we should keep His commandments. For when someone desires something, he wills not only that which he desires but also everything that may lead to that thing; just like a physician, who desires good health (for a patient), als o wills a good diet, medicine and the like. Now God wants us to have eternal life: “ But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.”[4] He wants us, therefore, to keep His commandments. “ your reasonable service,” “that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.”[5] Good, because profitable: “ I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things.”[6] Pleasing to the one who loves,; and not pleasing to the rest, to the one who loves delightful: “ Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.”[7] Perfect, because honourable: “ Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect.”[8] So when we say: “Thy will be done,” we pray that we may keep God’s commandments. This will of God is done in the just but it is not yet done in sinners. By “heaven” is signified the just and by “earth” is signified sinners. We pray, therefore, that God’s will be done “on earth,” that is in sinners, as it is “in heaven,” that is, in the just.
Alia voluntas Dei de nobis est ut servemus mandata eius. Quando enim aliquis desiderat aliquid, non solum vult illud quod desiderat, sed omnia per quae venitur ad illud; sicut medicus ut consequatur sanitatem, vult etiam dietam et medicinam et huiusmodi. Deus autem vult ut habeamus vitam aeternam. Matth. XIX, 17: si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata. Vult ergo ut servemus mandata. Rom. XII, 1: rationabile obsequium vestrum, ib. 2: ut probetis quae sit voluntas Dei bona, beneplacens et perfecta. Bona, quia utilis: Isai. XLVIII, 17: ego dominus docens te utilia. Beneplacens amanti; et si aliis non sit grata, amanti tamen est delectabilis. Psal. XCVI, 11: lux orta est iusto, et rectis corde laetitia. Perfecta, quia honesta: Matth. V, 48: estote perfecti, sicut et pater vester caelestis perfectus est. Sic ergo cum dicimus, fiat voluntas tua, oramus ut impleamus mandata Dei. Haec autem voluntas Dei fit in iustis, sed in peccatoribus nondum fit. Iusti autem designantur per caelum, peccatores autem per terram. Petimus ergo ut fiat voluntas Dei ita in terra, idest in peccatoribus, sicut in caelo, idest in iustis.
[4] Who said to him: Why asketh thou me concerning good? One is good, God. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. Qui dixit ei : Quid me interrogas de bono? Unus est bonus, Deus. Si autem vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata. [Matt. xix. 17]
[5] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. Obsecro itaque vos fratres per misericordiam Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem, rationabile obsequium vestrum. [2] And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God. Et nolite conformari huic saeculo, sed reformamini in novitate sensus vestri : ut probetis quae sit voluntas Dei bona, et beneplacens, et perfecta. [Rom. xii. 1,2]
[6] Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest. Haec dicit Dominus, redemptor tuus, Sanctus Israel : Ego Dominus Deus tuus, docens te utilia, gubernans te in via qua ambulas. [Isai. xlviii. 17]
[7] Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart. Lux orta est justo, et rectis corde laetitia.[Psal. Xcvi. 11]
[8] Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester caelestis perfectus est. [Matt. v. 48]
Thy will be done
It is, however, to be noted that the words used convey teaching to us. It does not say “Do,” nor even “Let us do,” but it says “Thy will be done.” This is because two things are necessary for eternal life: namely, God’s grace and man’s will. God may have been able to make man without man but He cannot save a man without that man’s help. St Augustine writes: “He Who created thee without thee will not justify thee without thee,”[9] because He wills that man should co-operate. “ Turn ye to me . . . and I will turn to you;[10] “But by the grace of God, I am what I am; and his grace in me hath not been void.”[11] Do not therefore presume on youself but rather trust in the grace of God. Do not be neglectful but make use of your zeal. And so it does not say “Let us do,” lest it might appear that the grace of God does nothing; nor does it say “Do,” lest it appear that our will and effort do nothing. But it says “Let it be done” by the grace of God and by the application of our own zeal and effort.
Notandum autem, quod ex modo loquendi datur nobis doctrina. Non enim dicit, fac, nec etiam faciamus; sed dicit, fiat voluntas tua: quia ad vitam aeternam duo sunt necessaria, scilicet gratia Dei et voluntas hominis; et licet Deus fecerit hominem sine homine, non tamen iustificat eum sine eo. Augustinus, super Ioan.: qui creavit te sine te, non iustificabit te sine te, quia vult quod homo cooperetur. Zach. I, 3: convertimini ad me, et ego convertar ad vos. Apostolus, I Cor. XV, 10: gratia Dei sum id quod sum, et gratia eius in me vacua non fuit. Non ergo praesumas de te, sed confidas de gratia Dei: nec negligas, sed adhibeas studium tuum: et ideo non dicit, faciamus, ne videretur quod nihil faceret gratia Dei; nec dicit, fac, ne videatur quod nihil faceret voluntas et conatus noster; sed dicit, fiat per gratiam Dei, adhibito studio et conatu nostro.
[9] "Super Verbum Apost.," XV.
[10] And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Turn ye to me, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will turn to you, saith the Lord of hosts. Et dices ad eos : Haec dicit Dominus exercituum : Convertimini ad me, ait Dominus exercituum, et convertar ad vos, dicit Dominus exercituum. [Zach. i. 3]
[11] But by the grace of God, I am what I am; and his grace in me hath not been void, but I have laboured more abundantly than all they: yet not I, but the grace of God with me. Gratia autem Dei sum id quod sum, et gratia ejus in me vacua non fuit, sed abundantius illis omnibus laboravi : non ego autem, sed gratia Dei mecum : [I Cor. xv. 10]
Thirdly, what God wills for us is that man should be restored to the state and dignity in which the first man was created; which was such that the spirit and soul might feel no resistance from the flesh and sensuality. For as long as the soul was subject to God, the flesh was thus subject to the spirit so that it might feel no corruption of death, or illness or of the passions. But from the time when the spirit and soul, which were in the middle between God and the flesh, rebelled against God through sin, then the body rebelled against the soul and so began to experience death and illnesses, and a continual rebellion of sensuality against the spirit: “ I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind;” [12] and “ For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh.”[13]
Tertium quod vult Deus de nobis, est, ut restituatur homo ad statum et dignitatem in qua creatus fuit primus homo; quae tanta fuit ut spiritus et anima nullam repugnantiam sentiret a carne et sensualitate. Quandiu enim anima subiecta fuit Deo, caro ita subiecta fuit spiritui ut nullam corruptionem mortis seu infirmitatis et aliarum passionum sentiret; sed ex quo spiritus et anima, quae erat media inter Deum et carnem, rebellavit Deo per peccatum, tunc corpus rebellavit animae, et tunc mortem et infirmitates sentire coepit, et continuam rebellionem sensualitatis ad spiritum. Rom. VII, 23: video aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meae; et Gal. V, 17: caro concupiscit adversus spiritum, spiritus autem adversus carnem.
[12] But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members. video autem aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis. [Rom. vii. 23]
[13] For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. Caro enim concupiscit adversus spiritum, spiritus autem adversus carnem : haec enim sibi invicem adversantur, ut non quaecumque vultis, illa faciatis. [Gal. v. 17]
Thus there is a continual war between the flesh and the spirit and man is continually being worn down by sin. It is therefore God’s will that man should be restored to his first state, so that there should be nothing in the flesh contradictory to the spirit: “ For this is the will of God, your sanctification.”[14] Now this will of God cannot be fulfilled in this life but will be accomplished in the resurrection of the saints when glorified bodies shall arise and they they will be incorruptible and perfectly noble: “ It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory.”[15] God’s will is in the just, as regards the spirit, through justice and knowledge and life.And so, when we say “Thy will be done,” we pray that it may be done in the flesh also. For in this way by “heaven” we understand spirit and by “earth” the body. The sense is thus: “Thy will be done” thus “on earth”, that is in our flesh, “as it is” done “in heaven,” that is in our spirit, through justice.
Sic est continua pugna inter carnem et spiritum, et homo continue deterioratur per peccatum. Est ergo voluntas Dei ut homo restituatur ad statum primum, ut scilicet nihil sit in carne contrarium spiritui: I Thess. IV, 3: haec est voluntas Dei, sanctificatio vestra. Haec autem voluntas Dei non potest impleri in vita ista, sed complebitur in resurrectione sanctorum, quando resurgent corpora glorificata, et erunt incorruptibilia et nobilissima: I Cor. XV, 43: seminatur in ignobilitate, surget in gloria. Est tamen voluntas Dei in iustis quantum ad spiritum per iustitiam et scientiam et vitam. Et ideo cum dicimus, fiat voluntas tua, oramus ut etiam fiat in carne. Nam hoc modo per caelum accipimus spiritum, per terram carnem; ut sit sensus: fiat voluntas tua ita in terra, idest in carne nostra, sicut fit in caelo, idest in spiritu nostro per iustitiam.
[14] For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you should abstain from fornication; Haec est enim voluntas Dei, sanctificatio vestra : ut abstineatis vos a fornicatione. [I Thess. iv. 3]
[15] It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory. It is sown in weakness, it shall rise in power. Seminatur in ignobilitate, surget in gloria : seminatur in infirmitate, surget in virtute : [I Cor. xv. 43]
Through this petition, we arrive at the blessedness of mourning: “ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”[16] This may be understood of the threefold explanation above. For according to the first, we desire eternal life; and through this happiness we are led to mourning: “ Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!”[17] This desire of the saints (on earth) is so powerful that on account of it they desire death, which in itself is to be avoided: “ But we are confident, and have a good will to be absent rather from the body, and to be present with the Lord.”[18] Again, according to the second explanation, they are in mourning who keep the commandments: for these may be sweet for the soul but they are bitter for the flesh which is continually mortified: “ Going they went and wept,” as to the flesh, “ But coming they shall come with joyfulness,” as to the soul.[19] Finally, according to the third explanation, mourning comes from the struggle that exists continually between the flesh and the spirit. For it is not possible tht the soul should nt be wounded by the venial sins of the flesh: and so that these may be expiated, the soul is mourns: “ every night I will wash,”[20] that is from the stains of sin, “my bed,” that is, my conscience. And they who weep thus will arrive at their Father;s home, whither may God bring us also.
Per hanc autem petitionem pervenimus ad beatitudinem luctus, de qua Matth. V, 5: beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Et hoc secundum quamlibet trium expositionum. Nam secundum primam desideramus vitam aeternam: unde per eius dilectionem inducimur ad luctum: Psal. CXIX, 5: heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est. Et hoc desiderium sanctorum est ita vehemens quod propter hoc desiderant mortem, quae secundum se fugienda est: II Cor. V, 8: audemus, et bonam voluntatem habemus magis peregrinari a corpore, et praesentes esse ad Deum. Item secundum secundam expositionem, illi qui servant mandata, sunt in luctu: quia licet sint dulcia animae, tamen carni sunt amara, quae continue maceratur: Psal. CXXV, 6: euntes ibant et flebant, quantum ad carnem; venientes autem venient cum exultatione, quantum ad animam. Item secundum tertiam expositionem, ex pugna quae continue est inter carnem et spiritum, provenit luctus. Non enim potest fieri quin anima saucietur ad minus per venialia a carne: et ideo ut expietur, est in luctu: Psal. VI, 7: lavabo per singulas noctes, idest obscuritates peccati, lectum meum, idest conscientiam meam. Et qui sic plorant, perveniunt ad patriam, ad quam nos perducat Deus.
[16] Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Beati qui lugent : quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. [Matt. v. 5]
[17] Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est! habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar; [Ps. Cxix. 5]
[18] But we are confident, and have a good will to be absent rather from the body, and to be present with the Lord. audemus autem, et bonam voluntatem habemus magis peregrinari a corpore, et praesentes esse ad Dominum. [II Cor. v. 8]
[19] Going they went and wept, casting their seeds. Euntes ibant et flebant, mittentes semina sua. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. Venientes autem venient cum exsultatione, portantes manipulos suos. [Ps. Cxxv. 6, 7]
[20] I have laboured in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears. Laboravi in gemitu meo; lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum; lacrimis meis stratum meum rigabo. [Ps. vi. 7]
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