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(77) Christian! remember and
always bear in your thoughts and heart the great
words of the Lord's Prayer: Our Father Which art in
heaven (remember, who is our Father - God is our
Father, our love; who are we? we are the children of
God, and brothers amongst ourselves; in what love
ought the children of such a Father to live amongst
themselves? "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would
do the works of Abraham" (St John 8:39); what works,
then, ought we to do?) Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in
Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread (our bread,
common to all and not for oneself alone: self-love
must be banished from the hearts of God's children;
we are one). And forgive us our trespasses (you
wish that God should forgive your trespasses,
therefore look upon it as customary to forgive the
sins of those who trespass against you, knowing that
love is long-suffering and compassionate). Lead us
not into temptation (and you, yourself, must not
give way to temptation: "He will not suffer thy foot
to be moved; and He that keepeth thee will not
sleep. The Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand")
(Psalm 71:3,5), but deliver us from evil (do not
willingly give yourself up to evil and the Lord will
not give you up to it): for Thine is the kingdom
(acknowledge the one King, God, and serve Him
alone), the power (trust in His almighty power)
and
the glory (be zealous for His glory with all ,your
might and during all your life), for ever (He is the
eternal King, whilst Satan's kingdom shall soon pass
away, being rapacious and false). Amen." This is
all true. Remember this prayer above all, and repeat
it oftener in your mind, thinking over the meaning
of each word, of each expression, and each petition
in it.
(78) In saying "our Father" we
should believe and remember that the Heavenly Father
never forgets, and never will forget us, for, even,
what good earthly father forgets and does not care
for his children" "Yet will I not forget thee"
(Isaiah XLIX. 15.) says the Lord. "For your Heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things." (St. Matthew VI. 32) Take these words to
your heart. Remember that the Heavenly Father
continually surrounds you with love and care, and is
not called your Father without reason. Father is not
an empty name without meaning and power, but a name
full of meaning and power.
(79) In order to rightly
understand the words of the Lord's prayer, "Lead us
not into temptation," we must remember that this
prayer was given to the Apostles, who asked the Lord
to teach them how to pray; that it was given to them
before the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them, when
Satan asked them of the Lord, that he might sift
them as wheat (St. Luke XX.II. 31). At that time the
Apostles were still weak, and might have fallen
under temptation (like Peter); this is why the
Saviour puts in their mouths the words, "Lead us not
into temptation." But it is impossible to live
without temptations of our faith, hope, and love: it
is indispensable for the man himself that the
secrets of his heart should be tested, so that he
may himself see what lie is and amend himself. Yes,
temptations are necessary in order "that the
thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (St. Luke
II. 35), that our firmness or weakness in faith may
be revealed, as well as the knowledge or ignorance,
the depravity or purity of our heart, its hope and
trust in God or in earthly things; also whether we
love ourselves and corruptible things, or God above
all.
(80) It is never so difficult to
say from the heart, "Thy will be done, Father," as
when we are in sore affliction or grievous sickness,
and especially when we are subjected to the
injustice of men, or the assaults and wiles of the
enemy. It is also difficult to say from the heart
"Thy Will be done" when we ourselves were the cause
of some misfortune, for then we think that it is not
God's Will, but our own will, that has placed us in
such a position, although nothing can happen without
the Will of God. In general, it is difficult to
sincerely believe that it is the Will of God, that
we should suffer, when the heart knows both by faith
and experience that God is our blessedness; and
therefore it is difficult to say in misfortune,
"Thy Will be done." We think, "Is it possible that
this is the Will of God? Why does God torment us?
Why are others quiet and happy? What have we done?
Will there be an end to our torments?" And so on. But when it is difficult for our corrupt nature to
acknowledge the Will of God over us, that Will of
God without which nothing happens, and to humbly
submit to it, then is the very time for us to humbly
submit to this Will, and to offer to the Lord our
most precious sacrifice - that is, heartfelt
devotion to Him, not only in the time of ease and
happiness, but also in sufferring and misfortune; it
is then that we must submit our vain erring wisdom
to the perfect Wisdom of God, for our thoughts are
as far from the thoughts of God "as the heavens are
higher than the earth" (Isaiah LV. 8, 9). Let
every man bring in sacrifice to God his Isaac, his
only begotten, his beloved, his promised one (to
whom peace and blessedness, not suffering, are
promised), and let him show God his faith and his
obedience, so as to be worthy of God's gifts, which
he already enjoys, or which he expects to enjoy.
(81) "Thy will be done." For
instance, when you wish and by every means endeavour
to be well and healthy, and yet remain ill, then
say: "Thy will be done." When you undertake
something and your undertaking does not succeed,
say: "Thy will be done." When you do good to others,
and they repay you by evil, say: "Thy will be dune."
Or when you would like to sleep and are overtaken by
sleeplessness, say: "Thy will be done." In general,
do not become irritated when anything is not done in
accordance with your will, but learn to submit
everything to the Will of the Heavenly Father. You
would like not to experience any temptations, and
yet the enemy daily harasses you by them; provokes
and annoys you by every means. Do not become
irritated and angered, but say: "Thy will be done."
(82) "Our Father! Thy kingdom
come." The Lord reigns everywhere, in the whole
visible world (being in every place) and in all the
angelic hosts. He also reigns by his infinite Power
and Truth over the spirits of evil, and over evil
and unrighteous men. Some of them He has bound in
everlasting chains of darkness for judgement at the
great day, and others he punishes in various ways in
this life, and will punish in the future life with
inextinguishable fire. But He, the Truth; does not
reign in demons and in unrighteous men by His truth,
be-louse falsehood is in them; He does not reign in
them by His love, because malice is in them; He does
not reign in the unrighteous by faith, neither by
hope, but He reigns in them by the strict fulfilment
of His laws. "Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not
the things which I say." (St. Luke VI, 46). "Keep My
commandments." (St. John XIV, 15). He reigns in
every action of my body and soul, even in the
smallest (for instance, in speech), for my body
obeys His laws in feeding, repose, sleep, growth,
and walking, and both thought and word are formed
and move in accordance with His laws; but He does
not always reign in my heart, in the inclinations of
my heart and in my free-will. I frequently incline
to evil and do evil, instead of the good offered to
me. I often oppose Him and His laws. I am often
incredulous, unbelieving, selfish, proud; I often
despise others, envy others, am avaricious,
covetous, sensual, gratifying my sinful flesh in
every way; ambitious, impatient, irritable,
slothful, doing few or no good works at all, and if
any, more from a concurrence of favourable
circumstances than from the free inclination and
tendency of my heart; I do not pity those who
suffer, as members of the one body of the Church -
in a word, the Lord does not always reign in me by
thoughts, feeling, g, and acts of faith, hope, and
love.
(83) During prayer, intentional,
deliberate, extreme humility is indispensable. We
must remember, who speaks and what he says, this is
especially necessary during the Lord's Prayer: "Our
Father.. ." Humility destroys all the snares of the
enemy. Ah! how much secret pride there is in us. This, we say, I know; this I do not need; this is
not for me; this is superfluous; in that I am not a
sinner. How much sophistry of our own!
(84) When we say the prayer:
"Our
Father", we must say it with particular, clear
understanding; namely: 1) deeply comprehend each
word and expression; 2) with all our soul and all
our heart desire what we request; 3) have the
fervor, the ardour to carry out what God requires of
us in this prayer, and 4) by deed itself carry out
what is being demanded.
(85) "Worship God in spirit and
in truth." In truth, for instance, when you say,
"Hallowed be Thy Name." Do you really desire that
God's name should be hallowed by the good works of
others and by your own? When you say, "Thy kingdom
come," do you indeed desire the coming of God's
Kingdom? Do you wish to be the abode of the spirit
of God, and not the abode of sin? Would you not more
willingly live in sin? When you say, "Thy will be
done," do you not rather seek your own will than
that of God? Ay, it is so! When you say, "Give us
this day our daily bread," do you not there
wise say
in your heart, "I do not need to ask this of Thee -
I have enough without asking; let the poor ask for
this?" Or else, do we not greedily seek for more,
and are not satisfied with the little, or with that
which God has given us? We do not thank God for what
we have as we ought to. In the prayer: "And forgive
us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass
against us," do you not think in yourself:
"God knows that I am such a great sinner.
It seems to me that I do not live any worse than
others, and there is no need for me to ask that my
trespasses or sins should be forgiven?" Or else when
you thus pray is there not any displeasure or anger
in your heart against anyone? - for if so, you lie
shamelessly to God in your prayer. You say, "And
lead us not into temptation," but do you not
yourself rush impetuously into every sin, without
even being tempted? You say, "Deliver us from from
evil," but do you not live in friendship with the
Devil or with evil of every kind, of which the Devil
is chief? Beware, then, that your tongue is not in
discordance with your heart; see that you do not lie
to God in your prayer. Always keep this in view when
you say the Lord's prayer, as well as when you say
other prayers. Watch whether your heart agrees with
everything that your tongue pronounces.
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