CHAPTER X

OF THE FIRST PETITION IN THE LORD’S PRAYER

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

QUESTION I

Why we should begin our Requests from the Hallowing of the Divine Name

What should be the objects and order of our prayers to God, we learn from the instruction and injunction of the Lord and Master of all: for as prayer is the messenger and interpreter of our wishes and desires, we then pray as we ought, and in accordance with reason, when the order of our demands corresponds with that of the objects to be sought. True charity admonishes us to consecrate to God our whole soul and affections, because, constituting in himself alone the supreme good, he justly commands our most particular and especial love; and this heartfelt and peculiar love we cannot cherish towards God, unless we prefer his honour and glory to all created things. Whatever good we or others enjoy, whatever is called good, having proceeded from him must yield to him, who is the sovereign good. That our prayers, therefore, may proceed in order, the Saviour has placed this petition, which concerns our chief good, at the head of the others; thus teaching us that, before we pray for anything for our neighbour or ourselves, we should pray for those things that appertain to the glory of God, and make known to him our wishes and desires for their accomplishment. Thus shall we remain in the practice of charity, by which we are taught to love God more than ourselves, and to make what we desire for the sake of God the first, and what for ourselves, the next object of our prayers.

QUESTION II

Since the Divine Nature cannot be increased by, or deficient in, anything, why was it Necessary that we should here crave Sanctification of the Name of God?

But as desires and petitions regard those things that we want, and as God, that is to say, his nature, can receive no accession, nor does the divine substance, adorned as it is after an ineffable manner with all perfections, admit of increase, we must understand, that what we ask from God regarding himself are extrinsic, and belong to his outward glory; for we desire and pray that the name of God may be better known to the nations; that his kingdom may be enlarged; and that the number of faithful servants to the divine name may be every day increased; three things, his name, his kingdom, and the obedience [paid to his name], that belong not to the intrinsic and essential, but to the extrinsic and accidental, good of God.

QUESTION III

In what manner this First Petition is to be understood, and what Vows Christ desires us to offer to God the Father in this Petition

But that the force and import of these petitions may the more clearly be understood, it will belong to the pastor to inform the faithful people, that the words, on earth, as it is in heaven, may be referred to each of the three first petitions: as, Hallowed be thy name on earth, as it is in heaven; also: Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven; and likewise: Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven; but when we pray that the name of God may be hallowed, we mean that the sanctity and glory of the divine name may be augmented. And here the pastor will observe, and will instruct his pious hearers, that our Saviour does not say, that it be hallowed on earth, in the same manner, that is, with the same perfection, as it is in heaven, for this were utterly impossible; but that it be hallowed through love, and from the inmost affection of the soul.

QUESTION IV

In what manner the Name of God, in itself holy, can he hallowed by us

True, in itself his name requires not to be hallowed; It is terrible and holy, as God himself is by his own nature holy; nor can anything be added to the holiness which he possesses from all eternity; yet, as on earth he is treated with much less honour than is due, and is even sometimes dishonoured by impious and blasphemous execrations, therefore do we desire and pray, that his name may be celebrated with praises, honour, and glory, as it is praised, honoured, and glorified in heaven; or, in other words, that his honour and worship may be so constantly in our hearts, in our souls, and on our lips, that we may glorify him with all veneration both internal and external; and, like the citizens of the heaven above, celebrate, with all our might, the praises of the high, pure, and glorious God. For we pray that, as the spirits in heaven praise and glorify God with one accord, mankind may do the same on earth, and that all nations may know, worship, and venerate God, so that no mortals may exist who embrace not the religion of Christ, and, dedicating themselves wholly to God, may believe that he is the fountain of all holiness, and that there is nothing pure or holy, that does not emanate from the sanctity of his divine name.

QUESTION V

How it is that the Name of God can be Holy amongst the Unfaithful

For the apostle beareth witness, that the Church is cleansed by the laver of watter in the word of life; meaning by the word of life, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, in which we are baptized and sanctified. As for those then on whom the divine name has not been invoked, there can be no expiation, no purity, no integrity, we desire and pray of God, that the whole race of mankind, quitting the darkness of impure infidelity, and illumined by the rays of the divine light, may confess the power of this name, so as to seek therein true sanctity, and receiving the sacrament of baptism in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity, may be conducted by the right hand of God himself unto perfect holiness.

QUESTION VI

In what manner the Name of God can he Sanctified among Sinners

Our desires and prayers also extend no less to those who, contaminated by crimes and enormities, have lost the spotless integrity of baptism, and the robe of innocence, whence the most foul spirit has again taken up his abode in those most unhappy beings. We therefore desire, and beseech of God, that in them also his name may be hallowed; that returning to the heart, and unto holiness, they may recover through the sacrament of penance their former holiness, and present themselves a pure and holy temple and dwelling to God.

QUESTION VII

In what manner all Men may be able to sanctify the Name of God in themselves

We pray, in fine, that God may display his light to the minds of all, by which they may be enabled to see, that from him we receive every best gift and every perfect gift, coming from the Father of lights; to whom they should refer temperance, justice, life, salvation, all goods, in a word, of soul and body, whether they regard external things, or things of life, or salvation, as his gifts, from whom, as the Church proclaims, all blessings proceed. If the sun by his light, if the other heavenly bodies by their motion and revolution, minister to the race of man; if life is sustained by this circumfused air; if the earth by the profusion of its productions and fruits supports the life of all; if through the agency of the civil magistrate we enjoy quiet and tranquillity; these and innumerable similar blessings we receive from the boundless benignity of God. Nay, those causes, which philosophers call secondary, we should regard as so many instruments, marvellous in their production, and admirably adapted to our use, by which the hand of God distributes to us his blessings, and diffuses them far and wide.

QUESTION VIII

In what manner the Name of God is Hallowed by the Acknowledgment and Veneration of the Catholic Church

But the most important object of the petition is this, that all recognize and revere the spouse of Christ, our most holy Mother the Church, in whom alone is that copious and perennial fountain to cleanse and efface all the stains of sin, from which are drawn all the sacraments of salvation and sanctification; by which, as it were by so many celestial conduits, the fertilizing dew of sanctity is conveyed to us from God; to whom alone, and to those whom she embraces and fosters in her bosom, belongs the invocation of that divine name, which alone, under heaven, is given among men, whereby we must be saved.

QUESTION IX

In what manner the Name of God is defiled by Christians at the Present Time

But pastors will urge this point with peculiar emphasis, that it is the part of a good son, not only to pray to God his Father in words, but to endeavour, in deed and in work, to present a bright example of the sanctification of the divine name. Would that there were none, who, whilst they pray assiduously for this sanctification of the name of God, violate and defile it, as far as on them depends, by their deeds; who are sometimes the criminal cause why God himself is blasphemed; and against whom the apostle hath said: The name of God through you is blasphemed amongst the Gentiles; and we read in Ezekiel. They entered unto the heathen whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land. For as are the lives and morals of the professors of religion, so does the unlettered multitude judge of religion itself and of its author. Those therefore who live, as they have undertaken to do, according to the rules of the Christian religion, and who regulate their prayers and actions according to its standard, afford great occasion to others, to praise, honour, and glorify the name of our Father who is in heaven. To excite other men to the praise and exaltation of the divine name is an obligation, which our Lord himself hath imposed on us, whom he thus addresses in the Evangelist: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven; and the prince of the apostles: Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that, by your good works which they shall behold, they may glorify God.