CHAPTER XII

OF THE THIRD PETITION

THY WILL BE DONE

QUESTION I

Why “Thy will be done” is subjoined to the Prayer for the Coming of God’s Kingdom

As Christ our Lord has said: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the prayer of all, who desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven, should be, that his will may be done; and therefore does this petition immediately succeed that which prays for the coming of his kingdom.

QUESTION II

In what way we may attain to the Right Understanding of this Petition

But that the faithful may understand the necessity of what we ask in this petition, and the numerous and salutary gifts which we may obtain through its concession, pastors will direct their attention to the load of misery and wretchedness, with which primeval guilt has oppressed mankind.

QUESTION III

Of the Evils which the Sin of our First Parent brought upon the Human Race

From the beginning God hath implanted in creatures an innate desire of their own happiness, that, by a sort of natural impulse, they might seek and desire their proper end, from which, except impeded by some external obstacle, they never deviate. This propensity of seeking his end, which is God, the Author and Parent of his happiness, existed originally in man, and, endowed as he is with reason and judgment, was in him a more noble and exalted principle. But whilst irrational creatures, which at their first creation were good, preserved this their instinctive impulse, and thus continued, and still continue, in their original state and condition; the unhappy race of men held not in the direct course, and lost not only the goods of original righteousness, with which he had been supernaturally gifted and adorned by God, but also weakened the predominant natural desire of the soul, the love of virtue. Every one of them is gone back; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one; for the imagination and thought of man’s heart are prone to evil from his youth. Hence, it is easy to understand, that of himself no man is wise unto salvation, but that all are prone to evil; and that innumerable are the corrupt lusts of men, by which they are hurried with ardent impetuosity to anger, hatred, pride, ambition, and to almost every species of evil.

QUESTION IV

Although Man is overwhelmed with many Miseries, yet he is ignorant of His own State

Although we are continually beset by these evils; yet, and this is the greatest misery of our race, many of them appear to us not to be evils, a melancholy proof of the most calamitous condition of men, who, blinded by passion, see not, that what they deem salutary is generally pestiferous: nay, they are hurried with precipitation towards those pernicious evils, as towards a desirable and enviable good; whilst the things that are really good and honourable, are shunned as the contrary. Of this false estimate and corrupt judgment of man, God thus expresses his detestation: Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

QUESTION V

In what manner the Sacred Writings depict this our Unhappy State

In order, therefore, to place before our eyes the miseries [of our condition], the sacred Scriptures compare us to those who have lost the natural sense of taste; and who, in consequence, loathe wholesome food, and relish only what is unwholesome. It also compares us to sick persons; for as they, unless they shake off disease, are unable to fill the offices, or discharge the duties, of sound and healthy men; so neither can we, without the aid of divine grace, perform actions acceptable to God.

QUESTION VI

How great is the Infirmity of Man in the Corrupt State of Nature for the Performance of any Good Thing

And if, being thus circumstanced, we accomplish some things, they are trivial, and of little or no moment towards the attaimnent of salvation. But to love and serve God as we ought, which is something greater and more exalted than we in our prostrated condition can accomplish, that we can never do, unless aided by the grace of God.

QUESTION VII

In Divine Things we are like unto Children

Another most appropriate comparison to illustrate the miserable condition of the human race, is that by which we are likened unto children, who, if left to their own discretion, are hastily excited to everything. We indeed, if deprived of the divine protection, are children, imprudent, given to ludicrous conversations and trivial pursuits; for wisdom thus reproves us: How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves? And the apostle thus exhorts us: Be not children in understanding. We, however, are the dupes of still greater silliness, and of grosser error than children; for they only lack human wisdom, which however they may in time attain of themselves; but we, unless guided and assisted from above, can never aspire to the divine wisdom which is necessary unto salvation; for having spurned those things that are really good, unless the assistance of God be at hand, we rush on voluntary destruction.

QUESTION VIII

What Remedy for so Great Evils is proposed in this Petition

But should any man’s soul, emerging from the darkness in which it is enveloped, discover these miseries that encompass it; should man, awakening from his lethargy, feel the law of the members, and recognize the desires of sense, as repugnant to the spirit: should he discern every evil propensity of his nature, who would not ardently seek a suitable remedy for the mass of misery entailed on us by our corrupt nature, and sigh for that salutary rule, by which the life of a Christian is to be regulated, and to which it is to be conformed? This, then, is what we implore, when we thus address God in prayer: Thy will be done; for we having fallen into this misery by disobeying and despising the divine will, God proposes to us, as the sole corrective of so many and so great evils, a conformity to his will, which by sinning we despised; and commands us to regulate all our thoughts and actions by this standard; and for the attainment of this end, we humbly address to him the prayer, Thy will be done.

QUESTION IX

This Petition necessary even to the Just

The same should also be the earnest prayer of those in whose souls God already reigns, and who have already been illumined with the rays of the divine light, by the aid of which grace they may obey the will of God. Although thus gifted and disposed, they still have to struggle with their own passions, on account of the propensity to evil implanted in the sensual appetites of man; so that even though we be of their number, we are still exposed to great danger from ourselves, lest, drawn aside and allured by the concupiscences which war in our members, we again stray from the way of salvation; a danger of which Christ our Lord admonishes us in these words: Watch ye and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

QUESTION X

Concupiscence, which no one can utterly extinguish, still reigns in the Just

To reduce the desires of the flesh to such a state of subjection, as that they may never after be excited, is not in the power of man, not even of him who has been justified by the grace of God; for although the grace of God healeth the minds of those who are justified, it removeth not the infirmity of the flesh, according to these words of the apostle: I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say in my flesh, any good thing; for the moment the first man lost original righteousness, which after a manner was a bridle to the passions, reason was no longer able to restrain him within the bounds of duty; so as not to desire those things that are repugnant also to reason. Hence the apostle saith that sin, that is a propensity to sin, dwelleth in the flesh, in order that we may understand, that it does not, like a stranger, make a temporary stay with us, but, as an inhabitant of our body, takes up its permanent abode in our members, as long as we live. Continually beset then as we are by domestic and intestine enemies, we at once perceive the necessity of flying to the assistance of God, and of praying that his will may be done in us.

QUESTION XI

Meaning of the words “Will of God”

In the next place, omitting many questions on the will of God, which scholastic doctors have discussed usefully and at large, we say, that the word will is here put for that which is commonly called the will of sign, and signifies what God commands or admonishes us to do or to avoid. Here, therefore, the word will comprehends all things that are proposed to us as the means of attaining heavenly bliss, whether they regard faith or morals; all things, in fine, which Christ our Lord has commanded or prohibited, either in person or through his church; and of this will the apostle says: Be ye not unwise, but understanding what is the will of God.

QUESTION XII

What we pray for in the Third Petition

When, therefore, we say, Thy will be done, we first beseech our heavenly Father to enable us to obey the divine commands, and to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives; to do all things in accordance with his will and pleasure; to perform those duties, of which we are admonished in sacred Scripture; guided and assisted by him, to perform all other things that become those, who are born not of the will of the flesh, but of God, following the example of Christ our Lord, who was made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; to be prepared to suffer all things rather than depart even in the least from his will.

QUESTION XIII

To whom it is especially granted to burn most ardently with Zeal and Love for the Things prayed for here

Nor is there any one who desires or loves more ardently the objects of this petition, than he to whom it has been given to contemplate the surpassing dignity of those who obey God. He it is who understands, that with the utmost truth is it said, that to serve God and obey him, is to reign: Whoever, saith the Lord, shall do the will of my Father, which is in heaven; the same is my brother, and sister, and mother; that is to say, to him am I most closely united by all the bonds of benevolence and love. The saints, with scarcely a single exception, failed not to make the principal gift contained in this petition the object of their earnest prayers: all indeed have made use of this admirable prayer, but not unfrequently in different words; and amongst them David, whose language displays such marvellous sweetness, pours out the same prayer in various aspirations, at one time exclaiming: O! that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes; at another time saying: Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; sometimes: Order my steps in thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. In the same spirit he says: Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments; Teach me thy judgments; Give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies. The same sentiment he often expresses, and varies in other words: and [the pastor] must diligently notice the passages, and explain them to the faithful; that all may understand the fulness and profusion of salutary gifts comprehended in the first part of this petition.

QUESTION XIV

What we further signify in this Petition

In the second place, when we pray, Thy will be done, we express our detestation of the works of the flesh; of which the apostle saith: Now the works of the flesh are manifest; which are, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witcheraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; and: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. We also beg of God, that he suffer us not to yield to the suggestions of sensual appetite, of lust, or of our infirmity, but that he govern our will by his. Sensualists, whose care is fixed on, whose thoughts are absorbed in, earthly things, are far removed from the will of God; for they are hurried headlong to the indulgence of their sensual appetites, and to place all their happiness in their gratification, pronouncing them blessed who attain what they desire. But we, on the contrary, beseech God, in the language of the apostle, that we make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof, but that his will be done.

QUESTION XV

It is better to wish for God’s Will to be done than our own

We are not, however, easily brought to entreat God not to satisfy our inordinate desires; for to this it is difficult to bring the mind, whereas, by offering such a prayer, we seem in some sort to hate ourselves. By those who are wholly slaves to the body, such conduct is attributed to folly; but be it ours cheerfully to incur the imputation of folly for sake of Christ, who has said, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself. Better is it, we know, to desire what is right and just, than to obtain what is opposed to reason, to virtue, to the laws of God. And certainly the condition of the man who attains the gratification of his rash and libidinous desires, is worse than that of him who obtains not the object of his pious desires.

QUESTION XVI

Those Things which bear not the Semblance of Piety must not be sought for from God

Our prayers, however, have not solely for object that God should deny us what accords with our own desires, vitiated as we know they are, but also that he would deny us those things for which, under the persuasion and impulse of the devil, who transformeth himself into an angel of light, we sometimes pray, believing them to be good. The desire of the prince of the apostles to dissuade our Lord from his determination to go to meet death, appeared most reasonable and pious; yet did our Lord severely rebuke him, because it originated, not in divine impulse, but in natural feeling. What stronger proof of love towards the Lord than that evinced by the request of St. James and St. John, who, in their wrath against the Samaritans for refusing to entertain their Master, besought him to command fire to descend from heaven to consume those obdurate and inhuman men? Yet were they reproved by Christ our Lord in these words: You know not what manner of spirit ye are of; for the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save.

QUESTION XVII

When the Things we crave appertain to the Preservation of Nature, we must especially ask that they may be, if God be willing

But we should beseech God that his will be done, not only when what we desire is, or appears to he, evil, but also when it is not evil; when, for instance, the will obeys that first impulse of nature that prompts it to desire the things necessary for our preservation, and to reject the contrary. When about to pray for such things, let us therefore say from our heart, Thy will be done. Let us imitate him, from whom we have received salvation and the discipline of salvation, who, when agitated by a natural dread of torments and of a most cruel death, in that horror of extreme torture bowed with submission to the will of his Divine Father: Not my will, saith he, but thine be done.

QUESTION XVIII

Without the Aid of God, we cannot avoid Sin. We therefore pray for it in this Petition

But so wondrous is the degeneracy of the human race, that, even when they have done violence to inordinate desire, and subjected it to the will of God, they cannot avoid sin without his assistance, by which they are protected from evil and directed to good. To this petition, therefore, we must have recourse, and beseech God to perfect in us what he hath begun; to repress the turbulent motions of desire; to render our appetites subject to reason; to make us, in a word, entirely conformable to his will. We also pray that the whole world may receive the knowledge of his will; that thus the mystery of God, hidden from ages and from generation, may be made known and manifest to all.

ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

QUESTION XIX

Of the Meaning of this Clause

We also pray for the form and manner of this obedience, that is, that our conformity to the will of God may be regulated according to the rule observed by the blessed angels, and the choirs of other celestial spirits; that, as they spontaneously, and with supreme delight, obey the Divine Being, we too may yield a most cheerful obedience to the will of God, in the manner most acceptable to him.

QUESTION XX

God must be obeyed, not for the Sake of Reward, but, out of Pure Love

And, indeed, God requires, that in serving him we be actuated by intense love and exalted charity; that, whilst we devote ourselves entirely to him, with the hope of receiving heavenly rewards, we hope for that reward, because it hath pleased the Divine Majesty that we should enter on that hope. Let our whole hope, therefore, be based on that love of God, who has proposed eternal happiness as the reward of our love. For there are those who serve another with love, but who do so with a view solely to some recompense, which is the whole aim of their love. Others there are who, influenced by love alone, and by piety, look to nothing else in him whom they serve, than his goodness and virtue, filled with the idea and with admiration of whom, they esteem themselves happy in being able to serve him.

QUESTION XXI

Other Expositions of the Same Clause

This is the meaning of the opposition of the sentence, On earth as it is in heaven, for we must endeavour, as much as possible, to be obedient to God, as we have said the blessed spirits are, whose praises in the performance of this exercise of supreme obedience are celebrated by David in the psalm that begins, Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Should any one, however, adopting the interpretation of St. Cyprian, understand the words in heaven to mean, in the good and the pious, and the words on earth, in the wicked and the impious, we approve of the interpretation, by the word heaven understanding the spirit, and by the word earth, the flesh, that all creatures, animate and inanimate, may in all things obey the will of God.

QUESTION XXII

This Petition contains Thanksgiving

This petition also includes thanksgiving; for we revere the most holy will of God, and in utmost transports of joy celebrate all his works with the highest praises and gratulations, knowing as we do with certainty that he has done all things well. God is confessedly omnipotent, and the necessary consequence thereof is, that at his command were all things created. Since we also affirm that he is the Supreme Good, we must therefore confess that all his works are good; for he imparted his own goodness to all. If, however, we fathom not the divine economy in all things, disregarding every cause of ambiguity, and rejecting all hesitation, we profess with the apostle, that inscrutable are his ways. We also find a most powerful motive for revering the will of God in the reflection, that by him we have been made worthy of his heavenly light; for he hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

QUESTION XXIII

What Reference to Contemplation is contained in this Petition

But, to close our exposition of this petition, in regard to the meditation thereupon, we must revert to a subject at which we glanced at its commencement, which is, that in uttering this petition, the faithful people should be humble and lowly in spirit, keeping in view the violence of inordinate desires, innate in nature, which revolts against the will of God; recollecting that in this duty [of obedience] man is excelled by all other creatures, of whom it is written, All are thy servants; and reflecting, that he must be very weak who, unsupported by the divine aid, is unable to undertake, not to say perform, anything acceptable to God. But as there is nothing more magnificent, nothing more exalted, than, as we have said, to serve God, and to live according to his law and precepts, what can be more desirable to a Christian man than to walk in the ways of the Lord; to think nothing, to undertake nothing, that is at variance with the will of God? In order, then, that the faithful may adopt this rule of life, and adhere to it with the greater diligence, [the pastor] will recur to the divine writings for instances of individuals who failed in all their undertakings, by not referring their views to the will of God.

QUESTION XXIV

How much Advantage in regard to the Quiet Passing of our Life we may derive from Meditating on this Petition

Finally, let the faithful be admonished to acquiesce implicitly in the simple and absolute will of God; let him who thinks that he holds a place in society inferior to his dignity, bear his lot with a patient mind: let him not abandon his own sphere; but abide in the same calling in which he was called; and subject his own judgment to the will of God, who consults better for our interests, than we ourselves can do by the suggestions of our own desires. If oppressed by poverty at home, if by sickness of body, if by persecutions, if by other troubles and afflictions, we must be firmly convinced, that none of these things can befall us without the will of God, which is the supreme reason of all things; and that therefore we should not suffer ourselves to be too grievously disturbed by them, but bear them with an unconquered mind, having always on our lips the words of the apostles, The will of the Lord be done; and those of holy Job, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.