CHAPTER XVI

OF THE SEVENTH PETITION

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL

QUESTION I

Nothing is contained in the Former Petitions, which is not included in the Latter

This last petition, with which the Son of God concluded this divine prayer, is equivalent to all the rest. To show its force and weight, he made use of this same clause when, about to quit this life, he invoked God his Father for the salvation of mankind: I pray, saith he, that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. In this formula of prayer, therefore, which he delivered by way of precept, and confirmed by example, he as it were embraced in an epitome the force and substance of the other petitions; for, when we shall have obtained what is contained in that prayer, according to St. Cyprian, nothing more remains to be demanded, when once we ask the protection of God against evil: that once obtained, we stand safe and secure against all the combined efforts of the devil and the world. Such then being the importance of this petition, the pastor ought to bestow extreme diligence on the exposition thereof to the faithful. But it differs from the preceding petition in this respect, that in the former we ask the avoidance of sin, but in this, escape from punishment.

QUESTION II

What urges us to pour forth this Prayer before God

Nor can it be any longer necessary to remind the faithful people of the numerous inconveniences and calamities to which they are exposed, and how much they stand in need of the heavenly assistance. For not only have both sacred and profane writers, most copiously described the many and great miseries to which the life of man is exposed, but the dangers which beset himself and others have made almost every man understand them; and we are all persuaded of the truth of these words of holy Job, himself a model of patience: Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble; he cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down, he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. And that no day passes without its own trouble or inconvenience is attested by this saying of Christ our Lord: Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof; and indeed, the condition of human life is pointed out by our Lord himself, when he admonishes us, that we are to take up our cross daily, and follow him.

Feeling, therefore, as every one does, the labours and dangers inseparable from this system of life, it will be easy to convince the faithful, that of God is to be implored deliverance from evils, especially as nothing more powerfully induces men to pray than a desire and hope of deliverance from those ills, which oppress or threaten them. For to fly to God for assistance in distress, is a principle implanted in the human mind; as it is written, Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord.

QUESTION III

How to Pray to God for the Removal of Dangers and Calamities

If then in dangers and calamities men almost spontaneously call on God, it surely becomes the duty of those, to whose fidelity and prudence their salvation is confided, to instruct them, in an especial manner, as to the proper performance of this duty. For there are not wanting those, who, contrary to the command of Christ our Lord, invert the order of prayer; for he, who commands us to have recourse to him in the day of tribulation, has also prescribed to us the order of prayer. For it is his will that, before we pray that he deliver us from evil, we pray that the name of God be sanctified, and that his kingdom come, and so of the other petitions [of the the Lord’s Prayer], by which, as it were, by so many steps, we ascend to this place. Yet are there those who, if their head, their side, their foot, ache; if they sustain loss of property; if threats or dangers from an enemy alarm them; in famine, in war, or pestilence, omit all the other gradations of the Lord’s Prayer, and ask only to be delivered from those evils. This practice, however, is at variance with the command of Christ: Seek first the kingdom, of God. Those, therefore, who pray aright, when they beg to be delivered from calamities and evils, refer all to the glory of God. Thus, when David offered this prayer: Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, he subjoined a reason, by which he shows the most earnest desire for the glory of God: For, saith he, there is in death no remembrance of thee: and who shall give thee thanks in hell? and, having, on another occasion, implored God to have mercy on him, he added: I will teach transgressors thy ways; and the sinners shall be converted to thee. The faithful are to be excited to this salutary manner of praying, and to an imitation of the prophet; and at the same time their attention should also be directed to the great difference that exists between the prayers of the infidel and those of the Christian.

QUESTION IV

Difference between the Prayers of Infidels and Christians

The unbelievers also beg earnestly of God that they may recover from sickness, and be healed of their wounds, that they may escape pressing or impending ills; but they nevertheless place their principal hope of deliverance in the remedies provided by nature, or by the industry of man; and also make no scruple of using medicine given no matter by whom, no matter if accompanied by charms, spells, or other diabolical arts, provided some hope of recovery be held out. Not so Christians: in sickness and in all adversities, they fly to God as their sovereign refuge and resource for safety; him only do they acknowledge and revere as the author of all good, and their deliverer; to him they unhesitatingly ascribe whatever healing virtue resides in medicines; and are convinced that their degree of efficacy in restoring health to the sick is such as God wills it should be; for medicine is given by God to the human race to heal their infirmities. Hence these words of Ecclesiasticus: The Most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and he that is wise will not abhor them. They, therefore, who have pledged their fidelity to Jesus Christ, do not place their supreme hope of recovery in such remedies; but place it in God, the author of these medicines.

QUESTION V

In what manner in Disease we ought to Trust in God alone, who has Delivered many from the most Critical Dangers

And hence, in the sacred Scriptures is condemned the conduct of those who, confiding in the power of medicine, seek no assistance from God. Nay, more, those who regulate their lives by the divine laws, abstain from the use of all remedies that are not evidently intended by God to be medicinal; and, were there even a certain hope of recovery by using any other, they abhor them as charms and diabolical artifices. The faithful, then, are to be exhorted to repose their confidence in God; for our most beneficent Father hath ordered us to beg of him our deliverance from evil, that in the very fact of his having so ordered we may also find a hope, of its attainment. Of this there are many instances in Scripture, so that they who by reasoning may not be inspired with confidence, may be compelled to yield to a strong array of examples. Abraham, Jacob, Lot, Joseph, David, are, in the eyes of all, most unexceptionable witnesses of the divine benignity. The instances recorded in the New Testament of persons rescued from the greatest dangers by the effect of pious prayer, are so numerous as to supersede the necessity of citing examples; and we shall, therefore, content ourselves with one sentence from the prophet, which is sufficient to confirm even the weakest: The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth; and delivered them out of all their troubles.

QUESTION VI

What is here understood by the name of “Evil,” and of the meaning of this Petition

The force and nature of the petition next follows, that the faithful may understand that in it we do not altogether solicit deliverance from every species of evil. For there are some things that are commonly considered evils, and which, notwithstanding, are fraught with advantage to those who suffer them, such as that sting experienced by the apostle, that, by the aid of the grace of God, power might be made perfect in weakness. When the pious learn the influence of such things, far from praying for their removal, they rejoice in them exceedingly. It is, therefore, against those evils only, which cannot bring any advantage to the soul, that we pray; not against such as may be auxiliary to our salvation.

QUESTION VII

How many and how great are the Evils from which we desire to be Liberated

The full force of the petition, therefore, is this, that, freed from sin, we may also be freed from the danger of temptation, from internal and external evils; that we may be protected from water, from fire, from lightning; that the hail may not injure the fruits of the earth; that we be not visited by dearth, seditions, war; that God may keep away diseases, pestilence, desolation, may preserve us from slavery, imprisonment, exile, treason, plots, and from all other evils, by which the life of man is wont to be filled with such terror and misery. Finally, we pray that [God] may remove all causes of sin and iniquity. We do not, however, pray to be delivered solely from those things, which, by the consent of all, are evils; but with them we also deprecate those things which almost all confess to be goods, such as riches, honours, health, strength, and life itself; that is, we pray that these prove not detrimental or destructive to our souls. We also beg of God that we be not cut off by a sudden death; that we provoke not the anger of God against us; that we suffer not the punishments that await the wicked; that we be not tormented in the fire of purgatory, from which we piously and devoutly implore the liberation of others. Such is the explanation of this petition given by the church in the mass, and in the Litanies; that is to say, in it we beseech God to deliver us from all evils, past, present, and to come.

QUESTION VIII

God both wards off Impending Evils, and sometimes Wonderfully Delivers us from Present Ones

But the goodness of God delivers us from evils in a variety of ways; for he prevents impending calamities; as we read that the great Jacob was liberated from his enemies, whom the slaughter of the Schechemites had stirred up against him; for we read: The terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. And, indeed, all the blessed, who reign with Christ our Lord in heaven, have been delivered by God’s assistance from all evil; but [God], whilst he delivers us from some, does not wish that we, sojourning in this pilgrimage, should be exempt from all evils. The consolation with which God sometimes refreshes those who labour under adversity is, however, in some sort, equivalent to an exemption from all evils: with it the prophet consoled himself when he said: In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul. God, moreover, delivers men from evils, when he preserves them safe and unhurt in extreme danger, as we read of the children who were thrown into the fiery furnace, and of Daniel: the former were preserved unhurt amid the flames; the latter among the lions.

QUESTION IX

The Devil specially called “the Evil One,” because he is the Author of Evil, and the Inflictor of its Punishment

The devil also is especially called evil, according to St. Basil, Chrysostom, and Augustine, because he was the author of man’s transgression, that is, of his sin and iniquity; and because God makes use of him as an instrument to exact punishment for the wickedness of sinners; for all the evil that mankind endure on account of sin is given by God; and this is the meaning of these words of the divine writings: Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done? also: I am the Lord, and there is none else: I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil. [The devil] is also called evil, because, although we have done him no harm, he wages perpetual war against us, and pursues us with mortal hatred; but although, if we be armed with faith and shielded with innocence, he cannot hurt us, yet he never ceases to tempt us by external evils, and annoy us by every means in his power: and, therefore, do we beseech God to vouchsafe to deliver us from evil.

QUESTION X

We say from Evil, not from Evils, and why

We say from evil, not from evils, because the evils which proceed from others we ascribe to Satan, as their author and instigator. This is also a reason why we should be less disposed to be angry with our neighbours: we should rather turn our hatred and anger against Satan himself, by whom men are impelled to inflict injury. If, therefore, thy neighbour hath injured thee in aught, when thou prayest to God thy Father, beg of him not only to deliver thee from evil, that is, from the injuries which thy neighbour inflicts on thee; but to rescue thy neighbour also from the hand of the devil, by whose impulse men are led into injustice.

QUESTION XI

How we ought to behave under Afflictions, even if we be not liberated forthwith

Finally, we should know, that if through prayers and vows we are not delivered from evils, we should bear our afflictions with patience, aware that it is the divine will that we should patiently endure them. If, therefore, God hear not our prayers, we ought not to be annoyed or grieved, but should refer all things to the divine will and pleasure, considering that what God pleases, not what may otherwise be agreeable to our wishes, is useful and salutary.

QUESTION XII

How many, and how great Advantages result to us from Tribulation

In fine, that during this our mortal career, we should be prepared to bear every kind of affliction and calamity, not only with patience, but even with joy, is a lesson of instruction which the pastor should impress upon his pious hearers; for All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, says St. Paul, shall suffer persecution; also: Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God; again: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory; for a servant should not be greater than his master; nor, as St. Bernard observes, do delicate members become a head crowned with thorns. The glorious example of Uriah challenges our imitation, who, when urged by David to remain at home, replied: The ark of God, and Israel, and Judah dwell in tents; and shall I go into my house. If we come to prayer, endued with these reflections and this disposition, although surrounded by menaces and encompassed by evils on every side, we may not, like the three children, who were preserved untouched amidst the flames, pass unhurt through the ordeal, but like the Maccabees, may at least bear up against adverse fortune with firmness and fortitude. In contumelies and tortures we shall imitate the blessed apostles, who, after they had been scourged, rejoiced exceedingly that they were accounted worthy to suffer contumelies for Christ Jesus. Thus disposed we too shall sing in transports of joy: Princes have persecuted me without a cause; but my heart standeth in awe of thy word: I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.