When these things have been explained, the pastor should instruct the faithful concerning the crowns prepared by God, and the eternal and superabundant rewards reserved for those who conquer. He should quote from the Apocalypse the following divine promises: He that shall overcome shall not be hurt by the second death; and in another place: He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. A little after, our divine Lord Himself thus addresses John: He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God: and he shall go out no more: and again: To him that shall overcome, I win give to sit with me in my throne; as I also have overcome, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Finally, having unveiled the glory of the Saints, and the never ending bliss which they shall enjoy in heaven, He adds, He that shall overcome shall possess these things.
THE SEVENTH PETITION OF THE LORD'S PRAYER: "But deliver us from evil" The Importance Of Instruction On This Petition This Petition with which the Son of God concludes this divine prayer embodies the substance of all the other Petitions. To show its force and importance our Lord made use of this Petition when, on the eve of His Passion, He prayed to God His Father for the salvation of mankind. I pray, He said, that thou keep them from evil. In this Petition, then, which He not only commanded us to use, but made use of Himself, He has epitomized, as it were, the meaning and spirit of all the other Petitions. For if we obtain what this Petition asks, that is, the protection of God against evil, which enables us to stand secure and safe against the machinations of the world and the devil, then, as St. Cyprian remarks, nothing more remains to be asked.
Such, then, being the importance of this Petition, the diligence of the pastor in its exposition should be great. The difference between this and the preceding Petition consists in this, that in the one we beg to avoid sin, in the other, to escape punishment.
Necessity Of This Petition It cannot be necessary to remind the faithful of the numerous evils and calamities to which we are exposed, and how much we stand in need of the divine assistance. The many and serious miseries of human life have been fully described by sacred and profane writers, and there is hardly anyone who has not observed them either in his own life or in that of others.
We are all convinced of the truth of these words of Job, that model of patience: Man, born of woman, and living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. He cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state. That no day passes without its own trouble or annoyance is proved by these words of Christ the Lord: Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. Indeed, the condition of human life is pointed out by the Lord Himself, when He admonishes us that we are to take up our cross daily and follow Him.
Since, therefore, everyone must realize the trials and dangers inseparable from this life, it will not be difficult to convince the faithful that they ought to implore of God deliverance from evil, since no inducement to prayer exercises a more powerful influence over men than a desire and hope of deliverance from those evils which oppress or threaten them. There is in the heart of everyone a natural inclination to have instant recourse to God in the face of danger, as it is written: Fill their faces with shame, and they shall seek thy name, Lord.
How this Petition should be Made If, then, in calamities and dangers the unbidden impulse of nature prompts men to call on God, it surely becomes the duty of those to whose fidelity and prudence their salvation is entrusted to instruct them carefully in the proper performance of this duty.
WE SHOULD SEEK FIRST THE GLORY OF GOD For there are some who, contrary to the command of Christ, reverse the order of this prayer. He who commands us to have recourse to Him in the day of tribulation, has also prescribed to us the order in which we should pray. It is His will that, before we pray to be delivered from evil, we ask that the name of God be sanctified, that His kingdom come, and so on through the other Petitions, which are, as it were, so many steps by which we reach this last Petition.
Yet there are those who, if their head, their side, or their foot, ache; if they suffer loss of property; if menaces or dangers from an enemy alarm them; if famine, war or pestilence afflict them, omit all the other Petitions of the Lord's Prayer and ask only to be delivered from these evils. This practice is at variance with the command of Christ the Lord: Seek first the kingdom of God.
To pray, therefore, as we ought, we should have in view the greater glory of God, even when we ask deliverance from calamities, trials and dangers. Thus, when David offered this prayer: Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, he subjoined a reason by which he showed that he was most desirous of God's glory, saying: For there is no one in death that is mindful of thee, and who shall confess to thee in hell. And again, having implored God to have mercy on him, he added: I will teach the unjust thy ways; and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
Our Chief Hope Of Deliverance Should Be In God The faithful should be encouraged to use this salutary manner of praying and to imitate the example of the Prophet. And at the same time their attention should be called to the marked difference that exists between the prayers of the infidel and those of the Christian.
The infidel, too, begs of God to cure his diseases and to heal his wounds, to deliver him from approaching or impending evils; but he places his principal hope of deliverance in the remedies provided by nature, or prepared by man. He makes no scruple of using medicine no matter by whom prepared, no matter if accompanied by charms, spells or other diabolical arts, provided he can promise himself some hope of recovery.
Not so the Christian. When visited by sickness, or other adversity, he flies to God as his supreme refuge and defense. Acknowledging and revering God alone as the author of all his good and his deliverer he ascribes to Him whatever healing virtue resides in medicines, convinced that they help the sick only in so far as God wills it. For it is God who has given medicines to man to heal his corporal infirmities; and hence these words of Ecclesiasticus: The most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and a wise man will not abhor them. He, therefore, who has pledged his fidelity to Jesus Christ, does not place his principal hope of recovery in such remedies; he places it in God, the author of these medicines.
Hence the Sacred Scriptures condemn 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 laws of God, abstain from the use of all medicines which are not evidently intended by God to be medicinal; and, were there even a certain hope of recovery by using any other, they abstain from them as so many charms and diabolical artifices.
We Must Confidently Expect His Help The faithful, then, are to be exhorted to place their confidence in God. Our most bountiful Father has commanded us to beg of Him our deliverance from evil, in order that His command should inspire us with the hope of obtaining the object of our prayers. Of this truth the Sacred Scriptures afford many illustrations, so that they whom reason does not inspire with confidence may be persuaded to hope by a multitude of examples. Abraham, Jacob, Lot, Joseph and David are to all unexceptional witnesses of the divine goodness; and the instances recorded in the New Testament of persons rescued from the greatest dangers, by the efficacy of devout prayer, are so numerous as to make it unnecessary to mention special cases. Therefore we shall content ourselves with one text from the Prophet, which is sufficient to confirm even the weakest: The just cried, and the Lord heard them; and delivered them out of all their troubles.
"From Evil" We now come to explain the meaning and nature of the Petition. Let the faithful understand that in it we by no means ask deliverance from every evil.
What We Do Not Pray For There are some things which are commonly considered evils, and which, notwithstanding, are of advantage to those who endure them. Such was the sting of the flesh to which the Apostle was subjected in order that, by the aid of divine grace, power might be perfected in infirmity. When the pious man learns the salutary influence of such things, far from praying for their removal, he rejoices in them exceedingly. We pray, therefore, against those evils only, which do not conduce to our spiritual interests; not against such as are profitable to our salvation.
What We Do Pray For What We Do Pray For The full meaning of this Petition, therefore, is, that having been freed from sin and from the danger of temptation, we may be delivered from internal and external evils; that we may be protected from floods, fire and lightning; that the fruits of the earth be not destroyed by hail; that we be not visited by famine, sedition or war. We ask that God may banish disease, pestilence and disaster from us; that He may keep us from slavery, imprisonment, exile, betrayals, treachery, and from all other evils which fill mankind with terror and misery. Finally, we pray that God would remove all occasions of sin and iniquity.
We do not, however, pray to be delivered only from those things which all look upon as evils, but also from those things which almost all consider to be good, such as riches, honors, health, strength and even life itself; that is, we ask that these things be not detrimental or ruinous to our soul's welfare.
We also beg of God that we be not cut off by a sudden death; that we provoke not His anger against us; that we be not condemned to suffer the punishments reserved for the wicked; that we be not sentenced to endure the fire of purgatory, from which we piously and devoutly implore that others may be liberated.
This is the explanation of this Petition given by the Church in the Mass and Litanies, where we pray to be delivered from evil past, present and to come.
"Deliver Us" The goodness of God delivers us from evil in a variety of ways. He prevents impending evils, as we read with regard to the Patriarch Jacob, whom He delivered from the enemies that were stirred up against him on account of the slaughter of the Sichimites. For we read: The terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.
The blessed who reign with Christ the Lord in heaven have been delivered by the divine assistance from all evil; but, as for us, although the Almighty delivers us from some evils, it is not His will that, while journeying in this, our mortal pilgrimage, we should be entirely exempt from all. The consolations with which God sometimes refreshes those who labor under adversity are, however, equivalent to an exemption from all evil; and with these the Prophet consoled himself when he said: According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy consolations have rejoiced my soul.
God, moreover, delivers men from evil when he preserves them unhurt in the midst of extreme danger, as He did in the case of the children thrown into the fiery furnace, whom the fire did not burn; and of Daniel, whom the lions did not injure.
Deliverance From Satan Especially Asked For According to the interpretation of St. Basil the Great, St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine, the devil is specially called the evil one, because he was the author of man's transgression, that is, of his sin and iniquity, and also because God makes use of him as an instrument to chastise sinful and impious men. For the evils which mankind endures in punishment of sin are appointed by God; and this is the meaning of these words of Holy Writ: Shall there be evil in a city which the Lard hath not done? and: 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 never injured him, he wages perpetual war against us, and pursues us with mortal hatred. If we put on the armour of faith and the shield of innocence, he can have no power to hurt us; nevertheless he unceasingly tempts us by external evils and every other means of annoyance within his reach. Wherefore we beseech God to deliver us from the evil one.
We say from evil, not from evils, because the evils which we experience from others we ascribe to the arch enemy as their author and instigator. Hence instead of cherishing resentment against our neighbour, we should turn our hatred and anger against Satan himself, by whom men are instigated to harm us.
Therefore if your neighbour has injured you in any respect, when you pray to God your Father, beg of Him not only to deliver you from evil, that is, from the injuries which your neighbour inflicts; but also to rescue your neighbour from the power of the devil, whose wicked suggestions impel men to wrong.
Patience and Joy under Continued Affliction Next we must remember that if by prayers and supplications we are not delivered from evil, we should endure our afflictions with patience, convinced that it is the will of God that we should so endure them. If, therefore, God hear not our prayers, we are not to yield to feelings of peevishness or discontent; we must submit in all things to the divine will and pleasure, regarding as useful and salutary to us that which happens in accordance with the will of God, not that which is agreeable to our own wishes.
Finally, the pious hearers should be admonished that during our mortal career we should be prepared to meet every kind of affliction and calamity, not only with patience, but even with joy. For it is written: All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; and again: Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God; and further: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into his glory? A servant should not be greater than his master; and as St. Bernard says: Delicate members do not become a head crowned with thorns. The glorious example of Urias challenges our imitation. When urged by David to remain at home, he replied: The ark of God, and Israel, and Juda, dwell in tents; and shall I go into my house?
If to prayer we bring with us these reflections and these dispositions, although surrounded by menaces and encompassed by evils on every side, we shall, like the three children who passed unhurt amidst the flames, be preserved uninjured; or at least, like the Machabees, we shall bear up against adverse fortune with firmness and fortitude.
In the midst of contumelies and tortures we should imitate the blessed Apostles, who, after they had been scourged, rejoiced exceedingly that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for Christ Jesus. Filled with such sentiments, we shall sing in transports of joy: Princes have persecuted me without cause; and my heart hath been in awe of thy words; I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil.
THE SEAL OF THE LORD'S PRAYER "Amen" Necessity Of Explaining The Conclusion Of The Lord's Prayer St. Jerome in his commentary on St. Matthew rightly calls this word what it really is, the seal of the Lord's Prayer. As then we have already admonished the faithful with regard to the preparation to be made before this holy prayer, so we deem it necessary that they should also know why we close our prayers with this word, and what it signifies; for devotion in concluding our prayers is not less important than attention in beginning them.
Fruits that Come at the Conclusion of Prayer Assurance That We Have Been Heard The faithful, then, should be taught that the fruits, which we gather from the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer are numerous and abundant, the greatest and most joyful of them being the attainment of what we ask. On this point enough has already been said.
Fervor And Illumination By this concluding word, not only do we obtain a propitious hearing from God, but also receive other blessings of a higher order still, the excellence of which surpasses all powers of description.
For since, as St. Cyprian remarks, by prayer man converses with God, it happens in a wonderful manner that the divine Majesty is brought nearer to those who are engaged in prayer than to others, and enriches them with singular gifts. Those, therefore, who pray devoutly, may not be inaptly compared to persons who approach a glowing fire; if cold, they derive warmth; if warm, they derive heat. Thus, also, those who approach God (in prayer) depart with a warmth proportioned to their faith and fervor; the heart is inflamed with zeal for the glory of God, the mind is illumined after an admirable manner, and they are enriched exceedingly with divine gifts, as it is written: Thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness.
An example for all is that great man Moses. By intercourse and converse with God he so shone with the reflected splendors of the Divinity, that the Israelites could not look upon his eyes or countenance.
Sweetness Those who pray with such vehement fervor enjoy in a wonderful manner the goodness and majesty of God. In the morning, says the Prophet, I will stand before thee, and will see; because thou art not a God that willest iniquity.
The more familiar these truths are to the mind, the more piously do we venerate, and the more fervently do we worship God, and the more delightfully do we taste how sweet is the Lord, and how truly blessed are all who hope in Him.
Confidence And Gratitude Encircled by the most clear light from above we also discover our own lowliness and how exalted is the majesty of God, according to the saying of St. Augustine: Give me to know Thee: give me to know myself. Distrusting our own strength, we thus throw ourselves unreservedly upon the goodness of God, not doubting that He, who cherishes us in the bosom of His paternal wondrous love, will afford us in abundance whatever is necessary for life and salvation. Thus we shall turn to God with the warmest gratitude our hearts can conceive and our lips express. This we read that holy David did, who commenced by praying: Save me from all them that persecute me, and concluded with these words, I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice, and will sing to the name of the Lord the most High.’
Illustrations From The Psalms There are innumerable prayers of the Saints of the same kind, whose beginnings are full of fear, but which end with hope and joy. This spirit, however, is eminently conspicuous in the prayers of David.
When agitated by fear he began his prayer thus: Many are they who rise up against me: many say to my soul, There is no salvation for him in his God; but at length, armed with fortitude and holy joy, he adds: I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me.
In another Psalm, after he had lamented his misery, we see him towards the end, reposing confidence in God and rejoicing exceedingly in the hope of salvation: In peace in the self-same, I will sleep, and I will rest.
Again, with what fear and trembling must the Prophet not have been agitated when he exclaimed: O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath! Yet, on the other hand, what confidence and joy must not have been his when he added: Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping!
When filled with dread of the wrath and fury of Saul, with what lowliness and humility does he not implore the divine assistance: Save me, O Lord, by thy name, and Judge me in thy strength! and yet, in the same Psalm he adds these words of joy and confidence: Behold, God is my help; and the Lord is the helper of my soul.
Let him, therefore, who has recourse to holy prayer approach God his Father, fortified by faith and animated by hope, not doubting that he will obtain those blessings of which he stands in need.
Meaning of the Word "Amen" First Explanation The word amen, with which the Lord's Prayer concludes, contains, as it were, the germs of many of these thoughts and reflections which we have just considered. Indeed, so frequent was this Hebrew word in the mouth of the Saviour, that it pleased the Holy Ghost to have it retained in the Church of God. Its meaning may be said to be: Know that thy prayers are heard. It has the force of a response, as if God answers the suppliant, and graciously dismisses him, after having favorably heard his prayers.
This-interpretation has been approved by the constant usage of the Church of God. In the Sacrifice of the Mass, when the Lord's Prayer is said she does not assign the word amen to the server who answers: But deliver us front evil. She reserves it as appropriate to the priest himself, who, as mediator between God and man, answers Amen, thus intimating that God has heard the prayers of His people.
This practice, however, is not common to all the prayers, but is peculiar to the Lord's Prayer. To the other prayers the server answers Amen, because in every other this word only expresses assent and desire. In the Lord's Prayer it is an answer, intimating that God has heard the petition of His suppliant.
Other Explanations Of The Word "Amen" By many, the word amen is differently interpreted. The Septuagint interprets it, So be it; others translate it, Verily: Aquila renders it, Faithfully. Which of these versions we adopt, is a matter of little importance, provided we understand the word to have the sense already mentioned, namely, that when the priest (pronounces Amen), it signifies the concession of what has been prayed for. This interpretation is supported by St- Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians, where he says: All the promises of God are in him, "it is"; therefore also by him, amen to God, unto our glory.
Advantages of Terminating our Prayer with this Word To us also this word is very appropriate, containing, as it does, some confirmation of the Petitions which we have already offered up. It also fixes our attention when we are engaged in holy prayer; for it frequently happens that in prayer a variety of distracting thoughts divert the mind to other objects.
Nay, more, by this word we most earnestly beg of God that all our preceding Petitions may be granted; or rather, understanding that they have been all granted, and feeling the divine assistance powerfully present with us, we cry out together with the Prophet: Behold God is my helper; and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
Nor can anyone doubt that God is moved by the name of His Son, and by a word so often uttered by Him who, as the Apostle says, was always heard for his reverence.
END OF CATECHISM This text is part of the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts for introductory level classes in modern European and World history.
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© Paul Halsall, January 1999 halsall @fordham.edu