Chapter 10

Some, however, maintain that sinners do not by their prayers win anything from God, thus:

1. It is said in the Gospel,[247] _Now we know that God doth not hear sinners_; and this accords with those words of _Proverbs[248]; He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination_. But a prayer which is "an abomination" cannot win anything from God.

But, as S. Augustine remarks,[249] the words first quoted are due to the blind man as yet unanointed--viz., not yet perfectly illumined--and hence they are not valid; though they might be true if understood of a sinner precisely as such, and in this sense, too, his prayer is said to be "an abomination."

2. Again, just men obtain from God what they merit, as we have said above. Sinners, however, can merit nothing, since they are without grace, and even without charity which, according to the Gloss[250] on the words, _Having an appearance of piety, but denying the power thereof_, is "the _power_ of piety." And hence they cannot pray piously, which, as we have said above, is requisite if prayer is to gain what it asks for.

But though a sinner cannot pray piously in the sense that his prayer springs from the habit of virtue, yet his prayer can be pious in the sense that he asks for something conducive to piety, just as a man who has not got the habit of justice can yet wish for some just thing, as we have pointed out above. And though such a man's prayer is not meritorious, it may yet have the power of winning favours; for while merit reposes upon justice, the power of winning favours reposes upon grace.

3. Lastly, S. Chrysostom says[251]: "The Father does not readily hear prayers not dictated by the Son." But in the prayer which Christ dictated it is said: _Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors_, which sinners do not. Hence sinners either lie when they say this prayer, and so do not deserve to be heard, or, if they do not say it, then they are not heard because they do not make use of the form of prayer instituted by Christ.

But, as we have explained above, the _Lord's Prayer_ is spoken in the name of the whole Church. Consequently, if a man--while unwilling to forgive his neighbour his debts--yet says this prayer, he does not lie; for while what he says is not true as regards himself, it yet remains true as regards the Person of the Church outside of which he deservedly is, and he loses, in consequence, the fruit of his prayer. Sometimes, however, sinners are ready to forgive their debtors, and consequently their prayers are heard, in accordance with those words of Ecclesiasticus[252]: _Forgive thy neighbour if he hath hurt thee, and then shall thy sins be forgiven to thee when thou prayest._

"With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way. When he shall fall, he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth His hand under him. I have been young, and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread."[253]

XVII

Can We rightly term Supplications," "Prayers," "Intercessions," and "Thanksgivings," parts of Prayer?

The Apostle says to Timothy[254]: _I desire therefore first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made by all men._

For prayer three things are required: first of all, that he who prays come nigh to God; and this is signified by the name _prayer_, for prayer is "the uplifting of the mind towards God." Secondly, petition is required, and is signified by the word _postulation_; now a petition may be set forth in definite terms--and this some term _postulation_, properly so called; or it may be set forth in no express terms, as when a man asks for God's help, and this some call _supplication_; or, again, the fact in question may be simply narrated, as in S. John[255]: _He whom Thou lovest is sick_, and this some call _insinuation_. And thirdly, there is required a reason for asking for what we pray for, and this reason may be either on the part of God or on the part of the petitioner. The reason for asking on the part of God is His holiness, by reason of which we ask to be heard: _Incline Thine ear and hear ... for Thine own sake, O my God_;[256] to this belongs _obsecration_--namely, an appeal to sacred things, as when we say: _By Thy Nativity, deliver us, O Lord_! But the reason for asking on the part of the petitioner is thankfulness, for by giving thanks for benefits already received we merit to receive still greater ones, as is set forth in the Church's _Collect_.[257] Hence the Gloss[258] says that in the Mass "_Obsecrations_ are the prayers which precede the Consecration," for in them we commemorate certain sacred things; "in the Consecration itself we have _prayers_," for then the mind is especially uplifted towards God; "but in the subsequent petitions we have _postulations_, and at the close _thanksgivings_." These four parts of prayer may be noticed in many of the Church's _Collects_: thus in the _Collect_ for Trinity Sunday, the words _Almighty and Everlasting God_ signify the uplifting of the soul in prayer to God; the words: _Who hast granted to Thy servants to acknowledge in their profession of the true faith the glory of the Eternal Trinity, and in the Power of Its Majesty to adore Its Unity_, signify giving of thanks; the words: _Grant, we beseech Thee, that by perseverance in this same faith we may be ever defended from all adversities_, signify postulation; while the closing words: _Through our Lord Jesus Christ_, etc., signify obsecration.

In the _Conferences of the Fathers_, however,[259] we read: "_Obsecration_ is imploring pardon for sin; _prayer_ is when we make vows to God; _postulation_ is when we make petition for others; _giving of thanks_, those ineffable outpourings by which the mind renders thanks to God." But the former explanation is preferable.

Some, however, object to these divisions of prayer, thus:

1. _Obsecration_ is apparently _to swear by someone_, whereas Origen remarks[260]: "A man who desires to live in accordance with the Gospel must not swear by anyone, for if it is not allowed to swear, neither is it allowed to swear by anyone."

But it is sufficient to remark that _obsecration_ is not a swearing by, or adjuring of God, as though to compel Him, for this is forbidden, but to implore His mercy.

2. Again, S. John Damascene says[261] that prayer is "the asking God for things that are fitting." Hence it is not exact to distinguish _prayers_ from _postulations_.

But prayer, generally considered, embraces all the above-mentioned parts; when, however, we distinguish one part against another, _prayer_, properly speaking, means the uplifting of the mind to God.

3. Lastly, giving of thanks refers to the past, whereas the other parts of prayer refer to the future. Hence giving of thanks should not be placed after the rest.

But whereas in things which are different from one another the past precedes the future, in one and the same thing the future precedes the past. Hence giving of thanks for benefits already received precedes petition; yet those same benefits were first asked for, and then, when they had been received, thanks were offered for them. Prayer, however, precedes petition, for by it we draw nigh to God to Whom we make petition. And _obsecration_ precedes _prayer_, for it is from dwelling upon the Divine Goodness that we venture to approach to Him.

* * * * *

_Cajetan:_ We might be asked how the mind can be especially elevated to God at the moment of consecration. For in the consecration the priest has to express distinctly the words of consecration, and consequently cannot have his mind uplifted towards God at that moment. Indeed, the more his mind is uplifted to God, the less he thinks of inferior things, words, and so forth.

But in the consecration of the Holy Eucharist--in which the priest in a sense brings God down upon earth--the very greatness of our uplifting of mind towards the Divine Goodness Which has thus deigned to come amongst us is the very reason for our attention to the words in the act of consecration, and makes the priest pronounce them distinctly and reverently. Some scrupulous folk, however, concentrate their whole attention on being intent and attentive; but this is really a distraction, and not attention, for its object is precisely the being attentive. The uplifting, then, of our minds to God in the consecration has indeed to be the very greatest, not, indeed, intensively and by abstraction from the things of sense, but objectively and concentrated--though always within the limits compatible with attention--on the endeavour to say the words as they should be said (_on_ 2. 2. 83. 17.)

* * * * *

_S. Augustine: And David went in and sat before the Lord[262]; and Elias, casting himself down upon the earth, put his face between his knees._[263] By examples such as these we are taught that there is no prescribed position of the body in prayer provided the soul states its intention in the presence of God. For we pray standing, as it is written: _The Publican standing afar off_. We pray, too, on our knees, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles;[264] and we pray sitting, as in the case of David and Elias. And unless it were lawful to pray lying down, it would not be said in the Psalms[265]: _Every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears_. When, then, a man desires to pray, he settles himself in any position that serves at the time for the stirring up of his soul. When, on the other hand, we have no definite intention of praying, but the wish to pray suddenly occurs to us--when, that is, there comes of a sudden into our mind something which rouses the desire to pray "with unspeakable groanings"--then, in whatsoever position such a feeling may find us, we are not to put off our prayer; we are not to look about for some place whither we can withdraw, for some place in which to stand or in which to make prostration. For the very intention of the mind begets a solitude, and we often forget to which quarter of the heavens we were looking, or in what bodily position the occasion found us (_Of Divers Questions_, iv.).

"Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication; be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled at the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me, and in wrath they were troublesome to me. My heart is troubled within me, and the fear of death is fallen upon me. Fear and trembling are come upon me, and darkness hath covered me. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?"[266]

FOOTNOTES:

[98] _Etymologies_, x., _sub litt._ O.

[99] Ps. xxxviii. 13.

[100] _Ethics_, I. xiii. 15.

[101] Rabanus Maurus, _De Universis_, vi. 14.

[102] _On the Orthodox Faith_, iii. 24.

[103] Ps. x. 17.

[104] Isa. lxv. 24.

[105] _Of the Divine Names_, vi. 1.

[106] Ps. xxvi. 4.

[107] Art. XV.

[108] Isa. lxiv. 8, 9.

[109] xviii. 1.

[110] Mal. iii. 14.

[111] _Dialogue_, i. 8.

[112] S. Matt. vi. 32.

[113] 1 Kings xv. 29.

[114] _Of Good Deeds_, ii. 1.

[115] _Hom._ II., _On Prayer_; also _Hom._ XXX., _On Genesis_.

[116] Eph. i. 4.

[117] Ps. lxx. 17, 18.

[118] S. Matt. vii. 7.

[119] Ps. cxx. 4.

[120] S. Matt. vi. 8.

[121] Ps. ciii. 33, 34.

[122] Ps. lxxxiii. 12.

[123] viii. 4.

[124] 1 Cor. xiv. 15.

[125] _On Care for the Dead_, chaps, xiii., xv., xvi.

[126] _Moralia in Job_, xii. 14.

[127] Ps. lxvi.

[128] S. Matt. vi. 9-13; S. Luke xi. 2-4.

[129] _Of Socrates the Philosopher_, vii. 21.

[130] Ps. lxxix. 4.

[131] Ps. cxviii. 35.

[132] _On the Orthodox Faith_, iii. 24.

[133] iv. 3.

[134] Rom. viii. 26.

[135] S. John iv. 24.

[136] 1 Tim. ii. 4.

[137] Isa. lxiii. 15, 16.

[138] xxx. 8.

[139] _Ep._, CXXX., chap. xii.

[140] _Ethics_, I. vii. 15.

[141] _Ep._, CXXX., chap. vi.

[142] S. Matt. vi. 33.

[143] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, II. x. 1.

[144] S. Matt. vi. 25.

[145] 2 Cor. iv. 18.

[146] Ps. xxxvii. 10.

[147] 1 Thess. v. 17.

[148] Heb. iv. 3.

[149] Ps. liv. 23.

[150] v. 16.

[151] _Opus Imperf. in Matthæum, Hom._ XIV.

[152] _On the Lord's Prayer._

[153] S. John xvi. 23.

[154] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 102.

[155] xv. 1.

[156] Ps. xxxiv. 13.

[157] Jer. vii. 16.

[158] Eccles. vii. 14.

[159] 1 John v. 16.

[160] _De Correptionibus et Gratia_, cap. xv.

[161] Rom. xv. 30.

[162] 1 Cor. i. 11.

[163] S. John xxii. 24.

[164] S. Matt. v. 44.

[165] xv. 4.

[166] Ps. vi. 11.

[167] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, i. 21.

[168] Apoc. vi. 10.

[169] Ps. lvii. 11.

[170] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, i. 22, and _Questions on the Gospels_, II., xlv.

[171] _Questions on the Old and New Testament, Qu._ lxviii.

[172] Ecclus. xxxvi. 1-3.

[173] _Ep._ cxxx. 12.

[174] _Ep._ cxxx. 11.

[175] _Comment. on S. Matthew_, vi.

[176] 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.

[177] S. Luke i. 49.

[178] Ps. cxliv. 13.

[179] Isa. xlvi. 10.

[180] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 5.

[181] _Ep._ cxxx. 11.

[182] _Enchiridion_, 115.

[183] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 11.

[184] xi. 2-4.

[185] _Enchiridion_, 116.

[186] 1 John iv. 19.

[187] S. John xvii. 1-3.

[188] See Touron, O.P., _Vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin_, p. 254; Paris, 1740.

[189] S. John xiv. 16.

[190] Rom. viii. 26.

[191] xcvi. 7.

[192] Ps. cxlvi. 9.

[193] Ecclus. xxxvi. 18, 19.

[194] 2 Macc. xv. 14.

[195] _Contra Vigilantium_, vi.

[196] _Heb._ vii. 25. S. Thomas is quoting from memory.

[197] Exod. iii. 6.

[198] Ps. cxli. 1.

[199] _Ep._ cxxx. 9.

[200] Ps. xxvi. 8.

[201] 1 Kings i. 13.

[202] Osee xiv. 3.

[203] Ps. xv. 9.

[204] S. Matt. vi. 6.

[205] _Opus Imperf. Hom. XIII. in Matt._

[206] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, ii. 3.

[207] Ps. cxviii. 145.

[208] Ps. lxxxv. 1-5.

[209] Ps. xxxix. 13.

[210] Implicitly, _Moralia in Job_, xxii. 13; but see Hugh of S. Victor, _Exposition of the Rule of S. Augustine_, iii.

[211] 1 Cor. xiv. 14.

[212] _Of the Manner of Prayer_, ii.

[213] iv. 24.

[214] _On the Monastic Constitutions_, chap. i.

[215] _Ep._ cxxi.

[216] Art. IV.

[217] Ps. lxxv. 4, 5.

[218] Ps. cxlv. 1.

[219] 2 Cor. v. 6.

[220] Wisd. ix. 15.

[221] Ps. cxlii. 4-7.

[222] S. Luke xviii. 1.

[223] 1 Thess. v. 17.

[224] 1 Cor. x. 31.

[225] S. Matt. vi. 7.

[226] S. Luke vi. 12.

[227] S. Luke xxii. 43.

[228] Ps. xxvi. 4.

[229] Exod. xix. 21.

[230] S. Matt. vi. 9.

[231] S. Luke xviii. 1.

[232] 1 Thess. v. 17.

[233] Ps. xxxii. 20-22.

[234] Ps. xxxiv. 13.

[235] _On the Sermon on the Mount_, Sermon CV. i.

[236] St. Luke vi. 13.

[237] _On Perseverance_, chap. xxiii.

[238] 2 Cor. xii. 7-9.

[239] S. Prosper, _The Book of Sentences gleaned from S. Augustine_, Sent. 212.

[240] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 102.

[241] _Monastic Constitutions_, chap, i.

[242] i. 6.

[243] Ps. xxxviii. 13, 14.

[244] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 44.

[245] _Opus Imperf. in Matt., Hom._ XVIII.

[246] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 73; and _De Verbis Domini_, Sermon cccliv. 7.

[247] S. John ix. 31.

[248] xxviii. 8.

[249] _Tractatus in Joannem_, 44.

[250] Implicitly in the old interlinear Gloss on 2 Tim. iii. 5.

[251] _Opus Imperf. in Matt., Hom._ XIV.

[252] xxviii. 2.

[253] Ps. xxxvi. 23-25.

[254] 1 Tim. ii. 1.

[255] xi. 3.

[256] Dan. ix. 18, 19.

[257] Friday in the September Ember days.

[258] The Ordinary Gloss on the words _obsecrations_, _prayers_, etc., in 1 Tim. ii. 1.

[259] _Collat._, IX., chaps. xi-xiii.

[260] _Tractatus_ xxxv. _in Matt._

[261] _De Orthodoxa Fide_, iii. 24.

[262] 2 Kings vii. 18.

[263] 3 Kings xviii. 42.

[264] vii. 59; xx. 36.

[265] vi. 7.

[266] Ps. liv. 1-7.

FROM THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE SUMMA--QUESTION LXXII

OF THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS WHO ARE IN HEAVEN

I. Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers? II. Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us? III. Are the Saints' Prayers to God for us always heard?

I

Are the Saints cognizant of our Prayers?

On those words of Job,[267] _Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand_, S. Gregory says: "This is not to be understood of the souls of the Saints, for they see from within the glory of Almighty God, it is in nowise credible that there should be anything without of which they are ignorant."[268]

And he says also: "To the soul that sees its Creator all created things are but trifling; for, however little of the Creator's light he sees, all that is created becomes of small import to him."[269] Yet the greatest difficulty in saying that the souls of the Saints know our prayers and other things which concern us, is their distance from us. But since, according to the authority just quoted, this distance does not preclude such knowledge, it appears that the souls of the Saints do know our prayers and other things which concern us.

Further, if they did not know what concerned us, neither would they pray for us, since they would not know our deficiencies. But this was the error of Vigilantius, as S. Jerome says in his Epistle against him.[270] The Saints, then, know what concerns us.

* * * * *

The Divine Essence, then, is a sufficient medium for knowing all things, as, indeed, is evident from the fact that God in seeing His own essence sees all things. Yet it does not follow that whoever sees the Essence of God therefore sees all things, but those only who _comprehend_ the Essence of God; just in the same way as it does not follow that because we know a principle we therefore know all that that principle contains, for that would only be the case if we _comprehended_ the whole power of the principle. Since, then, the souls of the Saints do not comprehend the Divine Essence, it does not follow that they know everything which could be known through the medium of that Divine Essence. Hence the inferior Angels are taught certain things by the higher Angels, though all see the Divine Essence. But each person in possession of the Beatific Vision only sees in the Divine Essence as much of other things as is necessitated by the degree of perfection of his beatitude; and for the perfection of beatitude it is required that a man "should have whatever he wants, and should desire nothing in an inordinate fashion."[271] Each one, however, rightly desires to know those things which concern himself. Hence, since no rectitude is lacking to the Saints, they wish to know those things which concern themselves, and consequently they must know them in the Word. But it belongs to their glory that they should be able to help on the salvation of those who need it, for it is thus that they are made co-workers with God--"than which there is nought more Divine," as Denis says.[272] It is clear, then, that the Saints have a knowledge of those things which are requisite for this end. And so, too, it is manifest that they know in the Word the desires, the devout acts and the prayers, of men who fly to them for help.

Some, however, maintain that the Saints do not know our prayers, thus:

1. On the words of Isaias,[273] _Thou art our Father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us_, the Interlinear Gloss has: "For the Saints who are dead know not what the living do, even their own children." This is taken from S. Augustine's treatise _On Care for the Dead_, xiii., where he quotes these words, and adds: "If these great Patriarchs were ignorant of what concerned those whom they had begotten, how can the dead be concerned with knowing and assisting the affairs and the deeds of the living?" Hence it would seem that the Saints are not cognizant of our prayers.

But these words of S. Augustine are to be understood of the natural knowledge of the souls separated (from this world); and this knowledge is not obscured in holy men as it is in sinners. Moreover, S. Augustine is not talking of that knowledge which is in the Word, a knowledge which it is clear that Abraham had not at the time that Isaias said these things; for anterior to Christ's Passion no one had attained to the Vision of God.

2. In 4 Kings xxii. 20, it is said to Josias the king: _Therefore_--because, that is, thou didst weep before Me--_I will gather thee to thy fathers ... that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring upon this place_. But the death of Josias would have been no relief to him if he was to know after death what was going to happen to his nation. The Saints, then, who are dead, do not know our acts, and consequently cannot understand our prayers.

But although after this life the Saints know the things which are done here below, we are not therefore to suppose that they are filled with grief at the knowledge of the afflictions of those whom they loved in the world. For they are so filled with the joy of their beatitude that sorrow finds no place in them. Hence, if they know after death the evil plight of those dear to them, it is none the less a relief to their sorrow if they are withdrawn from this world before those woes come on.

At the same time it is possible that souls not yet in glory would feel a certain grief if they were made aware of the sorrows of those dear to them. And since the soul of Josias was not immediately glorified on its quitting the body, S. Augustine endeavours to argue that the souls of the dead have no knowledge of the deeds of the living.[274]

3. Again, the more a person is perfected in charity the more ready he is to succour his neighbour in peril. But the Saints while still in the flesh had a care for their neighbours, and especially for their relatives, when in peril. Since, then, they are after death far more perfected in charity, if they were cognizant of our deeds, they would have now a much greater care for those dear to them or related to them, and would help them much more in their necessities; but this does not seem to be the case. Whence it would seem that they are not cognizant of our actions nor of our prayers.

But the souls of the Saints have their will perfectly conformed to the Will of God, even in what they would will. Consequently, while retaining their feelings of charity towards their neighbour, they afford them no other assistance than that which they see is arranged for them in accordance with Divine Justice. Yet at the same time we must believe that they help their neighbours very much indeed by interceding for them with God.

4. Further, just as the Saints after death see the Word, so also do the Angels, for of them it is said: _Their Angels in Heaven always see the face of My Father Who is in Heaven_.[275] But the Angels, though seeing the Word, do not therefore know all things, for the inferior Angels are purified of their ignorance by the superior Angels, as is evident from Denis.[276] Consequently, neither do the Saints, although they see the Word, know in It our prayers and other things which concern us.

But although it is not necessary that those who see the Word should see all things in the Word, they none the less see those things which belong to the perfection of their beatitude, as we have said above.

5. Lastly, God alone is the Searcher of hearts. But prayer is essentially an affair of the heart. Consequently God alone knows our prayers.

But God alone knows of Himself the thoughts of the heart; others know them according as they are revealed to them either in their vision of the Word or in any other way.

II

Ought we to appeal to the Saints to intercede for us?