Consideration XXX — Prayer

"Petite, et dabitur vobis... omnis enim qui petit, accipit" (Luke 11:10).

Point I

Not only in this passage but in a thousand places of the Old and New Testament, God promises to hear whoever prays to Him. "Clama ad me, et exaudiam te" (Job 33:3): Turn to me, and I will hear you. "Invoca me, et eruam te" (Ps. 49:15): Call upon me, and I will deliver you from dangers. "Si quid petieritis me in nomine meo, hoc faciam" (John 14:14): What you ask me through my merits, I will do. "Quodcunque volueritis, petetis, et fiet vobis" (John 15:7): Ask whatever you wish; only ask, and it will be granted you. And many other similar passages. Hence Theodoret said that prayer is one thing, but it can obtain all things: "Oratio cum sit una, omnia potest." St. Bernard says that when we pray, the Lord will either give us the grace we ask, or another more useful for us: "Aut dabit quod petimus, aut quod nobis noverit esse utilius." Meanwhile the prophet encourages us to pray, assuring us that God is all tenderness toward those who call upon Him for help: "Tu Domine suavis, et mitis, et multae misericordiae omnibus invocantibus te" (Ps. 85). And St. James gives us even greater encouragement, saying: "Si quis vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, nec improperat" (James 1:5). This apostle says that when the Lord is prayed to, He opens wide His hands and gives more than what is asked of Him — "dat omnibus affluenter, nec improperat" — nor does He reproach us for the displeasures we have given Him; when He is prayed to, He seems to forget all the offenses we have committed.

St. John Climacus said that prayer in a certain way does violence to God, compelling Him to grant us what we ask: "Oratio pie Deo vim infert." Violence, but a violence dear to Him and desired from us. "Haec vis grata Deo," wrote Tertullian. Yes, because (as St. Augustine says) God has a greater desire to do us good than we have to receive it: "Plus vult ille tibi beneficia elargiri, quam tu accipere concupiscas." And the reason for this is that God by His nature is infinite goodness: "Deus cuius natura bonitas," writes St. Leo. And therefore He has a supreme desire to share with us His goods. Hence St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi used to say that God feels almost obliged to the soul that prays to Him, since by praying it opens the way for Him to satisfy His desire to dispense His graces to us. And David said that this goodness of the Lord in immediately hearing whoever prays made him know that He was his true God: "In quacunque die invocavero te, ecce cognovi quia Deus meus es tu" (Ps. 55:10). Some wrongly complain, St. Bernard warns, that the Lord fails them; far more justly does the Lord complain that many fail Him, neglecting to come and ask Him for graces: "Multi queruntur deesse sibi gratiam, sed multo iustius gratia quereretur deesse sibi multos." And of this very thing the Redeemer seems to have complained one day to His disciples: "Usque modo non petistis quidquam in nomine meo; petite et accipietis, ut gaudium vestrum sit plenum" (John 16:24). Do not complain about me, He seemed to say, if you have not been fully happy; complain about yourselves, for you have not asked me for graces. Ask me from now on, and you will be satisfied.

From this the ancient monks concluded in their conferences that there is no exercise more useful for salvation than always praying and saying: Lord, help me — "Deus, in adiutorium meum intende." The Venerable Father Paolo Segneri used to say of himself that in his meditations he formerly spent his time making affections, but later, recognizing the great efficacy of prayer, he tried for the most part to spend his time in praying. Let us always do the same. We have a God who loves us too much and is solicitous for our salvation, and therefore He is always ready to hear whoever prays. The princes of the earth, says St. John Chrysostom, grant audience to few, but God grants it to everyone who wishes: "Aures principis paucis patent, Dei vero omnibus volentibus."

Affections and Prayers

Eternal God, I adore You and thank You for all the benefits You have given me — for having created and redeemed me through Jesus Christ, for having made me a Christian, for having waited for me when I was in sin, and for having pardoned me so many times. Ah, my God, I would never have fallen into offending You if in temptations I had had recourse to You. I thank You for the light with which You now make me know that my entire salvation consists in praying to You and asking You for graces. Here then I pray You in the name of Jesus Christ to grant me a great sorrow for my sins, holy perseverance in Your grace, a good death, paradise; but above all, the supreme gift of Your love and a perfect resignation to Your most holy will. I know well that I do not deserve these graces, but You have promised them to those who ask for them through the merits of Jesus Christ; through the merits of Jesus Christ I ask them of You, and I hope for them.

O Mary, your prayers obtain whatever they ask; pray for me.

Point II

Let us further consider the necessity of prayer. St. John Chrysostom says that just as the body is dead without the soul, so the soul is dead without prayer. He likewise says that just as water is necessary for plants lest they wither, so prayer is necessary for us lest we be lost: "Non minus quam arbores aquis, precibus indigemus." God wills all to be saved: "Omnes homines vult salvos fieri" (1 Tim. 2:4). And He does not wish that any should be lost: "Patienter agit propter vos, nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad poenitentiam reverti" (2 Pet. 3:9). But He wills that we ask Him for the graces necessary for our salvation; for on the one hand we cannot observe the divine precepts and save ourselves without the actual help of the Lord, and on the other hand He does not wish to give us graces (ordinarily speaking) unless we ask for them. For this reason the holy Council of Trent said that God does not impose impossible precepts, since He either gives us the proximate and actual grace to observe them, or He gives us the grace to ask Him for this actual grace: "Deus impossibilia non iubet, sed iubendo monet et facere quod possis, et petere quod non possis, et adiuvat ut possis" (Sess. 6, c. 11). For St. Augustine teaches that, with the exception of the first graces — such as the call to faith or to repentance — all the others (and especially perseverance) God does not grant except to those who pray: "Constat alia Deum dare etiam non orantibus, sicut initium fidei; alia nonnisi orantibus praeparasse, sicut usque in finem perseverantiam."

From this the theologians conclude, with St. Basil, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, and others, that prayer for adults is necessary with the necessity of means. So that without praying it is impossible for anyone to be saved. And this, the most learned Lessius says, must be held as a matter of faith: "Fide tenendum est orationem adultis ad salutem esse necessariam, ut colligitur ex Scripturis."

The Scriptures are clear: "Oportet semper orare" (Luke 18:1). "Orate, ut non intretis in tentationem" (Mark 14:38). "Petite, et accipietis" (John 16:24). "Sine intermissione orate" (1 Thess. 5:17). Now the aforesaid words — "oportet, orate, petite" — according to the common opinion of the doctors with St. Thomas, impose a precept that obliges under grave sin, especially in three cases: first, when a person is in sin; second, when he is in danger of death; third, when he is in grave danger of sinning. And ordinarily the doctors teach that one who for a month, or at most two, does not pray is not excused from mortal sin. The reason is that prayer is a means without which we cannot obtain the helps necessary to save ourselves from sin.

"Petite, et accipietis." Whoever asks receives; therefore, says St. Teresa, whoever does not ask does not receive. And before her St. James said: "Non habetis, propter quod non postulatis" (James 4:2). And prayer is especially necessary to obtain the virtue of continence: "Et ut scivi, quia aliter non possum esse continens, nisi Deus det... adii Dominum, et deprecatus sum" (Wis. 8:21). Let us conclude this point. Whoever prays certainly saves himself; whoever does not pray certainly damns himself. All those who have been saved were saved by praying. All those who have been damned were damned for not praying; and this is, and will forever be, their greatest desperation in hell — that they could have saved themselves so easily by praying, and now it is too late to do so.

Affections and Prayers

Ah, my Redeemer, how could I have lived in the past so forgetful of You? You stood ready to grant me all the graces I might have asked You; You waited only for me to ask them of You. But I thought of nothing but gratifying my senses, caring little about being deprived of Your love and Your graces. Lord, forget so many of my ingratitudes and have pity on me; pardon me for the many displeasures I have given You, and give me perseverance. Give me the grace always to ask You for Your help not to offend You, O God of my soul. Do not permit me to be negligent in this as I have been in the past. Give me light and strength always to commend myself to You, and especially when enemies tempt me again to offend You. Grant me this grace, my God, through the merits of Jesus Christ and through the love You bear Him. Enough, my Lord, of having offended You; I wish to love You in this life that remains to me. Give me Your holy love, and let it remind me to seek Your help whenever I find myself in danger of losing You through sin.

Mary, my hope, from you I hope for the grace of always commending myself to you and to your Son in my temptations. Hear me, my Queen, for all the love you bear Jesus Christ.

Point III

Let us lastly consider the conditions of prayer. Many pray and do not obtain, because they do not pray as they should. "Petitis et non accipitis, eo quod male petatis" (James 4:3). To pray well, first humility is needed. "Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam" (James 4:6). God does not hear the requests of the proud, but on the other hand He does not let the prayers of the humble depart from Him without hearing them. "Oratio humiliantis se nubes penetrabit, et non discedet, donec Altissimus aspiciat" (Sirach 35:21). And this, even though they may have been sinners in the past. "Cor contritum et humiliatum Deus non despicies" (Ps. 50). Second, confidence is needed. "Nullus speravit in Domino, et confusus est" (Sirach 2:11). To this end Jesus Christ taught us that when asking graces of God we should call Him by no other name than Father — Pater noster — so that we may pray with that confidence with which a son has recourse to his own father. Whoever asks with confidence, then, obtains everything: "Omnia quaecunque orantes petitis, credite quia accipietis, et evenient vobis" (Mark 11:24). And who can fear, says St. Augustine, that what is promised by Truth itself, which is God, will fail? "Quis falli metuit, dum promittit veritas?" God is not like men, says Scripture, who promise and then fail — either because they lie when they promise, or because they later change their will: "Non est Deus quasi homo, ut mentiatur, nec ut mutetur; dixit ergo, et non faciet?" (Num. 23). And why, adds the same St. Augustine, would the Lord so urge us to ask for graces if He did not wish to grant them? "Non nos hortaretur ut peteremus nisi dare vellet." By promising He has made Himself our debtor, obliged to grant us the graces we ask: "Promittendo debitorem se fecit."

But someone will say: I am a sinner and therefore do not deserve to be heard. But St. Thomas replies that prayer, in obtaining graces, does not rely on our merits but on divine mercy: "Oratio in impetrando non innititur nostris meritis, sed soli divinae misericordiae." "Omnis qui petit accipit" (Luke 11:10). The author of the Opus Imperfectum comments: "Omnis sive iustus, sive peccator sit." Everyone, whether just or sinner. But on this point our Redeemer Himself removed every fear, saying: "Amen, amen dico vobis, si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, dabit vobis" (John 16:23). Sinners, as if He were saying, if you have no merit, I have merit with my Father; ask then in my name, and I promise you that you will have whatever you ask. Here, however, it must be understood that this promise is not made for temporal graces — such as health, goods of fortune, and the like — since these graces the Lord many times justly denies us, because He sees they would harm our eternal salvation. "Quid infirmo sit utile, magis novit medicus, quam aegrotus," says St. Augustine. The doctor knows better than the sick man what is good for him. And he adds that God denies someone out of mercy what He grants another out of wrath: "Deus negat propitius, quae concedit iratus." Hence temporal graces must always be asked for with the condition that they benefit the soul. But spiritual graces — such as pardon, perseverance, divine love, and the like — must be asked for absolutely, with firm confidence of obtaining them. "Si vos cum sitis mali, nostis bona data dare filiis vestris, quanto magis Pater vester de coelo dabit spiritum bonum petentibus se?" (Luke 11:13).

Above all, perseverance in prayer is needed. Cornelius a Lapide says that the Lord "vult nos esse perseverantes in oratione usque ad importunitatem." And this is what those Scriptures mean: "Oportet semper orare" (Luke 18:1). "Vigilate omni tempore orantes" (Luke 21:36). "Sine intermissione orate" (1 Thess. 5:17). This is also what those repeated words mean: "Petite, et accipietis; quaerite, et invenietis; pulsate, et aperietur vobis" (Luke 11:9). It would have been enough to say "petite"; but no, the Lord wished us to understand that we must do as beggars do, who never cease asking, insisting, and knocking at the door until they receive the alms. And especially final perseverance is a grace that is not obtained without continual prayer. This perseverance cannot be merited by us, but through prayer, says St. Augustine, it can in a certain way be merited: "Hoc Dei donum suppliciter emereri potest: idest supplicando impetrari." Let us then always pray and never cease praying, if we wish to be saved. And whoever is a confessor or preacher, let him never fail to exhort people to pray, if he wishes to see souls saved. And as St. Bernard says, let us also always have recourse to the intercession of Mary: "Quaeramus gratiam, et per Mariam quaeramus; quia quod quaerit invenit et frustrari non potest."

Affections and Prayers

My God, I hope You have already pardoned me, but the enemies will not cease to fight against me until death; if You do not help me, I will be lost again. Through the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask You for holy perseverance. "Ne permittas me separari a Te." And I ask the same grace for all those who now stand in Your grace. I am certain, trusting in Your promise, that You will give me perseverance if I continue to ask You for it. But this is what I fear — I fear that in temptations I may fail to have recourse to You, and so fall again. I therefore ask You for the grace never to cease praying. Grant that in occasions of falling, I may always commend myself to You and invoke in my aid the most holy names of Jesus and Mary. My God, this I resolve and this I hope to do with Your grace. Hear me, for the love of Jesus Christ.

O Mary, my Mother, obtain for me that in dangers of losing God, I may always have recourse to you and to your Son.