Jesus Teaches Us How to Pray

The Lord Jesus spent much time in prayer, even keeping vigil at night with his Father, after a long day of preaching and healing.  His disciples longed to learn from him how to pray.  In the following excerpt from St. Bede’s commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, we learn the deeper meaning of Christ’s words on prayer:

“ ‘He said to them: Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night, and should say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for my friend has come to me from the road, and I have nothing to set before him’ (Luke 11, 5-6).  The disciples had asked the Savior, and not only did he teach them the form of praying, but also the urgency and frequency of praying.  The ‘friend’ to whom we come in the middle of the night, is understood to be God.  We ought to pray urgently to him in the midst of tribulation for three ‘loaves of bread’ – that is, the knowledge of the Trinity, by which our sufferings in this present life are eased.  The ‘friend’ who comes in from the road, is our soul, which departs from us as many times as it wanders away ‘outside’, desiring worldly and temporal goods.  But it returns and wishes to be fed heavenly food when it comes back to itself and begins to meditate on heavenly and spiritual goods.  But it does not have the goods of its desire set before it: for the soul sighing for God after the darkness of this world, there is nothing further to think about, to say, or to learn attentively; all that is left is to contemplate the Holy Trinity with joy, and to engage in marveling at him more fully.

“ ‘And he said, Do not bother me now, for my door is closed and my children are with me in my room.  I cannot get up to give these to you’ (Luke 11, 7). The ‘door’ of the divine Friend is the understanding of the word, which the Apostle prayed would be opened to him so that he could speak on the mystery of Christ.  At a time of famine of the word – when understanding is not given – the door is ‘closed’.  Those who preach the word throughout the world are those who give out the ‘bread’ of the knowledge of the Gospel.  The ‘children’ of the head of the household rest in a hidden place with the Lord.  But through praying, the one desiring understanding from God receives it, even if he misses the one through whom this knowledge is taught. 

“ ‘And if he should persevere in knocking, I say to you that if he does not rise up and give these to him because he is his friend, still will he rise and give to him as much as he needs, because of his impertinence.  And I say to you: Seek, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find.  Knock, and it will be opened to you’ (Luke 11, 8-9).  If the friend is forced to get out of bed, and gives not out of friendship but out of annoyance, how much more does God give (in whom there is no annoyance), who grants most abundantly what is sought.”

St. Isidore Explains the Our Father

St. Isidore provides a succinct and insightful commentary on the Our Father in his “Treatise on the Mass”:

“ ‘Our Father, who are in heaven.’  After his Resurrection, Christ said: ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father.’  Sometimes he called God his Father, and sometimes our Father.  He called him his Father because, properly, he is his Son, born of the substance of the Father before all ages, and coeternal with him.  He is our Father because he created us in time, we are his adopted children, and we should possess a heavenly inheritance from our heavenly Father, if we fulfill his works, for we have pledged our faith to him.   The word ‘heaven’ [coelo] is from the verb ‘to conceal’ [celando], inasmuch as it hides divine secrets.  Or, it is from the word ‘heights’ [celsitudo], inasmuch as it is high above the things of this world.  Therefore, we say: Our Father, who are in heaven, in order to show that we believe in a heavenly Father, and as children of our Father, we desire to fulfill his commandments.  And, in fulfilling his commandments, we ever desire to tend to heaven.

“ ‘Holy be your name.’  That is, may we be worthy to hold his holy name in our hearts.  And, just as the holy angels know and comprehend the holiness of his name, so may we, who are on earth, merit to know his sanctity by his help.  May his name be sanctified on earth as it is in heaven.  ‘May your kingdom come.’   That is, may we merit to know his kingdom and power so that the devil may not reign over us because of our sins; but may our Father’s kingdom come, as it is written in the Gospel: ‘The kingdom of God is among you.’

“ ‘May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’  That is, just as those in heaven carry out his will, so may we who are on earth do it.  The word ‘earth’ [terra] is from the verb ‘to tread’ [terendo], for the earth is trod by our feet.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’  The Greek word for ‘bread’ means ‘all’, in our language.  We pray that almighty God might deign to grant us ‘all’ nourishment, spiritual and bodily, at all times.  ‘And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.’  There is no injustice in seeking payment for a debt owed to us, but if almighty God requires us to pay back all our debts, no one will go free.  We should forgive those who owe debts to us so that the Almighty may forgive ours, for he said: ‘If you do not forgive each of your brothers from your heart, neither will your heavenly Father forgive your sins’ (Matthew 18, 35).  In another place, he said: ‘They will gather out of his kingdom all scandals’ (Matthew 13, 41).  So, if a sacrifice is offered in scandal, it is not received: the man offering is commanded to leave his gift before the altar until he is reconciled with his brother, and then he may make his offering with a pure heart (cf. Matthew 5, 23-24).

“ ‘And do not lead us into temptation.’  That is, lest we enter into temptation, in which the devil tempts us, and we consent to him.  But may the Lord defend us lest we be led into diabolic temptation.  If he sends us away, right away we will be led into the pit of the devil, and so we ask that the Lord free us from evil – that is, from every attack of the devil.”

Ageless Advice for the Student

Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha, sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to him, learning of the kingdom of God from his very words.  Hugo of the Monastery of St. Victor in Paris, wrote on the subject of learning in his essay (d. 1141), “On the Way to Speak and Meditate”:

“Humility is necessary for one who wishes to learn.  The beginning of learning is humility.  Much can be learned from humility, but there are three principles that pertain to the student.  The first is that he should hold no knowledge or teaching as beneath contempt.  Second, that no one should be ashamed to learn.  The third is that when one subject has been learned, others should not be spurned.  There are many who wish to seem learned before they have studied and so they are embarrassed to learn from others.  But you, my child, learn gladly from others what you do not know.  If you learn from all, you shall be wiser than all.  Those who take from all, shall be richer than all.  Do not hold any knowledge beneath contempt, because all knowledge is good.  Even if a book or a law is idle, do not hold it in contempt.  If you gain nothing, at least you do not lose anything.  As the Apostle said: ‘Test all things: hold to that which is good’ (1 Thessalonians 5, 21).  A good student should be humble and meek.  He should be entirely foreign to worldly cares and the enticements of the flesh.  He should be willingly attentive so that he may learn from all.  He should not presume on his knowledge, appear learned, but to be as one who seeks the words of the wise, always holding them before the eyes of his mind – as though before the image of his face – that he may ardently study them. 

“Three qualities are necessary for the student: nature, skill, and discipline.  The nature is necessary so that the student may perceive easily through hearing and to retain the perception firmly.  In regards to his skill, he should develop his natural understanding by his labor and attentiveness.  In regards of his discipline, he should combine his good behavior with his knowledge.

“He should strengthen his natural talent and his memory.  He who devotes himself to studies should strengthen his natural talent and his memory.  These two should so adhere to each other that if one ceased, no one could attain perfection: he strengthens a receptacle in vain, if he has not that with which to fill it.”

What St. Joseph Knew

Although the accounts surrounding the conception of the Lord Jesus are well-known, the Fathers and the commentators of later times continuously provided new insights and interpretations for the faithful.  Here is an excerpt from a homily by the French Benedictine monk, Remigius of Auxerre (d. 908):

“ ‘Before they came together’ (Matthew 1, 18).  These words, ‘coming together’, do not mean ‘having relations’, but signify the time when of the wedding, when a betrothed woman became a wife.  ‘Before they came together.’  The sense is, before the wedding was solemnly celebrated.  The fact that Joseph took her, the Evangelist shows when he says that he took her when the angel exhorted him to do so, and to show that they did not have relations, he added: ‘he did not know her.’  Now, ‘she was found with child’, and this was certainly by no one but Joseph, for he knew nearly everything of his future wife, and he carefully discerned her swollen womb.  ‘Now, since Joseph her husband was a just man, he did not wish to display her, but to send her away secretly.’  It is well said that he was a ‘just man’, for he was a guardian of justice: when he saw that his betrothed had conceived, he knew that this had not happened by any other man.  He saw the woman, heavy with child, and knew her to be truly chaste.  He had read in the Prophet: ‘A rod shall go forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower from the root shall grow up’ (Isaiah 11, 1), and he knew that the blessed Mary was descended from the line of David, the son of Jesse.  He also had read: ‘Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son’ (Isaiah 7, 14), and so he did not lack belief or trust that the prophecy would be fulfilled in her."

The Creed We Live By

“Increase our faith,” the disciples said to the Lord Jesus, in Luke 17, 5-10.  At Mass on Sundays and solemnities during the week, the faithful recite an ancient statement of faith, showing their solidarity in the Body of Christ.  In the following excerpt from the commentary on the Holy Mass composed by Pope Innocent III (d. 1216), we read of the Apostles Creed (or, ‘Symbol’):

“ ‘With the heart a man believes unto justice, and with the mouth profession is made unto salvation’ (Romans 10, 10).  The Church, in order to show that she receives the word of the Gospel with her heart, now chants the Symbol of Faith with her mouth.  The bishop [or priest] begins it in order to signify that every good thing proceeds from Christ.  For, ‘every highest gift, every perfect gift, is from above, and descends from the Father of lights’ (James 1, 17).  Therefore, lest that heavenly music say: ‘We sang to you and you did not dance’ (Matthew 11, 17), the whole chorus of the teaching of the Gospel responds with one harmonious voice professes the Faith in a solemn chorus.  The Greek word ‘symbol’ means ‘proof’ or ‘collection’.  [The ‘Symbol of Faith’ is properly so-called], for, while it shows the full rule and perfect reason of faith, it contains the articles of the Faith.  It is handed down that after the Apostles received the Holy Paraclete, when they were about to go forth to preach the Gospel, they came together as one upon the articles of faith.  They stated that as they were all of one accord in the one Faith, so they should concordantly preach one Faith, and so composed the Symbol.  Each one contributed his own article.  Thus, it was decided that it should contain twelve articles, since there were twelve Apostles.  The Symbol is chanted after the Gospel to show that faith follows preaching.  Thus, John writes: ‘When he had said this, many believed’ (John 7, 31).  And, according to the Apostle: ‘Faith comes from hearing, heard through the word of Christ’ (Romans 10, 17).  It was Pope Damasus who established by a sacred decree that the Symbol from the Council of Constantinople be chanted at Mass.”

This last “Symbol” originated with the Council of Nicea, and was slightly revised at Constantinople.