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. 1 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. 2
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. {a}
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 any one 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5
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, O Lord. 6
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, 7
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. 9 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. 10
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 defence. 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. 11
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. 12. 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.
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. 13
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.
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. 14 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.
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.
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. 15
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. 16
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, 17 whom the fire did not burn; and of Daniel, whom the lions did not
injure. 18
According to the interpretation of St. Basil the Great, St. Chrysostom
and St. Augustine, 19 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? 20 and: I am the Lord and
there is none else: I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and
create evil. 21
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 armor 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.
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; 22 and again: Through many
tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God; 23 and further: Ought not
Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into his glory? 24 A servant should not be greater than his master;
and as St. Bernard says: Delicate members do not become a head crowned with
thorns. 25
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? 26
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. 27 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. 28 {b}
Endnotes
– The Seventh Petition
1>
John
xvii. 15.
2>
De
Orat. Dom., Serm. vi.
3>
Job
xiv. 1, 2.
4>
Matt.
vi. 34.
5>
Luke
ix. 23.
6>
Ps.
lxxxii. 17.
7>
Ps.
xlix. 15.
8>
Matt.
vi. 33.
9>
Ps.
vi. 6.
10> Ps. l. 15.
11> Eccl. xxxviii. 4.
12> 2 Paral. xvi. 12.
13> Ps. xxxiii. 18.
14> 2 Cor. xii. 17.
15> Gen. xxxv. 5.
16> Ps. xciii. 19.
17> Dan vi. 22.
18> Dan. iii. 50.
19> Basil in Hom. Quod. Deus non
Sit Auctor Malorum; Chrys. in Matt. Hom. xx.; Aug. De Eccl. Dog. cap. 57.
20> Amos iii. 6.
21> Isa. xlv. 7.
22> 2 Tim. iii. 12.
23> Acts xiv. 21.
24> Luke xxiv. 26
25> Serm. v. De Omnibus Sanctis.
26> 2 Kings xi. 11.
27> Acts v. 40.
28> Ps. cxviii. 161.
{a}
On this Petition see Summa Theol. 2a. 2æ. lxxxiii. 9; Collationes De Pater
Noster.
{b}
On the virtue of fortitude and on joy see Summa Theol. 2a. 2æ. cxxiii.; xxviii.