Expositio super orationem Dominicam

Among other teachings of his heavenly philosophy, the Lord made the word abbreviated upon the earth¹, abundant indeed in mysteries and overflowing with necessary things, so that the capacity of the ingenious might labor further into the depth of the mystery, and lest perhaps the soundness of some indiscreet or unlearned person's understanding might waver, which would happen if a cloudy overabundance of literature prevailed.

Therefore the Lord Jesus sets before us, quite concisely, a form of prayer to which we should conform ourselves, removing from us that trifling manner of praying which the gentiles use in their invocations of demons, frequently and uselessly repeating the same syllables.

Thus the Lord instructs and forms us to pray not with a clamorous voice but in the intention of the heart, not in much speaking but in purity of heart, not on the corners of the streets but in the inner chamber of conscience, lest carnality perhaps disturb the mind and, like a quarrelsome wife, drive it to wander outside.

First it must be known that prayer is understood in many portions and many ways², according to the kinds of its various faculties. For it is understood one way among grammarians, another way in theology. The grammarian describes prayer thus: prayer is a fitting ordering of words. But this is of no concern to the present matter. In theology, however, prayer is called an affection of the soul, which is often stirred up through words when the soul grows sluggish.

Since, then, there are many and infinite kinds of prayers, none seems to me more to be sought after than the Lord's Prayer, which proceeded from the mouth of Truth itself. For it is divided into seven petitions, in which all the goods of both the present and the future life are contained. Of these, the first three look to the heavenly life, while the latter three look to the goods of the present warfare, which nevertheless are necessary not for their own sake but for the attaining of eternal things.

The latter three, then, seem to pertain to the active life, which ceases along with the body, since in the eternal homeland no one will offer bread to the hungry, where no works of mercy are necessary. The first three, however, look to the contemplative life, which is perfected once the light of the present age is withdrawn, and which takes its beginning in the present way but is perfectly consummated in the homeland.

For when the fire of love, which here begins to burn, shall have seen him whom it loves, it will wholly be kindled into love of him. All the merits of acts of justification, therefore, and all the pursuits of the virtues, are rightly placed after contemplation. The seventh petition, by which we ask for our daily bread, holds the middle place, as a kind of borderland, looking partly to the heavenly and partly to the temporal life. For that daily bread is that highest and ineffable creature which is daily received under the sacrament on the altar, which we see daily but through a glass and in a riddle³ as long as we are in this way. Afterward, however, we shall contemplate it in the homeland not by an enigmatic or shadowy vision but face to face⁴.

Note how fitting is the comparison of the bread with the body of Christ, since the appearance of bread bears an express likeness to the flesh of Christ. For just as bread, beyond other foods, restores the body, and wine gladdens man⁵ and inebriates him, so the flesh of Christ spiritually restores and nourishes our inner man beyond all other graces, and the blood of Christ likewise spiritually gladdens and inebriates him.

Bread also bears a likeness to the mystical flesh of Christ, which is the unity of the faithful, since just as one bread is made from many grains, and wine flows together into one from many grapes, so the unity of the Church consists from the many persons of the faithful free from the stain of sin, in the type of which the ark of the Lord was made from setim wood, which is imperishable and like white thorn. There are, then, seven petitions in this prayer, on account of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, or on account of the seven cardinal virtues.

But observe how through the petitions one arrives at the gifts, through the gifts at the virtues, through the virtues at eternal beatitude. Above all it must be labored that we receive the gifts through grace. By the gifts one must act so that we come to merits. For merits, beatitude is to be hoped for. Otherwise, neither without prayers does one arrive at the gifts, nor without merits at beatitude.

Note the difference between gifts and virtues. Gifts are the first movements in the heart, the origins of the virtues, which God works in us without us. Virtues, however, are the effects of the gifts and habits of the soul now confirmed, which God works in us with us.

Observe also the threefold manner of praying. For we pray sometimes with the body prostrate upon the earth, in which three things are signified: namely the infirmity of the flesh, since we were taken from dust; and the infirmity of the mind, since we are not raised up by ourselves; and the blush of confusion, since we do not dare to lift our eyes to heaven. We also pray sometimes on bended knee but with face lifted up, saying with Solomon: draw me after you⁶.

And note that nothing more easily moves a person to tears than the bending of the knees. For there is a certain natural affinity between the eyes and the knees. Physics teaches that the child in its mother's womb has its eyes placed beneath its knees. Whence also genua (knees) are said to derive from genae (cheeks). With the knees bent, therefore, the eyes naturally break forth into tears, answering, as it were, by natural affection to their foster-siblings. We also pray sometimes standing, as if we were saying, rejoicing we shall go into the house of the Lord⁷. In the first is expressed our condition, in the second our desire, in the third our hope.

And note that there is a fourfold special kind of praying. The first is obsecration, the second is called oration, the third supplication, the fourth thanksgiving. Obsecrations are adjurations made for difficult matters, such as the conversion of the impious and the removal of evils. Orations are made when, for those already converted, virtues and goods are prayed for. Supplications, however, are made when, for those already just, the heavenly glory is prayed for. Thanksgivings are made for all things.

Nor should those four things be buried in silence which kindle and inflame the heart of man to devout prayer, namely the memory of sins, which renders a person humble in his own eyes; the recollection of punishments, which spurs him on to act well; the consideration of pilgrimage, which exhorts him to hold visible things in contempt; the desire for everlasting life, which, inciting him toward perfection, compels him to be suspended from earthly affections by a change of will. We, therefore, instructed by so many and such salutary admonitions, and formed likewise by divine instruction, dare to say: