Chapter 10
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
καὶ τῇδε ἦν ἀδελφὴ καλουμένη Μαρία, ἣ καὶ παρακαθίσασα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἤκουε τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ.
и҆ сестра̀ є҆́й бѣ̀ нарица́емаѧ марі́а, ꙗ҆́же и҆ сѣ́дши при ногꙋ̀ і҆и҃сѡвꙋ, слы́шаше сло́во є҆гѡ̀.
What was Mary enjoying while she was listening? What was she eating? What was she drinking? Do you know? Let's ask the Lord, who keeps such a splendid table for his own people, let's ask him. "Blessed," he says, "are those who are hungry and thirsty for justice, because they shall be satisfied." It was from this wellspring, from this storehouse of justice, that Mary, seated at the Lord's feet, was in her hunger receiving some crumbs. You see, the Lord was giving her then as much as she was able to take. But as for the whole amount, which he was going to give at his table of the future, not even the disciples, not even the apostles themselves, were able to take in at the time when he said to them, "I still have many things to say to you, but you are unable to hear them now." ...What was Mary enjoying? What was she eating? I'm persistent on this point, because I'm enjoying it too. I will venture to say that she was eating the one she was listening to. I mean, if she was eating truth, didn't he say himself, "I am the truth"? What more can I say? He was being eaten, because he was the Bread. "I," he said, "am the bread who came down from heaven." This is the bread which nourishes and never diminishes.
SERMON 179.5Martha then, setting about and preparing to feed our Lord, was occupied in serving; but Mary her sister chose rather to be fed by the Lord, for it follows, And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
(ubi sup.) Now as was her humility in sitting at His feet, so much the more did she receive from Him. For the waters pour down to the lowest part of the valley, but flow away from the rising of the hill.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd she also, sitting beside the feet of the Lord, listened to His word, but Martha was distracted by frequent ministering. No one doubts that these things suit both lives. And the uniform perfection of the contemplative life is indeed to have a mind stripped of all earthly things, and, as much as human weakness allows, to unite with Christ. But the frequent ministry of active life is taught by the Master of the nations, who in the numerous statements of his Epistles, recounts his labors by land and sea for Christ, his dangers. In which, also commending the visions and revelations of the Lord, he signifies that he was also completed in the speculative virtue, which is imitable by very few. Hence he says: For whether we are beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we are sober, it is for your cause (II Cor. V).
On the Gospel of LukeSecond, with regard to the leisure of the contemplative life, he adds: And she had a sister, named Mary, who was perfect in the leisure of contemplation; whence it is added: Who also, sitting at the feet of the Lord, heard his word. This indeed was the leisure of this woman: to attend to the Lord, to be at rest, to sit, and to be silent. Whence it is said in John eleven that "Mary sat at home," and this at his feet: because, in Deuteronomy thirty-three, "those who approach his feet shall receive of his teaching." By sitting at his feet is understood humility, which ought to be in contemplative persons so that they may abound in the fruits of devotion, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Who sends forth springs in the valleys," etc. But he who so sits as a humble person is watered by the tears of compunction, according to that passage of Jeremiah fifteen: "I sat alone, because you have filled me with bitterness"; and that is the office of the contemplative soul, namely to devote oneself to the tears of compunction and devotion. Whence this Mary, the exemplar of contemplation, is always described as it were weeping: above, namely in chapter seven, where it is said that "standing behind at the feet of the Lord, she began to wash his feet with tears," etc.; and in John eleven, where it is said that "Mary, when she had come where Jesus was, seeing him, fell at his feet. Jesus therefore, when he had seen her weeping, groaned in spirit"; and in John twenty: "Mary stood at the tomb outside, weeping." And the first are tears of compunction; the second, of compulsion; the third, of devotion, which contemplatives ought to have, sitting at the feet of the Lord.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 10Mary came and sat at his feet. This was as though she were sitting on firm ground at the feet of him who had forgiven the sinful woman her sins. She had put on a crown in order to enter into the kingdom of the Firstborn. She had chosen the better portion, the Benefactor, the Messiah himself. This will never be taken away from her. Martha's love was more fervent than Mary's, for before he had arrived there, she was ready to serve him. "Do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?" When he came to raise Lazarus to life, she ran and came out first.
COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 8.15Something of the same thing may be said about the incident of Martha and Mary; which has been interpreted in retrospect and from the inside by the mystics of the Christian contemplative life. But it was not at all an obvious view of it; and most moralists, ancient and modern, could be trusted to make a rush for the obvious. What torrents of effortless eloquence would have flowed from them to swell any slight superiority on the part of Martha; what splendid sermons about the Joy of Service and the Gospel of Work and the World Left Better Than We Found It, and generally all the ten thousand platitudes that can be uttered in favour of taking trouble--by people who need take no trouble to utter them. If in Mary the mystic and child of love Christ was guarding the seed of something more subtle, who was likely to understand it at the time? Nobody else could have seen Clare and Catherine and Teresa shining above the little roof at Bethany.
The Everlasting Man, Part 2 Ch. 2: The Riddles of the Gospel (1925)(6. Mor. c. 18.) Or by Mary who sat and heard our Lord's words, is signified the contemplative life; by Martha engaged in more outward services, the active life. Now Martha's care is not blamed, but Mary is praised, for great are the rewards of an active life, but those of a contemplative are far better. Hence Mary's part it is said will never be taken away from her, for the works of an active life pass away with the body, but the joys of the contemplative life the rather begin to increase from the end.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIt is not said of Mary simply that she sat near Jesus, but at His feet, to show her diligence, stedfastness, and zeal, in hearing, and the great reverence which she had for our Lord.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas"Sat at Jesus' feet and listened to His word." By the feet one can understand active virtue, for they signify movement and walking. And sitting is a sign of immobility. So whoever sits at the feet of Jesus, that is, whoever becomes firmly established in active virtue and through imitation of the walking and life of Jesus is strengthened in it, that person after this arrives at the hearing of divine utterances or at contemplation. Since Mary also first sat down, and then listened to the words.
Commentary on LukeBut Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.
ἡ δὲ Μάρθα περιεσπᾶτο περὶ πολλὴν διακονίαν· ἐπιστᾶσα δὲ εἶπε· Κύριε, οὐ μέλει σοι ὅτι ἡ ἀδελφή μου μόνην με κατέλιπε διακονεῖν; εἰπὲ οὖν αὐτῇ ἵνα μοι συναντιλάβηται.
Ма́рѳа же мо́лвѧше ѡ҆ мно́зѣ слꙋ́жбѣ, ста́вши же речѐ: гдⷭ҇и, не бреже́ши ли, ꙗ҆́кѡ сестра̀ моѧ̀ є҆ди́нꙋ мѧ̀ ѡ҆ста́ви слꙋжи́ти; рцы̀ ᲂу҆̀бо є҆́й, да мѝ помо́жетъ.
(ubi sup.) Martha was well engaged in ministering to the bodily wants or wishes of our Lord, as of one who was mortal, but He who was clothed in mortal flesh; in the beginning was the Word. Behold then what Mary heard, The Word was made flesh. Behold then Him to whom Martha ministered. The one was labouring, the other at rest. But yet Martha, when much troubled in her occupation and business of serving, interrupted our Lord, and complained of her sister. For it follows, And said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? For Mary was absorbed in the sweetness of our Lord's words; Martha was preparing a feast for our Lord, in whose feast Mary was now rejoicing. While then she was listening with delight to those sweet words, and was feeding on them with the deepest affection, our Lord was interrupted by her sister. What must we suppose was her alarm, lest the Lord should say to her, "Rise, and help thy sister?" Our Lord therefore, who was not at a loss, for He had shewn He was the Lord, answered as follows, And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a mark of love, or perhaps of drawing the attention, that she should listen more earnestly. When twice called, she hears, Thou art troubled about many things, that is, thou art busied about many things. For man wishes to meet with something when he is serving, and can not; and thus between seeking what is wanting and preparing what is at hand, the mind is distracted. For if Martha had been sufficient of herself, she would not have required the aid of her sister. There are many, there are diverse things, which are carnal, temporal, but one is preferred to many. For one is not from many, but many from one. Hence it follows, But one thing is needful. Mary wished to be occupied about one, according to that, It is good for me to cling close unto the Lord. (Ps. 73:28.) The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, are one. To this one he does not bring us, unless we being many have one heart. (Acts 4:32.)
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Const. Mon. c. 1.) Now every work and word of our Saviour is a rule of piety and virtue. For to this end did He put on our body, that as much as we can we might imitate His conversation.
(in reg. fus. int. 19.) It is foolish also to take food for the support of the body, and thereby in return to hurt the body, and to hinder it in the performance of the divine command. If then a poor man come, let him receive a model and example of moderation in food, and let us not prepare our own tables for their sakes, who wish to live luxuriously. For the life of the Christian is uniform, ever tending to one object, namely, the glory of God. But the life of those who are without is manifold and vacillating, changed about at will. And how in truth canst thou, when thou settest thy table before thy brother with profusion of meats, and for the pleasure of feasting sake, accuse him of luxury, and revile him as a glutton, censuring his indulgence in that which thou thyself affordest him? Our Lord did not commend Martha when busied about much serving.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd she stood and said: Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me. He speaks from the perspective of those who, still ignorant of divine contemplation, consider that the work of brotherly love alone is pleasing to God, and therefore think that all who wish to be devoted to Christ should be bound to this. And it is well described that Martha stood while Mary sat beside the feet of the Lord, because the active life toils in laborious struggle, while the contemplative life, with the tumults of vices pacified, enjoys the desired repose of the mind in Christ.
On the Gospel of LukeThird, with regard to the exercise of the active life, it is added: But Martha was busy about much serving; and this as a good active person, avoiding idleness, according to the counsel of the Wise Man, in Ecclesiastes nine: "Whatever your hand is able to do, work diligently, because neither work nor reason nor wisdom nor knowledge shall be in the netherworld, to which you hasten." Martha always did this; whence it is said in John twelve that "Jesus came to Bethany; and they made a supper for him there, and Martha served." And note that it says she was busy, that is, she was doing enough, about much serving, to show that in her work there was at once perfection and due measure, according to the counsel of blessed Peter, in Second Peter one: "Brothers, be the more diligent, that by good works you may make your calling and election sure." For the work of ministry is that which most pleases the Lord, and in which one most imitates Christ, as is said below in chapter twenty-two: "But I am in your midst as one who serves"; and again in Matthew twenty: "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve." Whence such ministry is pleasing and honorable before God and worthy of reward, according to that passage of John twelve: "If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him," etc.
Fourth, as to the dispute between the two, he adds: Who stood and said: Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Here the industrious Martha complains about the idle Mary, as though she could not alone bear the weight of labor, according to what Moses complained to the Lord in Numbers 11: "I cannot alone sustain all this people, because it is heavy for me." So also Martha, on account of the heaviness of the burden, sought Mary's help, knowing that what is said in Galatians 6 pertains to the law of Christ: "Bear one another's burdens." Therefore she confidently sought Christ's judgment, that she might obtain her sister's help.
For which reason she adds: Tell her therefore to help me, that she might act according to the counsel of the Apostle in Galatians 5: "Through the charity of the Spirit, serve one another"; and in Ephesians 4: "Bearing with one another in charity."
In this dispute Mary is silent; and Gregory gives the reason for this: "Mary does not respond, but as one at leisure commits her cause to the Judge. For if she were preparing a word of response, she would relax her attention to listening." For it is not for contemplatives to contend, but rather to be silent and to listen and to meditate, according to that passage in Lamentations 3: "He shall sit alone and be silent"; whence Job 4: "Moreover, a hidden word was spoken to me, and as if by stealth I received the veins of its whisper." But Mary loses nothing by being silent, because the Lord takes up her cause by defending it. Whence Bernard: "Everywhere the Lord answers for Mary, whether when she is reproached by the Pharisee, above in chapter seven, or when she is accused by her sister, as here, or when by the disciples, as is said in Matthew 26."
Now Martha sometimes complains by placing her own office above others, and then it is blameworthy. Whence the Gloss: "Martha speaks in the person of those who, still ignorant of divine contemplation, say that only the work of fraternal love, which they have learned, is pleasing to God, and therefore think that all who wish to be devoted to Christ should be bound to this work." — Sometimes she complains by preferring Mary's leisure. Whence Bernard: "Do you think that in the house in which Christ is received, the voice of murmuring is heard?" And he adds: "Happy the house and blessed the congregation in which Martha complains about Mary." And the reason for this is that the contemplative life is to be chosen for its own sake without complaint, but Martha, that is, the active life, is to be sustained out of necessity. Whence Jacob chose Rachel, but as was necessary, he first received Leah, as is said in Genesis 29.
It is therefore permissible for Martha to complain in order to be like Mary, because this is of humility; but if she complains about the fact that she is not helped, this is of weakness; but if she complains about the fact that Mary at some time wishes to help, and she herself does not wish it, this is of impiety, because such a complaint impedes the law of charity.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 10When certain brethren have received God, they will not be anxious about much service, nor ask for those things which are not in their hands, and are beyond their needs. For every where and in every thing that which is superfluous is burdensome. For it begets weariness in those who are wishing to bestow it, while the guests feel that they are the cause of trouble.
Catena Aurea by AquinasNote also the prudence of the Lord. He said nothing to Martha before He received from her an occasion for reproof. But when she attempted to draw her sister away from listening, then the Lord, taking the occasion, reproves her. For hospitality is praiseworthy only so long as it does not distract and draw us away from what is more needful; but when it begins to hinder us in the most important matters, then it is right to prefer the hearing of divine things to it.
Commentary on LukeOur Lord does not then forbid hospitality, but the troubling about many things, that is to say, hurry and anxiety. And mark the wisdom of our Lord, in that at first He said nothing to Martha, but when she sought to tear away her sister from hearing, then the Lord took occasion to reprove her. For hospitality is ever honoured as long as it keeps us to necessary things. But when it begins to hinder us from attending to what is of more importance, then it is plain that the hearing of the divine word is the more honourable.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Μάρθα Μάρθα, μεριμνᾷς καὶ τυρβάζῃ περὶ πολλά·
Ѿвѣща́въ же і҆и҃съ речѐ є҆́й: ма́рѳо, ма́рѳо, пече́шисѧ и҆ мо́лвиши ѡ҆ мно́зѣ,
Virtue does not have a single form. In the example of Martha and Mary, there is added the busy devotion of the one and the pious attention of the other to the Word of God, which, if it agrees with faith, is preferred even to the very works, as it is written: "Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her." So let us also strive to have what no one can take away from us, so that not careless but diligent hearing may be granted to us. For even the seeds of the heavenly Word itself are likely to be taken away if they are sowed by the wayside. Let the desire for wisdom lead you as it did Mary. It is a greater and more perfect work. Do not let service divert the knowledge of the heavenly Word.… Nor is Martha rebuked in her good serving, but Mary is preferred because she has chosen the better part for herself, for Jesus abounds with many blessings and bestows many gifts. And therefore the wiser chooses what she perceives as foremost.
Commentary on LukeMay you then like Mary be influenced by the desire of wisdom. For this is the greater, this the more perfect work. Nor let the care of ministering to others turn thy mind from the knowledge of the heavenly word, nor reprove or think indolent those whom thou seest seeking after wisdom.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAt present alleluia is for us a traveler's song, but this tiresome journey brings us closer to home and rest where, all our busy activities over and done with, the only thing that will remain will be alleluia.That is the delightful part that Mary chose for herself, as she sat doing nothing but learning and praising, while her sister, Martha, was busy with all sorts of things. Indeed, what she was doing was necessary, but it wasn't going to last.
SERMON 255.1-2Our Lord therefore, who was not at a loss, for He had shown He was the Lord, answered as follows, And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha. The repetition of the name is a mark of love, or perhaps of drawing the attention, that she should listen more earnestly. When twice called, she hears, Thou art troubled about many things, that is, thou art busied about many things. For man wishes to meet with something when he is serving, and can not; and thus between seeking what is wanting and preparing what is at hand, the mind is distracted. For if Martha had been sufficient of herself, she would not have required the aid of her sister. There are many, there are diverse things, which are carnal, temporal, but one is preferred to many. For one is not from many, but many from one. Hence it follows, But one thing is needful. Mary wished to be occupied about one, according to that, It is good for me to cling close unto the Lord. (Ps. 73:28.) The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, are one. To this one he does not bring us, unless we being many have one heart. (Acts 4:32.)
(Serm. 104.) What then? Must we think that blame was cast upon the service of Martha, who was engaged in the cares of hospitality, and rejoiced in having so great a guest? If this be true, let men give up ministering to the needy; in a word, let them be at leisure, intent only upon getting wholesome knowledge, taking no care what stranger is in the village in want of bread; let works of mercy be unheeded, knowledge only be cultivated.
(Serm. 104.) Our Lord then does not blame the actions, but distinguishes between the duties. For it follows, Mary hath chosen that good part, &c. Not thine a bad one, but hers a better. Why a better? because it shall not be taken away from her. From thee the necessary burden of business shall one time be taken away. For when thou comest into that country, thou wilt find no stranger to receive with hospitality. But for thy good it shall be taken away, that what is better may be given thee. Trouble shall be taken away, that rest may be given. Thou art yet at sea; she is in port. For the sweetness of truth is eternal, yet in this life it is increased, and in the next it will be made perfect, never to be taken away.
(de Qu. Evang. l. ii. q. 30.) Now mystically, by Martha's receiving our Lord into her house is represented the Church which now receives the Lord into her heart. Mary her sister, who sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word, signifies the same Church, but in a future life, where ceasing from labour, and the ministering to her wants, she shall delight in Wisdom alone. But by her complaining that her sister did not help her, occasion is given for that sentence of our Lord, in which he shows that Church to be anxious and troubled about much service, when there is but one thing needful, which is yet attained through the merits of her service; but He says that Mary hath chosen the good part, for through the one the other is reached, which shall not be taken away.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd the Lord answered and said to her: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but only one thing is necessary. And blessed David, defining this one thing necessary for man, desires to continually cling to God, saying: But it is good for me to cling to God, to put my hope in the Lord God (Psalm LXXII). And elsewhere: One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple (Psalm XXVI). Therefore, one and only theology, that is, contemplation of God, to which all merits of justifications and all studies of virtues are justly postponed.
On the Gospel of LukeAnd the Lord answering said to her. After the rational comparison, the Evangelist subjoins the judicial determination: concerning which four things are introduced, namely the humiliation of the active life, the commendation of the contemplative life, the promulgation of the sentence, and the assignment of the cause.
First, therefore, as regards the humiliation of the active life, he says: Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. Therefore he repeats the name of Martha, so that he might rouse her to consider her own defect, and this with attention to the divine word: just as it is said of Moses in Exodus 3 that the Lord, seeing that he went forward to look, called him from the midst of the bush and said: "Moses, Moses." And the Lord, wishing to rouse sinners to attention, repeats the call in Jeremiah 22: "O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." And so now he rouses Martha, showing that in her there is a threefold defect, namely of anxiety in thought, disturbance in affection, and division in action. And all these things hinder us from tending wholly toward God.
Hence excessive anxiety is to be avoided, according to that passage in the last chapter of Philippians: "Be anxious for nothing, but in every prayer let your petitions be made known before God"; and the last chapter of First Peter: "Casting all your anxiety upon him, for he has care of you."
Disturbance is also to be avoided: hence John 14: "Let not your heart be troubled nor let it fear. You believe in God; believe also in me." Hence also concerning Christ, Isaiah 42: "He shall not be sad nor turbulent." For a troubled eye is not fit for seeing.
Division is also to be avoided: hence Sirach 11: "Son, let not your pursuits be in many things." And these disadvantages belong to the active life, not the contemplative; hence First Corinthians 7: "He who is with a wife is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinks about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit; but she who is married thinks about the things of the world." — Thus therefore the importunity of action is humbled through the showing of its disadvantage and defect.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 10And he was capable of busying himself about many things; but the one thing, the work of life, he was powerless, and disinclined, and unable to accomplish. Such also was what the Lord said to Martha, who was occupied with many things, and distracted and troubled with serving; while she blamed her sister, because, leaving serving, she set herself at His feet, devoting her time to learning: "Thou art troubled about many things, but Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." So also He bade him leave his busy life, and cleave to One and adhere to the grace of Him who offered everlasting life.
Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?Moreover, to speak more precisely, the Lord forbids not hospitality, but its elaborateness and vanity, that is, distraction and anxiety. Why, He says, "Martha, you are anxious and... troubled about many things," that is, you are distracted and worried? We have need only of eating a little, not of a variety of dishes.
Commentary on LukeBut one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
ἑνὸς δέ ἐστι χρεία· Μαρία δὲ τὴν ἀγαθὴν μερίδα ἐξελέξατο, ἥτις οὐκ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς.
є҆ди́но же є҆́сть на потре́бꙋ. Марі́а же бл҃гꙋ́ю ча́сть и҆збра̀, ꙗ҆́же не ѿи́метсѧ ѿ неѧ̀.
Mary has chosen the best part, which will not be taken away from her. Behold, the part of Martha is not blamed, but Mary's is praised. For he does not say that Mary has chosen a good part, but the best, so that Martha's part may also be indicated as good. But why the part of Mary is the best is explained when it is said: Which will not be taken away from her. For the active life ceases with the body. For who will give bread to the hungry in the eternal homeland, where no one is hungry? Who will give drink to the thirsty, where no one thirsts? Who will bury the dead, where no one dies? Therefore, with the present age, the active life is taken away. But the contemplative life begins here, so that it may be perfected in the heavenly homeland. For the fire of love that begins to burn here, when it sees the very one whom it loves, burns more intensely in love. Therefore the contemplative life is by no means taken away, because it is perfected with the light of the present age being withdrawn.
On the Gospel of LukeSecond, with regard to the commendation of the contemplative life, he adds: But one thing is necessary: this, namely, is the kingdom of God, which once possessed, nothing is lacking; whence Matthew 6: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you"; and in the Psalm: "One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek"; this, however, is the blessed life, which consists in cleaving to God, to which the contemplative life is devoted; in whose person it is said in the Psalm: "But it is good for me to cleave to God." And this is that one thing which is necessary; because "he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit," as is said in First Corinthians 6. He who has this one thing has every good; whence as a figure of this it is said in Tobit 10: "Having all things together in you alone, we ought not to have let you go from us"; and Wisdom 7: "All good things came to me together with her," etc. And therefore the Lord said to Moses, in the person of the contemplative man, in Exodus 33: "I will show you all good."
Third, with regard to the promulgation of the judgment, it is added: Mary has chosen the best part; because, namely, she chose the one thing above all else. "For the one is set before the many," as Augustine says, because "not the one from the many, but the many from the one. Many are the things that were made; one is he who made them. Very good are the things he made — how much better is he who made them"; indeed, he is simply the best. And this is the portion of the contemplative soul; whence Lamentations 3: "The Lord is my portion, said my soul; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him"; and in the Psalm: "How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright in heart"! Very good, I say, and the best; therefore the contemplative soul says in the Psalm: "I cried to you, O Lord; I said: You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living," namely, with Mary; which indeed the contemplatives have already chosen, by contemplating and desiring it. Whence in the person of the contemplative it is said in Deuteronomy 3: "I will cross over and see this excellent land, and that noble mountain, and Lebanon." And on account of love for this, he wished to possess nothing on earth except poverty alone, according to that word of the Psalm: "For one day in your courts is better than a thousand. I have chosen to be abject in the house of my God"; because, as is said in Matthew 13, "the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man found, he hid," etc.
Fourth, as regards the assignment of the cause, he adds: Which shall not be taken away from her. The Gloss says: "The part of Martha is not reproved, for it too is good, but the part of Mary is praised, and why it is the best is added: Which shall not be taken away from her." "From the opposite, understand that from Martha the part which she chose shall be taken away, because the labor of multiplicity passes away, and the charity of unity remains." And this is the reason why the part of Mary is simply better and more worthy of choice, because the contemplative life begins here and is perfected in the future. This is signified in the figure of John, according to what is said in the last chapter of John: "So I will him to remain," as if the contemplation once begun remains, "until I come," to be perfected when I shall have come. And because it is more enduring, therefore it is better, as the Apostle says of charity in First Corinthians thirteen: "Charity never fails," and from this he concludes that charity is the greatest. So also concerning the contemplative life; whence Bede in the Gloss says: "Which begins to burn here, when it shall see him whom it loves, will be more greatly kindled in love"; Isaiah thirty-one: "Whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem." Whence, as far as it is in itself, it is to be preferred, according to that passage in Second Corinthians four: "While we contemplate not the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
On account of this, the contemplative life is simply more to be desired as that which is better and of itself to be preferred, both because it is more secure, and because it is more sweet, and because it is more stable; nevertheless the active life is not to be despised, but for place and time it is to be preferred for a time, both because it is prior, and because it is more laborious, and because it is more fruitful: for it avails both for oneself and for others.
And this is well signified in the two wives of Jacob, namely Rachel and Leah, of whom one signifies the active life, the other the contemplative. Whence the Bridegroom sometimes compels the Bride to go forth to action, according to what is said in Song of Songs two: "Let your voice sound in my ears," etc. Whence, if the question concerns superiority, simply speaking the contemplative is better, according to what Gregory says in the sixth book of the Moralia: "Great are the merits of the active life, but those of the contemplative are greater." For Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.
But if the question is raised concerning choosability, sometimes the active life is to be preferred, namely for an imperfect man, who must first exercise himself in the field of action, or when someone is obligated to the works of the active life by precept or by office: and therefore sometimes doubt arises in the choice, according to that passage in Philippians 1: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if to live in the flesh, this is for me the fruit of labor, and what I shall choose, I know not. For I am straitened between the two, having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is far the better: but to remain in the flesh is necessary for your sake." — Therefore spiritual men must sometimes go out, sometimes enter in, sometimes ascend, sometimes descend, as Jacob saw, Genesis 28.
Now this Gospel is customarily read on the Assumption of the Virgin, either because its ending most fittingly applies to Mary, when it says: Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken from her. For although this was said literally of Mary Magdalene, yet it is more truly said of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Whence Bernard: "Mary has chosen the best part. The best indeed: good is the fruitfulness of marriage, better however is the chastity of virginity, but altogether best is virginal fruitfulness, or fruitful virginity: it is the privilege of Mary, it shall not be given to another, because it shall not be taken from her." — Or also, because in this Gospel there is described in the two sisters the perfection of the active and the contemplative lives, both of which were in the Virgin most perfectly. For what was given to these two sisters in parts was given to Mary wholly and completely. Whence Jerome: "To others it was given in parts, but into Mary the fullness of grace poured itself all at once."
Or, because here there is treated the twofold reception of Christ: bodily and spiritual: bodily by Martha in the lodging of the outer house: spiritual by Mary in the lodging of the inner house. And this twofold reception was most perfectly in Mary, who received him in the chamber of the body, nourished and fed and raised him and diligently ministered to him: she also received him in the chamber of the heart, by seeing him, believing, loving, and imitating him. And from both of these she was blessed: whence below in chapter 11: "Blessed is the womb that bore you"; "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." Whence Augustine: "More blessed was Mary in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For maternal kinship would have profited Mary nothing, had she not more happily borne him in her mind than in her flesh."
Or also, because here three things are set forth, namely divine lodging, divine ministry, divine companionship: which three were most perfectly in the Virgin Mary: lodging in the village, ministry in Martha, and companionship in Mary.
Rightly the Virgin Mary in receiving Christ was a castle fortified and elevated with towers of virtues, whose first tower was the strength of severity, concerning which Song of Songs chapter four says: "Your neck is like the tower of David, which was built with bulwarks; a thousand shields hang from it," because the Virgin Mary could be overcome by no vice. The second tower was the rectitude of discernment, concerning which Song of Songs chapter seven says: "Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon, which looks toward Damascus"; where the discernment of good from evil is understood. The third tower was the abundance of devotion, concerning which the last chapter of Song of Songs says: "I am a wall, and my breasts are like a tower," on account of the sweetness of devotion, in which she excelled. Whence these three towers were built by the Holy Spirit through grace upon the three powers of the soul: the first upon the irascible, the second upon the rational, and the third upon the concupiscible. And from these the Virgin was a stronghold fit for receiving the beloved Son of the Father, who was the power and wisdom of the Father, because the Virgin was most strong, most prudent, and most devout.
Rightly also in ministering she was Martha, who ministered to the Lord faithfully and humbly and courageously. So also Mary, though she was the Mother, made herself a handmaid and servant, according to that passage above in chapter one: "Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." Whence she was prefigured by that good woman Abigail, who, when she was sought by David in marriage, offered herself for service: 1 Kings chapter twenty-five: "Behold, let your handmaid be a servant, to wash the feet of your servants." Such was the Virgin Mary on account of her exceeding humility; whence she said of herself: "He has regarded the humility of his handmaid." And this is what Augustine says: "Everyone who is of sound mind understands that Mary was the minister of Christ in the performance of her work and in the most steadfast truth of her faith. For without doubt she was his minister, who bore him in her womb and nourished and cherished him when brought forth in birth, and, as the Gospel says, laid him in a manger, and fleeing from the face of Herod went into Egypt, and attended to his entire infancy with the tender affection of a mother."
Rightly also was Mary in dwelling together or in contemplating. For she herself, like the other Mary, stood beside Christ, according to that passage in John 19: "There stood beside the cross of Jesus his Mother and his Mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene." For the Virgin herself was the one who most closely drew near to him, and therefore she most fully received his words and preserved them for others. For above in chapter two it is said: "Mary kept all these words." Whence she was rightly signified by the ark of the covenant of the Lord, of which it is said in Hebrews 9: "In which was a golden urn containing manna," through her great devotion of charity; "and the rod of Aaron," through her great uprightness of virtue; "and the tablets of the testimony," through her great knowledge of the contemplation of truth. And she herself was also most supremely contemplative. Whence Bernard says: "Blessed Mary penetrated the most profound abyss of divine wisdom, beyond what can be believed, so that, as far as the condition of a creature permits without personal union, she may be seen as immersed in that inaccessible light." And Bede says: "What did she not know of God, in whom the Wisdom of God lay hidden and from whose womb he fashioned a body for himself?"
And thus it is clear how this Gospel passage was assigned to the Assumption of the Virgin not through human invention but through divine inspiration, because the Holy Spirit enclosed within it a commendation of the Virgin with respect to her multitude of prerogatives; for the preservation of which he adds at the end: Mary has chosen the best part, which shall not be taken from her. For Mary chose the best part both in grace and in glory, in which is enclosed the perfect and proper praise of the Virgin; for as Jerome says: "Just as in comparison with God no one is good, so in comparison with the Mother of the Lord no woman is found perfect, however much she may be proven outstanding in virtues." Therefore among women she alone is the best through every manner of superabundance, by reason of which "she is seen to have neither a predecessor like her nor a successor."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 10A brother went to visit Silvanus on Mount Sinai. When he saw the brothers hard at work, he said to the old man, ' "Labour not for the meat which perisheth" (John 6:27) and "Mary hath chosen the best part" (Luke 10:42).' Silvanus said to his disciple Zacharias, 'Put this brother in a cell where there is nothing.' When three o'clock came, the visitor kept looking at the door, to see when they would send someone to invite him to eat but no one did so. So he got up and went to Silvanus and said, 'Abba, don't the brethren eat today?' He said, 'Yes, they have eaten already.' The brother said, 'Why didn't you call me?' He replied, 'You are so spiritual you do not need food. We are earthly, and since we want to eat, we work with our hands. But you have chosen the good part, reading all day, and not wanting to take earthly food.' When the brother heard this he prostrated himself in penitence and said, 'Forgive me, abba.' Silvanus said, 'I think Mary always needs Martha, and by Martha's help Mary is praised.'
The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian MonksTogether with the work the Teacher set forth doctrine, not only in deed but also by His word, even as He did to Mary and Martha, who both offered service unto Him, but the service of Mary was more perfect than that of Martha, and both ministered unto Him, the one only according to the body, and the other according to the spirit, and our Lord received both services, and pronounced blessed the service which was superior to its fellow, saying, "Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." As if a man should say, "Do thou also, O Martha, forsake that service which is imperfect, and be exalted in thy service to the more excellent grade." And Jesus did not reject the ministration of Martha, for according to the measure of her knowledge and of her love was the measure of her ministration; but He wished that she would offer great instead of little things, and instead of the service of the body the service of the spirit. And the service of Mary and of Martha was like exactly unto the service of the holy Apostles of the old and of the latter times, for that bodily service which they also offered unto Him in one place after another was like unto that of Martha; but that other service which He taught them to offer unto Him in the commandment, "Ye shall possess nothing," was the counterpart of the service of the blessed Mary. For there are many who, like Martha and Zacchaeus, and those women who clave to Him, and who ministered unto Him from their possessions, are justified, and there are some whose service like that of Mary and the Apostles is wholly of the spirit; and Jesus wished and desired this service, so that all the children of men might arrive at perfection.
13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 8 -- First Discourse on PovertyOthers understood the words "one thing is needful" not as referring to food, but to attentiveness to teaching. Thus, by these words the Lord instructs the apostles that when they enter anyone's house, they should not demand anything luxurious, but be content with what is simple, caring for nothing more than attentiveness to teaching. Perhaps understand by Martha the active virtue, and by Mary – contemplation. The active virtue has distractions and anxieties, while contemplation, having become master over the passions (for Mary means mistress), exercises itself in the sole examination of divine sayings and judgments. So then, if you can, ascend to the level of Mary through mastery over the passions and the pursuit of contemplation. But if this is impossible for you, be Martha, devote yourself to the active life, and through that receive Christ. Note this: "which shall not be taken away from her." The one who labors in works has something that is taken away from him, that is, cares and distraction. For, having attained to contemplation, he is freed from distraction and vanity, and thus something is taken away from him. But the one who labors in contemplation is never deprived of this good part, that is, contemplation. For in what more shall he advance, when he has reached the very highest, I mean, the contemplation of God, which is equal to deification? For whoever has been deemed worthy to behold God becomes a god, since like is encompassed by like.
Commentary on LukeChapter 11
AND it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν τῷ εἶναι αὐτὸν ἐν τόπῳ τινὶ προσευχόμενον, ὡς ἐπαύσατο, εἶπέ τις τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτόν· Κύριε, δίδαξον ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι, καθὼς καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐδίδαξε τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ.
[Заⷱ҇ 55] И҆ бы́сть внегда̀ бы́ти є҆мꙋ̀ на мѣ́стѣ нѣ́коемъ молѧ́щꙋсѧ, (и҆) ꙗ҆́кѡ преста̀, речѐ нѣ́кїй ѿ ᲂу҆чн҃къ є҆гѡ̀ къ немꙋ̀: гдⷭ҇и, наꙋчи́ ны моли́тисѧ, ꙗ҆́коже и҆ і҆ѡа́ннъ наꙋчѝ ᲂу҆ченикѝ своѧ̑.
And it happened that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. After the story of the sisters who signified the two lives of the Church, it is not without reason that the Lord is described as having prayed and having taught his disciples to pray. For the prayer he taught contains the mystery of both lives in itself, and the perfection of these lives is not to be attained by our own strength, but by prayers. And because Luke often described the Savior as praying, he suggests what he did in prayer, who surely supplicated not for himself, but for us, when, after finishing his prayer, he reports that the disciples asked him how they should pray.
On the Gospel of LukeAfter the account of the sisters, who signified the two lives of the Church, our Lord is not without reason related to have both Himself prayed, and taught His disciples to pray, seeing that the prayer which He taught contains in itself the mystery of each life, and the perfection of the lives themselves is to be obtained not by our own strength, but by prayer. Hence it is said, And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAfter he delivered to the disciples the form of teaching and the form of living, in this part he bestows the form of prayer, through which the grace of knowing and of living rightly is obtained. This part has three parts: in the first of which the example of prayer is set forth; in the second, instruction is added, at the place: And he said to them: When you pray, etc.; in the third, an incentive to prayer is subjoined, at the place: And he said to them: Which of you, etc.
Concerning the example of prayer, two things are introduced: the first is the solicitude of the Lord for praying, the second is the readiness of the disciples for imitating.
First, therefore, with regard to the solicitude of the Lord in praying, it is said: And it came to pass, when he was in a certain place praying: a certain place, that is, solitary and secret, because such places are suited to prayer, according to that passage in Matthew 6: "But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret." The Lord prays as a proof of his true humanity, according to what is said below in chapter 22: "Being in agony, he prayed more at length." As an aid to our weakness, according to that passage in Hebrews 5: "He was heard in all things for his reverence"; and Romans 8: "What we should pray for as we ought, we do not know; but the Spirit himself," namely of the Lord Jesus, "helps our weakness." As an example of perfect virtue: whence it is said in Matthew 26: After he had prayed, he said to the disciples themselves: "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation." For this reason also he was frequently devoted to prayer, so that he might teach that one must always pray, according to that passage in 1 Thessalonians 5: "Pray without ceasing." And he also prayed at length, as it is said above in chapter 6: "It came to pass"; "and he was spending the whole night in prayer." And therefore perhaps a certain place is mentioned here, to show that those who pray must seek a secret place; but the time is passed over in silence, to show that one must pray at every time without distinction, according to what is said below in chapter 18: "It is necessary to pray always and not to lose heart"; and Sirach 18: "Do not be hindered from praying always."
Second, as regards the readiness of the disciples in imitating, there is added: When he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray. Rightly did the disciples ask of the Lord how they themselves ought to pray, lest perchance they should ask something contrary to his will; whence Wisdom 9: "What man shall be able to know the counsel of God, or who shall be able to think what God wills? For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain." Therefore teach us to pray, since you are our Lord; whence Isaiah 48: "I am the Lord, teaching you profitable things." — And that he ought to be heard, he shows by a comparison, when he adds: As John also taught his disciples. For to know how to pray to God pertains to the doctrine of piety, since in prayer God is especially worshipped. Whence the Prophet said in the Psalm: "I will enter into your house, I will adore," etc.; and Chrysostom: "The soul offers prayer alone as a spiritual tribute from its inmost depths. Great indeed is the dignity of prayer. As soon as it proceeds from the mouth, the Angels receive it in their hands and offer it before God, as the Angel says in Tobit 12: I offered your prayer before God," etc. Therefore it is thus carefully taught and sought on account of its excellence; nor only on account of this, but also on account of its efficacy, according to Mark 11: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you shall receive it, and it shall come to you"; and James last chapter: "Pray for one another, that you may be saved; for the continual prayer of a just man avails much. Elijah was a man," etc.
Whence through this it is intimated to us that prayer is greatly to be loved, because through it is obtained the attainment of every good and the removal of every evil; whence Tobit 12: "Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving, more than to lay up treasures. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it is that which purges sins and causes one to find mercy and eternal life."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11Now whereas He possesses every good in abundance, why does He pray, since He is full, and has altogether need of nothing? To this we answer, that it befits Him, according to the manner of His dispensation in the flesh, to follow human observances at the time convenient for them. For if He eats and drinks, He rightly was used to pray, that He might teach us not to be lukewarm in this duty, but to be the more diligent and earnest in our prayers.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Orat. Dom. Serm. 1.) He unfolds the teaching of prayer to His disciples, who wisely desire the knowledge of prayer, directing them how they ought to beseech God to hear them.
Catena Aurea by AquinasI think that one of Jesus' disciples was conscious in himself of human weakness, which falls short of knowing how we ought to pray.… Are we then to conclude that a man who was brought up in the instruction of the law, who heard the words of the prophets and did not fail to attend the synagogue, did not know how to pray until he saw the Lord praying "in a certain place"? It would certainly be foolish to say this. The disciple prayed according to the customs of the Jews, but he saw that he needed better knowledge about the subject of prayer.
ON PRAYER 2.4And that he might point out the kind of teaching, the disciple proceeds, as John also taught his disciples. Of whom in truth thou hast told us, that among them that are born of women there had arisen none greater than he. And because thou hast commanded us to seek things that are great and eternal, whence shall we arrive at the knowledge of these but from Thee, our God and Saviour?
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhen in a certain place he had been praying to that Father above, looking up with insolent and audacious eyes to the heaven of the Creator, by whom in His rough and cruel nature he might have been crushed with hail and lightning-just as it was by Him contrived that he was (afterwards) attached to a cross at Jerusalem-one of his disciples came to him and said, "Master, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
Against Marcion Book IVThe disciple of Christ is zealous for the disciples of John and therefore desires to learn how to pray. The Savior did not reject the desire of the disciples, but teaches them.
Commentary on LukeThe disciples having seen a new way of life, desire a new form of prayer, since there were several prayers to be found in the Old Testament. Hence it follows, When he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, in order that we might not sin against God in asking for one thing instead of another, or by approaching God in prayer in a manner that we ought not.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
εἶπε δὲ αὐτοῖς· ὅταν προσεύχησθε, λέγετε· Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τὸ ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου·γενηθήτω τὸ θέλημά σου, ὡς ἐν οὐρανῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς·
Рече́ же и҆̀мъ: є҆гда̀ мо́литесѧ, глаго́лите: ѻ҆́ч҃е на́шъ, и҆́же на нб҃сѣ́хъ, да ст҃и́тсѧ и҆́мѧ твоѐ: да прїи́детъ црⷭ҇твїе твоѐ: да бꙋ́детъ во́лѧ твоѧ̀, ꙗ҆́кѡ на нб҃сѝ, и҆ на землѝ:
"Your kingdom come." To whom do we address this petition? Will the kingdom of God not come unless we ask for it? That kingdom will exist after the end of the world. God has a kingdom forever. He is never without a kingdom, for all creation is subject to him. Then for what kingdom do we wish? It is written in the Gospel, "Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." See, that is the kingdom of which we speak when we say, "Thy kingdom come." May that kingdom come within us and may we be found within that kingdom. That is our petition. Of course it will come. How will that benefit you if it finds you at the left hand? In this petition, you also wish a blessing on yourself. It is on your own behalf that you pray. In this petition, this is what you desire and long for, namely, that you may so live as to have a share in the kingdom that will be given to all the saints. When you say, "Thy kingdom come," you pray for yourself, because you pray that you may lead a good life. May we partake of your kingdom. May the kingdom that is to come to your saints and your righteous ones also come to us.
SERMON 56.6(in Enchirid. c. 116.) It seems according to the Evangelist Matthew, that the Lord's prayer contains seven petitions, but Luke has comprehended it in five. Nor in truth does the one disagree from the other, but the latter has suggested by his brevity how those seven are to be understood. For the name of God is hallowed in the spirit, but the kingdom of God is about to come at the resurrection of the body. Luke then, showing that the third petition is in a manner a repetition of the two former, wished to make it so understood by omitting it. He then added three others. And first, of daily bread, saying, Give us day by day our daily bread.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Const. Monast. cap. 1.) There are two kinds of prayer, one composed of praise with humiliation, the other of petitions, and more subdued. Whenever then you pray, do not first break forth into petition; but if you condemn your inclination, supplicate God as if of necessity forced thereto. And when you begin to pray, forget all visible and invisible creatures, but commence with the praise of Him who created all things. Hence it is added, And he says unto them, When you pray, say, Our Father.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, as we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. According to the evangelist Matthew, the Lord's Prayer seems to contain seven petitions. Of which in three eternal things are requested, in the remaining four, temporal things, which nevertheless are necessary for the sake of attaining the eternal. For what we say: Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; which some have not absurdly understood as in spirit and body, must be retained entirely without end, and begin here, and the more we progress, are increased in us: and perfectly (which is to be hoped for in the other life) they will always be possessed. But what we say: Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; who does not see that it pertains to the need of the present life? Thus, in that eternal life, where we always hope to be, both in the sanctification of the name of God, and his kingdom, will remain perfectly and immortally in our spirit and body. But daily bread is called so, because it is necessary here as much as should be given to soul and flesh, whether understood spiritually or corporeally, or both ways. Here too is the forgiveness we seek, where there is the commission of all sins. Here are the temptations, which allure or drive us to sin. Finally, here is the evil, from which we desire to be delivered. But in that life, there is none of these. The evangelist Luke, in the Lord's Prayer, not seven, but five petitions are comprised. Nor did he differ from the other, undoubtedly, but by how these seven are understood, he recommended by their brevity. For the name of God is hallowed in the spirit, but the kingdom of God is to come in the resurrection of the flesh. Therefore, showing that Luke considered the third petition to be a kind of repetition of the two preceding ones, he made it more understood by omitting it. Then he adds those three, concerning the daily bread, the forgiveness of sins, and the avoidance of temptation. And what the former put at the end: But deliver us from evil, the latter did not include for us to understand that it pertains to what was said above about temptation. Therefore, he indeed said: but deliver; he did not say: and deliver, as if demonstrating it to be one petition, saying not this, but that, so that everyone may know that he is delivered from evil, by not being led into temptation.
On the Gospel of LukeAnd he said to them: When you pray, etc. After the example of prayer he subjoins the instruction on prayer, in which first is handed down the form of invoking, and second, the form of petitioning, at the words: Hallowed be your name.
As regards the form of invoking, he says: And he said to them: When you pray, say: Father, that is, first invoke the Father. Say, I say, not with the voice only, but also with the heart, lest perchance that word of Isaiah 29 be said to you: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Say not only with the heart, but also with the mouth, because vocal prayer is acceptable to God, according to the Psalm: "I will praise the Lord exceedingly with my mouth"; and this both because it avails for arousing the memory, for dispelling drowsiness, for kindling desire, for rendering homage, for expressing joy, and for showing an example.
Now we invoke the name of the Father. For he himself is Father by reason of the condition of nature, according to that passage in Ephesians 3: "From whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named." Hence Malachi 2: "Have we not all one father?" He is also Father by reason of the conferral of grace: Romans 8: "You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, in which we cry: Abba, Father"; and Galatians 4: "Because you are sons of God, God sent the spirit of his Son crying: Abba, Father." He is also Father by reason of the consummation of glory, according to that passage in Jeremiah 3: "You shall call me Father and shall not cease to walk after me." Since therefore in the name of the Father God is understood as the founder of nature, the bestower of grace, the consummator of glory, by this very fact it is given to understand that he is the one from whom alone we ought to ask.
But since Matthew describes the prayer as expounded to the Apostles, to whom the Lord explained the other things, therefore he explicitly touches upon these three, saying: Father, by reason of nature; our, by reason of grace; who art in heaven, by reason of glory. Luke however expresses it as handed down to lesser disciples, and therefore transmits a more implicit form. Both however agree in the invocation of the name of the Father, so that by this one name man may be stirred to reverence and confidence, without which two wings prayer has no efficacy. Now reverence is had from the name of the Father: hence Malachi 1: "If I am a father, where is my honor?"; and Sirach 3: "The glory of a man is from the honor of his father." Confidence is also had, according to that passage in Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?" etc.; and below in the same passage: "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children" etc. And Bernard: "The prayer which is sweetened by the paternal name gives me confidence in obtaining all my petitions."
Hallowed be thy name. After the invocation he adds the petition. Now he asks for three things principally in this prayer. And in this Matthew and Luke agree, but they differ in the explication, because for the reason previously assigned Matthew sets forth more explicit petitions; hence Matthew posits seven, Luke five, but in these five those seven are implicitly contained.
Now the distinction, order, and sufficiency of these is evident as follows. For three things are to be sought from God the Father: the first and principal is the consummation of glory, the second is the conservation of grace, the third is the granting of pardon. And these three are ordered according to the degree and order of greater dignity.
Now two things concur toward the consummation of glory, namely perfect knowledge and perfect reverence, and according to these are the first two petitions. For the preservation of grace, the continual supply of heavenly nourishment suffices, and this is sought in the third petition. For the granting of pardon, two things concur, namely the remission of fault and the removal of punishment, and these are sought in the two last petitions.
But since the perfection of reverence is considered not only in affection but also in effect, therefore to the first two petitions Matthew adds a third, namely "Thy will be done." Again, because the removal of punishment is considered not only with respect to the repulsion of temptations but also with respect to the removal of afflictions and tribulations, therefore to the two last petitions Matthew adds a seventh: "But deliver us from evil." And thus the sufficiency of the petitions according to both Evangelists is clear.
The nobility of this prayer is also evident. Although it is most brief, it contains within itself every prayer and everything to be asked for, since one who petitions either seeks the removal of evil or the bestowal of good. If evil, either the evil of fault or the evil of punishment: either the evil that we suffer or the evil that we commit; and thus there are two petitions. But the evil of punishment can be subdivided, for a certain kind is an occasion of fault, and thus is temptation; a certain kind merely holds the character of punishment, and thus is tribulation; and so from that petition the two last are derived. But if we seek good: either eternal or temporal. If eternal, either on the part of the intellect or on the part of the affection, and thus two petitions. But the affection must be ordered with respect to majesty and with respect to goodness: and thus that petition is doubled by the first division but tripled by subdivision. But if a temporal good is sought, either by reason of the mind or by reason of the body. But because bodily good ought not to be desired except for the sake of the spiritual: therefore according to both Luke and Matthew one petition is made concerning both. And thus the sufficiency of the divisions through opposite and immediate members is clear, and the concord between the Evangelists is clear, and the fittingness of the diversity is clear.
There are therefore five petitions according to Luke, ordered according to greater and lesser nobility. In the first is sought perfect knowledge or wisdom in the intellect; in the second, perfect reverence in the affection; in the third, sufficiency in sustenance; in the fourth, pardon in guilt; in the fifth, victory in conflict. And in these five are implied the seven petitions, and thereby the seven virtues, the seven gifts, the seven beatitudes, and all petitions. Whence the Gloss says on that passage of Matthew chapter six: Deliver us from evil: "Nothing is lacking that is not contained in these seven petitions, whether it pertains to the present or to the future life."
First therefore, as regards knowledge or wisdom in the intellect, he says: Hallowed be thy name, that is, may thy name appear holy, that is, thy knowledge: whence in the Psalm: "Known in Judea is God, in Israel great is his name." And this knowledge begins in grace but is consummated in glory: concerning which, Malachi 1: "From the rising of the sun even to its setting, my name is great among the nations: and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation." This, however, will be verified in glory, when, according to that passage of Jeremiah 31, "a man shall teach his neighbor no more, nor a man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least of them even to the greatest, says the Lord."
And note that by a threefold knowledge the name of God is hallowed in us, since in itself it is always holy. The first is the knowledge by which he is known through faith, according to that passage of Hebrews 11: "He who approaches must believe that he exists." — The second, by which he is known as to what he is not: concerning which Augustine says: "You comprehend much if you comprehend what God is not." The third is that by which he is known as he is: concerning which 1 Corinthians 13: "Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I have been known."
The first knowledge liberates from foolishness, concerning which in the Psalm: "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God." The second, from idolatry, by which what is not God is worshipped: concerning which 1 Corinthians 8: "Concerning those things that are sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are those who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — since indeed there are many gods and many lords — yet for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things," etc. The third liberates from all misery; and this will be in the homeland, when the gift of wisdom and peace will be fulfilled, through which we are called sons of God. And then the name of God will be holy in us: whence 1 John 3: "Beloved, now we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." Therefore perfect knowledge makes us like him, and perfect likeness makes us sons, and perfect filiation makes us worthy of the sanctification of the divine name. Whence Chrysostom: "The name of God is hallowed in us when, knowing him to be holy, we fear and watch with solicitude, lest perhaps we violate the sanctity of his name in us." This, however, will be when we are totally free for him, and our minds are impeded by no distraction: which will be in glory, according to that passage of the Psalm: "In the sight of the Angels I will sing praise to you; I will worship toward your holy temple and will confess your name, for your mercy and your truth; for you have magnified your holy name above all things."
Second, as regards perfect reverence in affection he adds: Thy kingdom come. For then God perfectly reigns in us, when we are entirely subject to him, which will be at the end, according to that passage in First Corinthians 15: "Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father." "For he must reign, until he puts his enemies under his feet"; and further: "When all things shall have been subjected to him, then the Son himself also shall be subject to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all." Moreover, this kingdom, by which God reigns in the Saints, also makes the Saints themselves reign and be kings, according to that passage in Revelation 5: "Thou hast redeemed us to God in thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth." This is the kingdom to be sought and desired; concerning which in the Psalm: "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages"; and Revelation 11: "There were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this world has become our Lord's and his Christ's, his Son's, and they shall reign forever and ever, Amen."
Through the coming of this kingdom, power does not increase for God, but perfect obedience increases in men. And therefore Matthew adds after this petition: "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth." For earthly beings do not perfectly obey God as heavenly beings do; and the Lord was intimating this in John 18: "My kingdom is not of this world"; and this is because the devil reigns in those who obey him, according to that passage in Ephesians 6: "The world-rulers of this darkness." But at the final judgment his power shall be taken away, when the whole world shall be subject to God, according to that passage in Daniel 7: "He gave him power and honor and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve him."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11"With angels and archangels and all the company of heaven." Will you believe it? It is only quite recently I made that quotation a part of my private prayers--I festoon it round "hallowed be Thy name". This, by the way, illustrates what I was saying last week about the uses of ready-made forms. They remind one. And I have found this quotation a great enrichment. One always accepted this with theoretically. But it is quite different when one brings it into consciousness at an appropriate moment and wills the association of one's own little twitter with the voice of the great saints and (we hope) of our own dear dead. They may drown some of its uglier qualities and set off any tiny value it has...
Thy kingdom come. That is, may your reign be realised here, as it is realised there. But I tend to take there on three levels. First, as in the sinless world beyond the horrors of animal and human life; in the behaviour of stars and trees and water, in sunrise and wind. May there be here (in my heart) the beginning of a like beauty. Secondly, as in the best human lives I have known: in all the people who really bear the burdens and ring true, the people we call bricks, and in the quiet, busy, ordered life of really good families and really good religious houses. May that too be "here". Finally, of course, in the usual sense: as in heaven, as among the blessed dead.
And here can of course be taken not only for "in my heart", but for "in this college"--in England--in the world in general. But prayer is not the time for pressing our own favourite social or political panacea. Even Queen Victoria didn't like "being talked to as if she were a public meeting".
Thy will be done. My festoons on this have been added gradually. At first I took it exclusively as an act of submission, attempting to do with it what Our Lord did in Gethsemane. I thought of God's will purely as something that would come upon me, something of which I should be the patient. And I also thought of it as a will which would be embodied in pains and disappointments. Not, to be sure, that I suppose God's will for me to consist entirely of disagreeables. But I thought it was only the disagreeables that called for this preliminary submission--the agreeables could look after themselves for the present. When they turned up, one could give thanks.
This interpretation is, I expect, the commonest. And so it must be. And such are the miseries of human life that it must often fill our whole mind. But at other times other meanings can be added. So I added one more.
The peg for it is, I admit, much more obvious in the English version than in the Greek or Latin. No matter: this is where the liberty of festooning comes in. "Thy will be done". But a great deal of it is to be done by God's creatures; including me. The petition, then, is not merely that I may patiently suffer God's will but also that I may vigorously do it. I must be an agent as well as a patient. I am asking that I may be enabled to do it. In the long run I am asking to be given "the same mind which was also in Christ".
Taken this way, I find the words have a more regular daily application. For there isn't always--or we don't always have reason to suspect that there is--some great affliction looming in the near future, but there are always duties to be done; usually, for me, neglected duties to be caught up with. "Thy will be done--by me--now" brings one back to brass tacks.
But more than that, I am at this very moment contemplating a new festoon. Tell me if you think it a vain subtlety. I am beginning to feel that we need a preliminary act of submission not only towards possible future afflictions but also towards possible future blessings. I know it sounds fantastic; but think it over. It seems to me that we often, almost sulkily, reject the good that God offers us because, at that moment, we expected some other good. Do you know what I mean? On every level of our life--in our religious experience, in our gastronomic, erotic, aesthetic and social experience--we are always harking back to some occasion which seemed to us to reach perfection, setting that up as a norm, and depreciating all other occasions by comparison. But these other occasions, I now suspect, are often full of their own new blessings if only we would lay ourselves open to it. God shows us a new facet of the glory, and we refuse to look at it because we're still looking for the old one. And of course we don't get that. You can't, at the twentieth reading, get again the experience of reading Lycidas for the first time. But what you do get can be in its own way as good.
This applies especially to the devotional life. Many religious people lament that the first fervours of their conversion have died away. They think--sometimes rightly, but not, I believe always--that their sins account for this. They may even try by pitiful efforts of will to revive what now seem to have been the golden days. But were those fervours--the operative word is those--ever intended to last?
It would be rash to say that there is any prayer which God never grants. But the strongest candidate is the prayer we might express in the single word encore. And how should the Infinite repeat Himself? All space and time are too little for Him to utter Himself in them once.
And the joke, or tragedy, of it all is that these golden moments in the past, which are so tormenting if we erect them into a norm, are entirely nourishing, wholesome, and enchanting if we are content to accept them for what they are, for memories. Properly bedded down in a past which we do not miserably try to conjure back, they will send up exquisite growths. Leave the bulbs alone, and the new flowers will come up. Grub them up and hope, by fondling and sniffing, to get last year's blooms, and you will get nothing. "Unless a seed die..."
I don't often use the kingdom, the power, and the glory. When I do, I have an idea of the kingdom as sovereignty de jure; God, as good, would have a claim on my obedience even if He had no power. The power is the sovereignty de facto--He is omnipotent. And the glory is--well, the glory; the "beauty so old and new", the "light from behind the sun."
LETTERS TO MALCOLM: CHIEFLY ON PRAYER, Letter 3 (Paragraph 4) and Letter 5 (Paragraphs 4-17)There follows in the prayer, Thy kingdom come. We ask that the kingdom of God may be set forth to us, even as we also ask that His name may be sanctified in us. For when does God not reign, or when does that begin with Him which both always has been, and never ceases to be? We pray that our kingdom, which has been promised us by God, may come, which was acquired by the blood and passion of Christ; that we who first are His subjects in the world, may hereafter reign with Christ when He reigns, as He Himself promises and says, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world." Christ Himself, dearest brethren, however, may be the kingdom of God, whom we day by day desire to come, whose advent we crave to be quickly manifested to us. For since He is Himself the Resurrection, since in Him we rise again, so also the kingdom of God may be understood to be Himself, since in Him we shall reign. But we do well in seeking the kingdom of God, that is, the heavenly kingdom, because there is also an earthly kingdom. But he who has already renounced the world, is moreover greater than its honours and its kingdom. And therefore he who dedicates himself to God and Christ, desires not earthly, but heavenly kingdoms. But there is need of continual prayer and supplication, that we fall not away from the heavenly kingdom, as the Jews, to whom this promise had first been given, fell away; even as the Lord sets forth and proves: "Many," says He, "shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." He shows that the Jews were previously children of the kingdom, so long as they continued also to be children of God; but after the name of Father ceased to be recognised among them, the kingdom also ceased; and therefore we Christians, who in our prayer begin to call God our Father, pray also that God's kingdom may come to us.
Treatise IV. On the Lord's Prayer.For the Savior said, "When you pray, say, 'Our Father.' " And another of the holy Evangelists adds, "who art in heaven." …He gives his own glory to us. He raises slaves to the dignity of freedom. He crowns the human condition with such honor as surpasses the power of nature. He brings to pass what was spoken of old by the voice of the psalmist: "I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High." He rescues us from the measure of slavery, giving us by his grace what we did not possess by nature, and permits us to call God "Father," as being admitted to the rank of sons. We received this, together with all our other privileges, from him. One of these privileges is the dignity of freedom, a gift peculiarly befitting those who have been called to be sons. He commands us, therefore, to take boldness and say in our prayers, "Our Father." We, who are children of earth and slaves and subject by the law of nature to him who created us, call him who is in heaven "Father." Most fittingly, he enables those who pray to understand this also. Since we call God "Father" and have been counted worthy of such a distinguished honor, we must lead holy and thoroughly blameless lives. We must behave as is pleasing to our Father and not think or say anything unworthy or unfit for the freedom that has been bestowed on us.… The Savior of all very wisely grants us to call God "Father," that we, knowing well that we are sons of God, may behave in a manner worthy of him who has honored us. He will then receive the supplications that we offer in Christ.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 71What, therefore, is the meaning of "hallowed be your name"?…When it is our settled conviction and belief that he who by nature is God over all is Holy of the Holies, we confess his glory and supreme majesty. We then receive his fear into our mind and lead upright and blameless lives. By this we become holy ourselves, and we may be able to be near unto the holy God.… The prayer is, therefore, "May your name be kept holy in us, in our minds and wills." This is the significance of the word hallowed. If a person says, "Our Father, hallowed be your name," he is not requesting any addition to be made to God's holiness. He rather asks that he may possess such a mind and faith to feel that his name is honorable and holy. The act is the source of life and the cause of every blessing. How must being this influenced by God be worthy of the highest estimation and useful for the salvation of the soul?
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 72God is our King before the worlds. Since God always reigns and is omnipotent, with what view do those who call God "Father" offer up to him their requests and say, "Your kingdom come"?They seem to desire to behold Christ the Savior of all rising again upon the world. He will come. He will come and descend as judge, no longer in a lowly condition like us or in the humility of human nature. He will come in glory such as becomes God, as he dwells in the unapproachable light, and with the angels as his guards. He somewhere said, "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his holy angels." … That judgment seat is terrifying. The Judge is unbiased. It is a time of pleading, or rather of trial and of retribution. The fire, enduring punishment and eternal torments are prepared for the wicked. How can men pray to behold that time?… The wicked and impure lead low and lewd lives and are guilty of every vice. In no way is it fitting for them in their prayers to say, "your kingdom come." … The saints ask that the time of the Savior's perfect reign may come, because they have labored dutifully, have a pure conscience and look for the reward of what they have already done. Just as those who, expecting a festival and merriment about ready to come and shortly to appear, thirst for its arrival, so also do they. They trust that they will stand glorious in the presence of the Judge and hear him say, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundations of the world." … They fully believed what he said about the consummation of the world. When he will appear to them again from heaven, they will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. They correctly say in their prayers, "your kingdom come." For they feel confident that they will receive a reward for their bravery and attain to the consummation of the hope set before them.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 73Why then did he command the saints to say to God the Father in heaven, "Your will be done; as in heaven, so on earth?" … This petition is worthy of the saints and full of all praise.…We request that power may be given to those on earth to do the will of God and imitate the conduct practiced above in heaven by the holy angels.… The saints request that both Israel as well as the Gentiles may be counted worthy of peace from on high and be comforted since they were in misery and caught in the net of sin without possibility of escape. Having received the righteousness that is in Christ by faith, they may become pure and skillful in every good work. They pray, "Your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth for this reason." As I said, the will of God over all is that those on earth should live in holiness, piously, without blame, being washed from all impurity, and diligent in imitating the spiritual beauty of the spirits above in heaven. The church on earth, since it was the visible likeness and image of the church of the firstborn that is above, may please Christ.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 74Since among those to whom the faith has not yet come, the name of God is still despised. But when the rays of truth shall have shined upon them, they will confess the Holy of Holies. (Dan. 9:24.)
Or they who say this seem to wish to have the Saviour of all again illuminating the world. But He has commanded us to desire in prayer that truly awful time, in order that men might know that it behoves them to live not in sloth and backwardness, lest that time bring upon them the fiery punishment, but rather honestly and according to His will, that that time may weave crowns for them. Hence it follows, according to Matthew, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Catena Aurea by AquinasNeither pray as the hypocrites; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, thus pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us to-day our daily (needful) bread, and forgive us our debt as we also forgive our debtors. And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (or, evil); for Thine is the power and the glory for ever. Thrice in the day thus pray.
The Didache, Chapter 8(Orat. Dom. Serm. 2.) See how great a preparation thou needest, to be able to say boldly to God, O Father, for if thou hast thy eyes fixed on worldly things, or courtest the praise of men, or art a slave to thy passions, and utterest this prayer, I seem to hear God saying, 'Whereas thou that art of a corrupt life callest the Author of the incorruptible thy Father, thou pollutest with thy defiled lips an incorruptible name. For He who commanded thee to call Him Father, gave thee not leave to utter lies. (et serm. 3.). But the highest of all good things is to glorify God's name in our lives. Hence He adds, Hallowed be thy name. For who is there so debased, as when He sees the pure life of those who believe, does not glorify the name invoked in such a life. He then who says in his prayer, Be thy name, which I call upon, hallowed in me, prays this, "May I through Thy concurring aid be made just, abstaining from all evil."
(ubi sup.) We beseech also to be delivered by the Lord from corruption, to be taken out of death. Or, according to some, Thy kingdom come, that is, May Thy Holy Spirit come upon us to purify us.
(Orat. Dom. serm. 4.) For since He says that the life of man after the resurrection will be like to that of Angels, it follows, that our life in this world should be so ordered with respect to that which we hope for hereafter, that living in the flesh we may not live according to the flesh. But hereby the true Physician of the souls destroys the nature of the disease, that those who have been seized with sickness, whereby they have departed from the Divine will, may forthwith be released from the disease by being joined to the Divine will. For the health of the soul is the due fulfilment of the will of God.
Catena Aurea by AquinasFor as when a man gazes upon the beauty of the heavens, he says, Glory be thee, O God; so likewise when He beholds a man's virtuous actions, seeing that the virtue of man glorifies God much more than the heavens.
As if He says, Enable us, O Lord, to follow the heavenly life, that whatever Thou willest, we may will also.
Catena Aurea by AquinasPerhaps we should … pray … only to the God and Father of all, to whom even our Savior himself prayed, as we have explained, and to whom he taught us to pray. When he heard "teach us to pray," he did not teach us to pray to himself but to the Father by saying "Our Father in heaven and so forth." …When the saints give thanks to God in their prayers, they acknowledge through Christ Jesus the favors he has done. If it is true that one who is scrupulous about prayer should not pray to someone else who prays but rather to the Father whom our Lord Jesus taught us to address in prayers, it is especially true that no prayer should be addressed to the Father without him.
ON PRAYER 15.1-2Or, because the name of God is given by idolaters, and those who are in error, to idols and creatures, it has not as yet been so made holy, as to be separated from those things from which it ought to be. He teaches us therefore to pray that the name of God may be appropriated to the only true God; to whom alone belongs what follows, Thy kingdom come, to the end that may be put down all the rule, authority, and power, and kingdom of the world, together with sin which reigns in our mortal bodies.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(App. Serm. 84.) The first word, how gracious is it? Thou durst not raise thy face to heaven, and suddenly thou receivest the grace of Christ. From an evil servant thou art made a good son. Boast not then of thy working, but of the grace of Christ; for therein is no arrogance, but faith. To proclaim what thou hast received is not pride, but devotion. Therefore raise thy eyes to thy Father, who begot thee by Baptism, redeemed thee by His Son. Say Father as a son, but claim no especial favour to thyself. Of Christ alone is He the especial Father, of us the common Father. For Christ alone He begot, but us he created. And therefore according to Matthew when it is said, Our Father, (Matt. 6:9.) it is added, which art in heaven, that is, in those heavens of which it was said, The heavens declare the glory of God. (Ps. 19:1.) Heaven is where sin has ceased, and where there is no sting of death.
(ubi sup.) Or it is said, Hallowed be thy name; that is, let Thy holiness be known to all the world, and let it worthily praise Thee. For praise becometh the upright, (Ps. 33.) and therefore He bids them pray for the cleansing of the whole world.
(ubi sup.) For then cometh the kingdom of God, when we have obtained His grace. For He Himself says, The kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasIn short, you may discover in the import of the prayer what God is addressed therein. To whom can I say, "Father? " To him who had nothing to do with making me, from whom I do not derive my origin? Or to Him, who, by making and fashioning me, became my parent? Of whom can I ask for His Holy Spirit? Of him who gives not even the mundane spirit; or of Him "who maketh His angels spirits," and whose Spirit it was which in the beginning hovered upon the waters.
Against Marcion Book IV"Our Father," He says, "who art in heaven." Note the power of prayer. It immediately lifts you up on high and, since you call God Father, persuades you in every way not to lose the likeness of the Father, but to strive to become like Him. He did not say "my Father," but "our Father," stirring you to brotherly love and urging you to love all people as brothers in general. By saying "in heaven," He does not confine God to them, but lifts the listener up to the heavens and draws him away from earthly things.
"Hallowed be Thy name," that is, "may it be glorified," meaning: order our life so that it may be to Thy glory. For just as the name of God is blasphemed because of the wicked, so it is glorified by those who lead a virtuous life.
The sinner does not pray for the Kingdom of God, for he does not desire its coming on account of the punishments awaiting him there. On the contrary, the righteous man prays that it would come sooner, so that he might be freed from the temptations here and find rest.
"Thy will be done... as in heaven" — among the Angels, so also among us men "on earth." For the Angels do all things and in all things according to the will of God.
Commentary on LukeBut He says not, which art in heaven, as though He were confined to that place, but to raise the hearer up to heaven, and draw him away from earthly things.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd because in the name of Jesus is the glory of God the Father, the name of the Father will be hallowed whenever Christ shall be known.
Catena Aurea by AquinasGive us day by day our daily bread.
τὸν ἄρτον ἡμῶν τὸν ἐπιούσιον δίδου ἡμῖν τὸ καθ᾿ ἡμέραν·
хлѣ́бъ на́шъ насꙋ́щный подава́й на́мъ на всѧ́къ де́нь:
(in Reg. brev. ad inter. 252.) As if He said, For thy daily bread, namely, that which serves for our daily wants, trust not to thyself, but fly to God for it, making known to Him the necessities of thy nature.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThird, as regards sufficiency in sustenance he adds: Give us this day our daily bread: where principally the bread of spiritual nourishment is sought: whence Matthew 6: give us this day our supersubstantial bread. But because not only this is petitioned for, but everything that is necessary for the present life: therefore, when the Church regularly recites the Lord's Prayer according to this version, she does not say supersubstantial according to it, but adds daily according to Luke, in order to show that she petitions for whatever is necessary for the sustenance of this life, which is understood by today. Whence, as Jerome says, whether one says daily, or supersubstantial, both are consonant with the Hebrew truth. For in the Hebrew language one word, that is sogolla, comprehends both meanings. So also among us daily comprehends both breads, namely spiritual and corporal, because both are daily necessary for us and daily to be received from the Lord, and therefore daily to be petitioned for. And this is what Bede says in the Gloss: "Bread is called daily because it is here necessary, inasmuch as it must be bestowed upon soul and flesh, whether it be taken spiritually, or corporally, or in both ways."
Whence note that a fivefold bread is petitioned for here. The first is the sustenance of the present life, concerning which it is said in Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "The beginning of the life of man is water and bread and clothing." The second is the understanding of Sacred Scripture, concerning which Lamentations four: "The little ones asked for bread, and there was no one to break it for them." The third bread is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, concerning which Wisdom sixteen: "You provided them with prepared bread from heaven, having in itself every delight and every sweetness of flavor"; and John six: "The bread that I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world." The fourth is the assistance of grace, concerning which in the Psalm: "Man ate the bread of Angels"; and below in the fourteenth chapter: "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God." The fifth is the service of obedience, concerning which it is said in John four: "My food is to do the will of my Father, who is in heaven"; and concerning this, Third Kings nineteen: "Elijah looked, and behold, at his head a hearth-cake," in whose strength he walked and arrived "even to the mountain of God, Horeb." With these breads the Lord refreshes us: which was signified in John six, where it is said that from five loaves he satisfied five thousand men. And therefore each of these is always to be petitioned for, according to that passage in the same place: "Lord, always give us this bread."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment "as to the Lord". It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.
Learning in War-Time, from The Weight of GloryI expect we all do much the same with the prayer for our daily bread. It means, doesn't it, all we need for the day--"things requisite and necessary as well for the body as for the soul." I should hate to make this clause "purely religious" by thinking of "spiritual" needs alone. One of its uses, to me, is to remind us daily that what Burnaby calls the naïf view of prayer is firmly built into Our Lord's teaching.
LETTERS TO MALCOLM: CHIEFLY ON PRAYER, Letter 5Now perhaps some think it unfit for saints to seek from God bodily goods, and for this reason assign to these words a spiritual sense. But granting that the chief concern of the saints should be to obtain spiritual gifts, still it becomes them to see that they seek without blame, according to our Lord's command, their common bread. For from the fact that He bids them ask for bread, that is daily food, it seems that He implies that they should possess nothing, but rather practise an honourable poverty. For it is not the part of those who have bread to seek it, but rather of those who are oppressed with want.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas"Give us our constant bread of the day." Look, he has said, "Seek the kingdom of God, and these things over and above will be given to you as well." He said "of the day" to teach us poverty in relation to the things of the world. It is sufficient for only our need, or else when we are anxious for a time, we might withdraw from intimacy with God. This bread of the day indicates necessity. He does not just give us only bread but also clothing and other things, as he said, "Your Father knows what your needs are before you ask him."
COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 6.16A"Give us this day our supersubstantial bread." Another Evangelist uses the term daily.The first expression indicates that this bread has a noble and substantial character by which its exalted splendor and holiness surpass all substances and all creatures. With "daily" the Evangelist shows that without this bread we cannot live a spiritual life for even a day. When he says "this day," he shows that the bread must be eaten each day. It will not be enough to have eaten yesterday unless we eat similarly today. May our daily poverty encourage us to pour out this prayer at all times, for there is no day on which it is unnecessary for us to eat this bread to strengthen the heart of the person within us. "Daily" can also be understood as referring to our present life. That is, "give us this bread while we linger in this present world." We know that in the time to come you will give it to whoever deserves it, but we ask that you give it to us today. He who has not received it in this life will not be able to partake of it in that next life.
CONFERENCE 9.21(Hom. 23. in Matt.) We must then require of God the necessities of life; not varieties of meats, and spiced wines, and the other things which please the palate, while they load thy stomach and disturb thy mind, but bread which is able to support the bodily substance, that is to say, which is sufficient only for the day, that we may take no thought of the morrow. But we make only one petition about things of sense, that the present life may not trouble us.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(App. Serm. 84..) In the Greek the word is ἐπιούσιον, that is, something added to the substance. (supersubstantialem) It is not that bread which goes into the body, but that bread of everlasting life, which supports the substance of our soul. But the Latins call this "daily" bread, which the Greeks call "coming to." If it is daily bread, why is it eaten a year old, as is the custom with the Greeks in the east? Take daily what profits thee for the day; so live that thou mayest daily be thought worthy to receive. The death of our Lord is signified thereby, and the remission of sins, and dost thou not daily partake of that bread of life? He who has a wound seeks to be cured; the wound is that we are under sin, the cure is the heavenly and dreadful Sacrament. If thou receivest daily, daily does "To-day" come unto thee. Christ is to thee To-day; (Heb. 13:8.) Christ rises to thee daily.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhose kingdom shall I wish to come-his, of whom I never heard as the king of glory; or His, in whose hand are even the hearts of kings? Who shall give me my daily bread? Shall it be he who produces for me not a grain of millet-seed; or He who even from heaven gave to His people day by day the bread of angels? Who shall forgive me my trespasses? He who, by refusing to judge them, does not retain them; or He who, unless He forgives them, will retain them, even to His judgment? Who shall suffer us not to be led into temptation? He before whom the tempter will never be able to tremble; or He who from the beginning has beforehand condemned the angel tempter? If any one, with such a form, invokes another god and not the Creator, he does not pray; he only blasphemes.
Against Marcion Book IVHow unworthy, also, is the way in which you interpret to the favour of your own lust the fact that the Lord "ate and drank" promiscuously! But I think that He must have likewise "fasted" inasmuch as He has pronounced, not "the full; "but "the hungry and thirsty, blessed: " (He) who was wont to profess "food" to be, not that which His disciples had supposed, but "the thorough doing of the Father's work; " teaching "to labour for the meat which is permanent unto life eternal; " in our ordinary prayer likewise commanding us to request "bread," not the wealth of Attalus therewithal.
On FastingDivine Wisdom arranged the order of this prayer with exquisite choice. After the matters that pertain to heaven—that is, after the name of God, the will of God and the kingdom of God—it should make a place for a petition for our earthly needs too! Our Lord taught us, "Seek first the kingdom, and then these things shall be given you besides." We should rather understand "give us this day our daily bread" in a spiritual sense. For Christ is "our bread," because Christ is life, and the life is bread. "I am," he said, "the bread of life." Shortly before this he said, "The bread is the word of the living God who has come down from heaven." Then, because his body is considered to be in the bread, he said, "This is my body." When we ask for our daily bread, we are asking to live forever in Christ and to be inseparably united with his body.
ON PRAYER 6Teach us to ask for "bread" only "daily," that is, useful for our existence and for the sustenance of life, by no means superfluous, but necessary.
Commentary on LukeOr the bread of souls is the Divine power, bringing the everlasting life which is to come, as the bread which comes out of the earth preserves the temporal life. But by saying "daily," He signifies the Divine bread which comes and is to come, which we seek to be given to us daily, requiring a certain earnest and taste of it, seeing that the Spirit which dwells in us hath wrought a virtue surpassing all human virtues, as chastity, humility, and the rest.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
καὶ ἄφες ἡμῖν τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀφίεμεν παντὶ τῷ ὀφείλοντι ἡμῖν· καὶ μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, ἀλλὰ ρῦσαι ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ.
и҆ ѡ҆ста́ви на́мъ грѣхѝ на́шѧ, и҆́бо и҆ са́ми ѡ҆ставлѧ́емъ всѧ́комꙋ должникꙋ̀ на́шемꙋ: и҆ не введѝ на́съ во и҆скꙋше́нїе, но и҆зба́ви на́съ ѿ лꙋка́вагѡ.
(in Enchirid. c. 116.) But what Matthew has placed at the end, But deliver us from evil, Luke has not mentioned, that we might understand it belongs to the former, which was spoken of temptation. He therefore says, But deliver us, not, "And deliverus," clearly proving this to be but one petition," Do not this, but this." But let every one know that he is therein delivered from evil, when he is not brought into temptation.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(in reg. brev. ad inter. 221.) It does not however become us to seek by our prayers bodily afflictions. For Christ has universally commanded men every where to pray that they enter not into temptation. But when one has already entered, it is fitting to ask from the Lord the power of enduring, that we may have fulfilled in us those words, He that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Mat. 10:22.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasFourth, with respect to pardon from guilt, he adds: And forgive us our sins, and this with regard to the guilt of obligation: whence in Matthew 6 they are called debts. For sins make us debtors of those things which we cannot pay; whence in the Psalm: "The sinner shall borrow and shall not pay," etc. These are the debts, by which the Shunammite woman was bound, in 4 Kings 4, who could not pay until Elisha multiplied the oil. Through the oil of Christ's mercy our sins are paid and forgiven.
But because "judgment without mercy shall be done to him who has not shown mercy," according to what is said in James 2; therefore he adds a condition: Since we ourselves also forgive everyone indebted to us. This condition is indeed necessary for obtaining pardon of sins; whence Sirach 28: "Forgive your neighbor who harms you, and then when you pray, your sins shall be loosed. Man preserves anger against man, and seeks remedy from God?" — as if to say: he seeks in vain. Whence Matthew 6: "If you forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you your sins; but if you do not forgive, neither will your Father forgive you your sins." Whence also in Matthew 18 he proposes the parable of the wicked servant, at the end of which he adds: "So shall your heavenly Father do to you, if you do not each forgive your brother from your hearts." And this rightly, because whoever flees the law of clemency falls under the law of justice; concerning which above in chapter six: "Forgive, and you shall be forgiven"; "for with the same measure with which you have measured, it shall be measured back to you." The Lord added this condition here to show that what is said is true, which is said in Judith 9: "The prayer of the humble and the meek has always been pleasing to you," but that of the proud and the slanderous, never. Whence Isaiah 1: "When you multiply prayer, I will not hear; for your hands are full of blood." Whence Chrysostom: "If he who has been injured prays in vain unless he has forgiven, how, do you think, does he pray who has not been injured, if he himself through injustice injures and burdens others? But he who does not pray as Christ taught is not a disciple; nor does the Father hear a prayer which the Son did not teach. For the Father knows the mind and words of his Son; he does not accept what human presumption has devised, but what the wisdom of Christ has set forth."
Fifth, with respect to victory in conflict, he adds: And lead us not into temptation, that is, do not permit us to be led in, that is, to be overcome; because, as is said in James 1, "God is no tempter of evils; but each one is tempted, drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence."
And note that he does not ask not to be tempted, because temptation proves a man, according to that saying of the Psalm: "Prove me, O Lord, and try me"; and Ecclesiasticus thirty-four: "He who has not been tempted knows little." But he asks not to be overcome or conquered by temptation, but to conquer and triumph. This indeed must be asked on account of the faithfulness of divine aid, concerning which First Corinthians ten: "God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will make also with the temptation an outcome, that you may be able to endure." It must also be asked on account of recognizing our own weakness, according to that saying of Second Chronicles twenty: "In us indeed there is not so great a strength that we can resist this multitude which rushes upon us. But since we do not know what we ought to do, this alone remains to us, that we direct our eyes to you." Whence Chrysostom: "Let them recognize that they are weak, and the knowledge of weakness will extinguish the cause of glorying," because, according to what is said in First Maccabees three, "not in the multitude of an army is the victory of war, but from heaven is strength."
Since therefore tribulation is a temptation, according to that saying of James one: "Blessed is the man who endures temptation," etc.; therefore he who is delivered from every evil of temptation is delivered consequently from the evil of tribulation: and therefore it is not necessary to add further: Deliver us from evil, as though it were an entirely different petition, but to be unfolded as though included within this one. And this is what Bede says in the Gloss: "Let each one know that he is delivered from evil in this, that he is not led into temptation."
Luke therefore ends the prayer at temptation, in which there is doubt about standing or falling: and therefore he does not add Amen, which is a sign of certainty that the prayer has been heard: Matthew however ends at deliverance from every evil of punishment and thereby from death: concerning which First Corinthians fifteen: "But last of all, the enemy death shall be destroyed," and after these things there is certainty of salvation: therefore he ends by saying Amen, which is a sign of certainty for that time. But because, as long as we are here, we do not attain to this certainty; therefore it is said quietly and in a low voice by the priest, while the rest in the Mass is said in an elevated voice. There are also other reasons of fittingness: but let this suffice for the present.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11Forgive us... as we forgive. Unfortunately there's no need to do any festooning here. To forgive for the moment is not difficult. But to go on forgiving, to forgive the same offence again every time it recurs to the memory--there's the real tussle. My resource is to look for some action of my own which is open to the same charge as the one I'm resenting. If I still smart to remember how A let me down, I must still remember how I let B down. If I find it difficult to forgive those who bullied me at school, let me, at that very moment, remember, and pray for, those I bullied. (Not that we called it bullying of course. That is where prayer without words can be so useful. In it there are no names; therefore no aliases.)
I was never worried myself by the words lead us not into temptation, but a great many of my correspondents are. The words suggest to them what some one has called "a fiend-like conception of God," as one who first forbids us certain fruits and then lures us to taste them. But the Greek word ([Greek: peirasmos]) means "trial"--"trying circumstances"--of every sort; a far larger word than English "temptation". So that the petition essentially is, "Make straight our paths. Spare us, where possible, from all crises, whether of temptation or affliction." By the way, you yourself, though you've doubtless forgotten it, gave me an excellent gloss on it: years ago in the pub at Coton. You said it added a sort of reservation to all our preceding prayers. As if we said, "In my ignorance I have asked for A, B and C. But don't give me them if you foresee that they would in reality be to me either snares or sorrows." And you quoted Juvenal, numinibus vota exaudita malignis, "enormous prayers which heaven in vengeance grants". For we make plenty of such prayers. If God had granted all the silly prayers I've made in my life, where should I be now?
LETTERS TO MALCOLM: CHIEFLY ON PRAYER, Letter 5He never remembers those who have sinned against him, but forgives them. Wherefore also he righteously prays, saying, "Forgive us; for we also forgive." For this also is one of the things which God wishes, to covet nothing, to hate no one. For all men are the work of one will. And is it not the Saviour, who wishes the Gnostic to be perfect as "the heavenly Father," that is, Himself, who says, "Come, ye children, hear from me the fear of the Lord?" He wishes him no longer to stand in need of help by angels, but to receive it from Himself, having become worthy, and to have protection from Himself by obedience.
The Stromata Book 7He requires his disciples to be gentle and slow to anger, so that they may be able to say blamelessly in their prayers, "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted unto us." … He first commands them to ask forgiveness of the sins they commit and then to confess that they entirely forgive others. If I may say so, they ask God to imitate the patience that they practice. The same gentleness that they show to their fellow servants, they pray that they may receive in equal measure from God, who gives justly, and knows how to show mercy to everyone.…The Savior of all and Lord with good reason did not conclude this clause of the prayer at this point but commanded us to add, "For we also ourselves have forgiven every one who is indebted to us." This is fitting to say only for those who have chosen a virtuous life and are practicing without carelessness "the will of God" that, as Scripture says, "is good and acceptable and perfect." … We must ask God for the forgiveness of the sins that we have committed. First, we must have forgiven whoever has offended us in anything. This is if their sin is against us and not against the glory of the supreme God. We are not masters over such actions but only over those that have been committed against ourselves. By forgiving the brothers what they do to us, we will then certainly find Christ, the Savior of all, gentle and ready to show us mercy.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 76When we are intent in prayer, he commands us to say, "Lead us not into temptation." Luke concludes the prayer with these words, but Matthew adds, "but deliver us from the evil one." There is a certain close connection in the clauses, because when people are not being led into temptation, they are also delivered from the evil one. If anyone were perhaps to say that not being led into is the same as being delivered from it, he would not err from the truth.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 77For He wishes, if I may so speak, to make God the imitator of the patience which men practise, that the kindness which they have shown to their fellowservants, they should in like manner seek to receive in equal balance from God, who recompenses to each man justly, and knows how to have mercy upon all men.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Orat. Dom. Serm. 5.) Having taught us to take confidence through good works, He next teaches us to implore the remission of our offences, for it follows, And forgive us our sins.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut behold, our enemy has grievously sinned against us, inflicted losses, harmed those who helped, persecuted those who loved. These things would need to be retained if our own sins were not to be forgiven. For our Advocate has composed a prayer for us in our case; and he who is the Advocate is himself the Judge of that same case. Moreover, he inserted a condition into the prayer he composed, saying: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Therefore, since he who stood forth as Advocate comes as Judge, he who made the prayer hears it. Either, then, we say without doing it, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors, and by saying this we bind ourselves all the more; or perhaps we omit this condition in our prayer, and our Advocate does not recognize the prayer he composed, and immediately says to himself: I know what I instructed; this is not the prayer I made. What then must we do, brothers, except extend the affection of true charity to our brothers? Let no malice remain in our heart. Let almighty God consider our charity toward our neighbor, so that he may extend his mercy to our iniquities. Remember what we are admonished: Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Behold, something is owed to us, and we owe. Let us therefore forgive what is owed to us, so that what is owed by us may be forgiven.
Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27Considering then these things, we ought to show mercy to our debtors. For they are to us if we are wise the cause of our greatest pardon; and though we perform only a few things, we shall find many. For we owe many and great debts to the Lord, of which if the least part should be exacted from us, we should soon perish.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(in Orat. Dom.) Or, the Lord commands us to pray, Lead us not into temptation, let us not have experience of lustful and self-induced temptations. But James teaches those who contend only for the truth, not to be unnerved by involuntary and troublesome temptations, saying, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. (James 1:2.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasLuke says, "Forgive us our sins," since sins are associated with our debts if we have not paid them. He says the same thing as Matthew but does not seem to leave room for the person who wishes to forgive debtors only if they repent. He says that our Savior has given the law that we should add to our prayer, "For we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us." Surely we all have authority to forgive sins against ourselves. This is clear from "as we forgive our debtors" and from "for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us." The person inspired by Jesus and known by his fruits, as the apostles were, has received the Holy Spirit. He has become spiritual by being led by the Spirit to do everything by reason as a child of God. This person forgives whatever God forgives and retains sins that cannot be healed, serving God as the prophets by not speaking his own words but those of the divine will. He also serves God who alone has authority to forgive.
ON PRAYER 28.7-8(ubi sup.) But what is the debt except sin? If thou hadst not received, thou wouldest not owe money to another. And therefore sin is imputed to you. For thou hadst money with which thou wert born rich, and made after the likeness and image of God, but thou hast lost what thou then hadst. As when thou puttest on pride thou losest the gold of humility, thou hast receipted the devil's debt which was not necessary; the enemy held the bond, but the Lord crucified it, and cancelled it with His blood. But the Lord is able, who has taken away our sins and forgiven our debts, to guard us against the snares of the devil, who is wont to produce sin in us. Hence it follows, And lead us not into temptation, such as we are not able to bear, but like the wrestler we wish only such temptation as the condition of man can sustain.
(ubi sup.) For each man seeks to be delivered from evil, that is, from his enemies and sin, but he who gives himself up to God, fears not the devil, for if God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhose kingdom shall I wish to come-his, of whom I never heard as the king of glory; or His, in whose hand are even the hearts of kings? Who shall give me my daily bread? Shall it be he who produces for me not a grain of millet-seed; or He who even from heaven gave to His people day by day the bread of angels? Who shall forgive me my trespasses? He who, by refusing to judge them, does not retain them; or He who, unless He forgives them, will retain them, even to His judgment? Who shall suffer us not to be led into temptation? He before whom the tempter will never be able to tremble; or He who from the beginning has beforehand condemned the angel tempter? If any one, with such a form, invokes another god and not the Creator, he does not pray; he only blasphemes.
Against Marcion Book IV"But you remit, in order that remission may be granted you by God." The sins which are (thus) cleansed are such as a man may have committed against his brother, not against God. We profess, in short, in our prayer, that we will grant remission to our debtors; but it is not becoming to distend further, on the ground of the authority of such Scriptures, the cable of contention with alternate pull into diverse directions; so that one (Scripture) may seem to draw tight, another to relax, the reins of discipline-in uncertainty, as it were,-and the latter to debase the remedial aid of repentance through lenity, the former to refuse it through austerity.
On ModestyFor the completeness of so brief a prayer He added-in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touching the entire averting, of acts of guilt-"Lead us not into temptation:" that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt, as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity and malice are characteristics of the devil. For God had commanded even Abraham to make a sacrifice of his son, for the sake not of tempting, but proving, his faith; in order through him to make an example for that precept of His, whereby He was, by and by, to enjoin that he should hold no pledges of affection dearer than God. He Himself, when tempted by the devil, demonstrated who it is that presides over and is the originator of temptation. This passage He confirms by subsequent ones, saying, "Pray that ye be not tempted;" yet they were tempted, (as they showed) by deserting their Lord, because they had given way rather to sleep than prayer. The final clause, therefore, is consonant, and interprets the sense of "Lead us not into temptation;" for this sense is, "But convey us away from the Evil One."
On PrayerNot to enter "into temptation" means not to rush toward temptations. For we ought to pray to God not that He send temptation upon us, but that He avert it; and if it befalls us, we must bear it with courage. It should be said that there are two kinds of temptations. Some are voluntary, such as drunkenness, murder, adultery, and other passions; for we fall into these temptations voluntarily. Other temptations are involuntary, to which rulers and the powerful subject us. From voluntary temptations, that is, from the passions, we must flee, pray for deliverance from them, and say "lead us not," that is, do not allow us to fall "into temptation," that is, into voluntary passion.
For he brings about both involuntary and voluntary temptations. Therefore, when you involuntarily endure a temptation from a person, do not consider that person the cause of your temptation, but the evil one. For he instigates the person to rage against you and act furiously.
Commentary on LukeThis also was necessarily added, for no one is found without sin, that we should not be hindered from the holy participation on account of man's guilt. For whereas we are bound to render unto Christ all manner of holiness, who maketh His Spirit to dwell in us, we are to be blamed if we keep not our temples clean for Him. But this defect is supplied by the goodness of God, remitting to human frailty the severe punishment of sin. And this act is done justly by the just God, when we forgive as it were our debtors, those, namely, who have injured us, and have not restored what was due. Hence it follows, For we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
For it is impossible not to be tempted by the devil, but we make this prayer that we may not be abandoned to our temptations. Now that which happens by Divine permission, God is sometimes in Scripture said to do. And in this way by hindering not the increase of temptation which is above our strength, he leads us into temptation.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἕξει φίλον, καὶ πορεύσεται πρὸς αὐτὸν μεσονυκτίου καὶ ἐρεῖ αὐτῷ· φίλε, χρῆσόν μοι τρεῖς ἄρτους,
И҆ речѐ къ ни̑мъ: кто̀ ѿ ва́съ и҆́мать дрꙋ́га, и҆ и҆́детъ къ немꙋ̀ въ полꙋ́нощи, и҆ рече́тъ є҆мꙋ̀: дрꙋ́же, да́ждь мѝ взаи́мъ трѝ хлѣ́бы:
Another precept is that prayer should be offered at every moment, not just during the day but also at night. For you see that this person who set out in the middle of the night, asking for three loaves from his friend and persisting in his request, will not be denied his prayers. Who are these three loaves, if not the nourishment of heavenly mysteries? If you love the Lord your God, you will not only be able to acquire it for yourself, but also for others. But who is more friendly to us than the one who handed over his body for us?
Exposition of the Gospel of Luke, 7.87Who is a greater friend to us, than He who delivered up His body for us? Now we have here another kind of command given us, that at all times, not only in the day, but at night, prayers should be offered up. For it follows, And shall go into him at midnight. (Ps. 119:62.) As David did when he said, At midnight I will rise and give thanks unto thee. For he had no fear of awakening them from sleep, whom he knew to be ever watching. For if David who was occupied also in the necessary affairs of a kingdom was so holy, that seven times in the day he gave praise to God, (Ps. 119:164.) what ought we to do, who ought so much the more to pray, as we more frequently sin, through the weakness of our mind and body? But if thou lovest the Lord thy God, thou wilt be able to gain favour, not only for thyself, but others. For it follows, And say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves, &c.
This is the door which Paul also requests may be opened to him, beseeching to be assisted not only by his own prayers, but those also of the people, that a door of utterance may be opened to him to speak the mystery of Christ. (Col. 4:3.) And perhaps that is the door which John saw open, and it was said to him, Come up hither, and, I will show thee things which must be hereafter. (Rev. 4:1.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasA man whose friend came to him from a journey had nothing to set before him. He wished to borrow three loaves from a friend. Perhaps this number symbolizes the Trinity of one substance. The man woke him as he slept in the middle of his servants. He begged insistently and importunately, so that he gave him as many as he wished. If a man awakened from sleep is forced to give unwillingly in answer to a request, God, who does not know sleep and who wakens us from sleep that we may ask, gives much more graciously.
LETTER 130(Serm. 105) But what are these three loaves but the food of the heavenly mystery? For it may be that one has had a friend asking for what he cannot supply him with, and then finds that he has not what he is compelled to give. A friend then comes to you on his journey, that is, in this present life, in which all are travelling on as strangers, and no one remains possessor, but to every man is told, Pass on, O stranger, give place to him that is coming. (Ecclus 29, 27.) Or perhaps some friend or yours comes from a bad road, (that is, an evil life,) wearied and not finding the truth, by hearing and receiving which he may become happy. He comes to thee as to a Christian, and says, "Give me a reason," asking perhaps what you from the simplicity of your faith are ignorant of, and not having wherewith to satisfy his hunger, are compelled to seek it in the Lord's books. For perhaps what he asked is contained in the book, but obscure. You are not permitted to ask Paul himself, or Peter, or any prophet, for all that family is now resting with their Lord, and the ignorance of the world is very great, that is, it is midnight, and your friend who is urgent from hunger presses this, not contented with a simple faith; must he then be abandoned? Go therefore to the Lord Himself with whom the family is sleeping, Knock, and pray; of whom it is added, And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not. He delays to give, wishing that you should the more earnestly desire what is delayed, lost by being given at once it should grow common.
(Qu. Ev. l. ii. qu. 21.) The time then referred to is that of the famine of the word, when the understanding is shut up, (Amos 8:11.) and they who dealing out the wisdom of the Gospel as it were bread, preached throughout the world, are now in their secret rest with the Lord. And this it is which is added, And my children are with me in bed.
(de Quæst. Ev. lib. ii. qu. 21.) Or else, the friend to whom the visit is made at midnight, for the loan of the three loaves, is evidently meant for an allegory, just as a person set in the midst of trouble might ask God that He would give him to understand the Trinity, by which he may console the troubles of this present life. For his distress is the midnight in which he is compelled to be so urgent in his request for the three. Now by the three loaves it is signified, that the Trinity is of one substance. But the friend coming from his journey is understood the desire of man, which ought to obey reason, but was obedient to the custom of the world, which he calls the way, from all things passing along it. Now when man is converted to God, that desire also is reclaimed from custom. But if not consoled by that inward joy arising from the spiritual doctrine which declares the Trinity of the Creator, he is in great straits who is pressed down by earthly sorrows, seeing that from all outward delights he is commanded to abstain, and within there is no refreshment from the delight of spiritual doctrine. And yet it is effected by prayer, that he who desires should receive understanding from God, even though there be no one by whom wisdom should be preached. For it follows, And if that man shall continue, &c. The argument is drawn from the less to the greater. For, if a friend rises from his bed, and gives not from the force of friendship, but from weariness, how much more does God give who without weariness gives most abundantly whatever we ask?
(ubi sup.) But when thou shalt have obtained the three loaves, that is, the food and knowledge of the Trinity, thou hast both the source of life and of food. Fear not. Cease not. For that bread will not come to an end, but will put an end to your want. Learn and teach. Live and eat.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd he said to them: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has come from a journey to me, and I have nothing to set before him. When asked by his disciples, the Savior not only gave the form of prayer but also the perseverance and frequency of praying. The friend, therefore, to whom one comes at midnight is understood to be God Himself. To whom we must pray in the midst of tribulation and beg for three loaves, that is, the understanding of the Trinity, by which the labors of this present life are comforted. The friend who comes from the journey is our own mind, which departs from us each time it wanders outside to pursue earthly and temporal things. He returns and desires to be refreshed with heavenly nourishment when he, having turned back to himself, begins to meditate on higher and spiritual things. It is fitting that the one who asked adds that he has nothing to set before him. For the soul, longing for God after the darkness of the world, wants to think of nothing, speak of nothing, look upon nothing except Him, and only contemplate the joy of the supreme Trinity which it has recognized and strives to more fully understand.
On the Gospel of LukeAnd he said to them: Which of you, etc. After the example and instruction, he here subjoins thirdly an incitement to prayer, by which we are invited to pray frequently and confidently. And this part has two sections: in the first is proposed an incitement to frequency of prayer; in the second, to confidence in praying, at the place: But which of you asks a father, etc. For these are the two things which most greatly empty the fruit of prayer of its effect, namely negligence and distrust.
Concerning the incitement to frequency, two things are intimated. The first is the inciting similitude; the second is the informative instruction, at the place: And I say to you: Ask, and it shall be given to you. As for the inciting similitude to frequency of prayer, three things are introduced. The first is the petitioning opportunity; the second is the refusing difficulty; the third is the importunity that obtains, so that from this it may be shown how great is the efficacy of importunate and continual prayer.
First, therefore, as regards the petitioning opportunity, he says: Which of you shall have a friend, etc. This is read interrogatively, but the Gloss holds that it should be read permissively: "Which, that is, someone, or if anyone." This, however, is said to show the preciousness of a true friend, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 6: "To a faithful friend there is no comparison, and no weighing of gold and silver is worthy against the goodness of his fidelity"; and again: "A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality, and he who fears the Lord shall find him." — To this friend, therefore, one has recourse with confidence, and so it is added: And he shall go to him at midnight, because, as is said in Proverbs 17, "he who is a friend loves at all times, and a brother is proven in distress."
And to such a one the need is set forth with confidence; for which reason it is added: And he shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves; and this he supports by the law of piety and charity, concerning which it is said in Isaiah 58: "Break your bread for the hungry"; and Ecclesiastes 11: "Cast your bread upon the passing waters."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11But according to the spiritual understanding, by this friend is understood Christ, of whom Ecclesiasticus six says: "A faithful friend is a strong protection: and he who finds him finds a treasure." Concerning this, John fifteen says: "I will no longer call you servants, but I have called you friends"; and again: "You are my friends," etc. To this friend one must go at night, that is, in the silence of night, as Nicodemus came, of whom it is said in John three that he "came to Jesus at night": first, because in the secret silence of night he is to be knocked upon through prayer, according to that passage of Isaiah twenty-six: "My soul has desired you in the night"; and Lamentations two: "Arise in the night, at the beginning of the watches: pour out your heart like water," etc. Or at night, that is, in tribulation, according to that passage of Hosea six: "In their tribulation they will rise early to me"; and in the Psalm: "Call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will deliver you," etc.
The friend, however, who comes from a journey, is our soul, according to what is said in the Gloss, who, as often as it wanders to seek temporal things, so often departs from us. Delight causes this friend to wander abroad, but tribulation brings him back, according to what is said of the prodigal son below in the fifteenth chapter, who departed on account of luxury but returned on account of hunger. Hence Hosea two: "I will hedge your way with thorns and wall it up with a barrier"; and afterward it adds: "And you will say: I will go and return to my first husband, because it was better for me then than now." This one returns when he runs back to interior things, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-six: "Return, transgressors, to the heart," but finds it empty of the consolation of spiritual refreshments. Hence of sinners it is said in Lamentations two: "They said to their mothers: Where is the grain and wine? when they fainted as the wounded in the streets of the city, when they breathed out their souls in the bosom of their mothers." "And the joy of our heart has ceased. Woe to us! for we have sinned."
For this hungry friend, therefore, three loaves are to be sought from the true friend, that is, according to what Bede and Augustine say, the understanding of the Trinity or the names of the three persons, so that in the knowledge of God alone he may find refreshment: whence Exodus 24: "They saw the Lord and ate and drank"; and Ecclesiasticus 15: "He will feed him with the bread of life and understanding and give him the water of saving wisdom to drink." Or the three loaves are faith, hope, and charity, by which the threefold virtue in the soul is restored, concerning which below at chapter 15: "How many hired servants in my father's house abound with bread," etc. Concerning these, 1 Kings 10: "When you come to the oak of Tabor, three men going up to the Lord in Bethel will meet you: one carrying three kids, another three cakes of bread, and another carrying a flask of wine"; so that in these may be understood the unity of grace and the trinity of virtues, through which the image of God is reformed in the soul. — But this petition is not immediately heard by Christ, but it is necessary to seek with much persistence: because for such great gifts the sinful soul is less fit, whence Matthew 15: "It is not good to take the bread of the children and give it to dogs"; but even if he is already a son, lest that bread become cheap, since it is always necessary for him to hunger, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 24: "Those who eat me will still hunger"; or so that by asking we may merit more and be disposed. Whence Augustine to Proba, On Praying to God: "He wills that our desire be exercised in prayers, by which we may be able to receive what he prepares to give."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11The Saviour had before taught, in answer to the request of His apostles, how men ought to pray. But it might happen that those who had received this wholesome teaching, poured forth their prayers indeed according to the form given to them, but carelessly and languidly, and then when they were not heard in the first or second prayer, left off praying. That this then might not be our case, He shows by means of a parable, that cowardice in our prayers is hurtful, but it is of great advantage to have patience in them. Hence it is said, And he says unto them, Which of you shall have a friend.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThe neighbour was without bread, and therefore he knocked; but as soon as the door was opened to him, and he received the bread, he discontinued knocking. The widow kept asking to be heard by the judge, because she was not admitted; but when her suit was heard, thenceforth she was silent.
The Prescription Against HereticsThe Creator, on the contrary, was able to proclaim these duties and rewards by Christ, in order that man, who by sinning had offended his God, might toil on (in his probation), and by his perseverance in asking might receive, and in seeking might find, and in knocking might enter. Accordingly, the preceding similitude represents the man who went at night and begged for the loaves, in the light of a friend and not a stranger, and makes him knock at a friend's house and not at a stranger's.
Against Marcion Book IVThe like lesson He both inculcates by examples, and repeatedly handles in parables, when He says, "Doth a father take away bread from his children, and hand it to dogs? " and again, "Doth a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread? " For He thus shows what it is that sons expect from their father. Nay, even that nocturnal knocker knocked for "bread." Moreover, He Justly added, "Give us this day," seeing He had previously said, "Take no careful thought about the morrow, what ye are to eat." To which subject He also adapted the parable of the man who pondered on an enlargement of his barns for his forthcoming fruits, and on seasons of prolonged security; but that very night he dies.
On PrayerThe Lord, teaching us to pray without laziness, tells a parable and an example. What then does the parable mean? By "midnight" He refers to the last days of life, upon reaching which people begin to sympathize with the good and turn toward God. For He is a friend who loves all and desires the salvation of all (1 Tim. 2:4). Thus, many "at midnight," that is, at the end of life, come to God as a friend and say: "give three loaves," that is, faith in the Trinity; for "a friend has come," that is, the Angel who takes the soul. Moreover, every Angel is a friend, as the Lord also says that there is joy in heaven over the salvation of a person (Luke 15:10).
Commentary on LukeGod is that friend, who loveth all men, and wills that all should he saved.
Or else, The midnight is the end of life, at which many come to God. But the friend is the Angel who receives the soul. Or, the midnight is the depth of temptations, in which he who has fallen, seeks from God three loaves, the relief of the wants of his body, soul, and spirit; through whom we run into no danger in our temptations. But the friend who comes from his journey is God Himself, who proves by temptations who has nothing to set before Him, and who is weakened in temptation. But when He says, And the door is shut, we must understand that we ought to be prepared before temptations. But after that we have fallen into them, the gate of preparation is shut, and being found unprepared, unless God keep us, we are in danger.
Catena Aurea by AquinasFor a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
ἐπειδὴ φίλος μου παρεγένετο ἐξ ὁδοῦ πρός με καὶ οὐκ ἔχω ὃ παραθήσω αὐτῷ·
поне́же дрꙋ́гъ прїи́де съ пꙋтѝ ко мнѣ̀, и҆ не и҆́мамъ чесѡ̀ предложи́ти є҆мꙋ̀.
Also by the law of fidelity and special friendship; for which reason he adds: Because my friend has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him; and so by the fidelity of friendship I am bound to him, and through this, you also to me; whence Ecclesiasticus 22: "Keep faith with a friend in his poverty, that you may rejoice in his prosperity. In the time of his tribulation remain faithful to him, that in his inheritance you may be a co-heir."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
κἀκεῖνος ἔσωθεν ἀποκριθεὶς εἴπῃ· μή μοι κόπους πάρεχε· ἤδη ἡ θύρα κέκλεισται καὶ τὰ παιδία μου μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ εἰς τὴν κοίτην εἰσίν· οὐ δύναμαι ἀναστὰς δοῦναί σοι;
И҆ то́й и҆звнꙋ́трь ѿвѣща́въ рече́тъ: не твори́ ми трꙋды̀: ᲂу҆жѐ двє́ри затворены̀ сꙋ́ть, и҆ дѣ́ти моѧ̑ со мно́ю на ло́жи сꙋ́ть: (и҆) не могꙋ̀ воста́въ да́ти тебѣ̀.
And he from within shall answer: Do not bother me, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give to you. The door of the divine friend is the understanding of the word, which the Apostle prays to be opened for speaking the mystery of Christ. And it is closed in the time of the famine of the word when understanding is not given. And those who, like bread distributors, preached gospel wisdom throughout the world, the children of the master of the house, are now in secret rest with the Lord. Yet through prayer, it is accomplished that he who desires understanding receives it from God Himself, even if a man is not present through whom wisdom is preached.
On the Gospel of LukeSecond, regarding the refusing difficulty, he adds: And he answering from within should say: Do not trouble me, namely by disturbing one who is at rest and rousing him from sleep, as Abner said to David in 1 Kings 26: "Who are you who cry out and disturb the king"? — And that the trouble is great is shown from the adjoined difficulty: The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed, that is, sons, who ought to be loved with tender affection; whence Isaiah 8: "Behold, I and my children, whom the Lord has given me", that is, sons, whose love cannot be neglected, according to that passage in Isaiah 49: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb"? — Therefore he adds: I cannot rise and give to you. And this does not entirely remove the power, but posits a difficulty, as if saying what Elijah said to Elisha in 4 Kings 2: "You have asked a difficult thing". And therefore he says: I cannot, that is, I cannot conveniently or easily, as the king of Israel answered the king of Syria in 3 Kings 20: "All the things for which you sent to your servant in the beginning, I will do; but this thing I cannot do".
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11(ordin.) He does not then take away the liberty of asking, but is the more anxious to kindle the desire of praying, by showing the difficulty of obtaining that we ask for. For it follows, The door is now shut.
(ordin.) And because of what has gone before he adds, I cannot rise and give thee, which must have reference to the difficulty of obtaining.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWell does he call those children who by the arms of righteousness have claimed to themselves freedom from passion, showing that the good which by practice we have acquired, had been from the beginning laid up in our nature. For when any one renouncing the flesh, by living in the exercise of a virtuous life, has overcome passion, then he becomes as a child, and is insensible to the passions. But by the bed we understand the rest of Christ.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas"Children" resting "on the bed" are people who have converted and thereby become children of the Lord and have been deemed worthy to rest together with Him.
Commentary on LukeI say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
λέγω ὑμῖν, εἰ καὶ οὐ δώσει αὐτῷ ἀναστὰς διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοῦ φίλον, διά γε τὴν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ ἐγερθεὶς δώσει αὐτῷ ὅσων χρῄζει.
Гл҃ю же ва́мъ: а҆́ще и҆ не да́стъ є҆мꙋ̀ воста́въ, занѐ дрꙋ́гъ є҆мꙋ̀ є҆́сть: но за без̾ѻ́чьство є҆гѡ̀, воста́въ да́стъ є҆мꙋ̀, є҆ли̑ка тре́бꙋетъ.
(Const. Mon. c. 1.) For perhaps He delays purposely, to redouble your earnestness and coming to him, and that you may know what the gift of God is, and may anxiously guard what is given. For whatever a man acquires with much pains he strives to keep safe, lest with the loss of that he should lose his labour likewise.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd if he persists in knocking, I tell you, even if he will not give him rising because he is his friend, still because of his impudence, he will rise and give him as many as he needs. And I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. It is a comparison from the lesser. For if a human friend rises from bed and gives not out of friendship but compelled by weariness, how much more will God give, who grants generously without weariness what is asked? But He wishes to be asked so that those who seek may be made capable of His gifts. Therefore, so that the friend arriving from the journey does not perish from hunger, that is, so that a soul recently recovering from its vanity of error does not languish in spiritual desire for want, let us ask for the feast of the word by which it may be nourished, let us seek the friend who gives, let us knock on the door where the hidden things are kept. For He who promises does not deceive, and has given and gives great hope.
On the Gospel of LukeThird, regarding compelling importunity, he adds: And if he shall continue knocking, with prayers, not overcome by shame nor wearied by tedium nor broken by despair, as a true friend, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus 22: "If you have drawn a sword against a friend, do not despair; for there is a way back to a friend. And if you have opened a sorrowful mouth, do not fear".
And because "relentless labor conquers all things," therefore he adds: I say to you, even if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, that is, moved by the truth of affection, which at times grows lukewarm among friends. On account of which it is said in 1 John 3: "Little children, let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth". If therefore he is not overcome by the abundance of charity, he is nonetheless overcome by the persistence of importunity.
On account of which he adds: Yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. An example of this is set forth below in chapter 18 concerning the judge and the widow, who harassed him; whence it is said there that "the judge was unwilling to hear her for a long time. But after these things he said within himself: Although I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because she is troublesome to me, I will avenge her, lest at last coming she wear me out." An example of this is also found in Judges 14 concerning Samson and his wife, from whom, when she was seeking what he had previously been unwilling to reveal, it is added that "she wept before him during the seven days of the feast, and at length on the seventh day, since she was troublesome to him, he explained it".
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11It is the Creator, who once shut the door to the Gentiles, which was then knocked at by the Jews, that both rises and gives, if not now to man as a friend, yet not as a stranger, but, as He says, "because of his importunity." Importunate, however, the recent god could not have permitted any one to be in the short time (since his appearance).
Against Marcion Book IV"Importunity" he calls the intense and prolonged prayer with patience.
Understand it also in another way, namely: by "midnight" understand the force and the middle of temptations. For every temptation is a night, and the middle of temptations is, without doubt, midnight. So when someone is in the middle of temptations, he comes to God Who loves us and says: "lend me three loaves," that is, the salvation of body, soul, and spirit. For temptations threaten danger to these three. And who is the "friend" who has come off the road? Without any doubt, it is the Lord, Who tests us in temptations and desires to taste of our salvation. The one who has fallen into temptations, being unable by himself to withstand them and to receive the Lord, has nothing to set before Him.
"The locked doors" means that we must be prepared before temptations, and when we fall into them, the door to preparation is already locked, and we, finding ourselves unprepared, will be in danger unless God helps. "Children" are (since they turned earlier) those who through virtue have become sons of God, recline and rest in God.
Commentary on LukeAnd I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
κἀγὼ ὑμῖν λέγω, αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν, ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε, κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν·
[Заⷱ҇ 56] И҆ а҆́зъ ва́мъ гл҃ю: проси́те, и҆ да́стсѧ ва́мъ: и҆щи́те, и҆ ѡ҆брѧ́щете: толцы́те, и҆ ѿве́рзетсѧ ва́мъ:
Now he who promises any thing ought to convey a hope of the thing promised, that obedience may follow commands, faith, promises. And therefore he adds, For every one that asketh receiveth.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Severus Antioch.) Or by the word knock perhaps he means seeking effectually, for one knocks with the hand, but the hand is the sign of a good work. Or these three may be distinguished in another way. For it is the beginning of virtue to ask to know the way of truth. But the second step is to seek how we must go by that way. The third step is when a man has reached the virtue to knock at the door, that he may enter upon the wide field of knowledge. All these things a man acquires by prayer. Or to ask indeed is to pray, but to seek is by good works to do things becoming our prayers. And to knock is to continue in prayer without ceasing.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(ubi sup.) Having laid aside the metaphor, our Lord added an exhortation, and expressly urged us to ask, seek, and knock, until we receive what we are seeking. Hence he says, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you.
(Serm. 105.) But He would not so encourage us to ask were He not willing to give. Let human slothfulness blush, He is more willing to give than we to receive.
(Serm. 105.) Therefore, O covetous man, what seekest thou? or if thou seekest any thing else, what will suffice thee to whom the Lord is not sufficient?
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(in Const. c. 1.) If also any one from indolence surrenders himself to his desires, and betrays himself into the hands of his enemies, God neither assists him nor hears him, because by sin he has alienated himself from God. It becomes then a man to offer whatever belongs to him, but to cry to God to assist him. Now we must ask for the Divine assistance not slackly, nor with a mind wavering to and fro, because such a one will not only not obtain what it seeks, but will the rather provoke God to anger. For if a man standing before a prince has his eye fixed within and without, lest perchance he should be punished, how much more before God ought he to stand watchful and trembling? But if when awakened by sin you are unable to pray stedfastly to the utmost of your power, check yourself, that when you stand before God you may direct your mind to Him. And God pardons you, because not from indifference, but infirmity, you cannot appear in His presence as you ought. If then you thus command yourself, do not depart until you receive. For whenever you ask and receive not, it is because your request was improperly made, either without faith, or lightly, or for things which are not good for you, or because you left off praying. But some frequently make the objection, "Why pray we? Is God then ignorant of what we have need?" He knows undoubtedly, and gives us richly all temporal things even before we ask. But we must first desire good works, and the kingdom of heaven; and then having desired, ask in faith and patience, bringing into our prayers whatever is good for us, convicted of no offence by our own conscience.
Catena Aurea by AquinasDesiring that we arrive at the joys of the heavenly kingdom, our Lord and Savior taught us to ask these joys of him and promised that he would give them to us if we asked for them. "Ask," he said, "and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Dearly beloved …, we earnestly and with our whole heart must ponder these words of our Lord. He bears witness that the kingdom of heaven is not given to, found by and opened to those who are idle and unoccupied but to those who ask for it, seek after it and knock at its gates. The gate of the kingdom must be asked for by praying. It must be sought after by living properly. It must be knocked at by persevering.
Homilies on the Gospels 2.14And I say to you. After the inciting similitude he adds informative instruction regarding the frequency of prayer, which he draws from the preceding similitude: where first he exhorts the disciples, and second, all people generally. Therefore, as regards the exhortation with respect to the disciples, he says: And I say to you, I who assuredly do not lie, because, Numbers 23, "God is not as a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should change: has he said then, and will he not do it?" Whence the Gloss says: "He grants great hope who does not deceive by promising."
He therefore admonishes to persistence and frequency of prayer, when he says: Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. A similar passage is found in Matthew 7; on which passage Augustine says: "I thought indeed that what these three differ among themselves should be laboriously distinguished, but far better are all things referred to the most urgent petition. This indeed he shows, where he concluded all things with the same word: How much more will your Father give the good spirit to those who ask him?" Whence the Lord wills to say that which is simply said in 1 Thessalonians 5: "Pray without ceasing"; and Colossians 4: "Be instant in prayer."
These can nevertheless be distinguished in multiple ways, so that to ask refers to the act of the mouth; to seek, to the act of the heart; to knock, to the act of works. Ask therefore with the mouth, and it shall be given to you: Isaiah 62: "You who are mindful of the Lord, do not be silent, until he establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth"; and Isaiah 30: "At the voice of your cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer you, and the Lord will give you bread," etc.; and 65: "And it shall be that before they call, I will hear; while they are yet speaking." Seek also with the heart, and you shall find: whence Jeremiah 29: "You shall seek me and shall find me, when you shall seek me with your whole heart"; and Wisdom 1: "Seek him in simplicity of heart, for he is found by those who do not tempt him." Knock, in works: for he who knocks touches with his hand and rouses; whence in the Psalm: "In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places"; and again: "In the day of my tribulation I sought God with my hands, and I was not deceived."
They can also be distinguished otherwise according to the nature of the thing sought. Ask, namely for pardon; seek grace; knock for glory, according to that passage in Zechariah 10: "Ask rain from the Lord in the latter time, and the Lord will produce snow and rain of showers, and will give to each of them grass in the field." He will give snow to extinguish evil growths through pardon; and rain of showers, to make the earth fruitful through grace; and he will give to each of them grass in the field, adorning and clothing them through glory. Otherwise, on the part of those who ask: Ask, you who are beginners, whose part it is to receive; seek, you who are progressing, whose part it is to find; knock, you who are perfect, whose part it is to enter. Whence to beginners it is said at Philippians 4: "Let your petitions be made known before God." To those progressing is said that verse of the Psalm: "Seek the Lord and be strengthened; seek his face always." To the perfect is said Isaiah 26: "Open the gates, and the just nation shall enter."
Or according to the modes of arriving at wisdom, as Augustine distinguishes: "One does not come to wisdom except, as the Lord teaches, by asking, seeking, and knocking, that is, by praying, reading, and lamenting." Ask therefore by praying: James 1: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given to him." Seek by reading in the book of Scripture and of creation: Song of Songs 3: "Through the streets and open places I will seek him whom my soul loves." Knock by lamenting, as John in Apocalypse 5, where he says: "I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book"; and it is added afterward that he saw the book opened by the slain Lamb. Or, as the Gloss says, on the part of the modes of coming to glory: "Ask, by praying; seek, by living rightly; knock, by persevering." Or, as the Gloss on Matthew 7 says, "we ask by faith, going through it to Christ; we seek by hope, by which we reach even to the interior things; we knock by charity, while we sweat in labors, so that we may obtain what we ask and seek. First you ought to ask, so that you may have: then to seek, so that you may find; to guard what has been found, so that you may enter."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11And so, perhaps, with God. I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God can't give it: you are like the drowning man who can't be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.
On the other hand, "Knock and it shall be opened." But does knocking mean hammering and kicking the door like a maniac? And there's also "To him that hath shall be given." After all, you must have a capacity to receive, or even omnipotence can't give. Perhaps your own passion temporarily destroys the capacity.
A Grief Observed, Chapter IIIBut the most ancient of the philosophers were not carried away to disputing and doubting, much less are we, who are attached to the really true philosophy, on whom the Scripture enjoins examination and investigation. For it is the more recent of the Hellenic philosophers who, by empty and futile love of fame, are led into useless babbling in refuting and wrangling. But, on the contrary, the Barbarian philosophy, expelling all contention, said, "Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; ask, and it shall be given you."
Accordingly, by investigation, the point proposed for inquiry and answer knocks at the door of truth, according to what appears. And on an opening being made through the obstacle in the process of investigation, there results scientific contemplation. To those who thus knock, according to my view, the subject under investigation is opened.
And to those who thus ask questions, in the Scriptures, there is given from God (that at which they aim) the gift of the God-given knowledge, by way of comprehension, through the true illumination of logical investigation. For it is impossible to find, without having sought; or to have sought, without having examined; or to have examined, without having unfolded and opened up the question by interrogation, to produce distinctness; or again, to have gone through the whole investigation, without thereafter receiving as the prize the knowledge of the point in question.
The Stromata Book 8"Therefore I also say to you;" and it is the Bestower of divine gifts Who Himself enters, and speaks;----"I also say to you, Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: for every one that asks receives; and he who seeks finds: and whosoever knocks, it shall be opened to him." In those words, "I say to you" has the full force of an oath: not that God is false, even though the promise be not accompanied with an oath; but to show that the littleness of their faith was groundless, He sometimes confirms His hearers by an oath. For the Saviour is also found in many places prefacing His words by saying, "Verily, truly, I say to you." As therefore He makes this very promise on oath, it is not a thing free from guilt to disbelieve it.
In telling us therefore to seek, He bids us labour: for by labour, that which is needed is always, so to say, found; especially when it is something fit for us to possess. He who knocks, not once merely, but again and again, rattles the door with his hand, it may be, or with a stone, so that the master of the house, unable to endure the annoyance of the knocks, will open it even against his will. Learn therefore, even from what happens among us, the way to gain that which is to your profit. Knock, be urgent, ask. So must all act who ask any thing of God: for wise Paul writes, "Pray without ceasing."
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon LXXVIIIThe words, I say unto you, have the force of an oath. For God doth not lie, but whenever He makes known any thing to His hearers with an oath, he manifests the inexcusable littleness of our faith.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Hom. 23. in Matt.) Now by asking, He means prayer, but by seeking, zeal and anxiety, as He adds, Seek, and ye shall find. For those things which are sought require great care. And this is particularly the case with God. For there are many things which block up our senses. As then we search for lost gold, so let us anxiously seek after God. He shows also, that though He does not forthwith open the gates, we must yet wait. Hence he adds, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for if you continue seeking, you shall surely receive. For this reason, and as the door shut makes you knock, therefore he did not at once consent that you might entreat.
Catena Aurea by AquinasHe who believes that the mouth of Jesus cannot lie would hesitate a moment to be persuaded to pray, when he says, "Ask, and it will be given you … for everyone who asks, receives." When we ask for the living bread, the good Father certainly gives him (and not the stone that his adversary wishes to give to Jesus and his disciples for food) to those who have received the Spirit of sonship from the Father. The Father gives a good gift, raining it down from heaven for those who ask him.
ON PRAYER 10.2But some one may seek to know, how it comes that they who pray are not heard? To which we must answer, that whose sets about seeking in the right way, omitting none of those things which avail to the obtaining of our requests, shall really receive what he has prayed to be given him. But if a man turns away from the object of a right petition, and asks not as it becomes him, he does not ask. And therefore it is, that when he does not receive, as is here promised, there is no falsehood. For so also when a master says, "Whoever will come to me, he shall receive the gift of instruction;" we understand it to imply a person going in real earnest to a master, that he may zealously and diligently devote himself to his teaching. Hence too James says, Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, (James 4:3.) namely, for the sake of vain pleasures. But some one will say, Nay, when men ask to obtain divine knowledge, and to recover their virtue they do not obtain? To which we must answer, that they sought not to receive the good things for themselves, but that thereby they might reap praise.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas"For to every one that asketh," says He, "it shall be given, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened, and by him that seeketh it shall be found." Away with the man who is ever seeking because he never finds; for he seeks there where nothing can be found.
The Prescription Against HereticsIn like manner, from whom must I ask that I may receive? Of whom seek, that I may find? To whom knock, that it may be opened to me? Who has to give to him that asks, but He to whom all things belong, and whose am I also that am the asker? What, however, have I lost before that other god, that I should seek of him and find it.
Against Marcion Book IVTherefore, blessed ones, whom the grace of God awaits, when you ascend from that most sacred font of your new birth, and spread your hands for the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brethren, ask from the Father, ask from the Lord, that His own specialties of grace and distributions of gifts may be supplied you. "Ask," saith He, "and ye shall receive." Well, you have asked, and have received; you have knocked, and it has been opened to you.
On BaptismSince, however, the Lord, the Foreseer of human necessities, said separately, after delivering His Rule of Prayer, "Ask, and ye shall receive; " and since there are petitions which are made according to the circumstances of each individual; our additional wants have the right-after beginning with the legitimate and customary prayers as a foundation, as it were-of rearing an outer superstructure of petitions, yet with remembrance of the Master's precepts.
On PrayerSee what precision there is in the words. The Lord did not say "ask" and it will be given to you, but "keep asking," that is, seek unceasingly.
Commentary on LukeFor every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ἀνοιχθήσεται.
всѧ́къ бо просѧ́й прїе́млетъ, и҆ и҆щѧ́й ѡ҆брѣта́етъ, и҆ толкꙋ́щемꙋ ѿве́рзетсѧ.
For everyone (he says) who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Therefore, according to the previous parable of the requesting friend, perseverance is required so that we may receive what we ask, find what we seek, and have opened what we knock on. For if it is given to the one who asks, and the seeker finds, and it is opened to the one who knocks, therefore, to whom it is not given, who does not find, and to whom it is not opened, it is clear that he did not ask, seek, or knock properly.
On the Gospel of LukeSecond, with respect to the exhortation regarding all, he adds: For everyone who asks receives, if he devoutly asks. Whence the Lord intimates this in John 15: "If you shall ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you," that is, for your salvation; otherwise he does not give. Whence James 4: "You ask and do not receive, because you ask badly, that you may spend it on your concupiscences." Whence Chrysostom: "If you ask for temporal things, how does he grant those which, if you have them, he commanded you to despise?"
And he who seeks finds, if however he seeks duly and diligently, according to that passage of Deuteronomy 4: "When you shall seek the Lord your God, you shall find him, if however you seek him with your whole heart and with all the tribulation of your soul"; and 1 Chronicles 28: "If you shall seek God, you shall find him; but if you shall forsake him, he will cast you off forever." But some sometimes do not seek duly, and therefore do not find; whence Hosea 5: "With their flocks and with their herds they shall go to seek the Lord and shall not find him"; and this is because among the herds they were seeking him. John 7: "You shall seek me and shall not find me," because they were seeking with evil intention, in order to destroy him.
And to him who knocks it shall be opened, if he knocks unceasingly unto the end, according to that passage of Matthew 10: "He who shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved." To such a one the door of glory is opened, of which Revelation 11: "The temple of God was opened in heaven"; and Revelation 4: "Behold, a door was opened in heaven." This shall be opened when that word of Matthew 25 shall be said: "Come, you blessed, possess," etc.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11These things we suffer by our own fault and our own deserving, even as the divine judgment has forewarned us, saying, "If they forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they profane my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquities with stripes." It is for this reason that we feel the rods and the stripes, because we neither please God with good deeds nor atone for our sins. Let us of our inmost heart and of our entire mind ask for God's mercy, because He Himself also adds, saying, "Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not scatter away from them." Let us ask, and we shall receive; and if there be delay and tardiness in our receiving, since we have grievously offended, let us knock, because "to him that knocketh also it shall be opened," if only our prayers, our groanings, and our tears, knock at the door; and with these we must be urgent and persevering, even although prayer be offered with one mind.
Epistle VII"Everyone who asks receives." Does the one who asks for useless things receive? No. For, first of all, a request for useless things cannot even be called a request before God. For whoever prays to God must ask for what He gives. And if someone asks for useless things, he makes his request not to God, for He does not give what is not beneficial.
Commentary on LukeIf a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
τίνα δὲ ἐξ ὑμῶν τὸν πατέρα αἰτήσει ὁ υἱὸς ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; ἢ καὶ ἰχθύν, μὴ ἀντὶ ἰχθύος ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ;
Кото́рагѡ же ва́съ ѻ҆тца̀ воспро́ситъ сы́нъ хлѣ́ба, є҆да̀ ка́мень пода́стъ є҆мꙋ̀; и҆лѝ ры́бы, є҆да̀ въ ры́бы мѣ́сто ѕмїю̀ пода́стъ є҆мꙋ̀;
The argument then persuading to frequent prayer, is the hope of obtaining what we pray for. The ground of persuasion was first in the command, afterwards it is contained in that example which He sets forth, adding, If a son shall ask bread of any of you, will he give him a stone? &c.
Catena Aurea by AquinasOf those three things that the apostle commends, faith is either signified by the fish, because of the water of baptism, or because it remains unharmed by the waves of this world. The Serpent is opposed to it, because it craftily and deceitfully persuaded man not to believe in God. The egg symbolizes hope, because the chick is not yet alive but will be; it is not yet seen but is hoped. "Hope that is seen is not hope." The scorpion is opposed to hope, because whoever hopes for eternal life forgets the things that are behind and reaches out to those that are before. It is dangerous for him to look backward, and he is on guard against the rear of the scorpion, which has a poisoned dart in its tail. Bread symbolizes love, because "the greatest of these is love," and among foods, bread certainly surpasses all others in value. The stone is opposed to it because the stonehearted cast out love. It may be that these gifts signify something more appropriate, yet he who knows how to give good gifts to his children urges us to ask, seek and knock.
LETTER 130(de Quæst. Ev. lib. ii. qu. 22.) Or by the bread is meant charity, because we have a greater desire of it, and it is so necessary, that without it all other things are nothing, as the table without bread is mean. Opposed to which is hardness of heart, which he compared to a stone. But by the fish is signified the belief in invisible things, either from the waters of baptism, or because it is taken out of invisible places which the eye cannot reach. Because also faith, though tossed about by the waves of this world, is not destroyed, it is rightly compared to a fish, in opposition to which he has placed the serpent on account of the poison of deceit, which by evil persuasion had its first seed in the first man. Or, by the egg is understood hope. For the egg is the young not yet formed, but hoped for through cherishing, opposed to which he has placed the scorpion, whose poisoned sting is to be dreaded behind; as the contrary to hope is to look back, since the hope of the future reaches forward to those things which are before.
(Serm. 105.) What great things the world speaks to thee, and roars them behind thy back to make thee look behind! O unclean world, why clamourest thou! Why attempt to turn him away! Thou wouldest detain him when thou art perishing, what wouldest thou if thou wert abiding for ever? Whom wouldest thou not deceive with sweetness, when bitter thou canst infuse false food?
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhich of you is there, who, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Bread is understood as charity due to its greater desirability and so necessary that without it, everything else is nothing, just like a table is impoverished without bread. Its contrary is the hardness of heart, which he compared to a stone.
On the Gospel of LukeOr if he asks for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? A fish represents faith in invisible things, either because of the water of baptism or because it is taken from invisible places. Since faith is also not broken by the waves of this world, it is rightly compared to a fish. Its contrary he set as the serpent because of the poison of deceit, which by evil persuasion also first sowed in man.
On the Gospel of LukeIf we look into the words of our Lord and Savior that he encourages us to ask God our Father after the example of an earthly parent, we quickly recognize what is the righteousness that can open for us the way to the heavenly kingdom. "Which one of you," he says, "if his son asks his father for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent in place of the fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will hand him a scorpion?" This is truly a clear comparison, easy for all hearers to understand. Any human, mortal, weak and still burdened with sinful flesh, does not refuse to give the good things which he possesses, although they are earthly and weak, to the children whom he loves. Our heavenly Father, even more than this man, lavishes the good things of heaven, which do not perish, on those who ask of him and are endowed with fear and love of him.
Homilies on the Gospels 2.14But which of you etc. After the incitement to frequency of prayer, he here adds an incitement to confidence in prayer, and by showing this he displays the liberality in God the Father who hears us. In this part, therefore, he first sets forth the liberality of a carnal father with respect to his son; second, he concludes the liberality of the heavenly Father with respect to us, at the words: If you then, being evil, etc. The liberality of a carnal father, moreover, he shows in the sharing of food with caution against the contrary, and this according to a threefold difference of nourishment: either of an earthy nature, or watery, or airy. The first pertains to things that grow; the second, to things that swim; the third, to things that fly.
As regards, therefore, the petition for the fruit of plants, he says: Which of you shall ask the father for bread, for nourishment; will he give him a stone? namely, for injury. For men are sustained by bread, according to that word of the Psalm: "Bread strengthens the heart of man"; but they are crushed by stones, according to that word of Matthew twenty-one: "Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder." As regards the petition for swimming creatures, he adds: Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Men are nourished by fish; whence below in the last chapter: "Have you here anything to eat? And they offered him a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb"; but they are killed by serpents; whence Numbers twenty-one: "The Lord sent among the people fiery serpents," by whose bites, namely, they were dying. As regards the petition for the fruit of fowls, it is added: Or if he shall ask for an egg, namely, for food: will he offer him a scorpion? for poison. For eggs sustain, but scorpions kill, as experience manifestly proves. These things indeed are plain according to the letter, and the similitude drawn from them.
But according to the spiritual understanding, it is given to understand here what is to be sought. Whence Augustine, in his letter to Proba on Praying to God, says that in the fish faith, in the egg hope, and in the bread charity is signified. For rightly by the petition for bread is understood the petition for charity: whence Augustine says: "Charity is in the bread; for charity is the greatest of all goods, and among foods the usefulness of bread surpasses the rest." Or, because charity after the manner of bread nourishes and strengthens; whence Song of Songs, the last chapter: "Love is strong as death"; whence the Sacrament of charity is given under the species of bread. Or, because without bread every table is empty: so also every heart without charity; whence First Corinthians thirteen: "If I have not charity, I am nothing, and it profits me nothing." To this, as Augustine says, is opposed the stone, because hard hearts reject charity. Whence in the stone hardness is signified, according to that word of Ezekiel thirty-six: "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you," etc.; and Luke three: "God is able of these stones," etc.
Rightly also "by the fish is understood faith, as Augustine says, either on account of the water of baptism, because amid the waves of this world faith remains whole"; First John five: "This is the victory which overcomes the world, our faith"; and Hebrews eleven: "By faith they conquered kingdoms." Or, as Bede says, "because a fish is born, lives, and is nourished under the covering of the waters: so faith is drawn from the hidden things of the Scriptures and is from hidden things and is itself hidden"; whence Hebrews eleven: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." To this, as Augustine says, the serpent is contrary, who, so that God would not be believed, "persuaded by venomous deceit"; whence Ecclesiastes 10: "He who breaks through a hedge," that is, the defense of Sacred Scripture, "a serpent shall bite him," that is, the infidelity of diabolical error.
Rightly also by the egg is understood hope: whence Augustine: "Hope is in the egg, because the life of the chick does not yet exist, but is to come, nor is it yet seen, but is still hoped for. For hope that is seen is not hope," as is said in Romans 8; and because in the egg the chick exists imperfectly, and while it is being perfected, the shell of the egg is broken, so the perfection of beatitude succeeds hope; whence First Corinthians 13: "When that which is perfect has come, that which is in part shall be done away." "To this, as Augustine says, the scorpion is contrary," that is, despair, which makes one look backward and harms from that direction. "For the scorpion must be guarded against from that part which it has venomous and armed with a sting behind"; whence he who strives to overturn one from the hope of life is a scorpion; whence Ezekiel 2: "Subverters are with you, and you dwell among scorpions." — The spiritual sense of the proposed word is therefore this: that if anyone asks for the bread of charity of the Holy Spirit, the fish of faith, and the egg of hope, God will not give him, nay rather will remove from him, the stone of hardening, the serpent of infidelity, and the scorpion of despair: which through divine assistance are kept far from holy men.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11We can bear to be refused but not to be ignored. In other words, our faith can survive many refusals if they really are refusals and not mere disregards. The apparent stone will be bread to us if we believe that a Father's hand put it into ours, in mercy or in justice or even in rebuke. It is hard and bitter, yet it can be chewed and swallowed. But if, having prayed for our heart's desire and got it, we then became convinced that this was a mere accident—that providential designs which had only some quite different end just couldn't help throwing out this satisfaction for us as a by-product—then the apparent bread would become a stone. A pretty stone, perhaps, or even a precious stone. But not edible to the soul.
Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, Letter 10In these words our Saviour gives us a very necessary piece of instruction. For often-times we rashly, from the impulse of pleasure, give way to hurtful desires. When we ask any such thing from God, we shall not obtain it. To show this, He brings an obvious example from those things which are before our eyes, in our daily experience. For when thy son asks of thee bread, thou givest it him gladly, because he seeks a wholesome food. But when from want of understanding he asks for a stone to eat, thou givest it him not, but rather hinderest him from satisfying his hurtful desire. So that the sense may be, But which of you asking his father for bread, (which the father gives,) will he give him a stone? (that is, if he asked it.) There is the same argument also in the serpent and the fish; of which he adds, Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? And in like manner in the egg and scorpion, of which he adds, Or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Catena Aurea by AquinasConsider then this, if the bread be not indeed the food of the soul in knowledge, without which it can not be saved, as, for example, the well planned rule of a just life. But the fish is the love of instruction, as to know the constitution of the world, and the effects of the elements, and whatever else besides wisdom treats of. Therefore God does not in the place of bread offer a stone, which the devil wished Christ to eat, nor in the place of a fish does He give a serpent, which the Ethiopians eat who are unworthy to eat fishes. Nor generally in the place of what is nourishing does he give what is not eatable and injurious, which relates to the scorpion and egg.
Catena Aurea by AquinasHim, therefore, whom you call the Creator recognise also as "Father." It is even He who knows what His children require. For when they asked for bread, He gave them manna from heaven; and when they wanted flesh, He sent them abundance of quails-not a serpent for a fish, nor for an egg a scorpion. It will, however, appertain to Him not to give evil instead of good, who has both one and the other in His power. Marcion's god, on the contrary, not having a scorpion, was unable to refuse to give what he did not possess; only He (could do so), who, having a scorpion, yet gives it not.
Against Marcion Book IVThe like lesson He both inculcates by examples, and repeatedly handles in parables, when He says, "Doth a father take away bread from his children, and hand it to dogs? " and again, "Doth a father give his son a stone when he asks for bread? " For He thus shows what it is that sons expect from their father. Nay, even that nocturnal knocker knocked for "bread."
On PrayerOr if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
ἢ καὶ ἐὰν αἰτήσῃ ᾠόν, μὴ ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ σκορπίον;
и҆лѝ а҆́ще попро́ситъ ꙗ҆ица̀, є҆да̀ пода́стъ є҆мꙋ̀ скорпі́ю;
Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? In the egg hope is indicated. For the egg is not yet a perfect offspring but is hoped by nurturing. He opposed a scorpion to this, whose venomous sting is feared from behind, just as looking back is contrary to hope, since hope for the future stretches to what is ahead.
On the Gospel of LukeIf ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς, ὑπάρχοντες πονηροί, οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ δώσει πνεῦμα ἀγαθὸν τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν;
А҆́ще ᲂу҆̀бо вы̀ ѕлѝ сꙋ́ще, ᲂу҆мѣ́ете даѧ̑нїѧ бла̑га даѧ́ти ча́дѡмъ ва́шымъ, кольмѝ па́че ѻ҆ц҃ъ, и҆́же съ нб҃сѐ, да́стъ дх҃а ст҃а́го просѧ́щымъ ᲂу҆ негѡ̀;
(Dial. 1. de Trin.) Now unless the Holy Spirit were of the substance of God, Who alone is good, He would by no means be called good, since our Lord refused to be called good, inasmuch as He was made man.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIf you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to those who ask him? How do the evil give good? But he called them evil, lovers still of this world and sinners. Truly, the goods they give according to their sense are to be called good because they regard them as such for us, although in nature these are good things, but temporary, and pertaining to this frail life, and whoever gives them, being evil, does not give them from what is his own. For the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them (Psalm 24). How much then should we expect God to give us good things when we ask, and not be deceived to receive something else when we ask from Him, since even we being evil know how to give that which is asked! For we do not deceive our children, and whatever good things we give, we give not from our own, but from His. Alternatively: The apostles, who by the merit of election had exceeded the goodness of the human race in many ways, are called evil in the view of supernal goodness, because nothing is stable by itself, nothing unchangeable, nothing good, except the Deity alone. All creatures indeed obtain the blessedness of eternity or immutability not by their nature, but by participation and grace of their Creator. That it is said: How much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to those who ask Him? for which Matthew put: Will give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7), it shows that the Holy Spirit is the fullness of God's goods and those which are divinely administered do not subsist without Him. Because all benefits, which are received by the grace of God's gifts, emanate from this source.
On the Gospel of LukeOr, he calls the lovers of the world evil, who give those things which they judge good according to their sense, which are also good in their nature, and are useful to aid imperfect life. Hence he adds, Know how to give good gifts to your children. The Apostles even, who by the merit of their election had exceeded the goodness of mankind in general, are said to be evil in comparison with Divine goodness, since nothing is of itself good but God alone. But that which is added, How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him, for which Matthew has written, will give good things to them that ask him, shows that the Holy Spirit is the fulness of God's gifts, since all the advantages which are received from the grace of God's gifts flow from that source.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIf you then, being evil, etc. After he proposed liberality in the carnal father, he concludes from the lesser regarding the spiritual Father. For if the good is communicative, the greater good is more communicative, and the greatest good is most communicative. If therefore the carnal father communicates good to the son who asks, how much more strongly does the heavenly Father to the man who supplicates. And this is what he says: If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. Bede: "He calls evil those who are lovers of the world"; but these are evil in a twofold way by the malice of fault, because Sirach 11: "If you are rich, you will not be free from offense"; and Augustine: "Every rich man is either unjust, or the heir of an unjust man." Or, he calls the Apostles themselves evil, who in comparison with divine goodness are called evil; whence Mark 10: "No one is good except God alone"; and Isaiah 64: "We have all become as one unclean, and our justices are as the rag of a menstruous woman"; and Job 25: "The stars are not clean in his sight, how much less man," etc. Whence Gregory: "Often our justice, when brought to the examination of divine justice, is injustice, and what shines in the eyes of the doer is sordid in the severity of the Judge."
Or, they were evil on account of venial sins, without which the present life is not lived: whence it is said in Ephesians five: "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil"; because, according to what is said in Genesis forty-seven, "the days of the pilgrimage of my life are few and evil"; because, according to what is said in First John one, "if we say that we have no sin, we are liars, and the truth is not in us." It seems less likely, therefore, that good comes from an evil person than that good comes from a good person.
And therefore he concludes: How much more will your Father from heaven give the good spirit to those who ask him. Indeed he will certainly give, because James one: "Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above." This good spirit is the Holy Spirit, in whom all gifts are given; of whom Wisdom seven: "I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me"; and afterwards: "All good things came to me together with her"; and First Corinthians twelve: "To another is given through the Spirit," etc.; and afterwards: "All these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one as he wills." This Spirit is given to those who ask and desire, according to that word of the Psalm: "I opened my mouth and drew in the spirit"; Jeremiah two: "The wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness, in the desire of its soul, drew in the wind of its love." For toward this Spirit of the Lord the spirit of the Saints sighs: Romans eight: "It is the Spirit who intercedes," etc.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11The statement that I do not "care much for" the Sermon on the Mount but "prefer" the "Pauline ethic" of man's sinfulness and helplessness carries a suggestion of alternatives between which we may choose, where I see successive stages through which we must proceed. Most of my books are evangelistic, addressed to tous exo. It would have been inept to preach forgiveness and a Saviour to those who did not know they were in need of either. Hence St Paul's and the Baptist's diagnosis (would you call it exactly an ethic?) had to be pressed. Nor am I aware that our Lord revised it ("if ye, being evil. . .").
Rejoinder to Dr Pittenger, from God in the DockFor it is in the power of God alone to grant the forgiveness of sins, and not to impute transgressions; since also the Lord commands us each day to forgive the repenting brethren. "And if we, being evil, know to give good gifts," much more is it the nature of the Father of mercies, the good Father of all consolation, much pitying, very merciful, to be long-suffering, to wait for those who have turned.
Who is the Rich Man that Shall Be Saved?We sometimes come near to our bounteous God offering him petitions for various objects according to each one's pleasure. Sometimes we pray without discernment or any careful examination of what truly is to our advantage, and if granted by God would prove a blessing or would be to our injury if we received it. Rather, by the inconsiderate impulse of our fancy, we fall into desires full of ruin that thrust the souls of those that entertain them into the snare of death and the meshes of hell. When we ask of God anything of this kind, we will by no means receive it. On the contrary, we offer a petition suitable only for ridicule. Why will we not receive it? Is the God of all weary of bestowing gifts on us? By no means. "Why then," someone may say, "will he not give, since he is bounteous in giving?" ...When he says, "You who are evil," he means "you whose mind is capable of being influenced by evil and not uniformly inclined to good like the God of all." "You know how to give good gifts to your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give a good spirit to them that ask him?" By a "good spirit" he means "spiritual grace." This is good in every way. If a person receives it, he will become most blessed and worthy of admiration.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 79Now from the example just given he concludes, If then ye being evil, (i. e. having a mind capable of wickedness, and not uniform and settled in good, as God,) know how to give good gifts; how much more shall your heavenly Father?
Catena Aurea by AquinasThen hear how the Lord Himself also teaches us to ask for what we ought to ask. He says: a son asks for "bread" and "fish" and "an egg." Therefore, just as these items constitute food for a person, so too our petitions should be beneficial to us and serve as help. By the one asking for "bread," understand, perhaps, everyone who asks that the faith in the Trinity and the correctness of the dogmas be revealed to him. For these, as that which strengthens the heart, are bread. And the one who asks for "fish" is he who, being in the sea of this life, asks God for help so that he, like a fish, might be preserved alive and unsubmerged amid temptations. And the one who asks for "an egg" is he who desires that the offspring of virtuous souls be given to him — souls which, having taken wings, having soared in spirit, and having flown above the earth, may rightly be likened to birds.
Commentary on LukeAnd he was casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered.
Καὶ ἦν ἐκβάλλων δαιμόνιον, καὶ αὐτὸ ἦν κωφόν· ἐγένετο δὲ τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐξελθόντος ἐλάλησεν ὁ κωφός, καὶ ἐθαύμαζον οἱ ὄχλοι·
[Заⷱ҇ 57] И҆ бѣ̀ и҆згонѧ̀ бѣ́са, и҆ то́й бѣ̀ нѣ́мъ: бы́сть же бѣ́сꙋ и҆зше́дшꙋ, проглаго́ла нѣмы́й: и҆ диви́шасѧ наро́ди.
And Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute. And when He had cast out the demon, the mute spoke, and the crowds marveled. This demon-possessed man is narrated in Matthew to have been not only mute but also blind, and it is said that he was healed by the Lord, so that he spoke and saw. Therefore, three signs were accomplished simultaneously in one man. The blind sees, the mute speaks, the one possessed by a demon is freed. This was indeed done physically at that time, but it is also completed daily in the lives of believers, so that, with the demon first expelled, they may behold the light of faith, and then the mouths previously silent may be opened to praise God.
On the Gospel of LukeBut that demoniac is related by Matthew to have been not only dumb, but blind. Three miracles then were performed at the same time on one man. The blind see, the dumb speaks, and he that was possessed by a devil is set free. The like is daily accomplished in the conversion of believers, so that the devil being first cast out, they see the light, and then those mouths which were before silent are loosened to speak the praises of God.
Catena Aurea by AquinasFirst, therefore, as regards the matter of divine praise, he says: And Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute; in which two miracles are touched upon at once, or rather even three. Whence Bede in the Gloss: "Matthew says that this demoniac was also blind, in whom three miracles are worked by the Lord: because the blind man sees, the mute speaks, and the possessed is freed from the demon." And in this there was matter for divine praise both on the part of the one healed and of those standing by. On account of which he says: And when he had cast out the demon, the mute spoke, and the crowds marveled; and thus was fulfilled that passage of Isaiah thirty-five: "Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the mute shall be loosed." Such great miracles were wrought together as a cause of wonder and praise, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "The Lord is terrible and exceedingly great, and wondrous is his power"; and after: "Glorifying the Lord as much as you are able, he shall yet prevail beyond, and wondrous is his magnificence." Whence they could truly say that passage of Mark seven: "He has done all things well; he has made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."
But according to the spiritual understanding, the demon is sin, which makes one deaf to hearing the truth, blind to seeing it, and mute to confessing it. Whence Chrysostom says: "O wickedness of the demon! He blocked each entrance through which man was going to believe: hearing and sight," and the third, that is, the tongue, lest he confess. Whence it is said in Isaiah 41: "There is none who announces, and there is none who preaches, nor any who hears my words"; and again in Isaiah 42: "Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but my servant? And who is deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers?" Such a one is also mute for confessing; whence Sirach 15: "Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner."
And note that since speech has been given to man for three purposes, namely for praising God, for edifying one's neighbor, and for accusing oneself: this threefold speech is taken away by a threefold demon. The first is taken away by the spirit of lust, according to that passage in Isaiah 1: "When you multiply your prayers, I will not hear. For your hands are full of blood." The second is taken away by the spirit of avarice, which makes one attend only to oneself, according to that passage in Matthew 25: "He who had received one talent went away and dug in the earth." The third is taken away by the spirit of pride, which does not permit man to accuse himself, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Because I kept silent, my bones grew old"; and Jeremiah 2: "Behold, I will contend with you in judgment, because you have said: I have not sinned." — Concerning this threefold demon it is said in Revelation 16: "I saw coming out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits in the form of frogs." — The first demon is cast out by fasting, according to that passage in Matthew 17: "This kind of demon is not cast out except by fasting." The second is cast out by the memory of the Lord's passion, according to that passage in Tobit 6: "If you place a piece of the fish's heart upon coals, its smoke drives out every kind of demon," etc. The third by prayer: 1 Kings 16: "David took the harp and struck it with his hand, and Saul was refreshed and felt better: for the evil spirit departed from him."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11They were even grinding their teeth at Christ, the Savior of all, because he made the multitudes wonder by his many divine and astonishing miracles. The very devils cried out at his overwhelming and godlike power and authority.…"There was brought to him one who was possessed with a mute devil." Now mute devils are difficult for any one of the saints to rebuke. They are more obstinate than any other kind and excessively bold. There was nothing difficult to the all-powerful will of Christ, the Savior of us all.… Upon the accomplishment of this wonderful act, the multitude extolled him with praises and hastened to crown the worker of the miracle with godlike honor.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 80Now when the miracle was performed, the multitude extolled Him with loud praises, and the glory which was due to God. As it follows, And the people wondered.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(non occ.) The Lord had promised that the Holy Spirit should be given to those that asked for it; the blessed effects whereof He indeed clearly shows in the following miracle. Hence it follows, And Jesus was casting out a devil, and it was dumb.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIn like manner, it is He who will give the Holy Spirit, at whose command is also the unholy spirit. When He cast out the "demon which was dumb" (and by a cure of this sort verified Isaiah), and having been charged with casting out demons by Beelzebub, He said, "If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? " By such a question what does He otherwise mean, than that He ejects the spirits by the same power by which their sons also did-that is, by the power of the Creator? For if you suppose the meaning to be, "If I by Beelzebub, etc.
Against Marcion Book IV"Mute" is often used to refer to one who does not speak; but it also refers to one who does not hear, or more precisely, one who neither hears nor speaks. Those who have been deaf from birth also do not speak. This happens to them by necessity, for we speak what we learn through hearing. When someone does not hear, in all likelihood he does not speak either. Unless someone's hearing was damaged later, from illness — nothing prevents such a person from speaking. The one brought to Christ was mute in both respects: in tongue and in ear. He is an image of human nature, which, being possessed by demons, was capable neither of hearing the words of God, nor still less of proclaiming them. But the Lord, having come and cast out the demons — that is, passionate and demonic deeds — made it so that we not only speak but also preach the truth. For the words of God must not only be heard but also recounted to others. So let us who have demonic deeds within us hear this — we who think to teach others and allow ourselves to be called teachers by men. For when the demon departs, then there is true eloquence and teaching; but so long as the works of demons (the passions) remain within us, we do not speak, even though we appear to be speaking.
Commentary on LukeNow he is called κωφὸς, as commonly meaning one who does not speak. It is also used for one who does not hear, but more properly who neither hears nor speaks. But he who has not heard from his birth necessarily cannot speak. For we speak those things which we are taught to speak by hearing. If however one has lost his hearing from a disease that has come upon him, there is nothing to hinder him from speaking. But He who was brought before the Lord was both dumb in speech, and deaf in hearing.
Catena Aurea by AquinasNow He calls the devil deaf or dumb, as being the cause of this calamity, that the Divine word should not be heard. For the devil, by taking away the quickness of human feeling, blunts the hearing of our soul. Christ therefore comes that He might cast out the devil, and that we might hear the word of truth. For He healed one that He might create a universal foretaste of man's salvation. Hence it follows, And when he had cast out the devil, the dumb spake.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶπον· ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια.
Нѣ́цыи же ѿ ни́хъ рѣ́ша: ѡ҆ веельзевꙋ́лѣ кнѧ́зи бѣсо́встѣмъ и҆зго́нитъ бѣ́сы.
But some of them said, "In Beelzebub, the prince of demons, He casts out demons." Not some from the crowd, but the Pharisees and scribes were slandering, as other evangelists testify. Indeed, to the crowds who seemed less educated, always marveling at the deeds of the Lord, those people, on the contrary, either tried to deny these things or to pervert what they could not deny with sinister interpretation, as if these were not the works of divinity but of an unclean spirit, that is, Beelzebub, who was the god of Ekron. For Beel is indeed Baal. Zebub, however, is called a fly. Nor is the letter l or d to be read at the end of the name according to certain erroneous copies, but b. Therefore, Beelzebub means Baal of the flies, that is, the lord of the flies, or the one having flies, supposedly because of the filth of sacrificial blood, from whose most foul rites or name they called the prince of demons.
On the Gospel of LukeBut since the multitudes who were thought ignorant always marvelled at our Lord's actions, the Scribes and Pharisees took pains to deny them, or to pervert them by an artful interpretation, as though they were not the work of a Divine power, but of an unclean spirit. Hence it follows, But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the prince of the devils. Beelzebub was the God Accaron. For Beel is indeed Baal himself. But Zebub means a fly. Now he is called Beelzebub as the man of flies, from whose most foul practices the chief of the devils was so named.
Catena Aurea by AquinasSecondly, regarding the blasphemy of human fraud, it is added: But some of them said: He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons. And this was a great blasphemy, because what was done by the Holy Spirit they attributed to the evil spirit: whence in Matthew 12, immediately after this it is said: "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven." They burst forth into this blasphemy out of envy: whence Chrysostom says: "Not when he said great things, but when he brought about the salvation of men, then the Pharisees attacked." "For envy does not care what it says, but only that it speaks." "For there is no malice worse than jealousy. For the adulterer quickly completes his sin, but the jealous man never rests."
And because this blasphemy proceeded from malice and envy, for this reason this Gospel is read when the history of Joseph is sung on the third Sunday of Lent. For just as the brothers of Joseph out of envy called him an inventor of dreams, so also these men called Christ an invoker of demons. And they especially name Beelzebub, both because that idol was famous: whence in 4 Kings 1 it is said that "Ochozias sent his messengers saying: Go and consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron"; and Bede in the Gloss says: "The Jews asserted that the prince of demons dwelt in this image. They said that Jesus cast out demons by his power"; and therefore in the text it is said: By the prince of demons: or because the name of this idol was ridiculous; whence Beelzebub means as much as man of flies: by which name the Jews called him in mockery, as is said in the Gloss, "on account of the filth of the blood that was sacrificed in his temple." Thus they uttered blasphemy, just as in John 8, where it is said: "Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11And upon the accomplishment of this wonderful act, the multitude extolled Him with praises, and hastened to crown the worker of the miracle with godlike honour. But certain of them, it says, being Scribes and Pharisees, with hearts intoxicated with pride and envy, found in the miracle fuel for their malady; and not only did they not praise Him, but betook themselves to the very opposite. For having stripped Him of the godlike deeds He had wrought, they assigned to the Devil almighty power, and made Beelzebub the source of Christ's might. "For by him, they said, He casts out devils."
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 80The Pharisees slander the miracle and revile the Lord as a deceiver. They say: He is in league with the prince of demons and with his assistance "casts out demons."
Commentary on LukeAnd others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
ἕτεροι δὲ πειράζοντες σημεῖον παρ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἐζήτουν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ.
Дрꙋзі́и же и҆скꙋша́юще, зна́менїѧ ѿ негѡ̀ и҆ска́хꙋ съ небесѐ.
And others, testing Him, sought a sign from heaven from Him. Either they wished for fire to come down from above in the manner of Elijah, or, similarly to Samuel, for thunder to roar, lightning to flash, and rains to fall in the summer, as if those could not also be slandered and said to have happened from hidden and varied passions of the air. But you, who slander those things which you see with your eyes, hold with your hands, feel with their benefit, what will you do with those things that have come from heaven? Surely, you will answer that the magicians in Egypt also performed many signs from the heavens.
On the Gospel of LukeThirdly, regarding the controversy of the adjoined dispute, he adds: And others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven. They did not seek such a sign in order to believe as faithful men, but as rebels in order to attack, according to that saying of the Savior in Matthew 22: "Why do you test me, hypocrites?" and in the Psalm: "Your fathers tested me," etc. And this is evil, as is said in 1 Corinthians 10: "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished by serpents." Moreover, they sought a sign from heaven, such as thunder in the time of Samuel, 1 Kings 12; or the sending down of fire in the time of Elijah, 3 Kings 18 and 4 Kings 1; or such as the going back of the sun in the time of Hezekiah, 4 Kings 20.
Now this was characteristic of the Jews, whether through habituation; whence First Corinthians chapter one: "Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom"; and therefore Peter, powerful in signs, was the Apostle to the Jews, but Paul, in wisdom, to the Gentiles: or also on account of unbelief and hardness, according to what Stephen said in Acts chapter seven: "Stiff-necked, and uncircumcised in hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit." Whence Chrysostom: "Always to learn is a sign of never being able to advance: so always to seek testimony is a sign of never being willing to believe." And this is indeed true; for when they had sufficient testimonies on earth, it was not necessary to seek signs from heaven: whence John chapter ten: "The works that I do in the name of my Father, these bear witness concerning me."
Spiritually, however, the Lord gave signs on earth, namely signs of humility and poverty, according to that passage above in chapter two: "This shall be a sign to you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes." But many do not believe this sign, such as the proud and the ambitious, who seek Christ not in the humility of the cross, but in the desire for honor and praise. And yet it is said in Matthew chapter twenty-four: "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven," etc. But the proud contradict this, according to that passage above in chapter two: "He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted," because the state of humility does not please them, but rather that of dignity. Whence in the Psalm: "They have set up their own signs as signs," namely of pride and wantonness, according to that passage in Wisdom chapter two: "Let us leave everywhere signs of our joy," without which signs they are unwilling to follow: whence in the Psalm: "We have not seen our signs," etc.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11But others by similar darts of envy sought of him a sign from heaven. As it follows, And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. As if they said, "Although thou hast cast out a devil from the man, this is no proof however of Divine power. For we have not yet seen any thing like to the miracles of former times. Moses led the people through the midst of the sea, (Exod. 14) and Joshua his successor stayed the sun in Gibeon. (Josh. 10:13.) But thou hast shown us none of these things." For to seek signs from heaven showed that the speaker was at that time influenced by some feeling of this kind towards Christ.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
αὐτὸς δὲ εἰδὼς αὐτῶν τὰ διανοήματα εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· πᾶσα βασιλεία ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτὴν διαμερισθεῖσα, ἐρημοῦται, καὶ οἶκος ἐπὶ οἶκον, πίπτει.
Ѻ҆́нъ же вѣ́дый помышлє́нїѧ и҆́хъ, речѐ и҆̀мъ: всѧ́ко ца́рство са́мо въ себѣ̀ раздѣлѧ́ѧсѧ, запꙋстѣ́етъ: и҆ до́мъ на до́мъ, па́даетъ.
Herein also He shows His own kingdom to be undivided and everlasting. Those then who possess no hope in Christ, but think that He casts out devils through the chief of the devils, their kingdom, He says, is not everlasting. This also has reference to the Jewish people. For how can the kingdom of the Jews be everlasting, when by the people of the law Jesus is denied, who is promised by the law? Thus in part does the faith of the Jewish people impugn itself; the glory of the wicked is divided, by division is destroyed. And therefore the kingdom of the Church shall remain for ever, because its faith is undivided in one body.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut he, knowing their thoughts, said to them: Every kingdom divided against itself will be desolated, and house will fall upon house. He responded not to what was said, but to what was thought, so that they might be compelled to believe in his power, who saw the hidden things of the heart. But if every kingdom divided against itself is desolated, then the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is not divided, which, without any contradiction and not by any impulse, is destined to be desolated, but will remain in eternal stability. But if the kingdom of the holy and indivisible Trinity remains indivisible, indeed because it remains indivisible, let the Arians desist from saying that the Son is lesser than the Father, and the Holy Spirit lesser than the Son. Because where there is one kingdom, there is also one majesty.
On the Gospel of LukeHe answered not their words but their thoughts, that so at least they might be compelled to believe in His power, who saw into the secrets of the heart.
The kingdom also of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is not divided, because it is sealed with an eternal stability. Let then the Arians cease to say that the Son is inferior to the Father, but the Holy Spirit inferior to the Son, since whose kingdom is one, their power is one also.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut he, when he saw their thoughts, said to them. After the expression of the Jewish fraud, there is here subjoined the refutation of the fraud expressed. In refuting falsehood, he proceeds in this order: first he leads to a manifest impossibility, second he brings to an indefensible falsehood, third he leads back to an infallible truth.
First, therefore, He leads them to a manifest impossibility, when He says: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation: in which He intends to construct the following argument: every kingdom divided, by the very fact that it is divided against itself, is destroyed; but if one demon casts out another, Satan is divided against himself; therefore his kingdom does not stand. It follows, therefore, that Satan himself destroys his own kingdom and takes away from himself his power and dominion. But this is a manifest impossibility; and it follows from the statement of the Pharisees: therefore that statement was manifestly false. The major premise of this argument, then, He sets forth when He says: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and house shall fall upon house. And this indeed is self-evident and true, because division is the cause of ruin; hence the cause of the predicate is contained in the subject. And this is what Jerome says: "By concord small things grow; by discord the greatest things fall apart." For unity is the cause of preservation, and division of destruction, according to Hosea 10: "Their heart is divided, now they shall perish"; and Proverbs 28: "Because of the sins of the land, many are its princes." An example of this is found in Genesis 11 concerning those building the tower, when they were "of one tongue," where it is added: "The Lord divided them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build." Hence concerning the destruction of its unity in the final state of the world, it is said below in chapter 21: "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be great earthquakes," etc.
Then he adds the minor premise, when he says: But if Satan is divided against himself, that is, fights against himself: which he states conditionally, because this follows from the words of the aforementioned scribes and Pharisees, yet in itself it is not true: for Satan agrees with Satan in evil. Whence Job 41: "His body is like molten shields and compacted with scales pressing upon one another: one is joined to another, and not even a breath passes between them; one cleaves to another, and holding together they shall in no way be separated"; whence in the Psalm: "The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord," etc. — After this he adds the conclusion, when he subjoins: How shall his kingdom stand? Which he says interrogatively, as though it were impossible to maintain that Satan himself casts himself out of his kingdom. For the kingdom of Satan is among the wicked and sinners: Job 41: "He is king over all the children of pride"; and therefore the Apostle said in Romans 6: "Let not sin reign in your mortal body." Lastly he introduces the proof of the minor premise from their own words, since this was the cause of the entire false inference. And therefore he adds: Because you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebub. For if what you say is true, that Satan casts out Satan, then his empire is divided, and thereby tends toward destruction. And in this way the argument is formed in Matthew 12: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand"? — Thus it is clear how from their own words he deduces to a manifest impossibility.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11And what said Christ to these things? First, indeed, He proves Himself to be God, by knowing even that which was secretly whispered among them: for He knew their thoughts. And it is an act that altogether belongs to God, to be able to know what is in the mind and heart, and even what is spoken anywhere by men secretly. ... Very wisely therefore, omitting these things, He proceeds to arguments, drawn indeed from common things, but which have the force of truth in them; "For every kingdom," He says, "divided against itself, becomes desolate; and every house against a house, falls: and if Satan be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?" For that which establishes kingdoms is the fidelity of subjects, and the obedience of those under the royal sceptre: and houses are established when those who belong to them in no way whatsoever thwart one another, but, on the contrary, accord both in will and deed. And so I suppose it would establish the kingdom too of Beelzebub, had he determined to abstain from every thing contrary to himself. How then does Satan cast out Satan? It follows then that devils do not depart from men of their own accord, but retire unwillingly. Satan, He says, does not fight with himself. He does not rebuke his own satellites. He does not permit himself to injure his own armour-bearers. On the contrary, he aids his kingdom. It remains, therefore for you to understand, that I crush Satan by divine power.
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 80(Hom. 41. in Matt.) The suspicion of the Pharisees being utterly without reason, they dared not divulge it for fear of the multitude, but pondered it in their minds. Hence it is said, But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself will be brought to desolation.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThe Lord says to them: how is it possible for a demon to cast out another demon? This would already be the destruction of his kingdom. For if they place their kingdom and rest in dwelling within people, and their own prince casts them out, then it is clear that he is destroying himself. For "every kingdom divided" against itself and thrown into turmoil is brought to ruin, and "a house divided... shall fall." By "house," will you understand a building? Very well. For a building stands only so long as it maintains its unity, but when the walls separate from one another, it falls. Will you understand by "house" those living in the house? They too, as long as they keep peace, stand, but if they rise up against one another, they fall.
Commentary on LukeIf Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
εἰ δὲ καὶ ὁ σατανᾶς ἐφ᾿ ἑαυτὸν διεμερίσθη, πῶς σταθήσεται ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, ὅτι λέγετε ἐν Βεελζεβούλ με ἐκβάλλειν τὰ δαιμόνια;
А҆́ще же и҆ сатана̀ са́мъ въ себѣ̀ раздѣли́сѧ, ка́кѡ ста́нетъ ца́рство є҆гѡ̀, ꙗ҆́коже глаго́лете, ѡ҆ веельзевꙋ́лѣ и҆згонѧ́щѧ мѧ̀ бѣ́сы.
But if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand, because you say that I cast out demons in Beelzebub? By saying this, he wanted it to be understood from their own confession that by not believing in him, they had chosen to be in the kingdom of the devil, which certainly could not stand divided against itself. Therefore, let the Pharisees choose what they wish. If Satan cannot cast out Satan, they could find nothing to say against the Lord. But if he can, let them be much more cautious and withdraw from his kingdom, which cannot stand divided against itself. By what means the Lord Christ casts out demons, let them consider what follows, so that they do not think him to be the prince of demons.
On the Gospel of Luke(ubi sup.) He did not answer them from the Scriptures, since they gave no heed to them, explaining them away falsely; but he answers them from things of every day occurrence. For a house and a city if it be divided is quickly scattered to nothing; and likewise a kingdom, than which nothing is stronger. For the harmony of the inhabitants maintains houses and kingdoms. If then, says He, I cast out devils by means of a devil, there is dissension among them, and their power perishes. Hence He adds, But if Satan be divided against himself, how shall he stand? For Satan resists not himself, nor hurts his soldiers, but rather strengthens his kingdom. It is then by Divine power alone that I crush Satan under my feet.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIn like manner, it is He who will give the Holy Spirit, at whose command is also the unholy spirit. When He cast out the "demon which was dumb" (and by a cure of this sort verified Isaiah), and having been charged with casting out demons by Beelzebub, He said, "If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? " By such a question what does He otherwise mean, than that He ejects the spirits by the same power by which their sons also did-that is, by the power of the Creator? For if you suppose the meaning to be, "If I by Beelzebub, etc., by whom your sons? "-as if He would reproach them with having the power of Beelzebub,-you are met at once by the preceding sentence, that "Satan cannot be divided against himself." So that it was not by Beelzebub that even they were casting out demons, but (as we have said) by the power of the Creator; and that He might make this understood, He adds: "But if I with the finger of God cast out demons, is not the kingdom of God come near unto you? " For the magicians who stood before Pharaoh and resisted Moses called the power of the Creator"the finger of God.
Against Marcion Book IVAnd if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
εἰ δὲ ἐγὼ ἐν Βεελζεβοὺλ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν ἐν τίνι ἐκβαλοῦσι; διὰ τοῦτο αὐτοὶ κριταὶ ὑμῶν ἔσονται.
А҆́ще же а҆́зъ ѡ҆ веельзевꙋ́лѣ и҆згоню̀ бѣ́сы, сы́нове ва́ши ѡ҆ ко́мъ и҆зго́нѧтъ; Сегѡ̀ ра́ди ті́и бꙋ́дꙋтъ ва́мъ сꙋдїи̑.
But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they shall be your judges. He said this, indeed, about his disciples, the sons of that people, who certainly being disciples of Lord Jesus Christ, were well aware that they had learned nothing of evil arts from the good teacher to cast out demons by the prince of demons. Therefore (he says) they shall be your judges, they (he says) the ignoble and contemptible ones of this world, in whom not an artful malignity, but a holy simplicity of my virtue appears, they shall be my witnesses, they shall be your judges. Alternatively: He signifies the sons of the Jews, the exorcists of that people according to custom, who cast out demons through invocation. And he compels them with a prudent question, so that they confess it to be the work of the Holy Spirit. But if (he says) the expulsion of demons in your sons is attributed to God, not to demons, why should the same work in me not have the same cause? Therefore they shall be your judges, not by power, but by comparison, while they assign the expulsion of demons to God, you to Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
On the Gospel of LukeOr else, By the sons of the Jews He means the exorcists of that nation, who cast out devils by the invocation of God. As if He says, If the casting out of devils by your sons is ascribed to God, not to devils, why in My case has not the same work the same cause? Therefore shall they be your judges, not in authority to exercise judgment, but in act, since they assign to God the casting out of devils, you to Beelzebub, the chief of the devils.
Catena Aurea by AquinasSecond, he leads to a false improbability, when he adds: But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub: in which he intends to form such an argument: if I cast out demons by the power of demons, and I gave your sons the power of casting out demons —this he presupposes and leaves unstated—therefore they themselves cast out demons by the prince of demons. But this is false and improbable both according to their own opinion and according to the testimony of the Apostles themselves. Therefore what the Pharisees hold is false, and what the Apostles testify is true: therefore they themselves shall be their judges.
In this argument, however, the proposition is first set forth, which they assert, when it is said: But if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, that is, according to your assertion; above in the same chapter: "He casts out demons by Beelzebub." There follows the conclusion, which they do not concede, when it is said: Your sons, by whom do they cast out? As if to say: it follows that they cast out by Beelzebub, which however they themselves do not concede. Whence Bede: "He calls the sons of the Jews the Apostles, who among other gifts which they had received from the Lord, also drove out demons, which expulsion they attributed not to the devil but to God." There is further implied the reproof which they incur, when it is said: Therefore they shall be your judges: because what you blaspheme as false, they themselves testify to be true, according to that passage of Isaiah forty-three: "Truly you are my witnesses, says the Lord." And not only witnesses on account of their assertion of the truth, but also judges on account of their perfection in the truth, according to that passage of Matthew nineteen: "You who have left all things and followed me shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." For they are those of whom Isaiah three says: "The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people." He calls elders the more perfect, according to that passage of Wisdom four: "Venerable old age is not long-lived, nor reckoned by the number of years. For the gray hairs of a man are his understanding, and the age of old age is an unspotted life."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11But others by similar darts of envy sought of him a sign from heaven. As it follows, And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. As if they said, "Although thou hast cast out a devil from the man, this is no proof however of Divine power. For we have not yet seen any thing like to the miracles of former times. Moses led the people through the midst of the sea, (Exod. 14) and Joshua his successor stayed the sun in Gibeon. (Josh. 10:13.) But thou hast shown us none of these things." For to seek signs from heaven showed that the speaker was at that time influenced by some feeling of this kind towards Christ.
For the disciples of Christ were Jews, and sprung from Jews according to the flesh, and they had obtained from Christ power over unclean spirits, and delivered those who were oppressed by them in Christ's name. Seeing then that your sons subdue Satan in My name, is it not very madness to say that I have My power from Beelzebub? Ye are then condemned by the faith of your children. Hence He adds, Therefore shall they be your judges.
Since then what you say bears upon it the mark of calumny, it is plain that by the Spirit of God I cast out devils. Hence He adds, But if I by the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Or the Holy Spirit is called the finger of God for this reason. The Son was said to be the hand and arm of the Father, (Ps. 98:1.) for the Father worketh all things by Him. As then the finger is not separate from the hand, but by nature a part of it; so the Holy Spirit is consubstantially united to the Son, and through Him the Son does all things.
And therefore it is justly said, The kingdom of God is come upon you, that is, "If I as a man cast out devils by the Spirit of God, human nature is enriched through Me, and the kingdom of God is come."
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Hom. 23. in Matt) This then is the first answer; the second which relates to His disciples He gives as follows, And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? He says not, "My disciples," but your sons, wishing to soothe their wrath.
(ut sup.) For since they who come forth from you are obedient unto Me, it is plain that they will condemn those who do the contrary.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhen He cast out the "demon which was dumb" (and by a cure of this sort verified Isaiah), and having been charged with casting out demons by Beelzebub, He said, "If I by Beelzebub cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? " By such a question what does He otherwise mean, than that He ejects the spirits by the same power by which their sons also did-that is, by the power of the Creator? For if you suppose the meaning to be, "If I by Beelzebub, etc.
Against Marcion Book IVLet it be so, that "I cast out demons... by the power of Beelzebul"; but "your sons," that is, the apostles, "by whose power do they cast them out?" Is it not obvious that it is by My name? How then do you say about Me that I cast out demons through Beelzebul, being in need of his power, when your sons, namely the apostles, cast them out by My name? Truly, they will judge you. For if they cast out demons by My name, then I Myself obviously have no need of the power of another.
Commentary on LukeBut if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
εἰ δὲ ἐν δακτύλῳ Θεοῦ ἐκβάλλω τὰ δαιμόνια, ἄρα ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ.
А҆́ще ли же ѡ҆ пе́рстѣ бж҃їи и҆згоню̀ бѣ́сы, ᲂу҆̀бо пости́же на ва́съ црⷭ҇твїе бж҃їе.
Nor would you think in the compacting together of our limbs any division of power to be made, for there can be no division in an undivided thing. And therefore the appellation of finger must be referred to the form of unity, not to the distinction of power.
At the same time He shows that it is a regal power which the Holy Spirit possesses, in whom is the kingdom of God, and that we in whom the Spirit dwells are a royal house.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(Orat. 2. con. Arian.) But at this time our Lord does not hesitate because of His humanity to speak of Himself as inferior to the Holy Spirit, saying, that He cast out devils by Him, as though the human nature was not sufficient for the casting out of devils without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(de cons. Ev. l. ii. c. 38.) That Luke speaks of the finger of God, where Matthew has said, the Spirit, does not take away from their agreement in sense, but it rather teaches us a lesson, that we may know what meaning to give to the finger of God, whenever we read it in the Scriptures.
(de Quæst. Ev. l. ii. qu. 17.) Now the Holy Spirit is called the finger of God, because of the distribution of gifts which are given through Him, to every one his own gift, whether he be of men or angels. For in none of our members is division more apparent than in our fingers.
Catena Aurea by AquinasMoreover, if I cast out demons by the finger of God, indeed the kingdom of God has come upon you. This is the finger which even the magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron confessed, saying: This is the finger of God (Exod. VIII), by which also the stone tablets were written on Mount Sinai. Therefore, the Son is the hand and arm of God, and the Holy Spirit is His finger. The substance of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one. Do not let the inequality of the members scandalize you, while the unity of the body builds you up. Alternatively: The Holy Spirit is called the finger of God because of the distribution of gifts which are given in it to each one individually, whether of men or angels. For there is no greater display of distribution in our members than in the fingers. But what he said, The kingdom of God has come upon you, means now the kingdom of God by which the impious are condemned, and are now separated from the faithful who are repenting of their sins.
On the Gospel of LukeThirdly, he leads back to the infallible truth, when he adds: But if I cast out demons by the finger of God. But, that is, certainly; if, that is, because; by the finger of God, that is, by the Holy Spirit: whence in Matthew twelve it is said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God." For the Holy Spirit is called the finger of God, as it is said in Exodus eight: "The finger of God is here." The reason for this is that the Son is called the arm of the Father, according to that passage of Isaiah fifty-three: "The arm of the Lord, to whom has it been revealed?" He is also called the hand, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Send forth your hand from on high." And the reason for this is that, just as one who works does so by arm and hand, so the Father does all things through the Son, as it is said in John one: "All things were made through him." But the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, as a finger from the body and the arm, and is connatural and consubstantial with him, and therefore is rightly called the finger in the Scriptures. Or, because, just as there is one hand, and through the fingers distinction is made, so through one Spirit the distinction of gifts is made, as it is said in First Corinthians twelve: "All these things one and the same Spirit works, distributing to each one as he wills."
Because therefore I cast out demons by this Spirit, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you, that is, the royal power which protects us, the devil having been expelled, according to that passage of John twelve: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out." And note that he says: the kingdom of God has come upon you, because the kingdom of God comes upon us through grace, according to that passage below in the seventeenth chapter: "The kingdom of God is within you." But then we shall arrive at it through glory, when it will be said to us: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom," etc.
And note that this consequence is necessary; because, if there is no middle ground such that a man is not under the power either of God or of the devil, then if the power of the devil is expelled from a man, it follows that divine power is introduced. Now the threefold wicked spirit, about which was discussed above, is expelled by the divine spirit given for three purposes, namely by the spirit of sanctity, concerning which Wisdom chapter one says: "The holy spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful"; by the spirit of poverty, concerning which Matthew chapter five says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit"; and by the spirit of humility, concerning which the last chapter of Isaiah says: "To whom shall I have regard, if not to the poor and contrite in spirit"? This threefold spirit the Prophet sought in the Psalm: "Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit, etc. And do not take your Holy Spirit from me. And with a sovereign spirit confirm me"; so that this threefold spirit is touched upon here: right, that is, of poverty; holy, that is, of purity; and sovereign, that is, humble: which spirit whoever has, has justice toward himself and neighbor and God, or has it within, without, and above, and through this has peace and joy, and thus the kingdom of God within himself. For, according to that passage in Romans chapter fourteen, "the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11This much about an infant, which was not yet of an age to speak of the crime committed by others in respect of herself. But the woman who in advanced life and of more mature age secretly crept in among us when we were sacrificing, received not food, but a sword for herself; and as if taking some deadly poison into her jaws and body, began presently to be tortured, and to become stiffened with frenzy; and suffering the misery no longer of persecution, but of her crime, shivering and trembling, she fell down. The crime of her dissimulated conscience was not long unpunished or concealed. She who had deceived man, felt that God was taking vengeance. And another woman, when she tried with unworthy hands to open her box, in which was the holy (body) of the Lord, was deterred by fire rising from it from daring to touch it. And when one, who himself was defiled, dared with the rest to receive secretly a part of the sacrifice celebrated by the priest; he could not eat nor handle the holy of the Lord, but found in his hands when opened that he had a cinder. Thus by the experience of one it was shown that the Lord withdraws when He is denied; nor does that which is received benefit the undeserving for salvation, since saving grace is changed by the departure of the sanctity into a cinder. How many there are daily who do not repent nor make confession of the consciousness of their crime, who are filled with unclean spirits! How many are shaken even to unsoundness of mind and idiotcy by the raging of madness! Nor is there any need to go through the deaths of individuals, since through the manifold lapses occurring in the world the punishment of their sins is as varied as the multitude, of sinners is abundant. Let each one consider not what another has suffered, but what he himself deserves to suffer; nor think that he has escaped if his punishment delay for a time, since he ought to fear it the more that the wrath of God the judge has reserved it for Himself.
Treatise III On the LapsedBut inasmuch as what you say is not true, but, on the contrary, empty and false, and liable to the charge of calumny, it is plain that I cast out devils by the finger of God. And by the finger of God He means the Holy Ghost. For the Son is called the hand and arm of God the Father; for He does all things by the Son, and the Son in like manner works by the Spirit. For just as the finger is appended to the hand, as something not foreign from it, but belonging to it by nature, so also the Holy Spirit, by reason of His being equal in substance, is joined in oneness to the Son, even though He proceed from God the Father. For, as I said, the Son does every thing by the consubstantial Spirit. Here, however, purposely He says, that by the finger of God He casts out devils, speaking as a man: because the Jews in the infirmity and folly of their mind, would not have endured it, if He had said, "by My own Spirit I cast out devils."
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon LXXXIAppeasing therefore their excessive readiness to anger, and the proneness of their mind unto insolence and phrensy, He spake as a man, although He is by nature God, and Himself the Giver of the Spirit from God the Father to those who are worthy, and employs as His own that power which is from Him. For He is consubstantial with Him, and whatsoever is said to be done by God the Father, this necessarily is by the Son in the Spirit. If therefore, He says, I, being a man, and having become like unto you, cast out devils in the Spirit of God, human nature has in Me first attained to a godlike kingdom. For it has become glorious by breaking the power of Satan, and rebuking the impure and abominable spirits: for such is the meaning of the words, that "the kingdom of God has come upon you." But the Jews did not understand the mystery of the dispensation of the Only-begotten in the flesh: and yet how ought they not rather to have reflected, that by the Only-begotten Word of God having become man, without ceasing to be that which He was, He glorified the nature of man, in that He did not disdain to take upon Him its meanness, in order that He might bestow upon it His own riches.
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon LXXXI(Hom. 41. ut sup.) But it is said, upon you, that He might draw them to Him; as if He said, If prosperity comes to you, why do you despise your good things?
Catena Aurea by AquinasSo that it was not by Beelzebub that even they were casting out demons, but (as we have said) by the power of the Creator; and that He might make this understood, He adds: "But if I with the finger of God cast out demons, is not the kingdom of God come near unto you? " For the magicians who stood before Pharaoh and resisted Moses called the power of the Creator"the finger of God.
Against Marcion Book IVI cast out demons "by the finger of God," that is, by the Holy Spirit, and not by an evil spirit. He calls the Spirit "finger" so that you may know that just as a finger is of one essence with the whole body, so also the Holy Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son. And perhaps He calls Him so for this reason as well: the Son is called the right hand of God, and on Him rested the seven powers of the Spirit, not as on an instrument of the Spirit, but as on One consubstantial with Him; and one of the gifts and operations of the Spirit is the power to heal. He says that I cast out demons "by the finger of God," that is, by a gift of the Spirit. For just as a finger is a part of the hand, so also the spirit of healings was a part of those spirits, that is, powers of the Spirit, which Jesus possessed.
If, He says, "I... cast out demons" by the power of God, then truly "the Kingdom of God has come upon you." And this has the following meaning: the kingdom of the devil is finally being destroyed, and God, who casts out demons, reigns. For listen to what He says next.
Commentary on LukeOr He says, The kingdom of God is come upon you, signifying, "is come against you, not for you." For dreadful is the second coming of Christ to faithless Christians.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhen a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace:
ὅταν ὁ ἰσχυρὸς καθωπλισμένος φυλάσσῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ αὐλήν, ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἐστὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῦ·
Є҆гда̀ крѣ́пкїй воѡрꙋжи́всѧ храни́тъ сво́й дво́ръ, во смире́нїи {въ ми́рѣ} сꙋ́ть и҆мѣ̑нїѧ є҆гѡ̀:
When a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. By the strong man, he means the devil; and by his palace, he means the world which is set in evil, where until the coming of the Savior, he ruled with a malevolent but unchallenged authority, because he rested in the hearts of unbelievers without any opposition. Hence elsewhere he is called the prince of this world, as the Lord says: "For the prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14). And again: "Now the prince of this world will be cast out" (John 12), and the reference here too is to that casting out.
On the Gospel of LukeBut the world he calls his palace, which lieth in wickedness, (1 John 5:19.) wherein up to our Saviour's coming he enjoyed supreme power, because he rested in the hearts of unbelievers without any opposition.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThis fortitude is from God redeeming. "When a strong man armed guards his court, those things which he possesses are in peace; but if a stronger one than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he will take away all his armor in which he trusted, and will distribute his spoils." This stronger one is God, because "the weakness of God is stronger than men." The Son of God was made weak for our sake.
Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5When the strong man armed guards his court. After he disproved the falsehood, here secondly he confirms the truth; in the confirmation of which he proceeds in this order: first he sets forth the preliminary truth, secondly he adds the intended truth, thirdly he subjoins the annexed truth.
First, therefore, setting forth the preliminary truth, he says: When the strong man armed guards his court, in peace are all the things that he possesses. This is manifest in itself. For quiet possession comes from the strength of the possessor, which does not permit it to be attacked by one less powerful. For strong is this devil, of whom it is said in Job chapter forty-one: "There is no power upon earth that can be compared to him, who was made to fear no one"; and Habakkuk chapter one: "O Lord, you have appointed him for judgment, and established him as mighty for correction." He is armed, according to what is said in Job chapter forty-one: "His body is like molten shields." And because he has such great power and armor, therefore violence cannot be done to him by a weak man; rather, in peace he possesses, since he does not fear to lose, according to that saying of Gregory: "He neglects to trouble those whom he perceives himself to possess by undisturbed right." And this is the peace of sinners, concerning which the Psalm says: "I was envious of the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners"; and Matthew chapter ten: "I came not to send peace, but a sword." He wishes therefore to say in this that the strong man is not expelled by the less strong. If, then, no earthly power prevails over the power of the devil, but only heavenly power, therefore that which expels demons is not from earth but from heaven, not human but divine.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11And such has been the fate of our common enemy, the wicked Satan, that many headed serpent, the inventor of sin. For before the coming of the Saviour, he was in great power, driving and shutting up, so to speak, in his own stall flocks not his own, but belonging to God over all, like some rapacious and most insolent robber. But inasmuch as the Word of God Who is above all, the Giver of all might, and Lord of powers assailed Him, having become man, all his goods have been plundered, and his spoil divided. For those who of old had been ensnared by him into ungodliness and error have been called by the holy apostles to the acknowledgment of the truth, and been brought near unto God the Father by faith in His Son.
Would you like to hear and learn another convincing argument besides these? "He that is not with Me," He says, "is against Me: and he that gathers not with Me, scatters for Me." For I, He says, have come to save every man from the hands of the devil; to deliver from his guile those whom he had ensnared; to set the prisoners free; to give light to those in darkness; to raise up them that had fallen; to heal the broken-spirited: and to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad. Such was the object of My coming. But Satan is not with Me; on the contrary he is against Me. For he ventures to scatter those whom I have gathered and saved. How then can he, who wars against Me, and sets his wickedness in array against My purposes, give Me power against himself? How is it not foolish even barely to imagine the possibility of such a thing as this?
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 81As it was necessary for many reasons to refute the cavils of His opponents, our Lord now makes use of a very plain example, by which He proves to those who will consider it that He overcomes the power of the world, by a power inherent in Himself, saying, When a strong man armed keepeth his palace.
For he used before the coming of the Saviour to seize with great violence upon the flocks of another, that is, God, and carry them as it were to his own fold.
Catena Aurea by AquinasHow can they be saved unless it was God who wrought out their salvation upon earth? Or how shall man pass into God, unless God has [first] passed into man? And how shall he (man) escape from the generation subject to death, if not by means of a new generation, given in a wonderful and unexpected manner (but as a sign of salvation) by God-[I mean] that regeneration which flows from the virgin through faith? Or how shall they receive adoption from God if they remain in this [kind of] generation, which is naturally possessed by man in this world? And how could He have been greater than Solomon, or greater than Jonah, or have been the Lord of David, who was of the same substance as they were? How, too, could He have subdued him who was stronger than men, who had not only overcome man, but also retained him under his power, and conquered him who had conquered, while he set free mankind who had been conquered, unless He had been greater than man who had thus been vanquished? But who else is superior to, and more eminent than, that man who was formed after the likeness of God, except the Son of God, after whose image man was created? And for this reason He did in these last days exhibit the similitude; [for] the Son of God was made man, assuming the ancient production [of His hands] into His own nature...
Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4(Hom. 41. in Matt.) He calls the devil a strong man, not because he is naturally so, but referring to his ancient dominion, of which our weakness was the cause.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWell, therefore, did He connect with the parable of "the strong man armed," whom "a stronger man still overcame," the prince of the demons, whom He had already called Beelzebub and Satan; signifying that it was he who was overcome by the finger of God, and not that the Creator had been subdued by another god.
Against Marcion Book IVBefore My coming, He says, Satan was strong and "guarded his house," that is, he ruled over human nature firmly and securely. But when I came, "the one stronger than he," then I conquered the world and all "his armor in which he trusted," that is, every kind of sin. For sin is the weapon of the devil, and with it he boldly overcame people. All this armor of his I destroyed, because no sin was found in Me (1 Pet. 2:22); from that time he grew weak. And "his spoils," that is, the people who were, as it were, his prey, I wrested from him and entrust each one to a special Angel, a faithful guardian, so that instead of the demon in whose power he was held, an Angel would govern him.
Commentary on LukeThe Devil's arms are all kinds of sins, trusting in which he prevailed against men.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
ἐπὰν δὲ ὁ ἰσχυρότερος αὐτοῦ ἐπελθὼν νικήσῃ αὐτόν, τὴν πανοπλίαν αὐτοῦ αἴρει, ἐφ᾿ ᾗ ἐπεποίθει, καὶ τὰ σκῦλα αὐτοῦ διαδίδωσιν.
є҆гда́ же крѣ́плѣй є҆гѡ̀ наше́дъ побѣди́тъ є҆го̀, всѐ ѻ҆рꙋ́жїе є҆гѡ̀ во́зметъ, на не́же ᲂу҆пова́ше, и҆ коры́сть є҆гѡ̀ раздае́тъ.
Christ also divides the spoil, showing the faithful watch which angels keep over the salvation of men.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut if a stronger man comes upon him and overcomes him, he will take away his armor in which he trusted, and will divide his spoils. He is speaking of Himself, that He would not by a deceitful harmonious operation, as some were falsely alleging, but by a stronger power, victoriously free men from the devil. The armor in which the wickedly strong man trusted are the wiles and deceits of spiritual wickedness. The spoils, however, are the men themselves, whom he deceived. These victorious Christ distributes, which is the emblem of triumph, because leading captivity captive, He gave gifts to men, appointing some as apostles, others as evangelists, these as prophets, those as pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4).
On the Gospel of LukeBut with a stronger and mightier power Christ has conquered, and by delivering all men has cast him out. Hence it is added, But if a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome, &c.
His arms then are the craft and the wiles of spiritual wickedness, but his spoils are the men themselves, who have been deceived by him.
As conqueror too Christ divides the spoils, which is a sign of triumph, for leading captivity captive He gave gifts to men, ordaining some Apostles, some Evangelists, some Prophets, and some Pastors and Teachers. (Ephes. 4:8, 11.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasThis fortitude is from God redeeming. "When a strong man armed guards his court, those things which he possesses are in peace; but if a stronger one than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he will take away all his armor in which he trusted, and will distribute his spoils." This stronger one is God, because "the weakness of God is stronger than men." The Son of God was made weak for our sake.
Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5Second, adding the intended truth and now the persuasive argument, he says: But if a stronger one coming upon him shall overcome him. Stronger than the devil is the divine strength, namely our Christ: First Corinthians 1: "We preach Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"; and again: "The weakness of God is stronger than men"; and therefore Job 9: "If strength is sought, he is most mighty". And for this reason it is said in Isaiah 9: "He shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty". He came upon, that is, he came from above, according to that saying in John 3: "He who comes from heaven is above all". He however overcame the devil as one less strong, according to what is said in John 16: "Take courage, I have overcome the world"; whence although he seemed to be conquered, yet he conquered, because by dying he rose again. And this is signified in Jeremiah 46: "The strong one stumbled against the strong one, and both fell together"; because Christ fell corporally, temporally, and visibly, but the devil eternally, totally, and irrecoverably. Whence it is said in Revelation 5: "Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered to open the book". "And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures a Lamb standing as though slain"; who therefore conquered because he was slain. Therefore that saying from First Corinthians 15 can be said to the devil: "O death, where is your victory? Thanks be to God, who has given us the victory through Jesus our Lord".
And because he conquered him in the passion, therefore he despoiled him in the resurrection; hence he adds: He will take away all his armor in which he trusted. And this he did when he broke down the gates of hell, according to that saying of the Psalm: "For he shattered the gates of bronze and broke the bars of iron"; and again in the Psalm: "He will shatter the bow and break the weapons and burn the shields with fire". The devil makes these weapons for himself from men through their consent, according to that saying in Romans 6: "Do not present your members as weapons of iniquity to sin". Or the diabolical weapons are the various stratagems of tempters, by which they prevailed over men. And of these he was deprived through Christ's victory in the resurrection, and despoiled in the ascension. Hence he adds: And he will distribute his spoils. And this indeed he did when from vessels of dishonor he made vessels of mercy; and this was done in the ascension, according to that saying in Ephesians 4: "Ascending on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men". Moreover, our Emmanuel did this: Isaiah 8: "Call his name: Make haste, strip the spoils, hasten to plunder". He plundered the devil mightily, according to that saying in Isaiah 49: "Shall the prey be taken from the strong one? Or can that which was captured by the mighty be saved? For thus says the Lord: Indeed, even the captivity shall be taken from the strong one"; and Hosea 13: "The Lord will plunder the treasure of every desirable vessel".
A figure of this preceded in 1 Kings 30, in David, of whom it is said that, having returned from the slaughter of Amalek, after despoiling the Amalekites, he distributed the spoils and "sent gifts to the elders of Judah and to his neighbors." And note that Christ is said to distribute the spoils of the devil, because, although he himself freed all, nevertheless he also entrusts a part of this glory to various preachers, who are themselves despoilers of Egypt, Exodus 12. From this, therefore, it is apparent that the expulsion of demons was accomplished by Christ not by diabolical or human power, but through the Holy Spirit. And this is the intended truth.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11For as soon as the Word of the Most High God, the Giver of all strength, and the Lord of Hosts, was made man, He attacked him, and took away his arms.
For the Jews who had been a long time entrapped by him into ignorance of God and sin, have been called out by the holy Apostles to the knowledge of the truth, and presented to God the Father, through faith in the Son.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThen Peter said: "You represent him as weak enough. For if, as you say, he is more powerful than all, it can never be believed the weaker wrenched the spoils from the stronger. [Luke 11:22] Or if God the Creator was able by violence to bring down souls into this world, how can it be that, when they are separated from the body and freed from the bonds of captivity, the good God shall call them to the sufferance of punishment, on the ground that they, either through his remissness or weakness, were dragged away to this place, and were involved in the body, as in the darkness of ignorance? You seem to me not to know what a father and a God is: but I could tell you both whence souls are, and when and how they were made; but it is not permitted to me now to disclose these things to you, who are in such error in respect of the knowledge of God." Then said Simon: "A time will come when you shall be sorry that you did not understand me speaking of the ineffable power." Then said Peter: "Give us then, as I have often said, as being yourself a new God, or as having yourself come down from him, some new sense, by means of which we may know that new God of whom you speak; for those five senses, which God our Creator has given us, keep faith to their own Creator, and do not perceive that there is any other God, for so their nature necessitates them."
Recognitions (Book II)He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.
ὁ μὴ ὢν μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ κατ᾿ ἐμοῦ ἐστι, καὶ ὁ μὴ συνάγων μετ᾿ ἐμοῦ σκορπίζει.
[Заⷱ҇ 58] И҆́же нѣ́сть со мно́ю, на мѧ̀ є҆́сть: и҆ и҆́же не собира́етъ со мно́ю, расточа́етъ.
He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me, scatters. Let no one think that this refers to heretics and schismatics, though by extension it can be so understood, but from the context, the subject of the discourse refers to the devil, and that the works of the Savior cannot be compared to the works of Beelzebub. He desires to hold the souls of men captive, the Lord to liberate them; he preaches idols, the Lord preaches the knowledge of the one God; he draws to vices, the Lord calls back to virtue: how then can there be concord between them, whose works are divided?
On the Gospel of LukeThirdly, joining the adjoined truth, he adds: He who is not with me is against me: and through this, the men whom the devil possesses resist Christ, and according to that passage of 2 Corinthians 6: "What accord has Christ with Belial?" And because no one can resist his strength, therefore he adds: He who does not gather with me scatters: because, as it is said in Job 9, "who has resisted him and had peace?" For the office of Christ is to gather, according to that passage of John 11: "He was about to die, that he might gather into one the children of God who were scattered"; and Isaiah 11: "He will gather the fugitives of Israel and will collect the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth"; Psalm: "He will gather the dispersed of Israel." But the office of the devil is to scatter, according to that passage of John 10: "The wolf snatches and scatters the sheep." Therefore it is best to enter the sheepfold of the Lord, who cannot be overcome by one stronger, as it is said in John 10: "The Father, what he has given me, is greater than all things," etc.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11This happens in the history of every Christian movement, beginning with the ministry of Christ Himself. At first it is welcome to all who have no special reason for opposing it: at this stage he who is not against it is for it. What men notice is its difference from those aspects of the world which they already dislike. But later on, as the real meaning of the Christian claim becomes apparent, its demand for total surrender, the sheer chasm between Nature and Supernature, men are increasingly "offended." Dislike, terror, and finally hatred succeed: none who will not give it what it asks (and it asks all) can endure it: all who are not with it are against it.
The Decline of Religion, from God in the DockBut it is to approve the baptism of heretics and schismatics, to admit that they have truly baptized. For therein a part cannot be void, and part be valid. If one could baptize, he could also give the Holy Spirit. But if he cannot give the Holy Spirit, because he that is appointed without is not endowed with the Holy Spirit, he cannot baptize those who come; since both baptism is one and the Holy Spirit is one, and the Church founded by Christ the Lord upon Peter, by a source and principle of unity, is one also. Hence it results, that since with them all things are futile and false, nothing of that which they have done ought to be approved by us. For what can be ratified and established by God which is done by them whom the Lord calls His enemies and adversaries? setting forth in His Gospel, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth." And the blessed Apostle John also, keeping the commandments and precepts of the Lord, has laid it down in his epistle, and said, "Ye have heard that antichrist shall come: even now there are many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, no doubt they would have continued with us." Whence we also ought to gather and consider whether they who are the Lord's adversaries, and are called antichrists, can give the grace of Christ. Wherefore we who are with the Lord, and maintain the unity of the Lord, and according to His condescension administer His priesthood in the Church, ought to repudiate and reject and regard as profane whatever His adversaries and the antichrists do; and to those who, coming out of error and wickedness, acknowledge the true faith of the one Church, we should give the truth both of unity and faith, by means of all the sacraments of divine grace. We bid you, dearest brethren, ever heartily farewell.
Epistle LXIXBut if the baptism of heretics can have the regeneration of the second birth, those who are baptized among them must be counted not heretics, but children of God. For the second birth, which occurs in baptism, begets sons of God. But if the spouse of Christ is one, which is the Catholic Church, it is she herself who alone bears sons of God. For there are not many spouses of Christ, since the apostle says, "I have espoused you, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ; " and, "Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, for the King hath greatly desired thy beauty; " and, "Come with me, my spouse, from Lebanon; thou shalt come, and shalt pass over from the source of thy faith; " and, "I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse." We see that one person is everywhere set forward, because also the spouse is one. But the synagogue of heretics is not one with us, because the spouse is not an adulteress and a harlot. Whence also she cannot bear children of God; unless, as appears to Stephen, heresy indeed brings them forth and exposes them, while the Church takes them up when exposed, and nourishes those for her own whom she has not born, although she cannot be the mother of strange children. And therefore Christ our Lord, setting forth that His spouse is one, and declaring the sacrament of His unity, says, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." For if Christ is with us, but the heretics are not with us, certainly the heretics are in opposition to Christ; and if we gather with Christ, but the heretics do not gather with us, doubtless they scatter.
Epistle LXXIVWith your usual religious diligence, you have consulted my poor intelligence, dearest son, as to whether, among other heretics, they also who come from Novatian ought, after his profane washing, to be baptized, and sanctified in the Catholic Church, with the lawful, and true, and only baptism of the Church. Respecting which matter, as much as the capacity of my faith and the sanctity and truth of the divine Scriptures suggest, I answer, that no heretics and schismatics at all have any power or right. For which reason Novatian neither ought to be nor can be expected, inasmuch as he also is without the Church and acting in opposition to the peace and love of Christ, from being counted among adversaries and antichrists. For our Lord Jesus Christ, when He testified in His Gospel that those who were not with Him were His adversaries, did not point out any species of heresy, but showed that all whatsoever who were not with Him, and who, not gathering with Him, were scattering His flock, were His adversaries; saying, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." Moreover, the blessed Apostle John himself distinguished no heresy or schism, neither did he set down any as specially separated; but he called all who had gone out from the Church, and who acted in opposition to the Church, antichrists, saying, "Ye have heard that Antichrist cometh, and even now are come many antichrists; wherefore we know that this is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us." Whence it appears, that all are adversaries of the Lord and antichrists, who are known to have departed from charity and from the unity of the Catholic Church. In addition, moreover, the Lord establishes it in His Gospel, and says, "But if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." Now if they who despise the Church are counted heathens and publicans, much more certainly is it necessary that rebels and enemies, who forge false altars, and lawless priesthoods, and sacrilegious sacrifices, and corrupter names, should be counted among heathens and publicans; since they who sin less, and are only despisers of the Church, are by the Lord's sentence judged to be heathens and publicans.
Epistle LXXVWould you like to hear and learn another convincing argument besides these? "He that is not with Me," He says, "is against Me: and he that gathers not with Me, scatters for Me." For I, He says, have come to save every man from the hands of the devil; to deliver from his guile those whom he had ensnared; to set the prisoners free; to give light to those in darkness; to raise up them that had fallen; to heal the broken-spirited: and to gather together the children of God who were scattered abroad. Such was the object of My coming. But Satan is not with Me; on the contrary he is against Me. For he ventures to scatter those whom I have gathered and saved. How then can he, who wars against Me, and sets his wickedness in array against My purposes, give Me power against himself? How is it not foolish even barely to imagine the possibility of such a thing as this?
Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon LXXXIAs if He said, I came to gather together the sons of God whom he hath scattered. And Satan himself as he is not with Me, tries to scatter those which I have gathered and saved. How then does he whom I use all My efforts to resist, supply Me with power?
Catena Aurea by Aquinas(ubi sup.) Next we have the fourth answer, where it is added, He who is not with me is against me; as if He says, I wish to present men to God, but Satan the contrary. How then would he who does not work with Me, but scatters what is Mine, become so united with Me, as with Me to cast out devils? It follows, And he who gathereth not with me, scattereth.
(Hom. 41. in Matt.) But if he who does not work with Me is My adversary, how much more he who opposes Me? It seems however to me that he here under a figure refers to the Jews, ranging them with the devil. For they also acted against, and scattered those whom He gathered together.
Catena Aurea by AquinasMy work is to gather the scattered children of God, while his work consists in scattering those who have been gathered. How then do you conclude about Me that I have fellowship with Satan?
Commentary on LukeWhen the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.
ὅταν τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα ἐξέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, διέρχεται δι᾿ ἀνύδρων τόπων ζητοῦν ἀνάπαυσιν, καὶ μὴ εὑρίσκον λέγει· ὑποστρέψω εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου ὅθεν ἐξῆλθον·
Є҆гда́ (же) нечи́стый дꙋ́хъ и҆зы́детъ ѿ человѣ́ка, прехо́дитъ сквозѣ̀ безвѡ́днаѧ мѣ̑ста, и҆щѧ̀ поко́ѧ: и҆ не ѡ҆брѣта́ѧ, глаго́летъ: возвращꙋ́сѧ въ до́мъ мо́й, ѿню́дꙋже и҆зыдо́хъ.
The comparison then is between one man and the whole Jewish people, from whom through the Law the unclean spirit had been cast out. But because in the Gentiles, whose hearts were first barren, but afterwards in baptism moistened with the dew of the Spirit, the devil could find no rest because of their faith in Christ, (for to the unclean spirits Christ is a flaming fire,) he then returned to the Jewish people. Hence it follows, And finding none, he saith, I will return to my house whence I came.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhen an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he walks through dry places. Although it can be simply understood that the Lord added these things for the distinction between His works and those of Satan, namely that He always cleanses the defiled, while Satan hurries to defile the cleansed with even graver filth, it can nevertheless also be aptly taken to refer to any heretic, schismatic, or even a bad Catholic. From the time of baptism, the unclean spirit that had previously inhabited him is driven away by the confession of Catholic faith and the renunciation of worldly ways, and it wanders through dry places, that is, the hearts of the faithful which have been purged of the laxity of fluid thoughts. The cunning adversary sees if he can fix his wicked steps anywhere there. But it is well said:
On the Gospel of Luke"Seeking rest and finding none, for, fleeing chaste minds, the devil can only find a pleasant rest in the heart of the wicked." Hence the Lord says of him: "He sleeps under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places." The shadow, that is, dark consciences; in the reed, which, shiny on the outside, is empty within, being a hypocrite; in moist places, insinuating himself into lascivious and soft minds.
On the Gospel of LukeHe says: "I will return to my house from which I came out." This verse should be feared, not expounded upon, lest through careless neglect, the sin we believed extinguished in us should crush us.
On the Gospel of LukeThis may also be taken to refer to certain heretics or schismatics, or even to a bad Catholic, from whom at the time of his baptism the evil spirit had gone out. And he wanders about in dry places, that is, his crafty device is to try the hearts of the faithful, which have been purged of all unstable and transient knowledge, if he can plant in them any where the footsteps of his iniquity. But he says, I will return to my house whence I came out. And here we must beware lest the sin which we supposed extinguished in us, by our neglect overcome us unawares.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIt may also be simply understood, that our Lord added these words to show the distinction between the works of Satan and His own, that in truth He is ever hastening to cleanse what has been defiled, Satan to defile with still greater pollution what has been cleansed.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWhen the unclean spirit, etc. After the refutation of falsehood and the confirmation of truth, the Evangelist here adds the condemnation of deceitfulness, whose origin is from the malign spirit, according to that passage of John 8: "He is a liar and the father thereof," that is, of lying and pretense. The Savior therefore condemns the deceitfulness of the Pharisees, whose origin, progress, and consummation he shows to be accomplished in them through the malign spirit, and this with respect to the malign spirit's departure, return, and entrance. He departs indeed through the detestation of uncleanness, returns through the simulation of justice, but enters through the deepening of wickedness.
First, therefore, with respect to the departure of the unclean spirit through the detestation of uncleanness, he says: When the unclean spirit has gone out from a man, namely through true repentance, according to that passage of Zechariah 13: "I will take away the false prophets and the unclean spirit from the land." For this, however, abstinence and persistence in prayer are necessary, through which we are cleansed within and without; and then the unclean spirit departs, according to that passage of Matthew 17: "This kind of demon is not cast out except through prayer and fasting."
And since the desire of the devil is always directed toward the seduction of the good, however much he may be expelled from others; therefore he adds: He walks through dry and waterless places, seeking rest. Dry and waterless places are places in which carnality and concupiscence do not flourish, according to that saying of the Psalm: "In a desert and pathless and waterless land, so have I appeared to you in the sanctuary," as Jerome expounds. And therefore the Virgin Mary, because she had concupiscence entirely extinguished, is called the rock of the desert: Isaiah sixteen: "Send forth the Lamb, O Lord, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Sion." Around these places walks the devil seeking rest, that is, wishing to fashion in them the shadow of negligence and the fountain of contumely, so that he might be able to rest there. In such a place, however, he rests, according to that saying of Job forty: "He sleeps under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, in moist places"; and Ezekiel twenty-nine: "Behold, I am against you, O great dragon, who lies in the midst of the rivers." But the devil does not rest except in those in whom he finds the streams of concupiscences, which because he cannot find in holy men who are afflicted and mortified, therefore he does not rest in them but flees, according to that saying of James four: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Second, however, as regards the return through the simulation of justice, he adds: And not finding, namely rest, he says: I will return to my house, from which I went out. His own he calls the house, because he had not yet been fully expelled from it: and to such a one the devil returns: in whose figure, Isaiah thirty-seven: "By the way by which Sennacherib came," that is, Satan, "by the same way he shall return." Rightly, moreover, he calls the sinner his own house, because the sinner who has committed sin is the servant of sin, as is said in John eight; and through this he is not of his own right, but a servant of the devil. Therefore Proverbs five: "Give not your honor to strangers and your years to the cruel one, lest perhaps strangers be filled with your strength, and your labors be in the house of a stranger."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11That the Jewish crowds fall into such thoughts concerning Christ he makes plain by saying, "When the wicked spirit has gone out from the man, it returns with seven other spirits more bitter than itself, and the last state of that man is worse than the first." As long as they were in bondage in Egypt and lived according to the customs and laws of the Egyptians that were full of all impurity, they led polluted lives. An evil spirit dwelled in them, because it dwells in the hearts of the wicked. When in the mercy of God they had been delivered by Moses and received the law as a schoolmaster calling them to the light of the true knowledge of God, the impure and polluted spirit was driven out. Since they did not believe in Christ but rejected the Savior, the impure spirit again attacked them. He found their heart empty and devoid of all fear of God, swept and took up his dwelling in them.
COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 81After what had gone before, our Lord proceeds to show how it was that the Jewish people had sunk to these opinions concerning Christ, saying, When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, &c. For that this example relates to the Jews, Matthew has explained when he says, Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matt. 12:45.) For all the time that they were living in Egypt in the practice of the Egyptians, there dwelt in them an evil spirit, which was drawn out of them when they sacrificed the lamb as a type of Christ, and were sprinkled with its blood, and so escaped the destroyer.
The last state also is worse than the first, according to the words of the Apostle, It were better not to have known the way of truth, than after they have known it to turn back from it. (2 Pet. 2:21.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasIt became indeed the Lord of the law and the prophets to do all things in accordance with His own law, and not to make void the law, but to fulfil it, and rather to connect with the fulfilment of the law the beginning of His grace. Therefore it is that the mother, who was superior to the law, submits to the law. And she, the holy and undefiled one, observes that time of forty days that was appointed for the unclean. And He who makes us free from the law, became subject to the law; and there is offered for Him, who hath sanctified us, a pair of clean birds, in testimony of those who approach clean and blameless.
Methodius Oration Concerning Simeon and AnnaThe unclean spirit dwelt in us before we believed, before we came to Christ when our soul was still committing fornication against God and was with its lovers, the demons. Afterward it said, "I will return to my first husband," and came to Christ, who "created" it from the beginning "in his image." Necessarily the adulterous spirit gave up his place when it saw the legitimate husband. Christ received us, and our house has been "cleansed" from its former sins. It has been "furnished" with the furnishing of the sacraments of the faithful that they who have been initiated know. This house does not deserve to have Christ as its resident immediately unless its life and conduct are so holy, pure and incapable of being defiled that it deserves to be the "temple of God." It should not still be a house, but a temple in which God dwells. If it neglects the grace that was received and entangles itself in secular affairs, immediately that unclean spirit returns and claims the vacant house for itself. "It brings with it seven other spirits more wicked," so that it may not be able again to be expelled, "and the last state of that kind of person is worse than the first." It would be more tolerable that the soul would not have returned to its first husband once it became a prostitute than having gone back after confession to her husband, to have become an adulteress again. There is no "fellowship," as the apostle says, "between the temple of God and idols," no "agreement between Christ and Belial."
HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8.4Truly, such a thought arose in you because you are now in greater fellowship with demons. The unclean spirit dwelt in you even before, when you served idols and killed the prophets. Then, apparently, he went out from you. But now he has returned again "to his house," that is, to your souls, with "seven spirits," that is, many (for the number "seven" in Scripture is often used in the sense of "many"), and made "the last state worse than the first" for you. For then, when you served idols, you killed the prophets, but you had not yet offered open insult to the Son of God, who for your sake appeared in the flesh. But now what hope of salvation is there, when you remain in the same ingratitude and audacity even after the Son became incarnate and works miracles for your sake?
"Waterless places" are the souls of those who have no softness whatsoever — souls that are hardened and preoccupied with themselves. Since the evil one has no place to dwell in such souls, he returns to the Jews, and the last state becomes worse for them than the first. Thus, they now no longer have prophets, for they killed the Word, nor anointing, for they crucified Christ (the Anointed One). Before, although they served idols, prophets and anointing were seen among them; but now they have lost everything, because they sinned against the Son of God.
Commentary on LukeAnd when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.
καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.
И҆ прише́дъ ѡ҆брѧ́щетъ и҆̀ помете́нъ и҆ ᲂу҆кра́шенъ:
For Israel being adorned with a mere outward and superficial beauty, remains inwardly the more polluted in her heart. For she never quenched or allayed her fires in the water of the sacred fountain, and rightly did the unclean spirit return to her, bringing with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself. Hence it follows, And he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. Seeing that in truth she has sacrilegiously profaned the seven weeks of the Law, (i. e. from Easter to Pentecost,) and the mystery of the eighth day. Therefore as upon us is multiplied the seven-fold gifts of the Spirit, so upon them falls the whole accumulated attack of the unclean spirits. For the number seven is frequently taken to mean the whole.
Catena Aurea by AquinasAnd when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished, that is, cleansed by the grace of baptism from the stain of sins, but not filled with the industry of good works. Hence Matthew rightly says that he finds the house empty, swept, and garnished: swept, namely from past vices through baptism, empty of good deeds through negligence, and garnished with simulated virtues through hypocrisy.
On the Gospel of LukeBut he finds his house swept and garnished, that is, purified by the grace of baptism from the stain of sin, yet replenished with no diligence in good works.
Catena Aurea by AquinasTo this house, however, the simulation of goodness and justice leads back the expelled devil; and therefore he adds: And when he comes, he finds it swept clean and adorned, not within, as the Prophet says in the Psalm: "I was exercised and I swept my spirit"; and again: "All the glory of the king's daughter is from within"; he does not find it swept and adorned in this way, but outwardly, as below in the same Gospel: "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish; but what is within is full of plunder and wickedness"; and Matthew twenty-three: "Woe to you! who are like whitewashed sepulchres," etc. Such cleanliness does not suffice for the Holy Spirit, who seeks to dwell not only in a clean body but in a holy soul; whence Wisdom chapter one: "Into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins." And therefore we are invited to both; Isaiah chapter one: "Wash yourselves, be clean," etc. But that cleanliness which is only outward leaves the house empty of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and thereby liable to be occupied by the presence of the devil. Whence, noting this, Matthew chapter twelve says: "He finds it empty, swept clean and adorned," empty, namely, of grace and virtue. Whence Chrysostom: "Those desolate of virtue will easily be liable to occupation by the actions of demons"; and therefore Jerome: "Always do something good, so that the devil may find you occupied."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11That is, to those who are of Israel, whom he saw possessing nothing divine in them, but desolate, and vacant for him to take up his abode there; and so it follows, And when he came, he findeth it swept and garnished.
Catena Aurea by AquinasThen goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
τότε πορεύεται καὶ παραλαμβάνει ἑπτὰ ἕτερα πνεύματα πονηρότερα ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ εἰσελθόντα κατοικεῖ ἐκεῖ, καὶ γίνεται τὰ ἔσχατα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου χείρονα τῶν πρώτων.
тогда̀ и҆́детъ и҆ по́йметъ се́дмь дрꙋги́хъ дꙋхѡ́въ го́ршихъ себє̀, и҆ вше́дше живꙋ́тъ тꙋ̀: и҆ быва́ютъ послѣ̑днѧѧ человѣ́кꙋ томꙋ̀ гѡ́рша пе́рвыхъ.
And then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there. By the seven evil spirits, he designates all vices. For whoever after baptism is seized by either heretical depravity or worldly cupidity, will soon be cast into the depths of all vices. Hence the spirits are then rightly said to be more wicked entering him. Because he will not only have those seven vices, which are contrary to the seven spiritual virtues, but also through hypocrisy, he will pretend to have those virtues themselves.
On the Gospel of LukeAnd the last state of that man is worse than the first. For it would have been better for him not to know the way of truth than after knowing it to turn back. This we read particularly fulfilled in Judas the betrayer, or Simon the magician, and others of the kind. But as to where this parable generally tends, the Savior himself according to Matthew explained, where, having finished it, he immediately added, saying: So shall it be also to this wicked generation. That is, what I have told about any one in particular being usually carried out, this generally continues to be carried out in the whole nation of this people. For the unclean spirit went out from the Jews when they received the law. And he walked through dry places, seeking rest for himself. Expelled indeed by the Jews, he walked through the wilderness of the Gentiles. Which, when afterward they had believed in the Lord, he not finding a place among the nations said: I will return to my former house, whence I came out. I will have the Jews, whom I had left before. And coming, he found it empty, swept, and garnished. For the temple of the Jews was empty, and did not have Christ as a guest, saying: Your house shall be left to you desolate. Because therefore they did not have the protection of God and angels, and were adorned with the superfluous observances of the Pharisees, the devil returns to them, and with the addition of seven demons, inhabits his former house and the latter state of that people becomes worse than the first. For they are now possessed by a much larger number of demons, blaspheming Christ Jesus in their synagogues, than they were possessed in Egypt before the knowledge of the law. Because it is one thing not to believe in the one to come, another not to receive him who has come. But understand the number seven added to the devil, either because of the Sabbath or because of the number of the Holy Spirit. So just as in Isaiah, over the rod out of the root of Jesse, and the flower that rises from the root, the seven spirits of virtues are narrated to have descended, so also conversely the number of vices in the devil is consecrated.
On the Gospel of LukeBy the seven evil spirits which he takes to himself, he signifies all the vices. And they are called more wicked, because he will have not only those vices which are opposed to the seven spiritual virtues, but also by his hypocrisy he will pretend to have the virtues themselves.
Catena Aurea by AquinasWe cannot have the grace of God except through the fear of God. No one receives the grace of God unless he fears God. He who does not have grace ought to fear greatly for himself; likewise, if the Lord restores to a man the grace he had lost, he ought to fear greatly for himself, lest he lose it and become ungrateful, "and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first."
Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2Third, indeed, as regards the entry through the deepening of wickedness, he adds: And then he goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and having entered, they dwell there. These seven spirits are seven simulations which feign and falsely claim to be virtues in appearance; they are therefore more wicked than open vices, because they possess a greater perversity of malice, as Augustine says: "Simulated justice is not justice, but double iniquity."
Hence note three groups of seven spirits. The first is good, which contains the seven gifts, concerning which Isaiah 11: "The spirit of wisdom and understanding shall rest upon him," etc. — The second is evil and contains seven spirits of wickedness, that is, the seven capital vices, opposed to the seven gifts. For lust is opposed to wisdom, gluttony to understanding, avarice to counsel, sloth to fortitude, wrath to knowledge, envy to piety, pride to fear. And concerning these it is said in Mark 16 that seven demons had been cast out from Mary Magdalene. — The third group of seven contains seven pretenses, which the Lord calls more wicked spirits, because under the appearance of holiness they deceive the innocent; concerning which Proverbs 26: "Seven wickednesses are in his heart." Hypocrisy introduces all of these, for it is the counterfeiter of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. As a sign of this, the Lord in Matthew 23 makes seven exclamations against the hypocrites, threatening them with woe; an eighth woe is added, but hypocrites is not placed there. Therefore these more wicked spirits dwell securely, because the less malice appears, the less it is rebuked, and the more securely it rests: Isaiah 13: "Beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with dragons, and ostriches shall dwell there, and hairy creatures shall dance there," where the monstrosities of vices are touched upon.
And since the more securely the devil dwells in a man, the worse it is for the man, because he is more a slave, therefore it is added: And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first, either on account of relapse, because of which John 5: "Behold, you have been made well; sin no more, lest something worse befall you"; and 2 Peter 2: "It would have been better not to have known the way of truth," etc.; whence Chrysostom: "The punishment of later vices is more severe"; or on account of the doubling of iniquity, which occurs through pretense, according to that passage in Sirach 7: "Do not sow iniquity in the furrows of injustice, and you shall not reap it sevenfold." From this it is evident that the Pharisees were not only convicted of falsehood, but also reproved for deceitfulness. These things can also be explained allegorically concerning the Jewish and Gentile peoples, according to how Bede expounds quite well in the Gloss: He went out from Judea, etc.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11(Hom. 43. in Matt.) Now the evil spirits who dwell in the souls of the Jews, are worse than those in former times. For then the Jews raged against the Prophets, now they lift up their hands against the Lord of the Prophets, and therefore suffered worse things from Vespasian and Titus than in Egypt and Babylon. Hence it follows, And the last state of that man is worse than the former. Then too they had with them the Providence of God, and the grace of the Holy Spirit; but now they are deprived even of this protection, so that there is now a greater lack of virtue, and their sorrows are more intense, and the tyranny of the evil spirits more terrible.
(ut sup.) Let us receive the words which follow, as said not only to them, but also to ourselves, And the last state of that man shall be worse than the first; for if enlightened and released from our former sins we again return to the same course of wickedness, a heavier punishment will await our latter sins.
Catena Aurea by AquinasBut it does not turn away those who are full of faith, nor does it act on them, for the power of the Lord is with them. It is the thoughtless and doubting that it turns away. ... Then, when he withdraws from the man in whom he dwelt, the man is emptied of the righteous Spirit; and being henceforward filled with evil spirits, he is in a state of anarchy in every action, being dragged hither and thither by the evil spirits, and there is a complete darkness in his mind as to everything good.
Shepherd of Hermas, Commandment 5And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ λέγειν αὐτὸν ταῦτα ἐπάρασά τις γυνὴ φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου εἶπεν αὐτῷ· μακαρία ἡ κοιλία ἡ βαστάσασά σε καὶ μαστοὶ οὓς ἐθήλασας.
Бы́сть же є҆гда̀ гл҃аше сїѧ̑, воздви́гши нѣ́каѧ жена̀ гла́съ ѿ наро́да, речѐ є҆мꙋ̀: бл҃же́но чре́во носи́вшее тѧ̀, и҆ сосца̑, ꙗ҆̀же є҆сѝ сса́лъ.
Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. To someone who said, "Blessed is the womb that bore you," he replied, "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."Finally, for his brothers, his relatives according to the flesh who did not believe in him, of what advantage was that relationship? Even her maternal relationship would have done Mary no good unless she had borne Christ more happily in her heart than in her flesh.
On Holy Virginity 3It happened that, as he was saying these things, a certain woman from the crowd lifted up her voice and said to him: "Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you." This woman is shown to be of great devotion and faith, who, while the scribes and Pharisees were testing and blaspheming the Lord, recognized his incarnation with such sincerity above all, confessed with such confidence, as to confound the calumny of the present nobles and the perfidy of future heretics. For just as the Jews then, by blaspheming the works of the Holy Spirit, denied the true and consubstantial Son of God to the Father, so later heretics, by denying that Mary, ever a virgin, ministered the material of flesh to the only-begotten God born from human members by the operation of the Holy Spirit's power, said that the Son of Man should not be confessed as truly consubstantial to his mother. But if the flesh of the Word of God, born according to the flesh, is proclaimed foreign to the flesh of the virgin mother, the womb that bore him and the breasts that nursed him are blessed in vain. For by what logic is he believed to have been nourished by her milk, whose seed is denied to be conceived? Since both liquids are proven, according to the natural philosophers, to emanate from the origin of one and the same source. Unless perhaps it is thought that the virgin could supply the material of her flesh to nourish the Son of God in the flesh through a lesser and familiar miracle, but could not do so for the incarnation through a greater and unusual miracle. But the Apostle counters this opinion, saying: "God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law" (Gal. IV). Nor should we listen to those who believe it should be read as "born of a woman, made under the law," but rather, "made of a woman." For conceived from the virgin's womb, he drew flesh not from nothing, not from elsewhere, but from maternal flesh. Otherwise, he could not truly be called the Son of Man, who would not have originated from a human. And so, in these words spoken against Eutyches, let us lift up our voice with the Catholic Church, of which this woman was a type, lifting up our minds from the midst of the crowds, and let us say to the Savior: "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you" (Luke XI). For truly blessed is the mother, who, as someone said, gave birth to the childbearing King. Who holds heaven and earth through the ages, whose divinity and eternal embrace encompasses all things, his empire remaining without end; who, with a blessed womb, having the joys of a mother with the honor of virginity, has neither been seen to have a first like her nor having a second to follow her.
On the Gospel of LukeWhile the Scribes and Pharisees were tempting our Lord, and uttering blasphemies against Him, a certain woman with great boldness confessed His incarnation, as it follows, And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, &c. by which she refutes both the calumnies of the rulers present, and the unbelief of future heretics. For as then by blaspheming the works of the Holy Spirit, the Jews denied the true Son of God, so in after times the heretics, by denying that the Evervirgin Mary, by the cooperating power of the Holy Spirit, ministered of the substance of her flesh to the birth of the only-begotten Son, have said, that we ought not to confess Him who was the Son of man to be truly of the same substance with the Father. But if the flesh of the Word of God, who was born according to the flesh, is declared alien to the flesh of His Virgin Mother, what cause is there why the womb which bare Him and the paps which gave Him suck are pronounced blessed? By what reasoning do they suppose Him to be nourished by her milk, from whose seed they deny Him to be conceived? Whereas according to the physicians, from one and the same fountain both streams are proved to flow. But the woman pronounces blessed not only her who was thought worthy to give birth from her body to the Word of God, but those also who have desired by the hearing of faith spiritually to conceive the same Word, and by diligence in good works, either in their own or the hearts of their neighbours, to bring it forth and nourish it; for it follows, But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
But she was the mother of God, and therefore indeed blessed, in that she was made the temporal minister of the Word becoming incarnate; yet therefore much more blessed that she remained the eternal keeper of the same ever to be beloved Word. But this expression startles the wise men of the Jews, who sought not to hear and keep the word of God, but to deny and blaspheme it.
Catena Aurea by AquinasIn Luke: "A certain woman from the crowd, raising her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you." And Jesus said: "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it."
Not only is she blessed who conceived and nursed him, but also those who follow her. And who are they? Those who hear the word of God and fulfill it. Eve, having transgressed the commandment of God, destroyed the house which God had prepared for us unto salvation; but the wise woman built the house and restored our salvation.
Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6And it came to pass, etc. After the expression of Jewish fraud and the reprobation of the expressed fraud, the Evangelist here adds the commendation of open truth. And this indeed was fitting, so that, with the truth made manifest, Truth itself manifesting itself might be praised openly before the whole multitude. In the description of this commendation, three things are introduced: the first is the condition of the praising person, the second is the expression of divine praise, the third is the approbation of the expressed praise.
First, therefore, as regards the condition of the praising person, he says: And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, namely for the confutation of falsehood: a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him, for the commendation of truth and the confutation of the Pharisees: in which a twofold condition is noted in the praising person, namely courage and lowliness. Courage is noted in this, that she lifted up her voice, according to that passage of Isaiah 40: "Lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, fear not"; lowliness in this, that a certain woman, not named nor noble, but from the crowd, so that that word of the Psalm might be fulfilled: "The poor and needy shall praise your name." From which it is apparent that the praiser of the divine name ought not to be timid, so as not to dare to praise, nor puffed up, so as to blush at praising, but courageous and humble. Whence, while some were silent from fear, and some blasphemed from pride and swelling: this humble and courageous woman neither was silent with the timid nor reviled with the blasphemers: whence in the Gloss: "With great confidence among blasphemers she confesses the Son of God." Therefore that word of Matthew 15 could be said to her: "O woman, great is your faith," which namely has so greatly strengthened you, since it is said in the last chapter of Proverbs: "Who shall find a strong woman?" In you is verified that word of Ecclesiasticus 26: "Eternal foundations upon solid rock, and the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman."
Second, as regards the expression of divine praise, it is added: Blessed is the womb that bore you; in which she praises Christ the Son of God, extolling the proclamation of his praise from the blessedness of the Mother: as if to say, blessed is the woman who bore so good a son. And rightly so, because it was fitting for the female sex to praise thus, and not only women, but indeed also men. For above in chapter one the Virgin said: "From henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
And note that she declares blessed the womb of the Virgin, and this because she carried the Son of God for nine months and six days, which are reckoned as one month: Wisdom 7: "In the womb of my mother I was made flesh in a time of ten months." Whence in praise of the Virgin it is said in Song of Songs 7: "Your womb is like a heap of wheat", because Christ was a grain of wheat, according to what is said in John 12: and with this wheat her womb was filled, and therefore blessed on account of three privileges: because, as Bernard says, "she was made fruitful without corruption, pregnant without heaviness, and a mother without pain"; Isaiah, the last chapter: "Who has ever heard such a thing? And who has seen the like of this"? — Or on account of three miracles. The first is the conjunction of infinitely distant things. For there God was made man: the Creator, a creature: the immense, small: the Word, an infant: the Eternal, temporal, according to that saying in John 1: "And the Word was made flesh"; and Jeremiah 31: "The Lord will create a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall encompass a man". The second miracle is that he who made the womb was made in the womb: whence in the Psalm: "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God"; and afterwards: "A man is born in her, and the Most High himself founded her". Concerning this can be expounded that passage from Sirach 43: "A wondrous vessel, the work of the Most High". The third miracle, that he who contains all things is contained in this womb; he is held there, "whom the whole world cannot hold". Whence the Church sings: "Because him whom the heavens could not contain, you bore in your lap"; whence Isaiah 45: "Truly you are a hidden God".
Nor does she declare the Virgin blessed only on account of the carrying, but the breasts on account of the nursing, when she adds: And the breasts which you sucked, blessed, namely: from which it is given to understand that the most blessed one was nursed from the breasts of the Virgin alone. This was prefigured in Moses, who, as it is said, refused to be nursed by an Egyptian woman: and therefore a Hebrew woman was sought, namely his own mother, as is said in Exodus 2. Now this prefigures the Virgin Mary, at whose breasts Christ nursed, according to that passage in Song of Songs 8: "Who will give you to me as my brother, nursing at the breasts of my mother" etc. Now she joined these two together so that it might be shown that the Virgin Mary was the true and perfect mother of Christ, because she not only bore him but also nourished him: and just as she truly nourished him, so she truly bore him: and in this is refuted, as is said in the Gloss, the impiety of the Manicheans and others who say that he brought with him an ethereal body. Whence Bede: "From the same source flows both milk for nourishing and seed for begetting children. Therefore from the seed of the Virgin, according to the physicians, he who could be nourished by her milk could also be conceived".
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11"Blessed is the womb that bore you." He took blessedness from the one who bore him and gave it to those who were worshiping him. It was with Mary for a certain time, but it would be with those who worshiped him for eternity. "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it."
COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 11.10Knowing therefore these things, let us neither pride ourselves on children that are of good report, unless we have their virtue; nor upon noble fathers, unless we be like them in disposition. For it is possible, both that he who begat a man should not be his father, and that he who did not beget him should be. Therefore in another place also, when some woman had said, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked;" He said not, "The womb bare me not, neither did I suck the paps," but this, "Yea rather, blessed are they that do the will of my Father." Seest thou how on every occasion He denies not the affinity by nature, but adds that by virtue?
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 44Now, as Marcion was apprehensive that a belief of the fleshly body would also involve a belief of birth, undoubtedly He who seemed to be man was believed to be verily and indeed born. For a certain woman had exclaimed, "Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked!" And how else could they have said that His mother and His brethren were standing without? But we shall see more of this in the proper place. Surely, when He also proclaimed Himself as the Son of man, He, without doubt, confessed that He had been born.
Against Marcion Book IIIBesides, how could His kingdom be still standing, with its boundaries, and laws, and functions, whom, even if the whole world were left entire to Him, Marcion's god could possibly seem to have overcome as "the stronger than He," if it were not in consequence of His law that even Marcionites were constantly dying, by returning in their dissolution to the ground, and were so often admonished by even a scorpion, that the Creator had by no means been overcome? "A (certain) mother of the company exclaims, `Blessed is the womb that bare Thee, and the paps which Thou hast sucked; 'but the Lord said, `Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.'" Now He had in precisely similar terms rejected His mother or His brethren, whilst preferring those who heard and obeyed God.
Against Marcion Book IVBut there is also another view of the case: in the abjured mother there is a figure of the synagogue, as well as of the Jews in the unbelieving brethren. In their person Israel remained outside, whilst the new disciples who kept close to Christ within, hearing and believing, represented the Church, which He called mother in a preferable sense and a worthier brotherhood, with the repudiation of the carnal relationship. It was in just the same sense, indeed, that He also replied to that exclamation (of a certain woman), not denying His mother's "womb and paps," but designating those as more "blessed who hear the word of God."
On the Flesh of ChristWhile the Pharisees and scribes disparage the miracles of the Lord, a woman, a guileless and simple person, glorifies Him. Where are those who say that the Lord appeared in mere semblance? For behold the testimony that He was even nursed at the breast!
Commentary on LukeBut he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
αὐτὸς δὲ εἶπε· μενοῦνγε μακάριοι οἱ ἀκούοντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ φυλάσσοντες αὐτόν.
Ѻ҆́нъ же речѐ: тѣ́мже ᲂу҆̀бо бл҃же́ни слы́шащїи сло́во бж҃їе и҆ хранѧ́щїи є҆̀.
But he said: Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. The Savior beautifully agreed to the testimony of the woman, meaning not only her who was worthy to physically bear the Word of God, but also all those who spiritually, by the hearing of faith, conceive the same Word, and in the custody of good works strive either to bear it in their own heart or in the hearts of others, and as if to nurture it, asserting that they are blessed. For even the mother of God, and indeed she was blessed because she became the minister of the Word made flesh temporally, but much more blessed because she remained the eternal guardian of the same Word always to be loved. With this sentence, he silently strikes the wise of the Jews, who sought not to hear and keep the Word of God, but to deny and blaspheme it.
On the Gospel of Luke"A certain woman from the crowd, raising her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you." And Jesus said: "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it."
Not only is she blessed who conceived and nursed him, but also those who follow her. And who are they? Those who hear the word of God and fulfill it. Eve, having transgressed the commandment of God, destroyed the house which God had prepared for us unto salvation; but the wise woman built the house and restored our salvation.
Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6Third, indeed, as regards the approbation of the expressed praise, he adds: But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God. He does not say this by way of opposing, but rather by way of adding, as if he were saying: not only blessed is the womb that bore me, the Word made flesh, but even more blessed is the one who receives the word uttered by me. Whence Mary too was not only blessed because she bore Christ in the flesh, but even more blessed, because she most perfectly bore him in the mind, according to what Augustine says: "Mary was more blessed in conceiving the faith of Christ than the flesh of Christ." For blessed is everyone who hears and obeys, according to that text of John 13: "If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."
And therefore he adds: And keep it: and therefore James 1: "Be doers of the word and not hearers only." By this word Christ did not wish merely carnal kinship to be praised in itself: for thus it is said to the Jews above in the third chapter: "Do not presume to say: We have Abraham as our father," etc.; but spiritual kinship, because the union of minds is holier than that of bodies. And therefore, when his mother and brethren sought him, he said in Matthew 12: "Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, sister, and mother." And for this reason the Virgin Mary was praiseworthy in conceiving, because she conceived by faith: and therefore Elizabeth said to her above in the first chapter: "Blessed is she who believed, for there shall be a fulfillment of those things which were told her by the Lord." — From which appears a wondrous commendation of truth, which makes all who adhere to it blessed, not only those adhering by carnal kinship, as the Virgin Mary, but also by spiritual love, as any holy soul. For as Augustine says: "Beatitude is joy in the truth"; to which joy shall come those who hear, love, and do the truth, according to that text of Ecclesiasticus 24: "Those who hear me shall not be confounded, and those who work in me shall not sin, and those who elucidate me shall have eternal life."
Spiritually, however, it should be noted here that the woman from the crowd bears the type of the Law, which commends carnal generation, according to the promise made to Abraham, Genesis 15: "Look up at the heaven," etc.; and to David, whence in the Psalm: "Of the fruit," etc.; whence Romans 9: "Of whom is Christ according to the flesh," etc. But Christ bears the type of grace and the spirit, who indeed commends spiritual generation, according to that text of Matthew 12: "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?" The conception of this spiritual generation first takes place in faith, as it were in the unity of the Church: John 7: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture says," etc. As a sign of which thing also the Virgin Mary conceived through faith: Luke 1: "Blessed is she who believed." Birth, however, comes about through works: Ecclesiasticus twenty-four: "I said, I will water the garden of plantings," etc. But those who believe and do not work are like those of whom Isaiah thirty-seven says: "The children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring forth." Nursing takes place in love and contemplation; Song of Songs one: "Let him kiss me with a kiss, for your breasts are better than wine," etc.; and Proverbs five: "A most beloved hind and a most graceful fawn," etc. And thus in these three are intimated the reception of grace, the exercise of the active life, and the consolation of the contemplative life. And this whole is enclosed in "faith, which works through love," which only those who possess will be blessed.
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 11But He blesses those who keep the word of God, not, however, in order to deprive His Mother of blessedness, but in order to show that even She would have received no benefit from having given birth to Him and nursed Him at Her breast, if She had not possessed all the other virtues. He says this also because it is timely. Since those who envied Him and did not listen to His words reviled those who did listen, He, contrary to them, especially blesses those who listen. Perhaps He also says this on account of the healed deaf man, so that he too, having heard the word, might keep it, lest the ability to hear that was granted him should serve to his condemnation.
Commentary on Luke
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
Ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ πορεύεσθαι αὐτοὺς καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς κώμην τινά. γυνὴ δέ τις ὀνόματι Μάρθα ὑπεδέξατο αὐτὸν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς.
[Заⷱ҇ 54] Бы́сть же ходѧ́щымъ и҆̀мъ, и҆ са́мъ вни́де въ ве́сь нѣ́кꙋю: жена́ же нѣ́каѧ и҆́менемъ ма́рѳа прїѧ́тъ є҆го̀ въ до́мъ сво́й:
The Lord had a body. And just as he deigned to assume a physical body for our sake, so also did he deign to be hungry and thirsty. As a result of the fact that he deigned to be hungry and thirsty, he condescended to be fed by those he himself enriched. He condescended to be received as a guest, not from need but from favor.Martha was busy satisfying the needs of those who were hungry and thirsty. With deep concern, she prepared what the Holy of Holies and his saints would eat and drink in her house. It was an important but transitory work. It will not always be necessary to eat and drink, will it? When we cling to the most pure and perfect Goodness, serving will not be a necessity.
SERMONS 255.2(Ser. 103.) But the Lord, who came to his own, and his own received him not, (John 1:12.) was received as a guest, for it follows, And a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, &c. as strangers are accustomed to be received. But still a servant received her Lord, the sick her Saviour, the creature her Creator. But if any should say, "O blessed are they who have been thought worthy to receive Christ into their houses," grieve not thou, for He says, For inasmuch as ye have done it to the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matt. 25:40.) But taking the form of a servant, He wished therein to be fed by servants, by reason of His condescension, not His condition. He had a body in which He was hungry and thirsty, but when He was hungry in the desert, Angels ministered to Him. (Matt. 4:11.) In wishing therefore to be fed, He came Himself to the feeder.
Catena Aurea by AquinasNow every work and word of our Savior is a rule of piety and virtue For to this enddid He put on our body, that as much as we can we might imitate His conversation. It is foolish also to take food for the support of the body, and thereby in return to hurt the body, and to hinder it in the performance of the divine command. If then a poor man come, let him receive a model and example of moderation in food, and let us not prepare our own tables for their sakes, who wish to live luxuriously. For the life of the Christian is uniform, ever tending to one object, namely, the glory of God. But the life of those who are without is manifold and vacillating, changed about at will. And how in truth can you, when you set your table before your brother with profusion of meats, and for the pleasure of feasting sake, accuse him of luxury, and revile him as a glutton, censuring his indulgence in that which you yourself afford him? Our Lord did not commend Martha when busied about much serving.
It happened, as they were going, that he entered a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary. This reading is beautifully connected to the preceding one. For as that one designates love of God and neighbor through words and parables, this one designates it through deeds and truth. These two beloved sisters of the Lord demonstrate the two spiritual lives by which the present holy Church is exercised. Indeed, Martha represents the active life, by which we are united to our neighbor in charity; Mary represents the contemplative life, by which we long for the love of God. For the active life is to give bread to the hungry, to teach the ignorant the word of wisdom, to correct the erring, to bring back the proud to the way of humility, to take care of the sick, to dispense what is expedient to each one, and to foresee how those entrusted to us may be able to subsist. The contemplative life, however, is to retain the love of God and neighbor with the whole mind, but to rest from external action, adhering solely to the desire of the Creator, so that one no longer wishes to act but, having cast aside all cares, the soul burns with the desire to behold the face of its Creator, so that it regrets to bear the burden of the corruptible flesh and with all its desires aspires to join the hymnic choirs of angels, to be mixed with the heavenly citizens, to rejoice in the eternal incorruption in the sight of God.
On the Gospel of LukeThe love of God and our neighbour, which was contained above in words and parables, is here set forth in very deed and reality; for it is said, Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village.
Catena Aurea by AquinasFor the instruction of the disciples, a human example is subjoined, set forth in a twofold manner.
Now it came to pass, as they went, etc. After he handed down a form of living through the divine precept, here secondly he hands it down through a human example. Whence the Gloss of Bede: "Having given a discourse on the love of God and neighbor, he supplies an example of each." For here is introduced literally an example of perfection, an example of the active and contemplative life, and a comparison of the two. Whence this part has two parts: in the first of which there is set forth a rational comparison; and in the second there is added a judicial determination, at the place: And the Lord answering said to her. Concerning the rational comparison, however, four things are introduced: the first is the fellowship of the divine presence, the second is the leisure of the contemplative life, the third is the exercise of the active life, the fourth is the dispute between the two.
First, therefore, as regards the fellowship of the divine presence, it is said: Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain town, either for the sake of preaching the kingdom of God, according to what is said above in the eighth chapter: "He journeyed through cities and towns, preaching and evangelizing the kingdom of God"; or for the sake of seeking lodging, according to what is said above in the ninth chapter, that when the Samaritans were unwilling to receive him and his disciples as guests, they "departed to another town." Concerning this town it is stated more explicitly in John 11: "There was a certain man who was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the town of Mary and Martha, his sisters." In this town, I say, he found lodging.
On account of which it is added: And a certain woman, Martha by name, received him into her house, namely, as one who was poor and needy. Hence to such persons he will say that word at the judgment in Matthew 25: "I was a stranger, and you took me in," namely, to those like Martha, such as Job was, of whom it is said in the thirty-first chapter: "The stranger did not remain outside, and my door was open to the traveler." And in that lodging he was present bodily, just as he is present to those in the active and contemplative lives spiritually, according to that word of Revelation 3: "I stand at the door and knock: if anyone shall open to me, I will enter in to him and will sup with him"; because in Proverbs 8 it is said: "My delights are to be with the sons of men"; and conversely, whence Wisdom 8: "Entering into my house, I shall find rest with her: for her conversation has no bitterness, nor her company any weariness."
Commentary on Luke, Chapter 10By His own example then He teaches His disciples how they ought to behave in the houses of those who receive them, namely, when they come to a house, they should not remain idle, but rather fill the minds of those who receive them with sacred and divine teaching. But let those who make ready the house, go to meet their guests gladly and earnestly, for two reasons. First, indeed, they will be edified by the teaching of those whom they receive; next also they will receive the reward of charity.
Catena Aurea by AquinasTo cling always to God and to the things of God—this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low-grade and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity. In looking after the Lord and his disciples, Martha did a very holy service. Mary, however, was intent on the spiritual teaching of Jesus, and she stayed by his feet, which she kissed and anointed with the oil of her good faith.… In saying "Mary chose the good portion," he was saying nothing about Martha, and in no way was he giving the appearance of criticizing her. Still, by praising Mary he was saying that the other was a step below her. Again, by saying "it will not be taken away from her," he was showing that Martha's role could be taken away from her, since the service of the body can only last as long as the human being is there, whereas the zeal of Mary can never end.
CONFERENCE 1.8The name of which village Luke indeed here omits, but John mentions, calling it Bethany. (John 11.)
Catena Aurea by AquinasGreat is the good that comes from hospitality, as Martha showed, and it should not be neglected; but an even greater good is to attend to spiritual discourse. For by the former the body is nourished, but by the latter the soul is given life.
Commentary on Luke