Part III (Secunda Secundae) Part 131 (2/2)
is omitted by Luke, so that each one may know himself to be delivered from evil if he be not led into temptation.
Reply Obj. 5: Prayer is offered up to G.o.d, not that we may bend Him, but that we may excite in ourselves the confidence to ask: which confidence is excited in us chiefly by the consideration of His charity in our regard, whereby he wills our good--wherefore we say: ”Our Father”; and of His excellence, whereby He is able to fulfil it--wherefore we say: ”Who art in heaven.”
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TENTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 83, Art. 10]
Whether Prayer Is Proper to the Rational Creature?
Objection 1: It would seem that prayer is not proper to the rational creature. Asking and receiving apparently belong to the same subject.
But receiving is becoming also to uncreated Persons, viz. the Son and Holy Ghost. Therefore it is competent to them to pray: for the Son said (John 14:16): ”I will ask My [Vulg.: 'the'] Father,” and the Apostle says of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 8:26): ”The Spirit ... asketh for us.”
Obj. 2: Angels are above rational creatures, since they are intellectual substances. Now prayer is becoming to the angels, wherefore we read in the Ps. 96:7: ”Adore Him, all you His angels.”
Therefore prayer is not proper to the rational creature.
Obj. 3: Further, the same subject is fitted to pray as is fitted to call upon G.o.d, since this consists chiefly in prayer. But dumb animals are fitted to call upon G.o.d, according to Ps. 146:9, ”Who giveth to beasts their food and to the young ravens that call upon Him.” Therefore prayer is not proper to the rational creatures.
_On the contrary,_ Prayer is an act of reason, as stated above (A.
1). But the rational creature is so called from his reason. Therefore prayer is proper to the rational creature.
_I answer that,_ As stated above (A. 1) prayer is an act of reason, and consists in beseeching a superior; just as command is an act of reason, whereby an inferior is directed to something. Accordingly prayer is properly competent to one to whom it is competent to have reason, and a superior whom he may beseech. Now nothing is above the Divine Persons; and dumb animals are devoid of reason. Therefore prayer is unbecoming both the Divine Persons and dumb animals, and it is proper to the rational creature.
Reply Obj. 1: Receiving belongs to the Divine Persons in respect of their nature, whereas prayer belongs to one who receives through grace. The Son is said to ask or pray in respect of His a.s.sumed, i.e.
His human, nature and not in respect of His G.o.dhead: and the Holy Ghost is said to ask, because He makes us ask.
Reply Obj. 2: As stated in the First Part (Q. 79, A. 8), intellect and reason are not distinct powers in us: but they differ as the perfect from the imperfect. Hence intellectual creatures which are the angels are distinct from rational creatures, and sometimes are included under them. In this sense prayer is said to be proper to the rational creature.
Reply Obj. 3: The young ravens are said to call upon G.o.d, on account of the natural desire whereby all things, each in its own way, desire to attain the Divine goodness. Thus too dumb animals are said to obey G.o.d, on account of the natural instinct whereby they are moved by G.o.d.
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ELEVENTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 83, Art. 11]
Whether the Saints in Heaven Pray for Us?
Objection 1: It would seem that the saints in heaven do not pray for us. A man's action is more meritorious for himself than for others.
But the saints in heaven do not merit for themselves, neither do they pray for themselves, since they are already established in the term.
Neither therefore do they pray for us.
Obj. 2: Further, the saints conform their will to G.o.d perfectly, so that they will only what G.o.d wills. Now what G.o.d wills is always fulfilled. Therefore it would be useless for the saints to pray for us.
Obj. 3: Further, just as the saints in heaven are above, so are those in Purgatory, for they can no longer sin. Now those in Purgatory do not pray for us, on the contrary we pray for them. Therefore neither do the saints in heaven pray for us.
Obj. 4: Further, if the saints in heaven pray for us, the prayers of the higher saints would be more efficacious; and so we ought not to implore the help of the lower saints' prayers but only of those of the higher saints.
Obj. 5: Further, the soul of Peter is not Peter. If therefore the souls of the saints pray for us, so long as they are separated from their bodies, we ought not to call upon Saint Peter, but on his soul, to pray for us: yet the Church does the contrary. The saints therefore do not pray for us, at least before the resurrection.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (2 Macc. 15:14): ”This is ... he that prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city, Jeremias the prophet of G.o.d.”
_I answer that,_ As Jerome says (Cont. Vigilant. 6), the error of Vigilantius consisted in saying that ”while we live, we can pray one for another; but that after we are dead, none of our prayers for others can be heard, seeing that not even the martyrs' prayers are granted when they pray for their blood to be avenged.” But this is absolutely false, because, since prayers offered for others proceed from charity, as stated above (AA. 7, 8), the greater the charity of the saints in heaven, the more they pray for wayfarers, since the latter can be helped by prayers: and the more closely they are united to G.o.d, the more are their prayers efficacious: for the Divine order is such that lower beings receive an overflow of the excellence of the higher, even as the air receives the brightness of the sun.
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