From this there comes to a man the beatitude which is the hunger for justice. For after spiritual things are possessed, they are desired all the more; and from this desire comes hunger, and from hunger the satiety of eternal life. Article 5: And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Some are found of great wisdom and fortitude; and because they trust too much in their own virtue, they do not act wisely in what they do, nor do they bring to completion what they intend. Proverbs 20:18: 'Thoughts are strengthened by counsels.' But it should be noted that the Holy Spirit, who gives fortitude, also gives counsel. For every good counsel concerning the salvation of men is from the Holy Spirit.
Now counsel is necessary to a man when he is in tribulation, just as the counsel of physicians is needed when someone falls sick. Hence also a man, when he is spiritually sick through sin, ought to seek counsel, that he may be healed. Now that counsel is necessary to a sinner is shown in Daniel 4:24, when it is said: 'Let my counsel be pleasing to you, O king; redeem your sins with alms.' The best counsel, therefore, against sins is almsgiving and mercy; and therefore the Holy Spirit teaches sinners to ask and pray: Forgive us our debts. Now we owe to God that which we take away from his right. And the right of God is that we should do his will, preferring it to our own will.
We therefore take away from God his right, when we prefer our own will to his; and this is sin. Sins, therefore, are our debts. It is therefore the counsel of the Holy Spirit that we ask of God the pardon of our sins; and therefore we say: Forgive us our debts. Now in these words we can consider three things. The first is why this petition is made; the second, when it is fulfilled; the third is what is required on our part that it may be fulfilled. As regards the first, it should be known that from this petition we can gather two things which are necessary to men in this life. One is that a man should always be in fear and humility.
For there have been some so presumptuous as to say that a man could so live in this world that of himself he could avoid sins. But this has been granted to no one except to Christ alone, who had the Spirit not by measure, and to the Blessed Virgin, who was full of grace, in whom there was no sin, as Augustine says: 'Of that Virgin, namely, when sins are under discussion, I wish no mention to be made.' But to none of the other saints has it been granted that they should not incur at least a venial sin: 1 John 1:8, 'If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.' And this too is proved by this petition. For it is plain that to all the saints, even holy men, it belongs to say:
the Our Father, in which it is said: 'Forgive us our debts.' Therefore all acknowledge and confess themselves to be sinners or debtors. If then you are a sinner, you ought to fear and to humble yourself. Another point is that we should always live in hope: for although we are sinners, we ought not to despair, lest despair lead us into greater and various sins, as the Apostle says, Ephesians 4:19, 'Who, despairing, have given themselves over to wantonness, unto the working of all uncleanness.' Therefore it is very useful that we should always hope: for however great a sinner a man may be, he ought to hope that God, if he be perfectly contrite and converted, will forgive him. And this hope is established in us when we pray: 'Forgive us our debts.'
But the Novatians took away this hope, who said that those who sinned once after Baptism never obtained mercy. This however is not true, if Christ spoke truly in saying, Matthew 18:32, 'I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me.' On whatever day therefore you ask, you will be able to obtain mercy, if you ask with repentance for your sin. Thus then from this petition there arises both fear and hope: because all sinners who are contrite and confessing obtain mercy. And therefore this petition was necessary. Concerning the second point it must be known that in sin there are two things: namely the guilt by which God is offended, and the punishment which is due for the guilt.
But guilt is remitted in contrition, which is accompanied by the purpose of confessing and making satisfaction. Psalm 31:5, 'I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin.' One must not therefore despair, since for the remission of guilt contrition together with the purpose of confessing suffices. But perhaps someone will say: since sin is remitted by contrition, why is a priest necessary? To this it must be said that God in contrition remits the guilt, and the eternal punishment is commuted into a temporal one; yet nonetheless he still remains bound to a temporal punishment.
Hence if he were to die without confession—not having despised it, however, but having been forestalled—he would go to Purgatory, whose punishment, as Augustine says, is very great. When therefore you confess, the priest absolves you from this punishment by the power of the keys, to which you subject yourself in confession; and therefore Christ said to the Apostles, John 20:22-23, 'Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.' Hence when one confesses once, something of this punishment is remitted to him, and likewise when he confesses again: and one could confess so many times that the whole would be remitted to him. But the successors of the Apostles found another mode of remitting this punishment:
namely the benefits of indulgences, which to one existing in charity avail as much as they sound and as much as they are pronounced. That the Pope can do this is sufficiently evident. For many saints did many good works, and yet these did not sin, at least not mortally; and these good works they did for the benefit of the Church. Likewise the merit of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin are as it were in a treasury. Hence the Supreme Pontiff, and those to whom he commits it, are able to dispense such merits where there is need. Thus therefore sins are remitted not only as to guilt in contrition, but also as to punishment in confession and through indulgences.
Concerning the third point it must be known that on our part it is required that we forgive our neighbours the offences done to us. Hence it is said: 'as we also forgive our debtors': otherwise God would not forgive us. Sirach 28:3, 'Man to man reserveth anger, and doth he seek remedy of God?' Luke 6:37, 'Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.' And therefore in this petition alone contrition is placed, when it is said: 'as we also forgive our debtors.' If then you do not forgive, it will not be forgiven you. But you might say: I will say the preceding words, namely 'forgive us,' but the words 'as we also forgive our debtors' I will pass over in silence. Do you then seek to deceive Christ? But surely you do not deceive him.
For Christ, who composed this prayer, remembers it well: hence he cannot be deceived. Therefore if you say it with your mouth, fulfil it with your heart. But it is asked whether he who does not intend to forgive his neighbour ought to say: 'as we also forgive our debtors.' It seems that he ought not, because he lies. It must be said that he does not lie, because he does not pray in his own person, but in the person of the Church, which is not deceived: and therefore the petition itself is set in the plural. But it must be known that one forgives in two ways. One is that of the perfect, namely that the offended party seeks out the offender. Psalm 33:15, 'Seek after peace.' The other is the way common to all, to which all are bound, namely that one grant pardon to him who asks for it. Sirach 28:2:
'Forgive thy neighbour who has hurt thee, and then shall thy sins be forgiven thee when thou prayest.' From this follows another beatitude: 'Blessed are the merciful': for mercy makes us take pity on our neighbour. Article 6: 'And lead us not into temptation.' There are some who, although they have sinned, yet desire to obtain pardon for their sins: hence they both confess and repent; but nevertheless they do not apply all the diligence that they ought, lest they fall again into sins. Which indeed is not fitting, namely that on the one hand a man weep for his sins while he repents, and on the other hand pile up cause for weeping while he sins. And on this account it is said in Isaiah 1:16:
'Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your thoughts from before my eyes, cease to do perversely.' And therefore, as was said above, Christ in the preceding petition taught us to ask for pardon of sins; but in this one he teaches us to ask that we may be able to avoid sins, namely that we be not led into temptation through which we may slip into sins, when he said: 'And lead us not into temptation.' Concerning which three things are inquired. First, what temptation is; second, how a man is tempted, and by whom; third, how he is delivered in temptation. Concerning the first it must be known that to tempt is nothing other than to try out or to prove: hence to tempt a man is to test his virtue.
Now a man's virtue is tried or proved in two ways, according as a man's virtue requires two things. One pertains to doing well, namely that he act well; the other is that he beware of evil. Psalm 33:15, 'Turn away from evil, and do good.' Therefore a man's virtue is proved sometimes as to this, that he do well, sometimes as to this, that he refrain from evil. As to the first, a man is tested whether he be found ready for good, as for fasting and the like. For then your virtue is great when you are found ready for good. And in this way God sometimes tests a man; not that a man's virtue is hidden from him, but that all may know it, and that it may be given to all as an example. Thus God tested Abraham, Genesis
chapter 22, and Job. And therefore God often sends tribulations upon the just, so that while they patiently endure, their virtue may appear, and they may make progress in virtue. Deuteronomy 13:3, 'The Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear plainly whether you love him or not.' Thus therefore God tempts by provoking to good. As to the second, a man's virtue is proved by inducement to evil. And if he resists well, and does not consent, then a man's virtue is great; but if a man succumbs to temptation, then a man's virtue is null. In this manner, however, no one is tempted by God: because, as is said in James 1:13, 'God is not a tempter of evils, and he himself tempteth no man.' But a man is tempted by his own flesh, by the Devil, and by the world. By the flesh in two ways.
First, because the flesh instigates to evil: for the flesh always seeks its own delights, namely carnal ones, in which there is often sin. For he who lingers over carnal delights neglects spiritual things. James 1:14, 'Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence.' Secondly, the flesh tempts by drawing back from good. For the spirit, of itself, would always delight in spiritual goods; but the flesh, weighing it down, impedes the spirit. Wisdom 9:15, 'The body which is corrupted weigheth down the soul.' Romans 7:22-23, 'I delight in the law of God according to the inward man; but I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, which is in my members.'
But this temptation, namely that of the flesh, is exceedingly grievous, because our enemy, namely the flesh, is joined to us: and, as Boethius says, no plague is more effective for harming than a familiar enemy. And therefore one must keep watch against it. Matthew 26:41, 'Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation.' The Devil tempts most strongly. For after the flesh is trodden down, another rises up, namely the Devil, against whom there is for us a great wrestling. The Apostle, Ephesians 6:12, 'Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness.' Hence he is also pointedly called the tempter. 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 'Lest perhaps he that tempteth should have tempted you.'
In his temptation he proceeds most cunningly. For he, like a good general of an army who besieges some fortress, considers the weak points of him whom he wishes to assail, and on that side where a man is more feeble, he tempts him. And therefore he tempts in those vices to which men, when the flesh is subdued, are more prone, as anger, pride, and the other spiritual vices. 1 Peter 5:8, 'Your adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.' Now the Devil does two things while he tempts:
For he does not at once set before him whom he tempts some apparent evil, but something that has the appearance of good, so that at least in the very beginning he may by it draw him a little from his principal purpose, because afterwards he more easily induces him to sin, when he has turned him aside even a little. The Apostle, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 'Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.' Then, after he has induced him to sin, he so binds him that he does not permit him to rise again from his sins. Job 40:12, 'The sinews of his testicles are wrapped together.' Thus then the Devil does two things: he deceives, and the one deceived he holds fast in sin. But the world tempts in two ways. First, by an excessive and immoderate desire of temporal things. The Apostle, 1 Timothy
6:10, 'The root of all evils is covetousness.' Secondly, by terrifying through persecutors and tyrants. Job 37:19, 'We also are wrapped up in darkness.' 2 Timothy 3:12, 'All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.' Matthew 10:28, 'Fear not them that kill the body.' Thus then it is clear what temptation is, and how a man is tempted, and by whom. It follows to see how a man is delivered. Concerning which it must be known that Christ teaches us to pray not that we be not tempted, but that we be not led into temptation. For if a man overcomes temptation, he merits a crown; and therefore it is said in James 1:2, 'Count it all joy, my brethren, when you shall fall into divers temptations.' Sirach 2:1:
'My son, when thou comest to the service of God ... prepare thy soul for temptation.' Likewise James 1:12, 'Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life.' And therefore he teaches us to ask that we be not led into temptation through consent. 1 Corinthians 10:13, 'Let no temptation take hold on you, but such as is human.' For to be tempted is human, but to consent is diabolical. But does God lead to evil, since he says: 'And lead us not into temptation'? I answer that God is said to lead to evil by permitting, inasmuch namely as on account of many sins he withdraws his grace from a man, and that being withdrawn, the man slips into sin: and therefore we sing in Psalm 70:9, 'When my strength shall fail, do not thou forsake me, O Lord.'
Now he governs a man so that he be not led into temptation, by the fervour of charity: because any charity whatsoever, however small, can resist any sin. Song of Songs 8:7, 'Many waters could not quench charity.' Likewise by the light of understanding, by which he instructs us concerning what is to be done: because, as the Philosopher says, everyone who sins is ignorant. Psalm 31:8, 'I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee.' This David sought, who said, Psalm 12:4-5, 'Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death: lest at any time my enemy say, I have prevailed against him.' And this we have through the gift of understanding. And because, when we do not assent to temptation, we keep the heart clean, of which Matthew 5:8:
'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God': therefore from this we arrive at the vision of God, to which may he bring us. Article 7: 'But deliver us from evil. Amen.' Above the Lord taught us to ask pardon for sins, and how we can avoid temptations: but here he teaches us to ask for preservation from evils. And this petition is general against all evils; namely sins, infirmities, and afflictions, as Augustine says. But since sin and temptation have been spoken of, we must speak of the other evils, namely all the adversities and afflictions of this world; from which God delivers in four ways. First, that affliction may not come upon us. But this rarely happens:
because the saints are afflicted in this world, for, as is said in 2 Timothy 3:12, 'All who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.' Yet nonetheless God sometimes grants to someone that he be not afflicted by evil; namely when he knows him to be powerless and unable to resist; just as a physician does not give violent medicines to a weak invalid. Revelation 3:8, 'Behold, I have given before thee a door opened, which no man can shut, because thou hast little strength.' But in the heavenly homeland this will be universal, because no one will be afflicted there. Job 5:19, 'In six tribulations,' namely of the present life, which is distinguished by six ages, 'he shall deliver thee; and in the seventh evil shall not touch thee.' Revelation 7:16:
'They shall no more hunger nor thirst.' Secondly, he delivers when in afflictions he consoles. For unless God consoled, a man could not subsist. 2 Corinthians 1:8, 'We were pressed out of measure above our strength'; and likewise 7:6, 'But God, who comforteth the humble, comforted us.' Psalm 93 (94):19, 'According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul.' Thirdly, because to the afflicted he does as many good things as deliver evils to oblivion. Tobit 3:22, 'After a storm thou makest a calm.' Thus therefore the afflictions and tribulations of this world are not to be feared, because they are easily borne both on account of the consolation mingled with them, and on account of their brevity. The Apostle, 2 Corinthians 4:17:
'That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory in sublimity': because by these one arrives at eternal life. Fourthly, because temptation and tribulation is turned into good: and therefore he does not say, 'deliver us from tribulation,' but 'from evil': because tribulations are to the saints unto a crown; and hence it is that they glory in tribulations. The Apostle, Romans 5:3, 'And not only so, but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience.' Tobit 3:13, 'In the time of tribulation thou forgivest sins.' God therefore delivers a man from evil and tribulations by turning them into good;
which is a sign of the greatest wisdom, because it belongs to the wise man to order evil unto good; and this is done through patience, which is had in tribulations. The other virtues indeed make use of goods, but patience of evils; and therefore only in evils, that is, in adversities, is it necessary: Proverbs 19:11, 'The learning of a man is known by his patience.' And therefore the Holy Spirit through the gift of wisdom makes us pray: and through this we arrive at the beatitude to which peace orders us, because through patience we have peace both in prosperous time and in adverse: and therefore the peacemakers are called sons of God, who are like God, because just as nothing can harm God, so neither can anything harm them, since neither prosperity nor adversity can;
and therefore 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God,' Matthew 5:9. 'Amen' is the universal confirmation of all the petitions. A concise exposition of the whole prayer of the Our Father. That it may be expounded in summary, it must be known that in the Lord's prayer are contained all things that are desired and all things that are shunned. Now among all desirable things, that is more desired which is more loved, and this is God; and therefore first you ask for the glory of God, when you say: 'Hallowed be thy name.' From God, moreover, three things are to be desired, which pertain to you. The first is that you arrive at eternal life; and this you ask when you say: 'Thy kingdom come.' The second is that you do the will of God and justice; and this you ask when you say:
'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' The third is that you may have the things necessary for life; and this you ask when you say: 'Give us this day our daily bread.' And concerning these three the Lord says, Matthew 6:33: 'Seek first the kingdom of God,' as to the first; 'and his justice,' as to the second; 'and all these things shall be added unto you,' as to the third. But those things which are to be avoided and shunned are those which are contrary to good. Now the good which is first desirable is fourfold, as has been said. And the first is the glory of God, and to this no evil is contrary. Job 35:6-7, 'If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him ... if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him?'
For both from evil inasmuch as he punishes it, and from good inasmuch as he rewards it, there results the glory of God. The second good is eternal life; and to this sin is contrary, because by sin it is lost: and therefore to remove this we say: 'Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.' The third good is justice and good works; and to this temptation is contrary, because temptations hinder us from doing good: and to remove this we ask: 'And lead us not into temptation.' The fourth good is the necessary goods; and to this adversities and tribulations are contrary; and to remove this we ask: 'But deliver us from evil. Amen.'