Page:Catechismoftrent.djvu/329

 they bow themselves down with humility, and, far as they are removed from him, implore of God a penitential sorrow, the pardon of their sins, and the peace of reconciliation. The prayers of such persons are not rejected by God: they are graciously heard by him; nay, in his mercy, he generously invites such sinners to have recourse to him; " Come to me, all you that labour, and are heavily laden, and I will refresh you." Of this class of sinners was the Publican, who, not daring to raise his eyes towards heaven, left the temple, as our Lord declares, more justified than the Pharisee.

A third degree of prayer is that which is offered by those, who have not as yet been illumined with the light of faith; but who, whilst the divine goodness lights up in their souls the feeble glimmerings of the law of nature, are strongly excited to the desire and pursuit of truth, to arrive at a knowledge of which is the object of their most earnest prayers. If they persevere in such dispositions, God, in his mercy, will not neglect their earnest endeavours, as we see verified by the example of Cornelius the centurion; against none who desire it sincerely are the doors of the divine mercy closed.

The last degree is that of those, who, not only impenitent but obdurate, adding crime to crime, and enormity to enormity, yet dare frequently to ask pardon of God for those sins, in which they are resolved to persevere. Under such circumstances, and with such dispositions, who would presume to ask pardon even of his fellow-man? To the prayer of such sinners God turns a deaf ear, as it is recorded in Scripture of Antiochus: " Then this wicked man prayed to the Lord, of whom he was not to obtain mercy." Whoever lives in this deplorable condition should be exhorted to wean himself from all affection to sin, to turn to God in good earnest and from the heart.

As, under the head of each petition, we shall point out in its proper place, what is, and what is not a proper object of prayer, it will here suffice to admonish the faithful, in general terms, to ask of God such things as are just and good; lest, suing for what is not conformable to his known will, they may be answered in these words: " You know not what you desire." Whatever it is lawful to desire, it is lawful to pray for: the promise of our Lord is unlimited: " You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you;" words which ensure all things to pious prayer.

In the first place, then, to refer every thing to God, the Supreme Good, the great object of our love, the centre of all our desires, is the principle which should regulate all our wishes. In the next place, those things which unite us most closely to God should be the objects of our most earnest desires; whilst those which would separate us from him, or occasion that separation, should have no share in them. From this principle we