Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 12.djvu/398

 PRAYER

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PRAYER

the invocation, "Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end". If the prayer be addressed to God the Son, the conclusion is: " Who livest and reignest with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end " ; or, " Who with Thee Hveth and reigneth in the unity, etc.". Prayer may be addressed to Christ as Man, because He is a Divine Person, not however to His human nature as such, precisely because prayer must always be addressed to a jierson, never to something im- personal or in the abstract. An appeal to anything impersonal, as for instance to the Heart, the Wounds, the Cross of Christ, must be taken figuratively as in- tended for Christ Himself.

Who can pray. — As He has promised to intercede for us (John, xiv, 16), and is said to do so (Rom., viii, 3i; Heb., vii, 25), we may ask His intercession, though this is not customary in public worship. He prays in virtue of His own merits; the saints inter- cede for us in virtue of His merits, not their own. Con- sequently when we pray to them, it is to ask for their intercession in our behalf, not to expect that they can bestow gifts on us of their own power, or obtain them in virtue of their own merit. Even the souls in purgatory, according to the common opinion of theo- logians, pray to God to move the faithful to offer prayers, sacrifices, and expiatory works for them. They also pray for themselves and for souls still on earth. The fact that Christ knows the future, or that the saints may know many future things, does not pre- vent them from praying. As they foresee the future, so also they foresee how its happenings may be in- fluenced by their prayers, and they at least by prayer do all in their power to bring about what is best, though those for whom they pray may not dispose themselves for the blessings thus invoked. The just can pray, and sinners also. The opinion of Quesnel that the prayer of the sinner adds to his sin was con- demned by Clement XI (Denzinger, 10 ed., n. 1409). Though there is no supernatiu-al merit in the sinner's prayer, it may be heard, and indeed he is obliged to make it just as before he sinned. No matter how hard- ened he may become in sin, he needs and is bound to pray to be delivered from it and from the temptations which beset him. H is prayer could offend God only if it were hj-pocritical, or presumptuous, as if ho should £isk God to suffer him to continue in his evil course. It goes without saying that in hell prayer is impos- sible; neither devils nor lost souls can pray, or be the object of prayer.

For whom we may pray. — For the blessed prayers may be offered not with the hope of increasing their beatitude, but that their glory may be better es- teemed and their deeds imitated. In praying for one another we assume that God will bestow His favours in consideration of those who pray. In virtue of the solidarity of the Church, that is, of the close relations of the faithful as members of the mystical Body of Christ, any one may benefit by the good deeds, and especially by the prayers of the others as if par- ticipating in them. This is the ground of St. Paul's desire that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men (Tim., ii, 1), for all, without exception, in high or low station, for the just, for sinners, for infidels; for the dead as well as for the living; for enemies as well as for friends. (See Communion of S.\i.\ts.)

Effects of Prayer. — In hearing our prayer God does not change His will or action in our regard, but simply puts into effect what He had eternally decreed in view of our prayer. This He may do directly without the intervention of any secondary cause as when He im- parts to us some supernatural gift, such as actual grace, or indirectly, when He bestows some natural gift. In this latter case He directs by His Provi- dence the natural causes which contribute to the

effect desired, whether they be moral or free agents, such as men; or some moral and others not, but physical and not free; or, again, when none of them is free. Finally, by miraculous intervention, and without employing any of these causes, He can pro- duce the effect prayed for.

The use or habit of praj'er redounds to our ad- vantage in many ways. Besides obtaining the gifts and graces we need, the very process elevates our mind and heart to a knowledge and love of Divine tilings, greater confidence in God, and other precious sentiments. Indeed, so numerous and so helpful are these effects of prayer that they compensate us, even when the special object of our prayer is not granted. Often they are of far greater benefit than what we ask for. Nothing that we might obtain in answer to our prayer could exceed in value the familiar converse with God in which prayer consists. In adcUtion to these effects of prayer, we may (de congruo) merit by it restoration to grace, if we are in sin; new inspirations of grace, increase of sanctifjing grace, and satisfy for the temporal punishment due to sin. Signal as all these benefits are, they are only incidental to the proper effect of prayer due to its impetratory power based on the infallible promise of God, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you" "(Matt., vii, 7); "Therefore I say unto you, all things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, belie'v-e that you shall receive" (Mark, xi, 24 — see also Luke, xi, 11; John, xvi, 24, as well as innumerable assiu'ances to this effect in the Old Testament).

Conditions of Prayer. — Absolute though Christ's assurances in regard to prayer would seem to be, they do not exclude certain conditions on which the efficacy of prayer depends. In the first place, its object must be worthy of God and good for the one who prays, spiritually or temporally. This condi- tion is always implied in the prayer of one who is resigned to God's will, ready to accept any spiritual favour God may be pleased to grant, and desirous of temporal ones only in so far as they may help to serve God. Next, faith is needed, not only the general belief that God is capable of answering prayer or that it is a powerful means of obtaining His favour, Ijut also the implicit trust in God's fidelity to His promise to hear a prayer in some particular instance. This trust implies a special act of faith and hope that if our request be for our good, God will grant it, or some- thing else equivalent or better, which in His Wisdom He deems best for us. To be efficacious prayer should be humble. To ask as if one had a binding claim on God's goodness, or title of whatever colour to obtain some favour, would not be prayer but demand. The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican illustrates this very clearly, and there are innumerable testimonies in Scripture to the power of humilitv in prayer. "A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps. 1, 19). "The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds" (EccL, xxxv, 21). Without sacrifice of humility we may and should try to be sure that our conscience is good, and that there is no defect in our conduct inconsistent with prayer; indeed, we may even appeal to our merits so far as they recommend us to God, provided always that the principal motives of one's confidence are God's goodness and the merits of Christ. Sincerity is another necessarj' quality of prayer. It would be idle to ask favour without doing all that may be in our power to obtain it ; to beg for it without really wishing for it; or, at the same time that one prays, to do anything inconsistent with the prayer. Earnestness or fervour is another such quality, pre- cluding all lukewarm or half-hearted petitions. To be resigned to God's will in prayer does not imply that one should be indifferent in the sense that one