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 of our  prayer. Of these  there  are  three  classes. To the  first  class  belong  those  cases  in  which  a person  needs  divine  help  at  the  present  moment or at  least  at  a  time  definitely  near,  and  seeks  it through  prayer. Such a  petition  would  be,  for instance, to  obtain  the  necessary  and  effective  aid of divine  grace  for  overcoming  an  existing  transient temptation,  or  the  conversion  of  a  certain sinner approaching  death. To the  second  class belongs the  avoidance  of  temporal  evils,  or  of  continuous temptations,  or  the  conversion  of  a  certain sinner  now  in  good  health. To the  third  class belong such  benefits  which  can  be  granted  only for a  later  period,  perhaps  at  the  hour  of  death. The grace  of  final  perseverance  is  the  foremost among these.

Having stated  the  preliminary  conditions, the answer  to  the  question  of  perseverance  in prayer  is:

a. Inasmuch  as  our  prayer  is  directed  toward the attainment  of  benefits  of  the  first  class,  that is, of  graces  which  we  need  immediately,  perseverance can  obviously  not  be  an  essential  condition of  our  prayer. Either we  can  not  attain  our object by  prayer,  or  a  transient  prayer  which  has the other  necessary  qualities  must  suffice  for  its attainment. The first  supposition  is  contrary  to the  divine  promises;  therefore  the  alternative must stand.