Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/202

 tain corporal  pains  and  trials,  if  such  an exemption  would  lead  us  to  sin  or  endanger our salvation. The granting  of  such  prayers would be,  not  a  favor,  but  a  terrible  punishment. We should,  then,  ask  for  temporal favors conditionally  —  that  is,  under  the  condition that  they  may  promote  our  salvation, or at  lea§t  not  hinder  it. We ought  never  to lose  sight  of  this  saying  of  our  loving  Redeemer: 'What  doth  it  profit  a  man,  if  he gain  the  whole  world,  and  suffer  the  loss  of his  own  soul?'  (Matt.  xvi.  26).

"Let us  not  be  so  solicitous  for  temporal favors,  which,  after  all,  may  prove  hurtful to  our  soul,  but  let  us  rather  pray  for  what  is conducive  to  our  eternal  welfare.  When  we pray  for  temporals,  and  God,  in  His  mercy, refuses  them  to  us,  it  is  because  they  would prove  hurtful  to  us.  'But,'  says  St.  Gregory of  Nazianzen,  'he  who  asks  God  for  a  real favor  (that  is,  for  a  favor  that  is  necessary  or useful  for  his  salvation),  obtains  it,  for  God is  bountiful  and  generous,  and  readily  bestows His  gifts.'  'When  you  pray,'  says  St.  Ambrose, 'ask  for  great  things;  ask  not  for  what is  transitory,  but  for  what  is  eternal.'  'We should  pray,'  says  St.  Augustine,  'in  the  name and  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ. When,  however,  we  pray  for  what  is  injurious to  our  soul,  we  do  not  pray  in  the  name  or Our  Redeemer. In praying  for  temporals we should  be  moderate  and  timid,  asking  God to give  them  to  us  provided  they  are  really