Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/179



THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE. 173

God; * and when nigh to the sacrifice of His life, He prayed the longer? The frailty of nature would be much less peril- ous, and the moral character less weak and languid, if that divine precept of prayer were not so much disre- garded and treated almost with disUke. God is easily appeased. He desires to do good to men, having clearly promised to give His grace in abundance to those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost insists upon their asking, with most loving words: / say unto you, ask, and it shall be given to you : seek and you shall find : knock and it shall be opened unto you.^ And that we may have no fear in doing this with all confidence and familiarity, He makes use of tender phrases, comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so much as the love of his children: // you then, being evU, know how to give good gifts to your children : how much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him? *

Whoever considers these things will not wonder at the efficacy of human prayer seeming so great to St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the divine power. For, as God created all things by His word, so man by prayer obtains whatever he wills. Nothing has so great a power to obtain grace for us as prayer when rightly made; for it contains the motives by which God easily allows Himself to be appeased and to incline to mercy. In prayer we separate ourselves from things of earth; filled with the thought of God alone, we become conscious of our human weakness; and there- fore, resting in the goodness and embrace of our Heavenly Father, we seek refuge in the power of Him who created us. We approach the Author of all good as if pressing Him to look upon our weak souls, unsteadfast strength, and great poverty; and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, who alone can heal our infirmities ^


 * Luke vi. 12. ^ L^j^^g ^i. 9.

^'Luke xxii. 43. * Matt. \-ii. 11.