On Prayer

Chapter I GENERAL INTRODUCTION.'

The Spirit of God, and the Word of God, and the Reason of God — Word of Reason, and Reason and Spirit of Word — Jesus Christ our Lord, namely, who is both the one and the other,"" — has determined for us, the dis- ciples of the New Testament, a new form of prayer; for in this particular also it was need- ful that new wine should be laid up in new skins, and a new breadth be sewn to a new garment. 3 Besides, whatever had been in bygone days, has either been quite changed, as circumcision; or else supplemented, as the rest of the Law; or else fulfilled, as Prophecy; or else perfected, as faith itself. For the new grace of God has renewed all things from carnal unto spiritual, by superinducing the Gospel, the obiiterator of the whole ancient bygone system; in which our Lord Jesus Christ has been approved as the Spirit of God, and the Word of God, and the Reason of God: the Spirit, by which He was mighty; the Word, by which He taught; the Reason, by which He came.* So the prayer com- posed by Christ has been composed of three parts. In speech, ^ by which prayer is enun- ciated, in spirit, by which alone it prevails, even John had taught his disciples to pray,^

' [After the discipline of Repentance and of Baptism the l^ws of Christian Living come into view. Hence this is the logi- cal place for this treatise. See the Prolegomena of Muratori and learned annotations, in Routh, Opuseula !. p. 173, et sqq. We may date it circa a. u. 192. For much of the Primitive Disci- pline, concerning Prayer, see Bunsen, Hippol. III. pp. 88-91, etc.]

- Oehler's punctuation is followed here. The sentence is diffi- cult, and has perplexed editors and commentators considerably.

3 Matt. ix. 16, 17 ; Mark ii. 21, 22 ; Luke v. 36, 37.

4 Routh suggests, " fortasse qua sensit" referring to the Adv. J'raxeam, c. 5.

5 Sermone.

6 This is Oehler's punctuation. The edition of Pamelius roads : " So the prayer composed by Christ was composed of three parts : <if the speech, by which it is enunciated ; of the spirit, by which aJone it prevails ; of the reason, by which it is taught." Rigaltius and subsequent editors read, " of the reason, by which it is con- ceived ;" but this last clause is lacking in the MSS., and Oehler's reading appears, as he says, to " have healed the words." [Oeh- ler's punctuation must stand ; but, the preceding sentence justifies the interpolation of Rigaltius and heals more effectually.]

but all John's doings were laid as ground- work for Christ, until, when " He had in- creased " — just as the same John used to fore-announce "that it was needful" that " He should increase and himself decrease " " , — the whole work of the forerunner passed over, together with his spirit itself, unto the Lord, Therefore, after what form of words John taught to pray is not extant, because earthly things have given place to heavenly. " He who is from the earth," says John, " speaketh earthly things; and He who is here from the heavens speaketh those things which He hath seen."* And what is the Lord Christ's — as this method of. praying is — that is not heavenly ? And so, blessed brethren, let us consider His heavenly wisdom: first, touching the precept of praying secretly, whereby He exacted man's faith, that he should be confident that the sight and hear- ing of Almighty God are present beneath roofs, and extend even into the secret place; and required modesty in faith, that it should offer its religious homage to Him alone, whom it believed to see and to hear everywhere. Further, since wisdom succeeded in the fol- lowing precept, let it in like manner appertain unto faith, and the modesty of faith, that we think not that the Lord must be approached with a train of words, who, we are certain, takes unsolicited foresight for His own. And yet that very brevity — and let this make for the third grade of wisdom — is supported on the substance of a great and blessed interpre- tation, and is as diffuse in meaning as it is compressed in words. For it has embraced not only the special duties of prayer, be it veneration of God or petition for man, but almost every discourse of the Lord, every record of His Discipline; so that, in fact, in the Prayer is comprised an epitome of the whole Gospel.

7 John iii. 30.

* John iii. 3jt, 32.

682

[chap. IV,

Chapter II THE FIRST CLAUSE

The prayer begins with a testimony to God, and with the reward of faith, when we say, "Our Father who art in the heavens;" for (in so saying), we at once pray to God, and commend faith, whose reward this appellation is. It is written, " To them who believed on Him He gave power to be called sons of God." ' However, our Lord very frequently proclaimed God as a Father to us; nay, even gave a precept " that we call no one on earth father, but the Father whom we have in the heavens: = and so, in thus praying, we are likewise obeying the precept. Happy they

•who recognize their Father ! This is the re- proach that is brought against Israel, to which the Spirit attests heaven and earth, saying, "■I have begotten sons, and they have not recognized me."^ Moreover, in saying " Father," we also call Him " God." That

• appellation is one both of filial duty and of power. Again, in the Father the Son is in- voked; "for I," saith He, "and the Father are One."* Nor is even 'our mother the Church passed by, if, that is, in the Father and the Son is recognized the mother, from whom arises the name both of Father and of Son.'- In one general term, then, or word, we both honour God, together with His own,s and are mindful of the precept, and set a mark on such as have forgotten their Father.

Chapter III -THE SECOND CLAUSE

The name of "God the Father" had been published to none. Even Moses, who had interrogated Him on that very point, had heard a different name.*^ To us it has been revealed in the Son, for the Son is now the Father's new name. "I am come," saith He, "in the Father's name;"' and again, "Father, glorify Thy name;"^ and more openly, " I have manifested Thy name to men." 9 That nanu^ therefore, we pray may " be hallowed." Not that it is becoming for men to wish God well, as if there were any other '" by whom He may be wished well, or as if He would suffer unless we do so wish. Plainly, it is universally becoming for God to be blessed" in every place and time, on ac- count of the memory of His benefits ever due from every man. But this petition also serves

■ John 1. 12. -Matt, xxiii. g. 3lsa. i. 2.

* John X. 30.

5 '' i.e., together with the son and the Holy Spirit " (Oehler) ; *' His Son and His church " (Dodgson).

* Ex. iii. 13-16. 7 John V. 43.

^ John xii. 28.

9 John xvii. 6 ' ■"I.e., "any other /»<^." " Ps. riii. 22.

the turn of a blessing. Otherwise, when is the name of God not "holy," and "hal- lowed" through Himself, seeing that of Himself He sanctifies all others — He to whom that surrounding circle of angels cease not to say, "Holy, holy, holy?"" In like wise, therefore, we too, candidates for angelhood, if we succeed in deserving it, begin even here on earth to learn by heart that strain here- after to be raised unto God, and the function of future glory. So far, for the glory of God. On the other hand, for our own petition, when we say, " Hallowed be Thy name," we pray this; that it may be hallowed in tis who are in Him, as well in all others for whom the grace of God is still waiting; '^ that we may obey this precept, too, in " praying for all," '" even for our personal enemies. '5 And there- fore with suspended utterance, not saying, "Hallowed be it in tis," we say, — "/» all.^'

Chapter IV THE THIRD CLAUSE

According to this model,'® we subjoin, " Thy will be done in the heavens and on the earth; " '' not that there is some power with- standing'^ to prevent God's will being done, and we pray for Him the successful achieve- ment of His will; but we pray for His will to be done iti all. For, by figurative interpre- tation of Jlesh and spirit, %ve are " heaven " and " earth; " albeit, even if it is to be un- derstood simply, still the sense of the peti- tion is the same, that in us God's will be done on earth, to make it possible, namely, for it to be done also in the heavens. What, moreover, does God will, but that we should walk according to His Discipline ? We make petition, then, that He supply us with the substance of His will, and the capacity to do it, that we may be saved both in the heavens and on earth; because the sum of His will is the salvation of them whom He has adopted. There is, too, that will of God which the Lord accomplished in preaching, in working, in enduring: for if He Himself proclaimed that He did not His own, but the Father's will, without doubt those things which He used to do were the Father's will;'' unto which things, as unto exemplars, we are now pro- voked;^ to preach, to work, to endure even

12 Isa. vi. 3 ; Rev. iv. 8.

•3 Isa. XXX. i8.

■4 I Tim. ii. i.

•5 Matt. V. 44.

'<>Mr. DodRson renders, "next to this clause ;" but the"A>'- tiia '' referred to seems, by what 'I'erttillian proceeds to add, v> be what he had said above, " not that it becomes us to wish Clod well," etc.

'7 We learn from this and other places, that the comparative ad- verb was wanting in some ancient _/<>/•;««/<? of the Lord's Prayer. [See Routh, Opuscula I. p. 178.]

'*See note 3.

'9 John vi 38.

» Ki)r this use of the word " i)ri>vi>kc," see Heb. x. 24, Ent;. ver.

ClIAl'. VII.]

683

unto death. And we tiecd the will of God, tliat we may be able to fulfil these duties. Again, in saying, "Thy will be done," we are even wishing well to ourselves, in so far that there is nothing of nnl in the will of God; even if. proportionably to each one's deserts, some- what other' is imposed on us. So by this expression we premonish our own selves unto patience. The I-ord also, when He had wished to demonstrate to us, even in His own flesh, the flesh's infirmity, by the reality of suffer- ing, said, " Father, remove this Thy cup;" and remembering Himself, added, '"'' sb.\€^ that not my will, but Thine be done."* Him- self 7vas the Will and the Power of the Father: and yet, for the demonstration of the patience which was due, He gave Himself up to the Father's Will.

Chapter v THE FOURTH CLAUSE

" Thy kingdom come" has also reference to that whereto " Thy will be done " refers-^ if/ us, that is. For when does God not reign, in whose hand is the heart of all kings? 3 But whatever we wish for ourselves we augur for Him, and to Him we attribute what from Him we expect. And so, if \):\& manifestation of the Lord's kingdom pertains unto the will of God and unto our anxious expectation, how do some pray for some protraction of the age,-* when the kingdom of God, which we pray may arrive, tends unto the consumma- tion of the age?^ Our wish is, that our reign be hastened, not our servitude pro- tracted. Even if it 'nad not been prescribed in the Prayer that we should ask for the ad- vent of the kingdom, we should, unbidden, have sent forth that cry, hastening toward the realization of our hope. The souls of the martyrs beneath the altar* cry in jealousy unto the Lord " How long. Lord, dost Thou not avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth ?" 7 for, of course, their avenging is regulated by* the end of the age. Nay, Lord, Thy kingdom come with all speed, — the prayer of Christians the confusion of the heathen,^ the exultation of angels, for the sake of which we suffer, nay, rather, for the sake of which we pray !

' [Something we might think other than good.]

" Luke xxii. 42.

3 Prov. xxi. I.

■* Or, " world," steculo.

5 Or, "world," saculi. See Matt. x.xiv. 3, especially in the Greek. By " praying for some protraction in the age," Tertullian appears to refer to some who used to pray that the end might be deferred (Rigalt.).

* alt art.

7 Rev. vi. 10.

* So Dodgson aptly renders " dirigitur a. 9 [See A J NattoHes, p. 128, sr Va.]

. "This is'a slight mistake of Tc.tullian. The words referred to, "Seek ye first," etc., do not occur till the ei>d of the chapter in which the prayer is found, so that his pluperfect is out of place.

Chapter VL THE FIFTH CLAUSE,

But how gracefully has the Divine Wisdom arranged the order of the prayer; so that after things heavenly — that is, after the "Name " of God, the " Will " of God, and the " King- dom " of God — it should give earthly necessi- ties also room for a petition ! For the Lord had '° withal issued His edict, "Seek ye first" the kingdom, and then even these shall i)e added: "" albeit we may rather understand, " Give usthisday our daily bread," spiritually. For Christ is our Bread; because Christ is' Life, and bread is life. "I am," saith He,- "the Bread of Life;"'- and, a little above, " The Bread is the Word of the living God,- who came down from the heavens." '^ Then we Jind, too, that His body is reckoned ir> bread: "This is my body." '•» And so, in petitioning for " daily bread," we ask for per- petuity iUiChrist, and indivisibility from His body. But, because that word is admissible- in a carnal sense too, it cannot be so used without the religious remembrance withal of spiritual Discipline; for (the Lord) commands that bread be prayed for, which is the only' /fci^^/ necessary for believers; for " all other things the nations seek after." '^ The like lesson He both inculcates by examples, and repeatedly handles in paral)les, when He says, "Doth a father take zwslj bread from his- children, and hand it to dogs ? " '^ and again, " Doth a father give his son a stone when he asks iox bread V ^^ For He /////y shows what' it is that sons expect from their father. Nay, even that nocturnal knocker knocked for ^'' bread." ^^ Moreover, He justly added, " Give us this day,' seeing He had previously said, " Take no careful thought about the morrow, what ye are to eat.""' To which subject He also adapted the parable of the. man who pondered on an enlargement of his barns for his forthcoming, fruits, and on sea- sons of prolonged security; but that very night he dies."*

Chapter VII THE SIXTH CLAUSE

It was suitable that, after contemplating the liberality of God,=' we should likewise ad- dress His clemency. For what will aliments '^

I He must have been aware of this : he only gives logfical order to the thought which existed in the divine mind. See note 10, p. 6&z.'\

" Matt. vi. 33.

'= John vi. 31;.

'3 John vi. 33.

M Matt. XXVI. 26.

'5 Matt. vi. 32.

'6 Tertullian seems to refer lo Matt. xv. 26, Mark vi5. 17.

'7 Matt. vii. 9; Luke xi. 11.

'^Luke xi. 5-9.

'9 Matt. VI. 34 and Luke xii. 29 si:em to he referred to ; but the same remark applies as in note 10 on the preceding page.

™ Luke xii. 16-20.

21 In the former petition, " Give us this day our daily bread."

» Such as " " daily bread."

684

[chap, X.

profit us, if we are really cotisigtied to them, ^is it were a bull destined for a victim ?' The Lord knew Himself to be the only guiltless One, and so He teaches that we beg " to have our debts remitted us." A petition for par- don is a full confession; because he who begs for pardon fully admits his guilt. Thus, too, penitence is demonstrated acceptable to God, who desires it rather than the death of the sinner.== Moreover, debt is, in the Scriptures, a figure of guilt; because it is equally due to tlie sentence of judgment, and is exacted by it: nor does it evade the justice of exaction, unless the exaction be remitted, just as the lord remitted to that slave in the parable his debt; 3 for hither does the scope of the whole parable tend. For the fact withal, that the same servant, after liberated by his lord, does not equally spare his own debtor; and, being on that account impeached before his lord, is made over to the tormentor to pay the ut- termost farthing — that is, every guilt, how- ever small: corresponds with our profession that " we also remit to our debtors; " indeed elsewhere, too, in conformity with this Form of Prayer, He saith, " Remit, and it shall be remitted you."* And when Peter had put the question whether remission were to be granted to a brother seven times, "Nay," saith He, "seventy-seven times; "s in order to remould the Law for the better; because in Genesis vengeance was assigned "seven times" in the case of Cain, but in that of Lamech "seventy-seven times."*

Chapter Vlll THE SEVENTH OR FINAL CLAUSE

For the completeness of so brief a prayer He added — in order that we should supplicate not touching the remitting merely, but touch- ing the entire averting, of acts of guilt — " Lead us not into temptation: " that is, suffer us not to be led into it, by him (of course) who tempts; but far be the thought that the Lord should seem to tempt,^ as if He either were ignorant of the faith of any, or else were eager to overthrow it. Infirmity ^ and malice' are characteristics of the devil. For God\\^f\. commanded even Abraham to make a sacrifice of his son, for tlie sake not of tempting, but proving, his faitli; in order through him to make an example for that precept of His, whereby He was, by and by, to enjoin that

' That is, if we are just to be fed and fattened by them in body, as a bull which is destined for sacrifice is, and then, lilic him, slain — handed over to death f

-' Kx. xviii. 23, 32, xxxiii. 11.

:» Matt, xviii. 21-35. I.uke vi. 37.

■> Matt, xviii. 21-22.

'•Cren. iv. 15 i>4.

"■ See las. i. 13.

'■ Implied in the one hypothesis — ignorance.

" Implied in the otlier— wishing to overthrow faith.

he should hold no pledges of affection dearer than God." He Himself, when tempted by the devil, demonstrated who it is that presides over and is the originator of temptation." This passage He confirms by subsequent ones, saying, " Pray that ye be not tempted; " '= yet they were tempted, (as they showed) by de- serting their Lord, because they had given way rather to sleep than prayer. '^ The final clause, therefore, is consonant, and inter- prets the sense of " Lead us not into tempta- tion; " for this sense is, " But convey us away from the Evil One."

Chapter IX RECAPITULATION.'*

In summaries of so few words, how many utterances of the prophets, the Gospels, the apostles — how many discourses, examples, parables of the Lord, are touched on ! How many duties are simultaneously discharged ! The honour of God in the "Father;" the testimony of faith in the " Name;" the offer- ing of obedience in the "Will;" the com- memoration of hope in the " Kingdom;" the petition for life in the " Bread; " the full ac- knowledgment of debts in the prayer for their " Forgiveness; " the anxious dread of tempta- tion in the request for "Protection." What wonder ? God alone could teach how he wished Himself prayed to. The religious rite of prayer therefore, ordained by Himself, and animated, even at the moment when it was issuing out of the Divine mouth, by His own Spirit, ascends, by its own prerogative, into heaven, commending to the Father what the Son has taught.

Chapter X WE MAY SUPERADD PRAYERS OF OUR

OWN TO THE lord's PRAYER.

Since, however, the Lord, the Foreseer of human necessities, 's said separately, after de- livering His Rule of Pra5'^er, " Ask, and ye shall receive; " '* and since there are petitions which are made according to the circumstances of each individual; our additional wants have the right — after beginning with the legitimate and customary prayers as a foundation, as it were — of rearing an outer superstructure of petitions, yet with remembrance of the Mas- ter's precepts.

'<> i e. no children even. The reference is apparently to Matt. x. 37 and Luke xiv. 26, with which may be compared Oeut. xiii. 6-10 and xxxiii. 9. If Oehler's reading, which I have followed, be cor- rect, the precept, which is not verbally jjiven till aijes after Abra- ham, is made to have a retrospective force on hmi.

" See Matt. iv. 10 ; Luke iv. 8.

'2 Luke xxii. 40 ; Matt. xxvi. 41 ; Mark xiv. 31.

'iRouth refers us to Pc liapt. c. 20, where Tertnllian refers li> the same event. [Note also his reference to Dc Ftiga, cap. ii.l

'4 Here comes in the Codex Ambrosianus, with the title, " Here begins a treatise of Tertullian of divers necessiiry things ;" and from it are taken the headings of the remaining chapters. . (Sec Oehler and Ryuth.)

«5 See Matt. vi. 8. ■* Matt. vii. 7 ; Luke «. 9.

CHAT. XV.]

ON rRAY?:R.

68 =

Chapter XI WHEN PRAYING THE FATHER, YOU

ARE NOT TO BE ANGRY WITH A BROTHER.

That we may not be as far from the ears of God as we are from His precepts,' the memory of His precepts paves for our prayers a way unto heaven; of which precepts the chief is, that we go not up unto Ciod's altar = before we compose whatever of discord or offence we have contracted with our brethren. ^ For what sort of deed is it to approach the peace of God * without peace .-' the remission of debts = while you retain them ? How will he appease his Father who is angry with his brother, when from the beginning "all anger " is forbidden us?* For even Joseph, when dismissing his brethren for the purpose of fetching their father, said, " And be not angry in the way." ' He warned us, to be sure, at that time (for elsewhere our Discipline is called " the Way"^), that when, set in "the way" of prayer, we go not unto "the Father " with anger. After that, the Lord, "amplifying the Law,"' openly adds the prohibition of anger against a brother to that of murder." Not even by an evil word does He permit it to be vented." Ever if we must be angry, our anger must not be maintained beyond sunset, as the apostle admonishes." But how rash is it either to pass a day without prayer, while you refuse to make satisfaction to your brother; or else, by perseverance in anger, to lose your prayer ?

Chapter XII WE MUST BE FREE LIKEWISE FROM

ALL MENTAL PERTURBATION

Nor merely from anger, but altogether from all perturbation of mind, ought the exercise of prayer to be free, uttered from a spirit such as the Spirit unto whom it is sent. For a de- filed spirit cannot be acknowledged by a holy Spirit,'^ nor a sad by a joyful,'* nor a fettered by a free. '5 No one grants reception to his adversary: no one grants admittance except to his compeer.

Chapter XIII OF WASHING THE HANDS

But what reason is there in going to prayer

■ Oehler divides these two chapters as above. The generally adopted division unites this sentence to the preceding chapter, and begins the new chapter with, " The memory of His precepts ;" and perhaps this is the preferable division.

2 altare. [Heb. xiii. lo.]

3 Matt. V. 22, 23.

4 Perhaps there may be an allusion to Phil iv. 6, 7.

5 See chap. vii. above, and compare Matt. vi. 14, 15.

'^ " Ab initio " probably refers to the book of Genesis, the init- iutit, or beginning of Scripture, to which he is about to refer. But see likewise Eph. iv. 31, Matt. v. 21, 22. [Gen. iv. 6, 7.]

7 Gen. xlv. 24 : so the LXX.

*See Acts ix. 2, xix, 9, 23, in the Greek.

»See Matt. v. 17. •o Matt. v. 21, 22.

" Matt. V. 21, 22 ; I Pet. iii. 9, etc. >2Eph. iv. 26. »3 Eph. iv. 30.

with hands indeed washed, but the spirit foul ? — inasmuch as to our hands themselves spirit- ual purities are necessary, that they may be "lifted up pure"'* from falsehood, from murder, from cruelty, from poisonings," from idolatry, and all the other blemishes which, conceived by the spirit, are effected by the operation of the hands. These are the true purities;'^ not those which most are supersti- tiously careful about, taking water at every prayer, even when they are coming from a bath of the whole body. When I was scru- pulously making a thorough investigation of this practice, and searching into the reason of it, I ascertained it to be a commemorative act, bearing on the surrender "' of our Lord. We, ho7iiever,pray to the Lord: we do not surretider Him; nay, we ought even to set ourselves in opposition to the example of His sur- renderer, and not, on that account, wash our hands. Unless any defilement contracted in human intercourse be a conscientious cause for 7vasJmig them, they are otherwise clean enough, which together with our whole body we once washed in Christ.^"

Chapter XIV APOSTROPHE

Albeit Israel washed daily all his limbs over,, yet is he never clean. His hands, at all events, are ever unclean, eternally dyed with the blood of the prophets, and of the Lord Himself; and on that account, as being hereditary cul- prits from their privity to their fathers' crimes, =' they do not dare even to raise them unto the Lord," for fear some Isaiah should cry out, ^3 for fear Christ should utterly shud- der. We, however, not only raise, but even expand them; and, taking our model from the Lord's passion,^ even in prayer we con- fess "^ to Christ.

Chapter XV OF PUTTING OFF CLOAKS

But since we have touched on one special point of empty observance,^ it will not be irk- some to set our brand likewise on the other points against which the reproach of vanity may deservedly be laid; if, that is, they are observed without the authority of any precept

•♦John xvii. 14 ; Rom. xiv. 17.

'5 Ps. li. 12.

>6 I Tim. ii. 8.

'7 Or, "sorceries."

•8 See Matt. xv. 10, 11, 17-20, x.xiii. 25, 26.

«9 By Pilate. See Matt, xxvii. 24. [N. B. quoad Riiuaiia.']

soi.e. in baptism.

21 See Matt, xxiii. 31 ; Luke xi. 48.

22 I do not know MU-tullian's authority for this statement. Cer- tainly Solomon diJ^m^e his hands (i Kings viii. 54;, and David apparently his (see Ps. cxiiii. 6, xxviii. 2, Ixii. 4, etc.). Compare, too, Ex. xvii. II, 12. But probably he is speaking only of the Is- rael of his own day. [Evidently.]

23 Isa. i. 15.

»4 i.e. from the expansion of the bands on the cross. 25 Or. " give praise." 26 i.e. the hand-wa.shing.

686

[chap. XVIII.

either of the Lord, or else of the apostles. For matters of this kind belong not to religion, l)ut to superstition, being studied, and forced, and of curious rather than rational ceremony; ' deserving of restraint, at all events, even on this ground, that they pui us on a level with Gentiles.- As, e.g., it is the custom of some to make prayer with cloaks doffed, for so do the nations approach their idols; which prac- tice, of course, were its observance becoming; the apostles, who teach concerning the garb of prayer,3 would have comprehended in their iris f ructions, unless any think that is was in prayer that Paul had left his cloak with Car- pus ! " God, forsooth, would not hear cloaked suppliants, who plainly heard the three saints in the Babylonian king's furnace praying in their trousers and turbans. s

CKAP. XVI. — OK SITTING AFTER PRAYER.

Again, for the custom which some have of sitting when prayer is ended, I perceive no reason, except that which children give.* For what if that Hermas,^ whose writing is gener- ally inscribed with the title The Shepherd, had, after finishing his prayer, not sat down on his bed, but done some other thing: should we maintain that also as a matter for observ- ance ? Of course not. Why, even as it is, the sentence, "When I had prayed, and had sat down on my bed," is simply put with a view to the order of the narration, not as a model of discipline. Else we shall have to pray nowhere except where there is a bed ! Nay, whoever sits in a chair or on a bench, will act contrary to that writing. Further: inasmuch as the nations do the like, in sitting down after adoring their petty images; even on this ac- count the practice deserves to be censured in us, because it is observed in the worship of idols. To this is further added the charge of irreverence, — intelligible even to the nations themselves, if they had any sense. If, on the one hand, it is irreverent to sit under the eye, and over against the eye, of him whom you most of all revere and venerate; how much more, on the other hand, is that deed most irreligious under the eye of the living God, while the angel of prayer is still standing by,^ unless we are upbraiding God that prayer has wearied us !

' Or, " reasonable service." See Rom. xii. i. Or. " Gentile practices.'' See I Cor. xi. 3-16.

<2 Tira. iv. 13.

S Dan. iii. 21, etc.

*i.e. that they have .seen it done ; for children imitate anything and everything (Oehler).

7 1 V'ol. II. p. 18 (Vision V.), this Series. Also, lb. p. 57, note 2. Sec kouth's quotation from Cotelerius, p. i8o, in Volume before noted.]

■< kouth and Oehler fafter Rigaltius) refer us to Tob. xii. 12. Thi*y also, with Dodgson, refer to Luke'i. 11. Perhaps there may be a .-fereiice to Rev. viii. 3, 4.

Chapter XVII OF ELEVATED HANDS

But we more commend our prayers to God when we pray with modesty and humility, with not even our hands too loftily elevated, but elevated temperately and becomingly; and 'not even our countenance over-boldly up- lifted. For that publican who prayed with humility and dejection not merely in his sup- plication, but in his countenance too, went his way "more justified" than the shameless Pharisee. 5 The sounds of our voice, likewise, should be subdued; else, if we are to be heard for our noise, how large windpipes should we need ! But God is the hearer not of the voice, but of the heart, just as He is its inspector. The demon of the Pythian oracle says:

"And I do understand the mute, and plainly hear the speechless one."'°

Do the ears of God wait for sound ? How, then, could Jonah's prayer find way out unto heaven from the depth of the whale's belly, through the entrails of so huge a beast; from the very abysses, through so huge a mass of sea ? * What superior advantage will they who pray too loudly gain, except that they annoy their neighbours ? Nay, by making their petitions audible, what less error do they commit than if they were to pray in public ? "

Chapter XVIII OF THE KISS OF PEACE

Another custom has now become prevalent. Such as are fasting^withhold the kiss of peace, which is the seal of prayer, after prayer made with brethren. But when is peace more to be concluded with brethren than when, at the time of some religious observance," our prayer ascends with more acceptability; that they may themselves participate in our obser- vance, and thereby be mollified for transact- ing with their brother touching their own peace ? What prayer is complete if divorced from the " holy kiss ? " '^ Whom does peace impede when rendering service to his Lord ? What kind of sacrifice is that from which men depart without peace ? Whatever our prayer be, it will not be better than the observance of the precept by which we are bidden to con- ceal our fasts; '* for no7u, by abstinence from the kiss, we are known to be fasting. But even if there be some reason for this practice, still, lest you offend against thi? precept, you may perhaps defer your ^' peace" at home, where it is not possible for your fast to be en-

9 Luke xviii. 9-14. «o Herod, i. 47.

" Which is forbidden, Matt. vi. 5, 6. '2 Such as fasting.

'3 See Rom. xvi. 16 ; i Cor. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12 : i Thiss. v. 26 ; I Pet. v. 14. [The sexes apart.] M Matt. vi. 16-18.

cnw. xxn.]

687

tirely kept secret. But wherever else you can conceal your observance, you ought to remember the precept: thus you may satisfy tlie requirements of Discipline abroad and • )1 custom at home. So, too, on the day of the passover,' when the religious observance oi a fast is general, and as it were public, we justly forego the kiss, caring nothing to con- ceal anything which we do in common with all.

Chapter XIX OF STATIONS

Similarly, too, touching the days of Sta- tions," most think that they must not be present at the sacrificial prayers, on the ground that the Station must he dissolved by recep- tion of the Lord's Body. Does, then, the Eucharist cancel a service devoted to God, or bind it more to God ? Will not your Statioti be more solemn if you have withal stood at tiod's altar 1^ When the Lord's Body has been received and reserved,'* each point is secured, both the participation of the sacrifice and the discharge of duty. If the " Station " has received its name from the example of military life — for we withal are God's mili- tary s — of course no gladness or sadness chancing to the camp abolishes the " stations " of the soldiers: for gladness will carry out discipline more willingly, sadness more care- fully.

Chapter XX OF women's DRESS

So far, however, as regards the dress of women, the variety of observance compels us — men of no consideration whatever — to treat, presumptuously indeed, after the most holy apostle,* except in so far as it will not be presumptuously if we treat the subject in ac- cordance with the apostle. Touching modesty of dress and ornamentation, indeed, the pre- scription of Peter^ likewise is plain, checking as he does with the same mouth, because with the same Spirit, as Paul, the glory of garments, and the pride of gold, and the meretricious elaboration of the hair.

Chapter XXI OF VIRGINS

But that point which is promiscuously ob- served throughout the churches, whether vir- gins ought to be veiled or no, must be treated of. For they who allow to virgins immunity from head-covering, appear to rest on this;

' i.e. " Good Friday,'' as il is now generally called.

- The word Statio seems to have been used in more than one sense in the ancient Church. A passage in the Shepherd of Her- mas, referred to above (B. iii. Sim. 5), appears to make it =" fast."

1 " Ara," not " altare."

* F'or receiving at home apparently, when your station is over.

j.'^ee 2 Tim. ii. i, etc. [See Hennas, Vol. I., p. 33.]

(' See I Cor. xi. i-i6 ; i Tim. ii. 9, 10.

7 1 Pel. iii. 1-6.

that the apostle has not defined "virgins" by name, but " women," ® as " to be veiled; " nor the sex generally, so as to say " females," but a i/ass of the sex, by saying " women: " for if he had Hamed the sex by saying " fe- males," he would have made his limit abso- lute for ci't'rv woman; but while he names one class of the sex, he separates another class by being silent. For, they say, he might either have named "virgins" specially; or gener- ally, by a compendious term, " females."

Chapter XXII ANSWER TO THE FOREGOING AR

GUMENTS.

They who make this concession ' ought to reflect on the nature of the word itself — what is the meaning of "woman" from the very first records of the sacred writings. Here they find it to be t/ie name of the sex, not a class of the sex: if, that is, God gave to Eve, when she had not yet known a man, the sur- name "woman" and " female " '"• — ("fe- male," whereby the sex generally; " woman," whereby a class of the sex, is marked)." So, since at that time the as yet unwedded Eve was called by the word "woman," that word has been made common even to a virgin." Nor is it wonderful that the apostle — guided, of course, by the same Spirit by whom, as all the divine Scripture, so that book Genesis, was drawn up — has used the selfsame word in wTiting "women," which, by the example of Eve unwedded, is applicable too to a "vir- gin." In fact, all the other passages are in consonance herewith. For even by this very fact, that he has not named " virgins " (as he does in another place '^ where he is teaching touching marr3ang), he sufficiently predicates that his remark is made touching every woman, and touching the 7vhole sex; and that there is

no distinction made between a

virgin

and

any other, while he does not name her at all. For he who elsewhere — namely, where the difference requires — remembers to make the distinction, (moreover, he makes it by desig- nating each species by their appropriate names,) wishes, where he makes no distinc- tion (while he does not name each), no differ- ence to be understood. What of the fact that in the Greek speech, in which the apostle wrote his letters, it is usual to say, "women" rather than "females;" that is, }'vi-dimt:

8 1 Cor. xi. 5.

9 As to the distinction between " women " and " virgins." ■°Gen. ii. 23. In the LXX. and in the Eng. ver. there is but

the one word " woman."

" 'I'hese words are regarded by Dr. Routh as spurious, and not without reason. Mr. Dodgson likewise omits them, and refers to de Virg. Vel. cc. 4 and 5.

'2 In de Virg. X'el. 5, Tertullian speaks even more strongly : " And so you have the name, I say not now common^ hnt proper to a virgin ;a name which from the beginning a znrgin received."

'3 1 Cor. vii. 34 et seq.

688

[chap. xxii.

(gunatkas) rather than B/iMac {theleias) ? There- lore if that word/ which by interpretation represents what "female" {femina) repre- sents,- is frequently used instead oi the name of the sex, 3 he has named the sex in saying ywaina', but in the sex even the virgin is em- braced. But, withal, the declaration is plain: ""Every woman," saith he, " praying and prophesying with head uncovered,* dishon- oureth her own head."^ What is '"''every woman, but 7uonian of every age, of every rank, of every condition ? By saying ' ' every ' ' he excepts nought of womanhood, just as he excepts nought of manhood either from fiol being covered; for just so he says, '"^ Every man." * As, then, in the masculine sex, under the name of " man " even the " youth " is forbidden to be veiled; so, too, in the feminine, under the name of " woman," even the " virgin " is biddeti to be veiled. Equally in each sex let the younger age follow the dis- cipline of the elder; or else let the male "virgins," 7 too, be veiled, if the female vir- gins withal are tiot veiled, because they are not mentioned by fiame. Let " man " and " youth" be different, if "woman" and "virgin " are different. For indeed it is " on account of the angels" ^ that he saith women must be veiled, because on account of "the daughters of men " angels revolted from God.^ Who, then, would contend that '''" wojneti" alone — that is," such as were already wedded and had lost their virginity — were the objects of angelic concupiscence, unless "virgins" are incapable of excelling in beauty and finding lovers ? Nay, let us see whether it were not virgins alone whom they lusted after; since Scriptures saith " the daughters of men; " " inasmuch as it might have named '"'' avives of men," or " females," indifferently.'^ Like- wise, in that it saith, "And they took them to themselves for wives," '3 it does so on this ground, that, of course, such are " received y<?r 7t>ives" as are devoid of that title. But it would have expressed itself differently concerning such as were not thus

' yvvri.

^ Mr. Dodgson appears to think that there is some transposition here ; and at first sight it may appear so. But when we look more closely, perhaps there is no need to make any difficulty : the stress is rather on the words " by interpretation " which, of course, is a different thing from " usage ," and by interpretation yvvt) ap- pears to come nearer to " femina " than to " mulier."

3 0T)k(la.

4 Or, " unveiled."

5 I Cor. 6

XI. 5. ' I Cor. xi. 4.

7 For a similar use of the word " virgin," see Rev. xiv. 4. * I Cor. xi. ID.

9 See Gen. vi. 2 in the LXX., with the v. I. ed. Tisch. i860; and compare Tertullian, de Idol. c. 9, and the note there Mr. Dodftson refers, too, to de Virg. Vel. c. 7, where this curious sub- ject is more fully entered into.

'°i.e. according lO their definition, whom Tertullian is refuting. " Gen. vi. 2.

'^i.e. If married •motnen had been meant, either word, " ux- ores " or " feminse,'* could have been used indififerently. ,'3 Gen. vi. 2. >4 i Cor. xi. 14.

devoid. And so (they who are named) are devoid as much of ividoichood as of virginity. So completely has Faul by naming the sex generally, mingled "daughters" and species together in the genus. Again, while he says that " nature herself," '* which has assigned hair as a tegument and ornament to women, " teaches that veiling is the duty of females, '* has not the same tegument and the same honour of the head been assigned also to vir- gins ? If " it is shameful " for a woman to be shorn it is similarly so to a virgin too. From them, then, to whom is assigned one and the same law of the head,'^ one and the same disciplined^ of the head is exacted, — (which extends) even unto those virgins whom their childhood defends, '^ for from the first'^ a vir- gin was named " female." This custom, '^ in short, even Israel observes; but if Israel did not observe it, our Law,^ amplified and supplemented, would vindicate the addition for itself; let it be excused for imposing the veil on virgins also. Under our dispensation, let that age which is ignorant of its sex =' re- tain the privilege of simplicity. For both Eve and Adam, when it befell them to be " wise, ' ' '-'^ forthwith veiled what they had learnt to know.^ At all events, with regard to tho.se in whom girlhood has changed (into maturity), their age ought to remember its duties as to nature, so also, to discipline; for they are being transferred to the rank of " women ' both in their persons and in their functions. No one is a "virgin" from the time when she is capable of marriage; seeing that, in her, age has by that time been wedded to its own husband, that is, to time.='» " But some particular virgin has devoted herself to God. From that very moment she both changes the fashion of her hair, and converts all her gar!> into that of a 'woman.'" Let her, then, maintain the character wholly, and perform the whole function of a "virgin:" what she con- ceals =5 for the sake of God, let her cover quite over.^ It is our business to entrust to the knowledge of God alone that which the grace of God effects in us, lest we receive from man the reward we hope for from God.=^ Wliy do you denude before God =* what you cover

»Si.e. long hair

'*i.e. veiling.

■7 i.e. " exempts."

'8 i.e. from her creation.

■9 Of the universal veiling of women."

™ i e. as above, the Sermon on the Mount.

-' i.e. mere infancy.

2- Gen. iii. 6.

=3 (Jen. ii. 27 (or in the LXX. iii. i), and iii. 7,

24 Routh refers us to Je Virg. I el. c, 1 1.

■'5 i.e. the redundance of her hair.

^ i.e. by a veil.

^ i.e. says Oehler, " lest we postpone the eternal favour of ( loci, which we hope for, to the temporal veneration of men ; a risk which those virgins seemed likely to run, who, when devoted !■• God, used to go veiled in public, hut bareheaded in the chun h.'

^ i.e. in church.

10, II.

Chapter XXV ]

689

before men ? ' Will you be more modest in public than in the church ? If your self- drooti&n is a grace of God, and you have re- ceived it, "why do you boast," saith he, "as if you have not received it ? " ' Why, by your ostentation of yourself, do you judge others? Is it that, by your boasting, you invite others unto good ? Nay, but even you yourself run the risk of losing, if you boast; and you drive others unto the same perils ! What is assumed from love of boasting is easily destroyed. Be veiled, virgin, if virgin you are; for you ought to blush. If you are a virgin, shrink from (the gaze of) many eyes. Let no one wonder at your face; let no one perceive your falsehood. 3 You do well in falsely assuming the married character, if you veil your head; nay, you do not seem to as- sume it falsely J for you are wedded to Christ: to Him you have surrendered your body; act as becomes your Husband's discipline. If He bids the brides of others to be veiled, His own, of course, much more. " But each in- dividual man ♦ is not to think that the institu- tion of his predecessor is to be overturned." Many yield up their own judgment, and its consistency, to the custom of others. Granted that virgins be not compelled to be veiled, at all events such as voluntarily, are so should not be prohibited; who, likewise, cannot deny them- selves to be virgins,^ content, in the security of a good conscience before God, to damage their own fame.* Touching such, however, as are betrothed, I can with constancy " above my small measure"' pronounce and attest that they are to be veiled from that day forth on which they shuddered at the first bodily touch of a man by kiss and hand. For in them everything has been forewedded: their age, through maturity; their flesh, through age; their spirit, through consciousness; their modesty, through the experience of the kiss; their hope, through expectation; their mind, through volition. And Rebecca is example enough for us, who, when her betrothed had been pointed out, veiled herself for marriage merely on recognition of him.^

' i.e. in public ; see note 27, supra.

2 I Cor. iv. 7.

3 i.e. as Muratori, quoted by Oehler, says, your "pious" (?) fraud in pretending to be married when you are a virgin ; because " devoted " virgins used to dress and wear veils like married women, as being regarded as " wedded to Christ."

4 i.e. each president of a church, or bishop.

Si.e. " are known to be such through the chastity of theirman- ner and life " (Oehler).

6 " By appearing in public as married women, while in heart they are virgins " (Oehler).

7 Does Tertullian refer to 2 Cor. x. 13? or does " modulus " mean, as Oehler thinks, " my rule ? " [It seems to me a very plain reference to the text before mentioned, and to the Apostolic Canon of not exceeding one's Mission.]

* Gen. xxiv. 64, 65. 9 Eph. iv. 27.

1° i.e. abstaining from kneeling: /cnee/ing- being more " a pos- t'lrr of solicitude and of humility ; standing, of "exultation." 4-1

CHAP, xxin

-OF KNEELING

In the mattter of kneeling also prayer is subject to diversity of observance, through the act of some few who abstain from kneeling on the Sabbath; and since this dissension is particularly on its trial before the churches, the Lord will give His grace that the dissen- tients may either yield, or else indulge their opinion without offence to others. We, how- ever (just as we have received), only on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude; deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil.' Similarly, too, in the period of Pentecost; which period we distinguish by the same so- lemnity of exultation.'" But who would hesi- tate ei^ery day to prostrate himself before God, at least in the first prayer with which we enter on the daylight ? At fasts, moreover, and Stations, no prayer should be made without kneeling, and the remaining customary marks of humility; for (then) " we are not only pray- ing, but deprecating, and making satisfaction to God our Lord.'^ Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly " to pray at every time and every place." '3

Chapter XXIV OF PLACE FOR PRAYER

But how " in every place," since we are pro- hibited'■' (from praying) in public? In every place, he means, which opportunity or even necessity, may have rendered suitable: for that which was done by the apostles '^ (who, in gaol, in the audience of the prisoners, " began praying and singing to God") is not con- sidered to have been done contrary to the pre- cept; nor yet that which was done by Paul,'* who in the ship, in presence of all, " made thanksgiving to God." ''

Chapter XXV OF TIME FOR PRAYER

Touching the time, however, the extrin- sic'^ observance of certain hours will not be unprofitable — those common hours, I mean, which mark the intervals of the day — the third, the sixth, the ninth — which we

" i.e. at fasts and Stations. [Sabbaths Saturday, su/ra.]

'2 VoT the meaning of " satisfaction '' as used by the Fathers, see Hooker, £cc/. I'ol. vi. 5.

'3 Eph. vi. i8 ; i Thess. v. 17 , i Tim. ii. 8.

uMatt. vi. 5, 6, which forbids praying in public

'5 Paul and Silas (Acts .xvi. 25).

"5 I have followed Muratori s reading here.

>7 Mr. Dodgson renders "celebrated the Eucharist ;" but that rendering appears very doubtful. See Acts xxvii. 35.

'8 Mr. Dodgson supposes this word to mean "' outward, as con- trasted with the inward, ' praying always.' " Oehler interprets, " ex vita communi." But perhaps what Tertullian says lower down in the chapter, "albeit they stand si»ij>ly luitltoiit utiy pre- cept enjoining their observance,'^ may give us the true clue !•> his meaning ; so that " extrinseciis " would — "extrinsic to any direct injunction of our Lord or His apostks."

690

[chap. XXIX.

may find in the Scriptures to have been more solemn than the rest. The first infusion t)f the Holy Spirit into the congregated disci- ples took place at " the third hour." ' Peter, on the day on which he e.xperienced the vision of Universal Community,^ (exhibited) in that ^rnall vessel, 3 had ascended into the more lofty parts of the house, for prayer's sake " at tie sixth hour."'' The same (apostle) was ^oing into the temple, with John, "at the ninth hour,''^ when he restored the paralytic to his health. Albeit xhtse practices stand sim- |)iy without any precept for their observance, -still it may be granted a good thing to es- tablish some definite presumption, which may both add stringency to the admonition to l)ray, and may, as it were by a law, tear us out from our businesses unto such a duty; so that — what we read to have been observed by Daniel also,* in accordance (of course) with Israel's discipline — we pray at least not less than thrice in the day, debtors as we are to Three — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: of course, in addition to our regular prayers which are due, without any admonition, on the entrance of light and of night. But, withal, it becomes believers not to take food, :md not to go to the bath, before interposing a prayer; for the refreshments and nourish- ments of the spirit are to be held prior to those of the fiesh, and things heavenly prior to things earthly.

Chapter XXVI OF THE PARTING OF BRETHREN

You will not dismiss a brother who has en- tered your house without prayer. — " Have you ?,e&n" szys Scripture, "a brother? you have seen your Lord; " " — especially " a stranger," lest perhaps he be "an angel." But again, when received yourself by brethren, you will not make® earthly refreshments prior to heavenly, for your faith will forthwith be judged. Or else how will you — according to the precept 5 — say, "Peace to this house," unless you exchange mutual peace with them who are in the house ?

' Acts ji. i-<, :4, 15.

- Communitatis omnis (Oehlor). Mr. Dodgson renders, " of every sort of common thing." Perhaps, as Routh suggests, we should read " omnium."

SVasculo. But in Acts it is, <r(tcOo? ti ut o96viiv ij.fydKr)v ISinaii is here comparatively used, with reference to Universality of which it was the symbol.]

■♦ Acts X. 9.

5 Acts iii. i: but the man is not said to have been " paralytic," but " lame from his mother's womb."

6 Dan. vi. 10 ; comp. Ps. Iv. 17 (in the LXX. it is liv. 18).

7 I have ventured to turn the first part of the sentence into a question. What " scripture " this may be, no one knows. [It seems to me a clear reference to Matt. xxv. 38, amplified by the 45th verse, in a way not unusual with our author.] Perhaps, in addition to the passages in (jen. xviii. and Heb. xiii. 2, to which the editors naturally refer, Tertullian may allude to such passages »•; Mark ix 37, .Matt. xxv. 40. 45. [Christo in pauperibus.]

J* 1 have followed Routh's conjecture, " feceris " /or " ftcerit," which Oehler docs not even notice. '•- i.uke X. 5.

Chapter XXVII OF SUBJOINING A PSALM

The more diligent in prayer are wont to subjoin in their prayers the " Hallelujah," '" and such kind of psalms, in the closes of which the company respond. And, of course, every institution is excellent which, for the extolling and honouring of God, aims unitedly to bring Him enriched prayer as a choice victim."

Chapter XXVIII OF THE SPIRITUAL VICTIM,

WHICH PRAYER IS

For this is the spiritual victim '^ which has abolished the pristine sacrifices. " To what purpose," saith He, " (bring ye) me the mul- titude of your sacrifices ? I am full of holo- causts of rams, and I desire not the fat of rams, and the blood of bulls and of goats. For who hath required these from your hands ?" '3 What, then, God has required the Gospel teaches. "An hour will come," saith He, "when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and truth. For God is a Spirit, and accordingly requires His adorers to be such." "* We are the true adorers and the true priests, '^ who, praying in spirit,'* sacrifice, in spirit, prayer, — a victim proper and acceptable to God, which assuredly He has required, which He has looked forward to '7 for Himself ! This victim, devoted from the whole heart, fed pn faith, tended by truth, entire in innocence, pure in chastity, gar- landed with love,'^ we ought to escort with the pomp '5 of good works, amid psalms and hymns, unto God's altar,=° to obtain for us all things from God.

Chapter XXIX OF THE POWER OF PRAYER

For what has God, who exacts it ever de- nied''^ to prayer coming from "spirit and truth ? ' ' How mighty specimens of its efficacy do we read, and hear, and believe! Old-world prayer, indeed, used to free from fires," and from beasts, -3 and from famine;^ and yet it had not (then) received its form from Christ. But how far more amply operative is Christian prayar ! It does not station the angel of dew

'o Perhaps " the great Hallelujah," i.e. the last five psaln::s. '■ [The author seems to have in mind (Hos. xiv. 2) " the caives of our lips."] '=^ I Pet. ii. 5.

■3lsa. i. II. See the LXX. '■* John iv. 23, 24.

■5 Sacerdotes ; comp. de Ex. Cast. c. 7. '61 Cor. xiv. 15 ; Eph. vi. 18. '7 Or, " provided."

•8" Agape," perhaps " the love-feast."

'9 Or, "procession." 1

=0 Altare. |

-•' Routh would read, " What will God deny f •'- Dan. iii. -3 iJan. vi. =4 I Kings xviii. ; Ja.s. v. 17, 18.

Chapter XX1X \

691

m mid-fires,' nor muzzle lions, nor transfer to the hungry the rustics' bread ;= it has no delegated grace to avert any sense of suffer- ing; ^ but it supplies the suffering, and the feeling, and the grieving, with endurance: it amplifies grace by virtue, that faith may know what she obtains from the Lord, understand- inofwhat — for God's name's sake — she suffers. But in days gone by, withal prayer used to call down-* plagues, scatter the armies of foes, withhold the wholesome influences of the showers. Now, however, the prayer of right- eousness averts all God's anger, keeps bivouac on behalf of personal enemies, makes suppli- cation on behalf of persecutors. Is it wonder if // knows how to extort the rains of heaven ^ — (prayer) which was ono' able to procure its Jires7^ Prayer is alone that which van- quishes' God. But Christ has willed that it be operative for no evil : He had conferred on it all its virtue in the cause of good. And so it knows nothing save how to recall the souls of the departed from the very path of death, to transform the weak, to restore the sick, to purge the possessed, to open prison-bars, to loose the bonds of the innocent. Likewise it

• i.e. " the angel who preserved in the furnace the three youths besprinkled, as it were, with dewy shower" (Muratori, quoted by Oehler). [Apocrypha, The Song, etc., verses 26, 27]

2 2 Kings, iv. 42-44.

3 i.e. in brief, its tniracuious operations, as they are called, are suspended in these ways.

4 Or, "inflict." 5 See Apolog. c. 5 (Oehler). *See 2 Kings i.

7 [A reference to Jacob's wrestling. Also, probably, to Matt. xi. 12.3

washes away faults, repels temptations, ex- tinguishes persecutions, consoles the faint, spirited, cheers the high-spirited, escorts travellers, appeases waves, makes robbers stand aghast, nourishes the poor, governs the rich, upraises the fallen, arrests the falling, confirms the standing. Prayer is the wall of faith: her arms and missiles^ against the foe who keeps watch over us on all sides. And, so never walk we unarmed. By day, be we mindful of Station; by night, of vigil. Under the arms of prayer guard we the standard of our General; await we in prayer the angel's trump. ^ The angels, likewise, all pray; every creature prays ; cattle and wild beasts pray and bend their knees; and when they issue from their layers and lairs,'" they look up heavenward with no idle mouth, making their breath vibrate " after their own manner. Nay, the birds too, rising out of the nest, up- raise themselves heavenward, and, instead of hands, e.xpand the cross of their wings, and say somewhat to seem like prayer.'- What more then, touching the office of prayer ? Even the Lord Himself prayed; to whom be honour and virtue unto the ages of the ages !

8 Or, " her armour defensive and offensive." y I Cor. XV. 5c ; I 'I'hess. iv. 16.

'" Or. " pens and dens."

" As if in prayer.

'2 [This beautiful passage should be supplemented by a similar one from Si. Bernard : " Nonne et aviculas levat, non onerat pen- narum numerositas ipsa? ToUe eas, et reliquum corpus pondere suo ferturad ima. Sic disciplinam Christi, sic suave jugum, sic onus leve, quo deponimus, eo deprimimur ipsi : quia portat potius quam portatur." Epistola, ccclxxxv. Bernardi Opp. Tom. i. p- 6gi. Ed. (Mabillon.) Gaume, Paris, 1839. Bearing the cross up- lifts the Christian.]

IV.