To whom and for whom we pray

We are obliged by precept only to pray to God, unless we admit with the common opinion that anyone who should never pray to the blessed Virgin Mary would sin venially by neglecting so powerful a means of salvation. We may, however, lawfully and with fruit pray to the angels and saints, more probably to the holy souls detained in purgatory, and in private to anyone whom with reasonable certainty we believe to be with God in heaven, that they may intercede with him for us.

We should pray for all men whom it will benefit without excluding anyone in our private prayers. It is useless praying for the damned, and the Church forbids her ministers to pray publicly for those who are excommunicated,

To Whom May Prayer Be Offered?—Only God may be addressed as the Bestower of favors (“The Lord giveth grace and glory,” Ps. lxxxiii. 12), but the Saints may be prayed to as intercessors before God (“The smoke of incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hands of the angel,” Apoc., viii. 4). Hence, the Church asks God to have mercy on us; it asks the Saints to pray for us. It is lawful privately to invoke the prayers of an infant who died after baptism, of a soul in Purgatory, and one may ask the prayers of those who are still alive, as St. Paul frequently does in his Epistles. There is no command that we pray to the saints, and hence one who did not pray to them would not be guilty of grave sin per se; but there would be grave sin, if their intercession was neglected on account of contempt, and venial sin, if one failed to call on them (especially on the Blessed Virgin, the Mediatrix of all graces) on account of negligence about one’s own spiritual good.

The Persons for Whom Prayer Is Offered.—There is an obligation of charity to pray for ourselves and also for others, for we should ask for the things that we are obliged to desire (see 2161). This duty is taught in Holy Scripture (e.g., Our Lord prayed for Peter; St. Paul asks for the prayers of his Churches; St. James, in v. 16, admonishes us to pray for one another that we may be saved); also in the creed and liturgy of the Church, for we profess belief in the communion of saints, and offer Masses and suffrages for the living and the dead. One should pray for enemies in common prayers that are offered for all, and in special prayers for them in particular, when there is a special reason, such as their grave necessity or the scandal that would be given if one refused to join in a special prayer for one’s enemy (Matt., v. 44); but one may not pray for the success of the evil projects of an enemy, and one is not obliged to make special prayers for him apart from necessity (see 1151). For the excommunicated one should pray in private prayers and also in public prayers, when this is permitted by the law, as in the services of Good Friday and under certain conditions in Masses (Canon 2262). For sinners prayers should be said, unless they are already lost. The souls in Purgatory are also to be prayed for, although the obligation does not seem grave, since it is not certain as to any particular soul that it is in need of our prayers. As to the blessed, one may pray for their canonization or accidental glory, not for their essential glory, which they already possess.

Things that May Be Prayed for.—(a) Evils.—One may never pray for moral evil, even of the slightest kind, and it would be a grave irreverence to beseech God to become our helper in the commission of sin. As to physical evils, one may not ask them as evils or for their own sake; but it is lawful to pray for them in the larger sense in which they are goods. Thus, for oneself one may ask from God sickness, poverty or death, in so far as these ills are means of correction, improvement, merit, penance, or escape from sin; for an enemy one may ask that God restrain him, even by the use of temporal misfortunes, if this be necessary to keep him from sin.

(b) Indifferent Things.—One may not desire an indifferent thing, if there is no moral purpose to justify it (see 83). Hence, one may not ask God for the gratification of idle wishes (e.g., that one win a game in which the only purpose in gain), but it does not seem that there is grave irreverence in so doing.

(c) Temporal Goods.—These may not be asked for from a primary intention, since we must seek first the kingdom of God and His justice (Matt., vi. 33), which are more important; neither may we ask for any determinate temporal thing unconditionally, since we are uncertain whether it will prove beneficial or harmful. But temporal things may be asked for from a secondary intention (that is, in so far as they are means that assist us to attain spiritual goods) and conditionally (that is, under the proviso that they will prove spiritually beneficial). Thus, the Church prays for protection against storms and disturbances, and asks for good weather, abundant harvests, peace, etc.

(d) Spiritual Goods.—Eternal salvation and the means thereto we should pray for as the principal objects of our desire and should ask for them unconditionally; for God is our true End, and the things that lead to Him cannot be harmful to us. Miracles may be asked for, but it is wrong to beg God for privileges that are reserved for others (e.g., to sit at the right hand of Christ in glory).

262. • Q. 4º For whom must one pray?

Resp. 1º For ourselves (according to the first rule of Charity); 2º for all wayfaring men, even infidels; 3º for souls detained in purgatory. It is drawn 1º from the general law of Charity; 2º from the words of St. Paul, 1 Tim. 2. 1: I beseech therefore first of all that supplications, prayers, petitions, thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, etc.; nor are enemies to be excepted, as is clear from the words of Christ, Matt. 5. 44: Pray for those persecuting and calumniating you ².

² He satisfies this duty of praying for all, who, although in praying he employs no memory of others, nevertheless in prayers which are not poured forth only for himself, of which kind are the Lord's Prayer, the Angelic Salutation, etc., positively excludes no one.

Q. 5º Whom besides God can we pray to?

Resp. The Blessed Virgin Mary, as our mediatrix; Angels, as guardians of men; all the Saints and friends of God, as our intercessors before Him. Privately there can also be invoked baptized infants who died before the use of reason, and according to Less., Bellarm., Bonac., Elbel..., the same must more probably be said concerning souls detained in purgatory.

But invocation of the Saints is of counsel, not however of precept, since Trent, sess. 25., says only that it is good and useful to invoke them. Yet he who never invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary will seem very careless of his salvation, since by a peculiar and marvelous providence she has been constituted our mediatrix.

In this paragraph we respond to the following three questions: 1. What things can be asked in prayer? 2. For whom is prayer to be made? 3. To whom are our prayers to be directed?

340. General rule. It is lawful to pray not only for ourselves, but also for all and each creatures capable of eternal glory.⁷⁵

The intrinsic and fundamental reason why and how one person can pray efficaciously for another is the dogma of the communion of saints. For all men (the damned alone excepted) are bound together by an intimate union of charity, and therefore one can benefit another. The efficacy of prayer consists chiefly in this, that the obstacles to grace existing in us are removed from the way and consequently we are better disposed to receive graces, as was said above in n. 333. Certainly, from the fact that we pray for another, e.g., for a sinner, he does not thereby remove the obstacles to grace nor become fit to receive graces; but God often bestows actual graces without a special disposition being present in the recipient. Thus, e.g., it is piously believed that, through the prayers of Stephen the protomartyr, God bestowed the grace of conversion upon Saul, who was by no means specially disposed, on the road to Damascus. Moreover, since the whole human race, redeemed by the blood of Christ, is one moral society in which individual men are members, the dignity and operation of one member redound in some measure to another member. Therefore, if one man through prayer becomes better disposed to receive graces, this greater disposition redounds in some measure to other men united with him, so that they also (although sinners) become more capable of receiving graces.

Applications. It is lawful to pray for all men living upon this earth, with no one excepted, whether they are faithful or unbelievers, friends or enemies, excommunicated or not. Likewise it is lawful to pray for the souls in purgatory; indeed, even for the blessed in heaven, who, although they possess essential beatitude and that immutable, can nevertheless still increase in accidental beatitude. But it is not lawful to pray for the damned in hell, because they are no longer capable of eternal glory.

1. Wycliffe taught that prayers were indeed to be poured forth for men in general, but not for men individually. But this doctrine was proscribed by the condemnation of proposition 19: "Special prayers applied to one person by prelates or religious profit that person no more than general prayers, other things being equal."⁷⁶ That prayers can be made for other men in particular is manifest from Sacred Scripture, from the practice of the Church, and from theological reason. First, indeed, from Sacred Scripture, namely from the example of Christ, who prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail;⁷⁷ and for those who crucified him.⁷⁸ In almost every epistle St. Paul solicits the prayers of the faithful for himself.⁷⁹ St. James admonishes: "Pray one for another, that you may be saved."⁸⁰ The practice of the Church shows the same thing; for on Good Friday she prays for all, not only the faithful, but also unbelievers, heretics, and Jews. The theological reason for this doctrine is thus explained by St. Thomas:⁸¹ "We ought to ask in prayer for that which we ought to desire. But we ought to desire goods not only for ourselves, but also for others; for this pertains to the nature of the love which we ought to expend upon our neighbors. And therefore charity requires this, that we pray for others. Hence Chrysostom says: Necessity compels one to pray for oneself; but fraternal charity exhorts one to pray for another. Sweeter before God is the prayer, not which necessity sends forth, but which the charity of brotherhood commends.... As Cyprian says: Therefore we do not say, My Father, but Our Father; nor, Give me, but, Give us, because the teacher of unity did not wish prayer to be made privately, so that anyone would pray for himself alone; for he wished one to pray for all, since he himself bore all in one."

2. We not only can but sometimes ought to pray for enemies. Wherefore the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor, admitted by all, is to be noted: "It is necessary that, in our common prayers which we make for others, we not exclude our enemies. But that we pray for them specially is a matter of perfection, not of necessity, except in some special case."⁸² That special case is a) a grave necessity in which the enemy is placed, or b) if scandal would arise without special prayer.

⁷⁵ This rule can also be expressed in this manner: We can and ought to pray for all those for whom our prayer is useful and whom we ought to love from charity.

⁷⁶ Denz. n. 599.

⁷⁷ Cf. Luke 22:32.

⁷⁸ Luke 23:34.

⁷⁹ Cf. Rom. 15:30; 1 Thess. 5:25.

⁸⁰ Jas. 5:16.

⁸¹ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 7, corp. and ad 1.

⁸² S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 8. Cf. above I, n. 575f.

341. 3. We can certainly pour forth private prayers for the excommunicated, because this is nowhere prohibited and because even the excommunicated are still capable of eternal glory. That at times public prayer for the excommunicated is also lawful is evident from the example of the Church herself, who on Good Friday prays publicly for heretics and schismatics, whom she assuredly regards as excommunicated. But whether in other cases also it is lawful to pray publicly, and especially whether it is lawful to offer the sacrifice of the Mass for the excommunicated, depends upon the legislation of the Church or upon legitimate custom.⁸³ But if St. John seems to exclude great sinners from our prayers, saying: "He that knoweth his brother to sin a sin which is not unto death, let him ask, and life shall be given to him who sinneth not unto death. There is a sin unto death: for that I say not that any man ask";⁸⁴ the sense of these words is that prayer for sinners is heard with difficulty and not always; or that this prayer is useless for the sinner's eternal life so long as he wishes to remain in sin. In the same manner are the words of Jeremiah to be understood: "Therefore do not thou pray for this people, neither take to thee praise and supplication for them, and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee."⁸⁵ But if St. Jerome⁸⁶ asserts, "It is foolish to pray for sinners unto death," he is to be understood on the supposition that someone knew with certainty that another was entirely reprobated by God. Then certainly prayer would be useless. But this certainty cannot be had without a special divine revelation, which is known scarcely ever to have been granted.

⁸³ Cf. below, in the tract on the sacrifice of the Mass, III, 247ff.; Code of Canon Law, c. 2262.

⁸⁴ 1 John 5:16.

⁸⁵ Jer. 7:16.

⁸⁶ Comm. in Jer. (Migne, Patr. lat. 24, 802).

342. 4. That we can and ought to pray for the souls in purgatory follows from the Council of Trent, which teaches that the sacrifice of the Mass can be offered for those who have died in Christ but are not yet fully purged,⁸⁷ and that the souls detained in purgatory are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, but especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar.⁸⁸ The same can easily be proved from all the liturgies both of the Latin and of the Eastern Church, in which there are prayers for the dead.⁸⁹ Nevertheless, the obligation of praying for the dead does not seem grave, because it is not certain that any deceased person in fact still needs our prayers. It is lawful and expedient to pray not only for the souls of purgatory in general, but also for a determinate deceased person; for although it is not certain that such a determinate deceased person will receive relief from our prayers, nevertheless it is piously believed that divine mercy does not leave without fruit a prayer made from charity.⁹⁰

5. That we can pray for an increase in the accidental glory of the saints is the common opinion of authors. For that accidental glory can be increased; whence the Church prays in the Mass: "Receive, O Holy Trinity, that it may profit them [the saints] unto honor, but us unto salvation." Essential glory, however, i.e., the vision of God, cannot be increased in the saints; and therefore it is not lawful to pray for that. In this sense also are the words of St. Augustine⁹¹ to be understood: "He does injury to a martyr who prays for a martyr, to whose prayers we ought to be commended." Prayers for the saints, however, are not in frequent use, except insofar as prayers are sometimes made for obtaining the beatification or canonization of some servant of God.

6. It is not lawful to pray for the damned, since they are outside the bond of charity. Moreover, such prayer would be entirely useless, since the punishments of hell are eternal and cannot be diminished. Wherefore the story of the deliverance of the emperor Trajan from hell, as narrated by John the Deacon, namely that St. Gregory the Great by his prayers delivered the emperor Trajan and Falconilla from hell, is to be regarded as a fable.⁹² Likewise, the assertion of the poet Prudentius that on Easter day all the punishments of the damned cease or are interrupted is a fantastic fiction.⁹³

⁸⁷ Sess. 22, c. 2 and can. 3 (Denz. nn. 940, 950).

⁸⁸ Sess. 25, decree on purgatory (Denz. n. 983).

⁸⁹ In the liturgies there occur certain prayers whose sense is not so easily understood, e.g., in the Mass for the dead: "Deliver, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from the punishments of hell and from the deep pit; let not Tartarus swallow them up; deliver them from eternal death," etc. Certain authors, such as Suarez (De poenit. disp. 48, sect. 5, n. 12), Bellarmine (De purgat. l. 2, c. 5), and Chr. Pesch (Prael. dogm., de noviss. n. 617), think that the Church prays by a certain fiction, as though those souls were still at the point of departing from this life. They think it probable, however, that such a prayer, even if in fact made after death, could, in the foreknowledge of God, have profited the soul even before death, so that it might receive greater assistance from God for avoiding the danger of eternal death. This opinion is not very pleasing, because, first, it is a mere hypothesis without any solid foundation drawn from tradition or from theological reason; and, secondly, because it is an excessively involved explanation. For although God can, on account of the foreseen merits of a future prayer and Mass to be said, grant special graces to one who is dying, it is nevertheless very doubtful whether God would in fact do this. Other authors, among whom is Benedict XIV (De sacrif. Missae l. 2, c. 9), rightly teach that all such formulas are to be understood of purgatory and not of hell. The reason is that, according to several most distinguished authors, e.g., St. Thomas, the punishments of sense in purgatory and hell do not differ essentially from one another. Wherefore the words "hell, eternal death, Tartarus" are not incongruously employed also for purgatory.

⁹⁰ Brief mention must be made of the opinion of Dominic Soto concerning the duration of purgatory. He writes: "The clemency of God does not permit his friends to be withheld from his sight for a long time. And therefore it belonged to his most wise providence to institute for purifying them those punishments which could cleanse the souls there in a short time. For since those torments are supernatural and cannot corrupt the subject, he could make up for any length of time by accumulated punishments. Wherefore I would believe that no one has ever remained in purgatory for twenty years; indeed, as my opinion inclines, not even ten.... It is not credible that God would detain by length of time those whom he could release thence more quickly by an accumulation of punishments." Certainly all these things are mere opinion, but they are by no means proscribed, as some have wished, by proposition 43 condemned by Alexander VII: "An annual legacy left for a soul does not last beyond ten years" (Denz. n. 1143). For the duration of a legacy lasts for as long as the testator determined and does not cease even if the soul has already been delivered from purgatory.

⁹¹ Sermon 159 (Migne, Patr. lat. 38, 868).

⁹² Life of St. Gregory the Great l. 2, n. 44 (Migne, Patr. lat. 75, 105). St. Thomas attempts to interpret this little story benignly (Suppl. q. 71, a. 5). Cf. Nat. Alexander, De liberatione commenticia Traiani imperatoris ab infernis.

⁹³ Carmen de novo lumine paschalis sabbati v. 125ff. (Migne, Patr. lat. 59, 828).

343. Proposition. God alone is to be prayed to as he who can of himself furnish the things which we ask; but it is lawful and useful to invoke the saints or angels, that they may intercede for us with God.

This is Catholic doctrine and is thus proved and explained by St. Thomas:⁹⁴ "Prayer is offered to someone in two ways: in one way, as to be fulfilled by him; in another way, as to be obtained through him. In the first way we offer prayer to God alone, because all our prayers (even for obtaining temporal goods) ought to be ordained to the attainment of grace and glory, which God alone gives, according to the words of the Psalm: The Lord will give grace and glory.⁹⁵ But in the second way we offer prayer to the holy angels and men; not so that through them God may know our prayers, but so that through their prayers and merits our prayers may obtain their effect. And therefore it is said that the smoke of the incense, that is, the prayers of the saints, ascended from the hand of the angel before the Lord.⁹⁶ And this is also evident from the very manner which the Church employs in praying; for we ask the Holy Trinity to have mercy upon us, but we ask any of the other saints to pray for us."

⁹⁴ S. theol. 2, 2, q. 83, a. 4.

⁹⁵ Ps. 83:12.

⁹⁶ Cf. Apoc. 8:4.

344. On the invocation of the saints.

Several heretics, e.g., Eustathius of Sebaste, Vigilantius, Peter of Bruys, the Apostolics, the Cathars, the Wycliffites, the Lutherans, the Calvinists, etc., deny the utility and lawfulness of the invocation of the saints, asserting that Christ is the sole mediator between us and God; that the saints do not know our prayers; and that God is so good that he is ready to hear us even without the intercession of the saints. To these objections a brief response is made: 1. Christ is indeed our sole mediator insofar as, joining in himself at once the divine and human nature, he joins us again to God by his redemption. But the saints are our mediators insofar as they assist our prayers by interceding for us. Or, more briefly: there is one mediator of redemption, but there are many mediators of intercession. 2. It is false that the saints do not know our prayers, because, by seeing the divine essence, they know all those earthly things which specially concern them. Such things are prayers directed to them.⁹⁷ 3. Certainly God is most clement and most merciful; but there is no derogation from his clemency and mercy if, for most fitting reasons, our prayers become more efficacious from the fact that they are assisted by the intercession of the saints; just as a good father of a family more readily grants a favor asked by one son if at the same time the other sons intercede for their brother.

From all these things it is evident how rightly the Council of Trent⁹⁸ commanded bishops diligently to instruct the faithful "that the saints reigning together with Christ offer their prayers to God for men; that it is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them, and, for obtaining benefits from God through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who alone is our redeemer and savior, to have recourse to their prayers, aid, and assistance; but that those who deny that the saints enjoying eternal happiness in heaven are to be invoked, or who assert either that they do not pray for men, or that the invocation of them, that they may pray also for each one of us, is idolatry, or that it conflicts with the word of God and is opposed to the honor of the one mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, or that it is foolish to supplicate by voice or mind those reigning in heaven, think impiously." The intrinsic reasons why we can invoke the saints especially to our own profit are: 1. Divine goodness, which, although it can most easily act in all things directly through itself, nevertheless employs secondary causes to produce many effects and thus to increase the happiness of creatures. Thus also divine goodness employs the intercession of the saints to grant the grace of being heard to our prayers, so that in this way the accidental happiness of the saints may be increased and our confidence may grow. 2. The communion of saints existing among the Church militant, suffering, and triumphant. For it is most fitting that the members of the same Church not only love one another but also assist one another efficaciously. From all these things it is abundantly evident that the invocation of the saints is lawful, very useful, and indeed sometimes necessary. He who desires more on this matter should consult the apologists.⁹⁹

Saints and just men existing not only in heaven but still upon earth can be invoked. Hence St. Paul, writing to the Romans (who are called saints), says: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the charity of the Holy Spirit, that you help me in your prayers for me to God."¹⁰⁰ Likewise nothing prevents baptized infants who departed from this life before the use of reason from being invoked privately. For such persons are certainly in heaven. Then it is also lawful to invoke the souls existing in purgatory, since they are friends of God. But whether such invocation is in fact efficacious, and especially whether the souls in purgatory know the prayers directed to them, is not certain.¹⁰¹ There are some who say that guardian angels manifest prayers of this kind to the souls in purgatory, or that God grants them a revelation in a special manner; but these things are very uncertain and cannot be sufficiently proved. Wherefore nothing indeed prevents a man from directing his prayers privately to the souls in purgatory, as many of the faithful in fact do; but nevertheless the invocation of the souls in purgatory does not seem to be something to be preached publicly from the pulpit so long as the Church has determined nothing concerning this matter.

⁹⁷ Cf. S. theol., l.c., ad 2. Theologians do not agree concerning the manner in which the saints know prayers directed to them. Cf. Billuart, De orat. a. 4, obj. 2.

⁹⁸ Sess. 25, on the invocation of the saints (Denz. n. 984).

⁹⁹ Cf. Billuart, l.c., a. 4, where many objections of the heretics are also found resolved; Mausbach, Kathol. Moraltheol. II, § 30.

¹⁰⁰ Rom. 15:30.

¹⁰¹ Cf. above n. 334 (3).

345. You ask: Is the invocation of the saints not only useful and lawful, but also necessary, so that he who refused to invoke the saints, and especially the Blessed Virgin, would sin?

No explicit precept of invoking the saints is indeed found, and therefore he who, apart from contempt or scandal, never invoked the saints or the Blessed Virgin would not sin gravely; yet he would certainly deprive himself of many graces and would act against the order willed by God. Hence, in practice, he who obstinately refused to invoke the saints, and especially the Blessed Virgin,¹⁰² who even in liturgical worship is acknowledged as mediatrix of our grace, would not be excused at least from venial sin.

¹⁰² Francis Sylvius in the seventeenth century seems first to have asserted the necessity of invoking the saints (Comm. in 2, 2, q. 83, a. 4, concl. 2). Placidus Boeckhn, O.S.B., also attempted to demonstrate that a precept of invoking the saints exists. At that time sharp disputes arose concerning this matter. Concina treats this controversy broadly and profoundly, In Decal. l. 2, diss. 1, c. 8, n. 6.

S. Th. II-II, q. 83, a. 1, 3-6, 10, 11.

661. Prayer is called by St. John Damascene (De fide orth., l. 3, c. 24): "the ascent of the mind to God." Hence:

a) In the broadest sense, it is every ascent or movement of the intellect and will into God, whether it happens by religion or by other virtues, such as the theological virtues, penance, humility; and thus meditation and contemplation are called mental prayer;

b) In a less broad sense, it is that ascent of the mind which happens by religion and by which we praise God and bless Him, give thanks to Him for gifts conferred, or seek His help;

c) This last alone is prayer in the strict sense.

662. Prayer strictly so called is defined by the same St. John Damascene: a pious petition of fitting things from God. It is said:

1. Petition, that is, an explanation or manifestation of our desire made to another for obtaining something by way of favor. Namely, it is a manifestation:

a) Of desire, and thus it is distinguished from command and from the exigency of right;

b) For obtaining something, so that it is speech not simply narrative, but motive, which induces another to grant something;

c) By way of favor, and thus it is distinguished from counsel and exhortation.

2. Of fitting things, that is, of those things which are honorable and which it is unbecoming neither for men to ask from God nor for God to bestow upon men.

3. From God, so that it may be indicated that prayer properly so called is made to God alone, by whom alone it can be fulfilled.

4. Pious, so that it may be indicated that it is an act of religion: for although petition involves some humiliation, and therefore is most apt for expressing the excellence of another and our subjection, nevertheless it does not necessarily include the account of worship; therefore, that in fact it may worship God and be able to be called strict prayer, it must proceed from a pious intention of worshiping God, or from an act of devotion. Yet this intention suffices if implicit, as it is ordinarily had in the prayers of the faithful.

663. Prayer is not an act of the will but of practical reason. It is proved:

To pray bespeaks some ordering; but to order is an act of reason, not of the will; therefore. For:

a) Through practical reason, man disposes and orders something to be done by another, either by morally compelling an inferior and imposing necessity upon him: through command; or by inducing a superior or equal, and by manifestation of desire disposing him toward some effect: through petition or prayer. Therefore, just as command is an act of practical reason, so also is prayer.

b) Prayer is speech to God, as being a manifestation of desire; but speech is an ordering of concepts and an expression of them made to another, either by external or mental words; therefore it is essentially an act of reason (a. 1). But since it is an act of practical reason, it necessarily presupposes an act of the will.

664. Prayer is properly an act of religion. Through prayer man exhibits reverence and honor to God, insofar as he subjects himself to Him and professes that he needs Him as the author of all goods¹ (a. 3). Indeed, after devotion, it is the more principal act, because it is better to offer intellect to God than body or exterior things (ad 1 and 3).

¹ "Therefore when," says Prummer, Th. M. II, n. 332, "someone prays for recovering health, he ought first and more principally to intend divine worship and his subjection under God; secondarily, however, he can desire his own health."

665. Who can pray. Since prayer is an act of reason by which someone entreats a superior, those can pray who have reason and at the same time a superior whom they can entreat; namely: Christ as man (who often prayed on earth, and in heaven is always living to intercede for us), the angels, the saints, and all wayfarers, even the non-predestined or sinners, as is clear from the condemnation of Wycliffe² and Quesnel;³ but not the three divine persons nor irrational creatures (a. 10 and 11).

² Prop. 26.

³ Props. 50 and 59.

Yet de facto demons or the damned do not pray, inasmuch as they do not will to worship God. But whether the souls in purgatory pray for themselves, and especially for others, is disputed: St. Thomas denies that they pray for us, because they are inferior to us as regards the penalties which they suffer, and therefore are not in a state of praying, but rather of being prayed for.⁴ (a. 11, ad 3).

⁴ Their state makes it so that they do not pray from their own office; but it does not impede their being able to pray. But, says Prummer, n. 334, it is difficult to understand that those souls can pray for themselves, or how they know the necessities of men on this earth.

666. Whom we can pray to. Prayer is directed to someone in two ways: in one way, as if to be fulfilled through him, that is, that from him we may obtain what we ask; in another way, as if to be obtained through him, that is, that by his prayers and merits our prayers may obtain their effect (a. 4). In the former way, as the author of every good, we pray to God, that is, either to the divinity abstracting from the persons, or to the three persons together, or to one of the three, and also to the Son as incarnate; and therefore the Church prays to them that they have mercy on us. This prayer is an act of religion. In the other way, we pray as to mediators and intercessors before God: the angels, saints (even baptized infants), and especially the Blessed Virgin Mary; and therefore the Church asks that they pray for us.⁵ This prayer is an act of dulia; but if someone prays to the saints so that through the ministers also he may honor God, it will be an act of dulia commanded by religion.

⁵ Council of Trent, sess. 25.

Christ as man, although He is intercessor for us and primary mediator, in view of whose merits all graces are granted, nevertheless because He is also God, is not accustomed to be prayed to as mediator only, but always as author of goods.

The Church does not pray to the souls in purgatory; but whether they can be prayed to privately is disputed. St. Thomas denies this, because there is no reason for thinking that they know our prayers (ad 3). Hence, for the sake of prudence, it is better to abstain from such devotion to be preached to the faithful.

The just on earth we do not pray to, honoring them as intercessors and mediators: for they are not yet our superiors, because they do not yet possess the eternal life which we seek; nevertheless sometimes we ask that they pray with us (Rom. XV, 30; Jas. V, 16).

667. For whom we can pray. We can pray:

1. For rational creatures alone, for irrational creatures are not for their own sake, but for man;

2. For those alone who can be helped: for ourselves, for the souls in purgatory, and for all wayfarers, not only in general but also in particular,⁶ even unbelievers and enemies, which pertains to the love of charity; but not for demons or the damned, nor for angels and saints who lack nothing (a. 7 and 8).

⁶ Wycliffe, prop. 19 condemned.

Some, however, think that we can ask for an increase of accidental glory for the saints.

668. What we can ask by praying. Since prayer is a petition of fitting things, hence:

1. We can ask for all goods, not only in general but also in particular;⁷ and indeed:

⁷ But since it is not fitting for God to give evils to His children, it is not lawful to ask for evil as such, and indeed:

a) The principal object of prayer is spiritual and eternal goods, whether supernatural or natural, which per se and directly regard the moral perfection of man; and these we can ask absolutely, because man cannot use them badly according to themselves, whence they are sought according to the will of God. Yet they must be sought according to the order established by God, and indeed extraordinary gifts are not licitly sought except with subjection to divine providence (a. 5).

b) The secondary object of prayer is temporal goods insofar as through them bodily life is sustained and insofar as they organically serve the acts of the virtues; and these we can ask under the condition (at least implicit) insofar as they are expedient for salvation: for man can use these goods well or badly (a. 6).

a) Never moral evil: for it would be grave irreverence to ask the help of God even for a venially evil thing, because it is directly repugnant to the holiness of God;

b) But physical or temporal evil may licitly be sought insofar as it is good, that is, on account of an honorable end proportionate to it, for example, tribulations for the exercise of virtue, and the illness of a sinner for his amendment.

2. Thus against Socrates, Wycliffe, the Illuminati, and the Quietists.

I. Question I. What, and how many, are the conditions of prayer? Answer. 1. A condition of prayer is that it be made with deliberate will. This deliberation must be either express or virtual. If you were to read the Psalter merely to study it, you would not be praying. If you take up the Breviary with the intention of paying to God the debt owed, although you lack an express formal intention, a virtual one is present, and suffices. 2. The condition is attention, which likewise must be either express or virtual. The Theologians distinguish a threefold attention: the first to the words, the second to the sense, the third to God. Any one of these suffices. 3. The condition is piety, which looks to this — that pious, honorable, and fitting gifts be sought from God, and for a good end. 4. There is humility, by which the one praying, with lowly soul, presents himself before the divine Majesty, to whom he manifests his extreme poverty. But I am needy and poor: help me, O God, says the royal Prophet, Psalm 69. 5. There is the fervor with which we pour out our prayers to God. For a lukewarm and cold prayer is no prayer at all. The rich themselves disdain the languid prayers of the poor, as signs of a soul that makes little of what it seeks, and cares little to be heard. 6. The condition is faith, by which we firmly believe that we shall obtain what we ask. Whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive. Likewise hope, or confidence, which accompanies faith. 7. There is perseverance, which the Evangelists frequently inculcate, and especially Luke 11 [recte], by the parable, or example, of the friend who at midnight asked three loaves from his friend, and who, though not by the title of friendship, at least on account of importunity, obtained them.

II. Question II. What are the effects of prayer? Answer. Three: merit, satisfaction, and impetration. Merit is owed to it insofar as it proceeds from charity, through the medium of Religion. Satisfaction accompanies any meritorious work. Impetration of the thing we ask is the proper fruit of prayer. This prayer, too, as impetrating, has its efficacy from grace, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, II-II, q. 83, art. 15: But it has efficacy from the grace of God, whom we pray to, who also induces us to pray. Four conditions are necessary for impetration: namely, 1. that one pray chiefly for himself; 2. that he ask things necessary to salvation; 3. that he ask piously; 4. that he ask perseveringly. God hears the prayers of sinners, not from justice, but from mercy, as the same Angelic Doctor says there, article 16.

III. Question III. Is God alone to be prayed to? Answer. St. Thomas affirms, II-II, q. 83, art. 4, that God alone is to be prayed to, and that indeed as triune — in this sense, that God alone is the author of grace, of glory, and the all-powerful maker and preserver of all things. For prayer is an act of Religion. But Religion regards God alone as its end, to whom it exhibits worship.

IV. Question IV. Are the Saints to be invoked? Answer. The Saints are not to be invoked as authors of divine benefits, or of grace, or of glory. Nothing under this respect is to be asked of them, as all Catholics teach. But the Saints are to be invoked that they may pray and intercede for us with God. This is the sense of all Catholics, whatever the Calvinists and the rest of the Protestants fable and calumniate. Wherefore when we sometimes break forth into such words as "St. Peter, save me," we understand nothing else than that by his intercession he may procure our salvation from God. Similarly, when we address the most holy Virgin, "Mary, protect us from the enemy," we invoke her as a mere suppliant and mediatrix. Nay, in this class of intercessors, Christ the Lord is the first and chief, our advocate and intercessor, who alone reconciled the world to God, and alone offered to God a worthy and superabundant oblation for our sins. When, then, we invoke the Saints, we ask that through the merits of Jesus Christ they intercede with God for us, and we ask that they themselves pray for that which we pray for; but because they themselves are nearer to God, and more worthy, therefore we flee to their patronage and intercession.

V. The Council of Trent, session 25, defined that it is pious and useful that the Saints, whether Angels or Men, be invoked. The Theologians dispute whether this invocation is imposed upon Catholics by force of some precept. I have treated this question at length in Tome 2 on the Decalogue, book 2, dissertation 1, chapter 8, and you may read it there.

VI. Question V. Must we pray for all wayfarers, even for the souls detained in Purgatory? Answer. All Catholics affirm it. Of those who dwell on earth, not even the Heretics call this into question. For St. James, chapter 5, says: Pray for one another, that you may be saved; and St. Paul, in 1 Timothy 2, adds: I desire, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men. We must pray, then, for all — whether friends or enemies, whether faithful or infidel, whether just or sinners. As Christ died for all, so we too ought to pray for all. We must pray for sinners, that they be converted, and for the just, that they persevere and make progress, says St. Thomas, II-II, q. 83, art. 7.

VII. From our prayers are excluded the Blessed, who are at their term, just as also the damned, who are likewise at the term of damnation, where no hope of salvation is present.

VIII. That we must pray for the souls of Purgatory all Catholics teach, against the Lutherans and Calvinists; and this they draw luminously from the second book of Maccabees, chapter 12. For Judas Maccabeus sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection. To free themselves from this argument, the Lutherans deny that this book is to be reckoned among the divine books. But the catholic Church, led by the Spirit of God, has defined that this book is divine. The catholic doctrine is also confirmed by reason. The Church, whether militant or triumphant, constitutes one body, whose head is Christ. Therefore all the members ought to have communion with one another, and with the head. If, then, the souls of Purgatory are members of the Church, it follows that the living ought to help these same souls, just as a member of one body helps the other members. There is added the perpetual and universal custom of the Church.

IX. Question VI. Do suffrages certainly profit the souls of Purgatory to whom they are applied? Answer. Just as it is held from the divine law that these suffrages profit the departed, so it depends upon the divine will how much, more or less, they bring help to this or that departed soul. This is certain: that suffrages offered for the dead take away, either wholly or in part, the punishment of some departed soul, because God has so disposed it. But that these suffrages bring help to this or that soul — that they take away the whole or part of the punishment — depends entirely upon the divine will.

X. Question VII. Should sinners pray? Are they heard by God? Answer. Sinners who pray in public ministries in the name of the Church are certainly bound to recite the prayers, and to obtain something from God for those for whom they pray. It is likewise certain that private sinners ought to pray. As to impetration, St. Thomas teaches, II-II, q. 83, art. 16, that if a sinner asks something of God according to the desire of sin, he is never heard from mercy, but sometimes unto vengeance. Wherefore David said, Psalm 65 [recte]: If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. On the contrary, sinners who detest their sins, and are affected with a pious desire, generally obtain what they implore. Thus were heard Manasses, the Publican, the sinful Woman, the Thief, and innumerable others. Nor does it stand in the way that sinners are destitute of sanctifying grace: since from this it is only inferred that their prayer is not meritorious, not that it is not impetratory, as has been indicated above. When it is sometimes said in Scripture that God does not hear sinners, this is understood of sinners insofar as they are sinners, and love sin — not of sinners who detest their sins.

XI. Finally, it is certain that the Angels and Saints reigning in heaven can pray for us, and that in very deed they do pray. They pray both by asking for what they see will profit us, and by offering our prayers to God. All wayfarers, whether just or sinners, can and ought to pray. For we are all beggars, and laboring under extreme want; therefore all of us must of necessity implore from our divine Father the daily aids we need.

I say with D. Thomas, artic. 16, that every man, while he leads this life, can and ought to pray, at the time when the precept of praying binds, as I said quaestione 3. For every man is either a sinner or just: If just, he needs prayer to persevere and not be led into temptation: But if he is a sinner, he needs prayer to ask for grace; and I showed the necessity of prayer sufficiently quaestione tertia.

NOTE that which I said quaest. 4, that he who wishes to merit, or to satisfy by his prayer, ought to be in grace; and in this sense D. Bonav. de profectu relig. cap. 71 expounds that text Ioan. 9. We know that God heareth not sinners; he hears them not, namely, unto merit, or to release souls from Purgatory, as D. Bonavent. teaches in 4 dist. 45 art. 2 quaest. 2, where he expounds this passage thus. Or understand the sinner as one who is pertinacious; for he has often heard even sinners, as the same Holy Doctor notes, there alleged, and ad 7 Lucae, where he considers that the sinful woman was heard. Similarly Luke 10, the Publican, Luke 23 the Thief, etc., as Valentia also observes p. 6 after D. Bonavent. on that passage Ioan. 9, where D. August. is brought in, tract. 44, asking: If God hears not sinners, how did he hear the publican and the sinful woman? In vain would the publican have prayed: God be merciful to me a sinner. And S. August. answers: As one unskilled in speech, not as one seeing fully, this is to be understood, that sinners are called so in a twofold way, either as sinners in act and affection. And such God does not hear, inasmuch as they are such: For there is no comely praise in the mouth of a sinner. Or they are called sinners who acknowledge their sins and reckon themselves sinners, Matth. 9: I came not to call the just, but sinners. And such he hears, as the Publican. John adds there out of the mouth of the blind man: But if anyone be a worshiper of God, him God heareth.

A QUESTION is moved here, moreover, by the Holy Doctor: Paul was a worshiper of God, and was not heard, 2. Corinth. 12. And he answers that the Apostle was heard unto his utility, even if not unto his wish, because, as S. August. says, lib. de unitate Ecclesiae cap. 16, and tract. 73 in Ioan: God sometimes hears propitiously, sometimes angrily, as sinners abiding in their sin, as is said Isa. 59: Your sins have hid his face from you, that he may not hear; because, as is said Sap. 2, perverse thoughts separate from God, neither indeed is prayer appeasing where the person is unworthy. Therefore he observes that God in Genes. 4 first looked upon Abel, and then upon his offerings; but did not look first upon Cain, and then upon his offerings.

From these things you have that Vuicleph spoke insipidly, in error 26 condemned in the Council of Constant. sess. 8, saying that the prayer of the predestined avails nothing; which was rejected above. Truly pertinacious sinners, not praying with a right mind, are heard by God angry, as D. August. says, Tract. 73, alleged above, where he says: It is to be feared, lest God, what he could not give propitious, give in anger many things. For then the very prayer is a mockery of God, as Valentia says loc. cit. with D. Bonav. in Pharetra, p. 2 cap. 46, from D. Chrysost. homil. 15 in Matth. in the imperfect work. And such are the prayers which the Scriptures and Fathers alleged in quaestione 4 justly condemn.

THEN I say that the Saints in Beatitude pray for us, as I shall show 3. p. Tract. de purgat.

THE DAMNED, however, can ask. For thus the rich man in the feast asked that he be sent to his brethren, and that they send Lazarus to him, as the Holy Doctor observes Lucae 16, where he calls that petition a postulation, and will not call it a prayer, because it is not an act of the virtue of Religion, but from a perverse affection of envy toward Lazarus, and a carnal affection toward his brethren, whom he did not wish to descend into hell, moved not by charity, but by love of himself, lest punishments be increased for himself. See the Holy Doctor.

I SAY thirdly that the souls in Purgatory pray, asking for suffrages. The Holy Doctor indicates this in 4 distinctione 45 articul. 3 quaestione 2 in corpore, from which it is deduced that they ask even of God, that he send them to the more fervent Faithful, and inspire them to offer suffrages for them.

THE SAME Alens. taught, 4 p. quaestione 91 membr. 4, and proves it from Blessed Gregory lib. 4 Dialogorum, where he relates that souls ask the living for aids.

I SAY fourthly, that it is probable that the souls of Purgatory pray for us. So Medina quaestione 5 de oratione, Valentia in the place cited. Thus Jeremias, now deceased, is said to pray much for the people, and while he was in Limbo, 2. Machab. ult., and Hierem. 15 it is said: If Moses and Samuel shall stand, etc. Therefore they were wont to pray.

One need not dwell long in this quaestio, since it suffers no difficulty whatever; for the worship of Religion is due to God, therefore he alone is to be prayed to, as the author of supernatural goods; for God alone gives grace and glory, Psalm. 83; and this is the worship of Religion.

BUT the Saints are to be prayed to, as intercessors: You will find this quaestio in the third part, Tractatu de Incarnat. disput. 23 quaestione 5.

I ASSERT first, that one is to pray not only for ourselves, but also for others, even for enemies, as I showed at length concerning Charity disput. 8 quaest. 24.

IT IS PROVED by the Holy Doctor ad cap. 3 Regulae, where he says that he taught us to pray by saying: Pater noster, not Pater meus, lest anyone contract his prayer to himself alone. Therefore S. Cyprianus, using this argument, says: The Doctor of peace would not have anyone pray only for himself, for we do not say: My Father, nor give me my bread etc., but: Our Father: Our bread, etc.

THEN it is proved from D. Thom. art. 7: That which we ought to wish for others, we ought to ask for others; but from charity we ought to wish for many goods not only for ourselves, but also for others; therefore also to ask for them. I used this argument in Tract. de charitate, loc. cit., from D. Bonav.

I ASSERT secondly, that one is not to pray that all may attain beatitude efficaciously, but only those who shall have willed to answer God. Therefore the Holy Doctor observes ad 17 Ioan., and with him Valentia p. 8, that Christ prayed in this form: I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for those who shall believe in me through their word.

THEREFORE (says the Holy Doctor) one is to pray for all who shall have willed to be converted, because Christ came to call sinners, Luke 5, and therefore said Matth. 9: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are sick. Therefore by the world he understands those willing obstinately to serve the world, as D. Augustin. expounds, tract. 107.

FROM these things the Holy Doctor deduces that one is to pray also for the predestined, as is plain in the prayer of Christ.

YOU WILL SAY: their salvation is decreed; to what end then is prayer made for them?

THE Holy Doctor answers that the elect are so predestined as they are redeemed through Christ, and as quickened in the mystical body by his faith; for as D. Gregorius says, Dial. l. 1 cap. 18: The very everlasting predestination of the kingdom is so disposed by almighty God, that the elect arrive at it through labor; as they are elect, so also, predestinated, they shall be saved through the work of the redemption of Christ, which he consummated, as they were redeemed, and thus were made acceptable by his prayer.

I ASSERT thirdly that no one of the living is to be excluded from our private prayers.

IT IS PROVED from D. August. lib. de corrept. et gratia chapter 15, where he speaks thus: Since we know not who belongs to the number of the predestined, and who does not, we ought so to be moved by the affection of Charity, that we wish all to be made saved: further on, however, he shows that this is performed when we strive to bring it about that they become justified. See the rest concerning charity, disputatione 8 quaestione 25.