§17Potest et sic intellegi, fratres dilectissimi, ut quoniam mandat et monet Dominus etiam inimicos diligere et pro his quoque qui nos persecuntur orare, petamus et pro illis qui adhuc terra sunt et necdum caelestes esse coeperunt, ut et circa illos uoluntas Dei fiat quam Christus hominem conseruando et redintegrando perfecit.
It can also be understood in this way, beloved brethren, that since the Lord commands and admonishes us to love even our enemies and to pray also for those who persecute us, we should pray also for those who are still earth and have not yet begun to be heavenly, so that concerning them also the will of God may be done, which Christ accomplished by preserving and renewing man.
nam cum discipuli ab eo iam non terra appellentur sed sal terrae et apostolus primum hominem uocet de terrae limo, secundum uero de caelo, merito et nos qui esse debemus patri Deo similes, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos et pluit super iustos et iniustos, sic Christo monente oramus et petimus, ut precem pro omnium salute faciamus, ut quomodo in caelo id est in nobis per fidem nostram uoluntas Dei facta est ut essemus e caelo, ita et in terra hoc est in illis credere nolentibus fiat uoluntas Dei, ut qui adhuc sunt prima natiuitate terreni incipiant esse caelestes ex aqua et spiritu nati.
For since the disciples are no longer called "earth" by Him but "the salt of the earth," and the apostle calls the first man from the slime of the earth, but the second from heaven, deservedly we too, who ought to be like God the Father, who makes His sun to rise upon the good and the bad and sends rain upon the just and the unjust, pray and ask at the admonition of Christ, that we may make a prayer for the salvation of all; so that just as in heaven, that is, in us through our faith, the will of God was done so that we might be from heaven, so also on earth, that is, in those who are unwilling to believe, the will of God may be done, so that they who are still earthly by their first birth may begin to be heavenly, being born of water and the Spirit.
§18Procedente oratione postulamus et dicimus: panem nostrum cottidianum da nobis hodie. quod potest et spiritaliter et simpliciter intellegi, quia et uterque intellectus utilitate diuina proficit ad salutem.
As the prayer proceeds, we petition and say: "Give us this day our daily bread." Which can be understood both spiritually and simply, because both understandings, with divine utility, profit unto salvation.
nam panis uitae Christus est et panis hic omnium non est, sed noster est.
For Christ is the bread of life, and this bread is not of all, but is ours.
et quomodo dicimus pater noster, quia intellegentium et credentium pater est, sic et panem nostrum uocamus, quia Christus eorum qui corpus eius contingimus panis est.
And just as we say "Our Father," because He is the Father of those who understand and believe, so also we call it "our bread," because Christ is the bread of those of us who touch His body.
hunc autem panem dari nobis cottidie postulamus, ne qui in Christo sumus et eucharistiam eius cottidie ad cibum salutis accipimus intercedente aliquo grauiore delicto, dum abstenti et non communicantes a caelesti pane prohibemur, a Christi corpore separemur ipso praedicante et dicente: ego sum panis uitae qui de caelo descendi.
But we petition that this bread be given to us daily, lest we who are in Christ and receive His eucharist daily as the food of salvation, through the intervention of some more grievous sin, while being suspended and not communicating we are forbidden from the heavenly bread, should be separated from the body of Christ, as He Himself proclaims and says: "I am the bread of life who came down from heaven.
si qui ederit de meo pane, uiuet in aeternum.
If any man eat of my bread, he shall live forever.
panem autem quem ego dedero caro mea est pro saeculi uita. quando ergo dicit in aeternum uiuere si qui ederit de eius pane, ut manifestum est eos uiuere qui corpus eius adtingunt et eucharistiam iure communicationis accipiunt, ita contra timendum est et orandum, ne dum quis abstentus separatur a Christi corpore remaneat a salute comminante ipso et dicente: nisi ederitis carnem filii hominis et biberitis sanguinem eius, non habebitis uitam in uobis. et ideo panem nostrum id est Christum dari nobis cottidie petimus, ut qui in Christo manemus et uiuimus a sanctificatione eius et corpore non recedamus.
And the bread which I shall give is my flesh for the life of the world." When, therefore, He says that he shall live forever if anyone eats of His bread, as it is manifest that those live who touch His body and receive the eucharist by the right of communion, so on the contrary we must fear and pray, lest while anyone being suspended is separated from Christ's body, he should remain far from salvation, as He Himself threatens and says: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye shall have no life in you." And therefore we ask that our bread, that is, Christ, be given to us daily, so that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.
§19Potest uero et sic intellegi, ut qui saeculo renuntiauimus et diuitias eius et pompas fide gratiae spiritalis abiecimus cibum nobis tantum petamus et uictum, quando instruat Dominus et dicat: qui non renuntiat omnibus quae sunt eius, non potest meus discipulus esse. qui autem Christi coepit esse discipulus secundum magistri sui uocem renuntians omnibus, diurnum debet cibum petere nec in longum desideria petitionis extendere ipso iterum Domino praescribente et dicente: nolite in crastinum cogitare: crastinus enim dies ipse cogitabit sibi.
But it can also be understood in this way, that we who have renounced the world and have cast aside its riches and pomps by the faith of spiritual grace, should ask only for food and sustenance for ourselves, since the Lord instructs and says: "Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." But he who has begun to be Christ's disciple, renouncing all things according to his master's word, ought to ask for his daily food, and not to extend the desires of his petition into the future, as the Lord Himself again prescribes and says: "Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for itself.
sufficit diei malitia sua. merito ergo Christi discipulus uictum sibi in diem postulat qui de crastino cogitare prohibetur, quia et contrarium sibi fit et repugnans, ut quaeramus in saeculo diu uiuere qui petimus regnum Dei uelociter aduenire.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Deservedly, therefore, Christ's disciple asks for sustenance for himself for the day, who is forbidden to think of the morrow; because it becomes a contradictory and repugnant thing for us, who pray that the kingdom of God may quickly come, to seek to live long in the world.
sic et beatus apostolus monet formans et corroborans spei nostrae ac fidei firmitatem. nihil, inquit, intulimus in hunc mundum, uerum nec auferre possumus.
So also the blessed apostle admonishes, forming and strengthening the firmness of our hope and faith: "We brought nothing," he says, "into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
habentes itaque exhibitionem et tegumentum his contenti sumus.
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
qui autem uolunt diuites fieri incidunt in temptationem et muscipulas et desideria multa et nocentia quae mergunt hominem in perditionem et in interitum.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas quam quidam adpetentes naufragauerunt a fide et inseruerunt se doloribus multis.
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."