§29Nec uerbis tantum sed et factis Deus orare nos docuit ipse orans frequenter et deprecans et quid nos facere oporteret exempli sui contestatione demonstrans, sicut scriptum est: ipse autem fuit secedens in solitudines et adorans, et iterum: exiuit in montem orare et fuit pernoctans in orationem Dei.
Not only by words but also by deeds did God teach us to pray, Himself praying frequently and beseeching, and demonstrating what we ought to do by the attestation of His own example, as it is written: "But He Himself was retiring into the wildernesses and praying"; and again: "He went out into the mountain to pray, and was passing the night in the prayer of God." But if He prayed who was without sin, how much more ought sinners to pray?
quodsi ille orabat qui sine peccato erat, quanto magis peccatores oportet orare, et si ille per totam noctem iugiter uigilans continuis precibus orabat, quanto nos magis in frequentanda oratione debemus nocte uigilare!
And if He, continually watching through the whole night, prayed with uninterrupted petitions, how much more ought we to watch by night in frequenting prayer!
§30Orabat autem Dominus et rogabat non pro se — quid enim pro se innocens precaretur? — sed pro delictis nostris, sicut et ipse declarat cum dicit ad Petrum: ecce satanas postulabat ut uos uexaret quomodo triticum.
But the Lord prayed and asked not for Himself—for what should the innocent pray for Himself?—but for our sins, as He Himself also declares when He says to Peter: "Behold, Satan demanded to vex you as wheat.
ego autem rogaui pro te, ne deficiat fides tua. et postmodum pro omnibus patrem deprecatur dicens:: non pro his autem rogo solis sed et pro illis qui credituri sunt per uerbum ipsorum in me, ut omnes unum sint, sicut et tu pater in me et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis sint. magna Dei propter salutem nostram benignitas pariter et pietas, ut non contentus quod nos sanguine suo redimeret adhuc pro nobis amplius et rogaret.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." And afterwards He beseeches the Father for all, saying: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in me through their word; that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in us." How great is God's benevolence and piety alike for our salvation, that, not content with redeeming us with His own blood, He should still pray for us even more!
rogantis autem desiderium uidete quod fuerit, ut quomodo unum sunt pater et filius, sic et nos in ipsa unitate maneamus: ut hinc quoque possit intellegi quantum delinquat qui unitatem scindit et pacem, cum pro hoc et rogauerit Dominus uolens scilicet plebem suam uiuere, cum sciret ad regnum Dei discordiam non uenire.
See moreover what the desire of Him praying was: that even as the Father and the Son are one, so we also should remain in that very unity; so that from this also it may be understood how much he sins who cleaves unity and peace, since the Lord prayed for this very thing, wishing namely His people to live, since He knew that discord does not come to the kingdom of God.
§31Quando autem stamus ad orationem, fratres dilectissimi, inuigilare et incumbere ad preces toto corde debemus.
But when we stand for prayer, beloved brethren, we ought to watch and apply ourselves to our prayers with our whole heart.
cogitatio omnis carnalis et saecularis abscedat nec quicquam animus quam id solum cogitet quod precatur.
Let all carnal and worldly thought depart, and let the mind think of nothing else than that very thing which it prays.
ideo et sacerdos ante orationem i praefatione praemissa parat fratrum mentes dicendo: susum corda, ut dum respondet plebs: habemus ad Dominum, admoneatur nihil aliud se quam Dominum cogitare debere.
Therefore also the priest, before the prayer, having prefaced with a prologue, prepares the minds of the brethren by saying: "Lift up your hearts," so that when the people answer: "We lift them up unto the Lord," they may be reminded that they ought to think of nothing else than the Lord.
cludatur contra aduersarium pectus et soli Deo pateat nec ad se adire hostem Dei tempore orationis patiatur.
Let the breast be shut against the adversary and open to God alone, nor let it suffer the enemy of God to approach it at the time of prayer.
obrepit enim frequenter et penetrat et subtiliter fallens preces nostras a Deo auocat, ut aliud habeamus in corde, aliud in uoce, quando intentione sincera Dominum non uocis sonus sed animus et sensus debeat orare.
For he frequently creeps in and penetrates, and subtly deceiving, calls away our prayers from God, so that we have one thing in our heart and another in our voice, whereas it is not the sound of the voice, but the mind and sense that ought to pray to the Lord with a sincere intention.
quae autem segnitia est abalienari et capi ineptis cogitationibus et profanis, cum Dominum deprecaris, quasi sit aliud quod magis debeas cogitare quam quod cum Deo loqueris.
What sluggishness, moreover, is it to be alienated and captured by silly and profane thoughts when you are beseeching the Lord, as if there were something else which you ought to think of more than that you are speaking with God!
quomodo audiri te a Deo postulas, cum te ipse non audias? uis esse Dominum memorem tui cum rogas, quando tui memor ipse non sis? hoc est ab hoste in totum non cauere, hoc est, quando oras Deum, maiestatem Dei neglegentia orationis offendere, hoc est uigilare oculis et corde dormire, cum debeat christianus et cum dormit oculis corde uigilare, sicut scriptum est ex persona ecclesiae loquentis in Cantico cantiorum: ego dormio et cor meum uigilat. quapropter sollicite et caute apostolus admonet dicens: instate orationi uigilantes in ea, docens scilicet et ostendens eos inpetrare quod postulant de Deo posse, quos Deus uideat in oratione uigilare.
How do you demand to be heard by God, when you do not hear yourself? Do you wish the Lord to be mindful of you when you ask, when you are not mindful of yourself? This is not to guard against the enemy at all; this is, when you pray to God, to offend the majesty of God by the negligence of your prayer; this is to watch with the eyes and sleep with the heart, whereas a Christian ought, even when he sleeps with his eyes, to watch with his heart, as it is written from the persona of the Church speaking in the Song of Songs: "I sleep, and my heart watcheth." Wherefore the Apostle anxiously and cautiously admonishes, saying: "Continue in prayer, watching in the same," teaching namely and showing that they are able to obtain from God what they ask, whom God sees watching in prayer.