§9Qualia autem sunt, fratres dilectissimi, orationis dominicae sacramenta, quam multa, quam magna, breuiter in sermone collecta sed in uirtute spiritaliter copiosa, ut nihil omnino praetermissum sit quod non in precibus adque orationibus nostris caelestis doctrinae conpendio conprehendatur! sic, ait, adorate: pater noster, qui es in caelis.
How great, beloved brethren, are the mysteries of the Lord's prayer, how many, how great, briefly gathered in words but spiritually rich in power, so that absolutely nothing is left out that is not included in our petitions and prayers in a compendium of heavenly doctrine! Thus, He says, pray: Our Father, who art in heaven.
homo nouus, renatus et Deo suo per eius gratiam restitutus pater primo in loco dicit, quia filius esse iam coepit.
The new man, reborn and restored to his God by His grace, says "Father" in the first place, because he has already begun to be a son.
in sua, inquit, propria uenitet sui eum non receperunt.
He came, it says, into His own, and His own received Him not.
quotquot eum receperunt dedit illis potestatem ut filii Dei fierent, qui credunt in nomine eius. .
As many as received Him, He gave them power to become the sons of God, to those who believe in His name.
qui ergo credidit in nomine eius et factus est Dei filius, hinc debet incipere, ut et gratias agat et profiteatur se Dei filium, dum nominat patrem sibi esse in caelis Deum, contestetur quoque inter prima statim natiuitatis suae uerba renuntiasse se terreno et carnali patri et patrem solum nosse se et habere coepisse qui sit in caelis, sicut scriptum est: qui dicunt patri et matri: non noui te, et filios suos non agnouerunt, hi custodierunt praecepta tua et testamentum tuum seruauerunt. item Dominus in euangelio suo praecepit ne uocemus nobis patrem in terra, quod scilicet nobis unus pater qui est in caelis.
He therefore who has believed in His name and has been made a son of God ought to begin from this, to give thanks and to profess himself a son of God, while he names God as being his Father in heaven, and he should also witness immediately, among the very first words of his birth, that he has renounced his earthly and fleshly father, and has begun to know and have as his father only Him who is in heaven, as it is written: "Who say to father and mother: I know you not, and have not acknowledged their own children, these have kept Your commandments and observed Your covenant." Likewise, the Lord in His gospel commanded that we call no one father on earth, because indeed we have one Father who is in heaven.
et discipulo qui mentionem defuncti patris fecerat respondit: sine mortui mortuos suos sepeliant. dixerat enim patrem suum mortuum, cum sit credentium pater uiuus.
And to the disciple who had made mention of his deceased father He replied: "Let the dead bury their dead." For he had spoken of his father as dead, whereas the Father of believers is living.
§10Nec hoc solum, fratres dilectissimi, animaduertere et intellegere debemus, quod appellemus patrem qui sit in caelis, sed coniungimus et dicimus pater noster, idest eorum qui credunt, eorum qui per eum sanctificati et gratiae spiritalis natiuitate reparati filii Dei esse coeperunt.
And not this alone, beloved brethren, ought we to observe and understand, that we call Him Father who is in heaven, but we join and say "Our Father", that is, of those who believe, of those who, sanctified by Him and remade by the birth of spiritual grace, have begun to be the sons of God.
quae uox Iudaeos etiam perstringit et percutit, quia Christum sibi per prophetas adnuntiatum et ad se prius missum non tantum spreuerunt infideliter sed et crudeliter necauerunt: qui iam non possunt patrem Dominum uocare, cum Dominus eos confundat et redarguat dicens: uos de diabolo patre nati estis et concupiscentias patris uestri facere uultis.
Which word also censures and strikes the Jews, because they not only faithlessly despised but also cruelly killed Christ, who had been announced to them through the prophets and sent first to them; who can no longer call the Lord Father, since the Lord confounds and refutes them, saying: "You are born of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.
ille enim homicida fuit ab initio et in ueritate non stetit, quia ueritas non est in illo. et per Esaiam prophetam Deus clamat indignans: filios generaui et exaltaui, ipsi autem me spreuerunt.
For he was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." And through the prophet Isaiah God cries out in indignation: "I have begotten and raised up children, but they have despised me.
agnouit bos possessorem suum et asinus praesepium domini sui: Israel autem me non cognouit et populus me non intellexit.
The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood me.
uae genti peccatrici, populo pleno peccatis, semen nequam, filii scelesti.
Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, criminal children.
dereliquistis Dominum et in indignationem misistis illum sanctum Israel. in quorum exprobrationem christiani quando oramus pater noster dicimus, quia noster esse iam coepit et Iudaeorum qui eum dereliquerunt esse desiuit.
You have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked that Holy One of Israel to anger." In reproach of whom, we Christians, when we pray, say "Our Father", because He has already begun to be ours, and has ceased to be of the Jews who forsook Him.
nec peccator populus potest esse filius, sed quibus remissa peccatorum datur, eis filiorum nomen adscribitur, eis et aeternitas repromittitur Domino ipso dicente: omnis qui facit peccatum seruus est.
Nor can a sinful people be a son; but to those to whom forgiveness of sins is given, to them the name of sons is ascribed, and to them eternity is promised, the Lord Himself saying: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave.
seruus autem non manet in domo in aeternum, filius manet in aeternum. §11Quanta autem Domini indulgentia, quanta circa nos dignationis eius et bonitatis ubertas, ut sic nos uoluerit orationem celebrare in conspectu Dei, ut Dominum patrem uocemus et ut est Christus Dei filius sic et nos Dei filii nuncupemur: quod nomen nemo nostrum in oratione auderet adtingere, nisi ipse nobis sic permisisset orare.
And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever." But how great is the indulgence of the Lord, how great the abundance of His condescension and goodness towards us, that He willed us to celebrate prayer in the sight of God in such a way that we call the Lord Father, and just as Christ is the Son of God, so we also may be called the sons of God—which name none of us would dare to touch in prayer, unless He Himself had permitted us to pray thus.
meminisse itaque, fratres dilectissimi, et scire debemus quia quando patrem Deum dicimus quasi filii Dei agere debemus, ut quomodo nos nobis placemus de Deo patre, sic sibi placeat et ille de nobis.
We ought therefore, beloved brethren, to remember and to know that when we call God Father, we ought to act as the sons of God, so that just as we please ourselves in having God as our Father, so He also may be pleased with us.
conuersemur quasi Dei templa, ut Dominum in nobis constet habitare.
Let us behave as temples of God, that it may be manifest that the Lord dwells in us.
nec sit degener actus noster ab spiritu, ut qui spiritales et caelestes esse coepimus non nisi spiritalia et caelestia cogitemus et agamus, quia et ipse Dominus Deus dixit: eos qui clarificant me clarificabo: et qui me spernent spernentur, beatus quoque apostolus iii epistula sua posuit: non estis uestri, empti enim estis pretio magno.
Nor let our conduct be degenerate from the Spirit, so that we who have begun to be spiritual and heavenly may think and do nothing except spiritual and heavenly things, because the Lord God Himself also has said: "Them that glorify me I will glorify; and they that despise me shall be despised." And the blessed apostle also has set down in his epistle: "You are not your own, for you are bought with a great price.
clarificate et portate Deum in corpore uestro.
Glorify and carry God in your body."