Humanitext Reader

Hilary of Poitiers · Lessor Fragments §2.3.1

Christ as the Daily Bread and the Daily Prayer

Passage 3 of 3 · Latin

Summary

Citation of Hilary of Poitiers. He interprets the "daily bread" in the Lord's Prayer as Christ, the bread from heaven, dwelling in believers daily, and emphasizes the importance of praying for this every day.

§2.3.1Sanctus Hilarius dicit: Panem cotidianum da nobis hodie.
Saint Hilary says: "Give us this day our daily bread.
quid enim tam uult deus, quam ut cotidie Christus habitet in nobis, qui est panis uitae et panis e caelo? et quia cotidiana oratio est, cotidie quoque ut detur, oratur.
For what does God desire so much as that Christ, who is the bread of life and the bread from heaven, should dwell in us daily? And because it is a daily prayer, it is also prayed that it may be given daily."

Notes

  1. §2.3.1quid enim tam uult deus, quam ut — A comparative construction with a rhetorical question. Literally, "what does God desire so much as that...", meaning "there is nothing God desires more than that...". The ut clause functions as a noun clause.
  2. ¦5¦cotidie quoque ut detur, oratur — oratur is the impersonal passive of the intransitive verb orare, meaning "it is prayed". The clause ut detur ("that it may be given") functions as a substantive clause of petition complementing the impersonal passive.

Cite this passage

Hilary of Poitiers, Lessor Fragments §2.3.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0149b.stoa003.humanitext-lat1:2.3.1

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