§28Haec est enim hostia spiritalis quae pristina sacrificia deleuit.
For this is the spiritual sacrifice which has wiped out the former sacrifices.
quo mihi, inquit, multitudinem sacrificiorum uestrorum? plenus sum holocaustomatum arietum et adipem agnorum et sanguinem taurorum et hircorum nolo.
"To what purpose to me," He says, "is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and I do not want the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats.
quis enim requisiuit ista de manibus uestris?. quae ergo quaesierit deus euangelium docet.
For who has required these things from your hands?" What God therefore has sought, the Gospel teaches.
ueniet hora, inquit, cum ueri adoratores adorabunt patrem in spiritu et ueritate.
"The hour will come," He says, "when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
deus enim spiritus est, et adoratores itaque tales requirit. nos sumus ueri adoratores et ueri sacerdotes, qui spiritu orantes spiritu sacrificamus orationem hostiam dei propriam et acceptabilem, quam scilicet requisiuit, quam sibi prospexit.
For God is a spirit, and therefore He seeks such worshipers." We are the true worshipers and the true priests, who, praying in spirit, sacrifice in spirit the prayer as God's own and acceptable victim, which surely He has sought, which He has provided for Himself.
hanc de toto corde deuotam, fide pastam, ueritate curatam, innocentia integram, castitate mundam, agapen coronatam cum pompa operum bonorum inter psalmos et hymnos deducere ad dei altare debemus omnia nobis a deo impetraturam.
Dedicated from the whole heart, nourished by faith, tended by truth, whole in innocence, pure in chastity, crowned by love, we ought to lead this prayer to the altar of God with a procession of good works amidst psalms and hymns, destined to obtain for us all things from God.
§29Quid enim orationi de spiritu et ueritate uenienti negabit deus, qui eam exigit? legimus et audimus et cernimus quanta documenta efficaciae eius! uetus quidem oratio et ab ignibus et a bestiis et ab inedia liberabat et tamen non a Christo acceperat formam.
For what will God deny to the prayer coming from spirit and truth, He who demands it? We read and hear and see how great are the proofs of its efficacy! The ancient prayer indeed used to deliver both from fires and from beasts and from starvation, and yet it had not received its form from Christ.
ceterum quanto amplius operatur oratio Christiana! non roris angelum in mediis ignibus sistit nec ora leonibus obstruit nec esurientibus rusticorum prandium transfert, nullum sensum passionis delegata gratia auertit, sed. patientes et sentientes et dolentes sufferentia instruit, uirtute ampliat gratiam, ut sciat fides, quid a domino consequatur, intellegens quid pro dei nomine patiatur.
But how much more amply does Christian prayer operate! It does not station an angel of dew in the midst of fires, nor stop the mouths of lions, nor transfer the peasants' dinner to the hungry; it does not turn away any sense of suffering by a delegated grace, but it instructs those who endure, feel, and grieve with patience; it amplifies grace with virtue, so that faith may know what it obtains from the Lord, understanding what it suffers for the name of God.
sed et retro oratio plagas irrogabat, fundebat hostium exercitus, imbrium utilia prohibebat.
But of old also prayer used to inflict plagues, rout armies of enemies, and prohibit useful rains.
nunc uero oratio iustitiae omnem iram dei auertit, pro inimicis excubat, pro persequentibus supplicat.
Now indeed the prayer of righteousness turns away all the wrath of God, keeps watch for enemies, and supplicates for persecutors.
mirum si aquas caelestes extorquere nouit, quae potuit et ignes impetrare? sola est oratio quae deum uincit; sed Christus eam nihil mali uoluit operari.
Is it any wonder if it knows how to extort heavenly waters, since it was able to obtain even fires? Prayer alone is that which conquers God; but Christ willed that it work no evil.
omnem illi uirtutem de bono contulit.
He conferred upon it all power from good.
itaque nihil nouit, nisi defunctorum animas de ipso mortis itinere reuocare, debiles reformare, aegros remediare, daemoniacos expiare, claustra carceris aperire, uincula innocentium soluere.
And so it knows nothing except to recall the souls of the deceased from the very path of death, to restore the weak, to heal the sick, to cleanse the demoniacs, to open the barriers of prison, to loose the bonds of the innocent.
eadem diluit delicta, temptationes repellit, persecutiones extinguit, pusillanimos consolatur, magnanimos oblectat, peregrinantes deducit, fluctus mitigat, latrones obstupefacit, alit pauperes, regit diuites, lapsos erigit, cadentes suspendit, stantes continet.
The same washes away sins, repels temptations, extinguishes persecutions, consoles the faint-hearted, delights the great-hearted, guides travelers, mitigates waves, astounds robbers, nourishes the poor, rules the rich, erects the lapsed, suspends the falling, keeps those who stand.
oratio murus est fidei, arma et tela nostra aduersus hostem, qui nos undique obseruat.
Prayer is the wall of faith, our defensive and offensive weapons against the enemy who observes us from all sides.
itaque numquam inermes incedamus.
Therefore let us never walk unarmed.
die stationis, nocte uigiliae meminerimus.
Let us remember it by day of station, by night of vigil.
sub armis orationis signum nostri imperatoris custodiamus, tubam angeli expectemus orantes.
Under the arms of prayer let us guard the standard of our commander, and let us expect the trumpet of the angel while praying.
orant etiam angeli omnes, orat omnis creatura, orant pecudes et ferae et genua declinant et egredientes de stabulis ac speluncis ad caelum non otioso ore suspiciunt uibrantes spiritum suo more.
All the angels also pray, every creature prays, cattle and wild beasts pray and bend their knees, and as they go forth from their stalls and caves, they look up to heaven with no idle mouth, vibrating their breath in their own manner.
sed et aues mane exurgentes eriguntur ad caelum et alarum crucem pro manibus expandunt et dicunt aliquid quod oratio uideatur.
But even the birds, rising in the morning, lift themselves to heaven and expand the cross of their wings in place of hands, and say something which may seem to be a prayer.
quid ergo amplius de officio orationis? etiam ipse dominus orauit, cui sit honor et uirtus in saecula saeculorum.
What more, then, concerning the duty of prayer? Even the Lord Himself prayed, to whom be honor and power forever and ever.