Chapter 10 - But Deliver us from Evil

We must understand here by "evil," what Christ understood, and what He wishes His disciples should understand. In the thought of God, which must be the rule of our thought, there are but two veritable evils, sin, and hell the eternal punishment of sin. These are the evils that the Christian should fear, and from which he should ask God to deliver both himself and others. While we live, we have always to apprehend lest we fall into sin, and from that into hell. Our perfect deliverance will not take place till death, if death finds us in a state of grace. It depends upon ourselves, with the divine help which is offered us, to preserve sanctifying grace, or to recover it; but it depends only upon God to establish us forever in that happy state by the stroke of death, which He gives when He pleases. It is this which is called final perseverance, the most precious of all the gifts of God, because it assures our eternal happiness. It is a pure gift, that we can acquire only by humble entreaty, as Saint Augustine said, and that we should implore absolutely and unconditionally; for it is not permitted us to be indifferent in this respect, even under any pretext of disinterestedness. No faithful soul either can or should say to God, Deliver us from sin and eternal death, if it be Thy good pleasure; but Deliver us from both these because it is Thy good pleasure. As however that which merits hell, that which the pains of hell punish sufficiently only because they are eternal, that which directly attacks the infinite majesty and holiness of God, is in itself a greater evil than hell, and more to be feared, it follows that sin is the evil that every Christian should fear above all others; and that he should supremely detest and avoid all compromise with it, because it is an offence against God: and there is nothing a Christian should not choose, nothing to which he should not expose himself, rather than to offend God. Whoever does not think thus has no idea of sin or its malice.

We ask God to deliver us from death, and to preserve us during this life, because our corruption and our weakness are so great that it is impossible for us to be secure without His special protection; because the circumstances and occasions to which we are exposed often depend upon His Providence alone, and it belongs only to Him to remove or avert them;. for He is the Master, who only can change the interior disposition which prompts us to sin, and He is always ready to hear beyond our prayers, and to second all our efforts. But this prayer is not sincere, if we are not saturated, by meditation and reading, with the great truths calculated to inspire us with the most lively horror of sin; if, knowing our weakness by oft-repeated experiences, we do not carefully avoid every occasion of sin; or if on the contrary, we seek such occasions, and throw ourselves into them with zest and eagerness; if we presume upon ourselves, or on the help of God, which is not vouchsafed when we voluntarily expose ourselves; if we live in dissipation and forgetfulness of God, leaving our senses and imagination open to exterior objects; especially if we do not use the means God has put into our hands to keep us from sin, such as watchfulness, prayer, fasting, and frequenting the sacraments. Let us add finally, that to preserve ourselves more certainly from grievous sin, we must be determined not to commit the slightest fault intentionally, and to correspond to grace with the utmost fidelity. Therefore it is important to be convinced in good time, that next to mortal sin, the greatest of evils is venial sin in itself, and still more in its consequences, when it is committed deliberately; that all voluntary resistance to grace is never free from fault; that it grieves the Holy Spirit, and leads the soul gradually to its downfall. Hence in order to ask God with perfect confidence to deliver us from evil, and to reckon upon His assistance in our need, let us begin by delivering ourselves from venial sin with the help of His actual grace. The right use of this grace will draw down upon us other graces. Then let us take every precaution and measure that Christian prudence may suggest. Let us watch over every movement of our heart. Let us stifle all our passions at their birth; let us give them no encouragement, and never let them gather so much force that we cannot master them. Let us not fail ourselves, and God will never fail us. But to hope that He will deliver us, while we do nothing for our own deliverance, is a gross illusion. God requires of us efforts. He places us in a condition to make them. He has promised to second them; and if we are courageous and faithful, He will crown our fidelity with final perseverance. Concerning temporal evils, whether public, such as wars, famine, pestilence, and other similar calamities; or private which attack our property, our health, our peace, or even our life, - these are not properly evils to the Christian, but rather tests which become to him either a blessing or a curse, according to the way in which he regards them, and the use he makes of them. Sickness, infirmities, and death are the just punishment of the disobedience of our first parents. In considering them thus in relation to divine justice, let us submit to them for ourselves as well as for those who are dear to us; let us accept them without a murmur or complaint; and let us draw from them what God designs we shall draw for our salvation.

There are other evils caused by the injustice of man. God does not desire them, but He permits them, and will make them serve His own glory; His intention being that we should use them to our sanctification. Let us regard them under this aspect, in the order of His providence. Let us endure them, because such is His good pleasure. Let us heartily forgive those who cause them; and let us pray . as our Lord commands, for those who persecute and slander us. Let us never forget that the greatest good, the redemption of the human race, was accomplished by Jesus Christ enduring similar evils for us; and that the most heinous of crimes has given place to the most sublime of sacrifices. In uniting our cross to His, we are assured of eternal happiness; and we are indebted for it to what the world considers as great evils.

Finally, there are evils that we can impute only to ourselves; our passions and excesses of whatsoever kind which affect our health, waste our fortune, create troubles, and ruin our reputation. These evils are a means which God in his mercy employs to draw us away from our disorders, to lead us to expiate them, and to open to us the way to heaven. They produce this effect, if after having detected and corrected the evil habits which are their source, we accept them in a spirit of penitence, and bless God for having afflicted and humiliated us. The spirit of the Church is to pray God to avert public calamities, or to cause them entirely to cease, in order that Christian people may be less occupied with their own miseries, and may serve Him with more devotion, tranquility, and spiritual joy. And it is the duty of the faithful to unite with the Church in this intention , but also while the calamities last, to bear them with patience. God permits us to ask Him for deliverance from temporal evils, for ourselves and for those in whom we are interested; but this prayer must be humble, peaceful, submissive, and subordinate to His good pleasure, for our own spiritual good and that of our neighbor. The faithful are only too much carried away with themselves not to pray in these extremities; there is no need of exhorting them to that: but it is seldom that they do it with a pure and Christian intention; nature often has more to do in these prayers than grace. It is necessary also, that they ask with as much ardor and importunity for deliverance from their spiritual evils, and for advancement in virtue. The present life even, regarded in one sense, is an evil because of the temptations which beset us, and the constant danger of offending God and losing our souls. It is an evil in that it is an exile, and keeps us banished from the heavenly country and the sight of God. Under this aspect, it is proper to ask Him to shorten our days, yet being willing to remain upon earth as long as it may please Him. The desire for death in good Christians springs from the desire to make their salvation sure; and in holy souls, it is the effect of divine love which makes them sigh for the moment when they shall be re-united forever to Him they love. May this desire one day be ours.

- from The Christian Sanctified by the Lord's Prayer, by Father Jean Nicolas Grou