Chapter V.

17. Let the new people, therefore, who are called to an eternal inheritance, use the word of the New Testament, and say, “Our Father who art in heaven,”275    Isa. xi. 2, 3.    “The address puts us into the proper attitude of prayer. It indicates our filial relation to God as ‘Father’ (word of faith), fraternal relation to our fellow-men (‘our,’ word of love), and our destination of ‘heaven’ (word of hope).”i.e. in the holy and the just. For God is not contained in space. For the heavens are indeed the higher material bodies of the world, but yet material, and therefore cannot exist except in some definite place; but if God’s place is believed to be in the heavens, as meaning the higher parts of the world, the birds are of greater value than we, for their life is nearer to God. But it is not written, The Lord is nigh unto tall men, or unto those who dwell on mountains; but it is written, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,”276    Rom. xi. 20.    Ps. xxxiv. 18. which refers rather to humility. But as a sinner is called earth, when it is said to him, “Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return;”277    Augustin follows the Septuagint, which has “piety” instead of “the fear of the Lord” in the last clause of Isa. xi. 2.    Gen. iii. 19. so, on the other hand, a righteous man may be called heaven. For it is said to the righteous, “For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”278    Isa. lxiv. 4 and 1 Cor. ii. 9.    1 Cor. iii. 17. And therefore, if God dwells in His temple, and the saints are His temple, the expression “which art in heaven” is rightly used in the sense, which art in the saints. And most suitable is such a similitude, so that spiritually there may be seen to be as great a difference between the righteous and sinners, as there is materially between heaven and earth.

18. And for the purpose of showing this, when we stand at prayer, we turn to the east, whence the heaven rises: not as if God also were dwelling there, in the sense that He who is everywhere present, not as occupying space, but by the power of His majesty, had forsaken the other parts of the world; but in order that the mind may be admonished to turn to a more excellent nature, i.e. to God, when its own body, which is earthly, is turned to a more excellent body, i.e. to a heavenly one. It is also suitable for the different stages of religion, and expedient in the highest degree, that in the minds of all, both small and great, there should be cherished worthy conceptions of God. And therefore, as regards those who as yet are taken up with the beauties that are seen, and cannot think of anything incorporeal, inasmuch as they must necessarily prefer heaven to earth, their opinion is more tolerable, if they believe God, whom as yet they think of after a corporeal fashion, to be in heaven rather than upon earth: so that when at any future time they have learned that the dignity of the soul exceeds even a celestial body, they may seek Him in the soul rather than in a celestial body even; and when they have learned how great a distance there is between the souls of sinners and of the righteous, just as they did not venture, when as yet they were wise only after a carnal fashion, to place Him on earth, but in heaven, so afterwards with better faith or intelligence they may seek Him again in the souls of the righteous rather than in those of sinners. Hence, when it is said, “Our Father which art in heaven,” it is rightly understood to mean in the hearts of the righteous, as it were in His holy temple. And at the same time, in such a way that he who prays wishes Him whom he invokes to dwell in himself also; and when he strives after this, practises righteousness,—a kind of service by which God is attracted to dwell in the soul.

19. Let us see now what things are to be prayed for. For it has been stated who it is that is prayed to, and where He dwells. First of all, then, of those things which are prayed for comes this petition, “Hallowed be Thy name.” And this is prayed for, not as if the name of God were not holy already, but that it may be held holy by men; i.e., that God may so become known to them, that they shall reckon nothing more holy, and which they are more afraid of offending. For, because it is said, “In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel,”279    This is guarded against misconstruction in the Retract. I. xix. 1.    Ps. lxxvi. 1. we are not to understand the statement in this way, as if God were less in one place, greater in another; but there His name is great, where He is named according to the greatness of His majesty. And so there His name is said to be holy, where He is named with veneration and the fear of offending Him. And this is what is now going on, while the gospel, by becoming known everywhere throughout the different nations, commends the name of the one God by means of the administration of His Son.

CAPUT V.---17. Utatur ergo voce Novi Testamenti populus novus, ad aeternam haereditatem vocatus, et dicat, Pater noster qui es in coelis: id est, in sanctis et justis. Non enim spatio locorum continetur Deus. Sunt enim coeli excellentia quidem mundi corpora, 1277 sed tamen corpora, quae non possunt esse nisi in loco: sed si in coelis tanquam in superioribus mundi partibus locus Dei esse creditur melioris meriti sunt aves, quarum vita est Deo vicinior. Non autem scriptum est, Prope est Dominus excelsis hominibus, aut eis qui in montibus habitant: sed scriptum est, Prope est Dominus obtritis corde (Psal. XXXIII, 19); quod magis pertinet ad humilitatem. Sed quemadmodum terra appellatus est peccator, cum ei dictum est, Terra es, et in terram ibis (Gen. III, 19): sic coelum justus e contrario dici potest. Justis enim dicitur, Templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos (I Cor. III, 17). Quapropter si in templo suo habitat Deus, et sancti templum ejus sunt; recte dicitur, qui es in coelis, qui es in sanctis. Et accommodatissima ista similitudo est, ut spiritualiter tantum interesse videatur inter justos et peccatores, quantum corporaliter inter coelum et terram.

18. Cujus rei significandae gratia, cum ad orationem stamus, ad orientem convertimur, unde coelum surgit: non tanquam ibi habitet et Deus, quasi caeteras mundi partes deseruerit qui ubique praesens est, non locorum spatiis, sed majestatis potentia ; sed ut admoneatur animus ad naturam excellentiorem se convertere, id est ad Deum, cum ipsum corpus ejus quod est terrenum, ad corpus excellentius, id est ad corpus coeleste convertitur. Convenit etiam gradibus religionis, et plurimum expedit, ut omnium sensibus et parvulorum et magnorum bene sentiatur de Deo. Et ideo qui visibilibus adhuc pulchritudinibus dediti sunt, nec possunt aliquid incorporeum cogitare, quoniam necesse est coelum praeferant terrae; tolerabilior est opinio eorum, si Deum quem adhuc corporaliter cogitant, in coelo potius credant esse, quam in terra: ut cum aliquando cognoverint dignitatem animae coeleste etiam corpus excedere, magis eum quaerant in anima, quam in corpore etiam coelesti; et cum cognoverint quantum distet inter peccatorum animas et justorum, sicut non audebant, cum adhuc carnaliter saperent, eum in terra collocare, sed in coelo, sic postea meliori fide vel intelligentia magis eum in animis justorum quam in peccatorum requirant. Recte ergo intelligitur quod dictum est, Pater noster qui es in coelis, in cordibus justorum esse dictum, tanquam in templo sancto suo. Simul etiam ut qui orat, in se quoque ipso velit habitare quem invocat: et cum hoc affectat, teneat justitiam; quo munere invitatur ad inhabitandum animum Deus.

19. Jam videamus quae sint petenda. Dictum est enim quis sit qui petitur, et ubi habitet. Primum autem omnium quae petuntur hoc est, Sanctificetur nomen tuum. Quod non sic petitur, quasi non sit sanctum nomen Dei, sed ut sanctum habeatur ab hominibus: id est, ita illis innotescat Deus, ut non existiment aliquid sanctius, quod magis offendere timeant. Neque enim quia dictum est, Notus in Judaea Deus, in Israel 1278magnum nomen ejus (Psal. LXXV, 1); sic intelligendum est quasi alibi minor sit Deus, alibi major: sed ibi magnum est nomen ejus, ubi pro suae majestatis magnitudine nominatur. Ita ibi dicitur sanctum nomen ejus, ubi cum veneratione et offensionis timore nominatur. Et hoc est quod nunc agitur, dum Evangelium adhuc usque per diversas gentes innotescendo, commendat unius Dei nomen per administrationem Filii ejus.