Chapter VI.

20. In the next place there follows, “Thy kingdom come.” Just as the Lord Himself teaches in the Gospel that the day of judgment will take place at the very time when the gospel shall have been preached among all nations:280    Matt. xxiv. 14. a thing which belongs to the hallowing of God’s name. For here also the expression “Thy kingdom come” is not used in such a way as if God were not now reigning. But some one perhaps might say the expression “come” meant upon earth; as if, indeed, He were not even now really reigning upon earth, and had not always reigned upon it from the foundation of the world. “Come,” therefore, is to be understood in the sense of “manifested to men.” For in the same way also as a light which is present is absent to the blind, and to those who shut their eyes; so the kingdom of God, though it never departs from the earth, is yet absent to those who are ignorant of it. But no one will be allowed to be ignorant of the kingdom of God, when His Only-begotten shall come from heaven, not only in a way to be apprehended by the understanding, but also visibly in the person of the Divine Man, in order to judge the quick and the dead. And after that judgment, i.e. when the process of distinguishing and separating the righteous from the unrighteous has taken place, God will so dwell in the righteous, that there will be no need for any one being taught by man, but all will be, as it is written, “taught of God.”281    Isa. liv. 13; John vi. 45. Then will the blessed life in all its parts be perfected in the saints unto eternity, just as now the most holy and blessed heavenly angels are wise and blessed, from the fact that God alone is their light; because the Lord hath promised this also to His own: “In the resurrection,” says He, “they will be as the angels in heaven.”282    Matt. xxii. 30.

21. And therefore, after that petition where we say, “Thy kingdom come,” there follows, “Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth:” i.e., just as Thy will is in the angels who are in heaven, so that they wholly cleave to Thee, and thoroughly enjoy Thee, no error beclouding their wisdom, no misery hindering their blessedness; so let it be done in Thy saints who are on earth, and made from the earth, so far as the body is concerned, and who, although it is into a heavenly habitation and exchange, are yet to be taken from the earth. To this there is a reference also in that doxology of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest,283    In excelsis; Vulgate, in altissimis. and on earth peace to men of goodwill:”284    Luke ii. 14. so that when our goodwill has gone before, which follows Him that calleth, the will of God is perfected in us, as it is in the heavenly angels; so that no antagonism stands in the way of our blessedness: and this is peace. “Thy will be done” is also rightly understood in the sense of, Let obedience be rendered to Thy precepts: “as in heaven so on earth,” i.e. as by the angels so by men. For, that the will of God is done when His precepts are obeyed, the Lord Himself says, when He affirms, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me;”285    John iv. 34. and often, “I came, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me;”286    John vi. 38. and when He says, “Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God,287    Vulgate, Patris qui in cœlis (“Father who is in heaven”). So the Greek. the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”288    Matt. xxii. 49, 50. And therefore, in those at least who do the will of God, the will of God is accomplished; not because they cause God to will, but because they do what He wills, i.e. they do according to His will.

22. There is also that other interpretation, “Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth,”—as in the holy and just, so also in sinners. And this, besides, may be understood in two ways: either that we should pray even for our enemies (for what else are they to be reckoned, in spite of whose will the Christian and Catholic name still spreads?), so that it is said, “Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth,”—as if the meaning were, As the righteous do Thy will, in like manner let sinners also do it, so that they may be converted unto Thee; or in this sense, “Let Thy will be done as in heaven so on earth,” so that every one may get his own; which will take place at the last judgment, the righteous being requited with a reward, sinners with condemnation—when the sheep shall be separated from the goats.289    Matt. xxv. 33, 46.

23. That other interpretation also is not absurd, nay, it is thoroughly accordant with both our faith and hope, that we are to take heaven and earth in the sense of spirit and flesh. And since the apostle says, “With the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin,”290    Rom. vii. 25. we see that the will of God is done in the mind, i.e. in the spirit. But when death shall have been swallowed up in victory, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, which will happen at the resurrection of the flesh, and at that change which is promised to the righteous, according to the prediction of the same apostle,291    1 Cor. xv. 42, 55. let the will of God be done on earth, as it is in heaven; i.e., in such a way that, in like manner as the spirit does not resist God, but follows and does His will, so the body also may not resist the spirit or soul, which at present is harassed by the weakness of the body, and is prone to fleshly habit: and this will be an element of the perfect peace in the life eternal, that not only will the will be present with us, but also the performance of that which is good. “For to will,” says he, “is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not:” for not yet in earth as in heaven, i.e. not yet in the flesh as in the spirit, is the will of God done. For even in our misery the will of God is done, when we suffer those things through the flesh which are due to us in virtue of our mortality, which our nature has deserved because of its sin. But we are to pray for this, that the will of God may be done as in heaven so in earth; that in like manner as with the heart we delight in the law after the inward man,292    Rom. vii. 18, 22. so also, when the change in our body has taken place, no part of us may, on account of earthly griefs or pleasures, stand opposed to this our delight.

24. Nor is that view inconsistent with truth, that we are to understand the words, “Thy will be done as in heaven so in earth,” as in our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, so also in the Church: as if one were to say, As in the man who fulfilled the will of the Father, so also in the woman who is betrothed to him. For heaven and earth are suitably understood as if they were man and wife; since the earth is fruitful from the heaven fertilizing it.

CAPUT VI.---20. Deinde sequitur, Adveniat regnum tuum. Sicut ipse Dominus in Evangelio docet, tunc futurum esse judicii diem, cum Evangelium praedicatum fuerit in omnibus gentibus (Matth. XXIV, 14): quae res pertinet ad sanctificationem nominis Dei. Non enim et hic ita dictum est, Adveniat regnum tuum, quasi nunc Deus non regnet. Sed forte quis dicat, Adveniat dictum esse in terram. Quasi vero non etiam ipse nunc regnet in terra, semperque in ea regnaverit a constitutione mundi. Adveniat ergo accipiendum est, manifestetur hominibus. Quemadmodum enim etiam praesens lux absens est caecis, et eis qui oculos claudunt; ita Dei regnum, quamvis nunquam discedat de terris, tamen absens est ignorantibus. Nulli autem licebit ignorare regnum Dei, cum ejus Unigenitus non solum intelligibiliter, sed etiam visibiliter in homine Dominico de coelo venerit judicaturus vivos et mortuos . Post quod judicium, id est, cum discretio et separatio justorum ab injustis facta fuerit, ita inhabitabit justos Deus, ut non opus sit quemquam doceri per hominem, sed sint omnes, ut scriptum est, docibiles Deo (Isai. LIV, 13, Joan. VI, 45). Deinde beata vita omni ex parte perficietur in sanctis in aeternum, sicuti nunc coelestes Angeli sanctissimi atque beatissimi, solo Deo illustrante sapientes et beati sunt; quia et hoc promisit Dominus suis: In resurrectione erunt, inquit, sicut Angeli in coelis (Matth. XXII, 30).

21. Et ideo post illam petitionem qua dicimus, Adveniat regnum tuum, sequitur, Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra: id est, sicut est in Angelis qui sunt in coelis, voluntas tua, ut omnimodo tibi ad haereant teque perfruantur, nullo errore obnubilante sapientiam eorum, nulla miseria impediente beatitudinem eorum; ita fiat in sanctis tuis qui in terra sunt, et de terra, quod ad corpus attinet, facti sunt, et quamvis in coelestem habitationem atque immutationem, tamen de terra assumendi sunt. Ad hoc respicit etiam illa Angelorum praedicatio, Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (Luc. II, 14): ut cum praecesserit bona voluntas nostra, quae vocantem sequitur, perficiatur in nobis voluntas Dei, sicuti est in coelestibus Angelis; ut nulla adversitas resistat nostrae beatitudini, quod est pax. Item Fiat voluntas tua, recte intelligitur, obediatur praeceptis tuis: sicut in coelo et in terra, id est, sicut ab Angelis, ita ab hominibus. Nam fieri voluntatem Dei, cum obtemperatur praeceptis ejus, ipse Dominus dicit, cum ait, Meus cibus est ut faciam voluntatem ejus qui 1279 rie misit (Joan. IV, 34); et saepe, Non veni facere voluntatem meam, sed voluntatem ejus qui me misit (Joan. VI, 38); et cum ait, Ecce mater mea, et ecce fratres mei, et quicumque fecerit voluntatem Dei, hic mihi est frater, et mater, et soror (Matth. XII, 49 et 50). Qui ergo faciunt voluntatem Dei, in illis utique fit voluntas Dei: non quia ipsi faciunt ut velit Deus; sed quia faciunt quod ille vult, id est, faciunt secundum voluntatem ejus.

22. Est etiam ille intellectus: Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra, sicut in sanctis et justis, ita etiam in peccatoribus. Quod adhuc duobus modis accipi potest: sive ut oremus etiam pro inimicis nostris; (quid enim sunt aliud habendi, contra quorum voluntatem christianum et catholicum nomen augetur?) ut ita dictum sit, Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra, tanquam si diceretur, Faciant voluntatem tuam sicut justi, ita etiam peccatores, ut ad te convertantur: sive ita, Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra, ut sua cuique tribuantur; quod fiet extremo judicio, ut justis praemium, peccatoribus damnatio retribuatur, cum agni ab haedis separabuntur (Id. XXV, 33-46).

23. Ille etiam non absurdus, imo et fidei et spei nostrae convenientissimus intellectus est, ut coelum et terram accipiamus, spiritum et carnem. Et quoniam dicit Apostolus, Mente servio legi Dei, carne autem legi peccati (Rom. VII, 25); videmus factam voluntatem Dei in mente, id est, in spiritu: cum autem absorpta fuerit mors in victoriam, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem, quod fiet carnis resurrectione, atque illa immutatione quae promittitur justis, secundum ejusdem apostoli praedicationem (I Cor. XV, 42, 55): fiat voluntas Dei et in terra, sicut in coelo: id est, ut quemadmodum spiritus non resistit Deo, sequens et faciens voluntatem ejus; ita et corpus non resistat spiritui vel animae, quae nunc corporis infirmitate vexatur, et in carnalem consuetudinem prona est: quod erit summae pacis in vita aeterna, ut non solum velle adjaceat nobis, sed etiam perficere bonum. Nunc enim velle, inquit, adjacet mihi; perficere autem bonum non: quia nondum in terra sicut in coelo, id est, nondum in carne sicut in spiritu facta est voluntas Dei. Nam et in miseria nostra fit voluntas Dei, cum ea patimur per carnem, quae nobis mortalitatis jure debentur, quam peccando meruit nostra natura: sed id orandum est, ut sicut in coelo, ita et in terra fiat voluntas Dei; id est, ut quemadmodum corde condelectamur legi secundum interiorem hominem (Rom. VII, 18, 22), ita etiam corporis immutatione facta, huic nostrae delectationi nulla pars nostra terrenis doloribus seu voluptatibus adversetur.

24. Nec illud a veritate abhorret, ut accipiamus, Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra, sicut in ipso Domino nostro Jesu Christo, ita et in Ecclesia: tanquam in viro qui Patris voluntatem implevit, ita et in femina quae illi desponsata est. Coelum enim et terra convenienter intelligitur, quasi vir et femina; quoniam terra coelo fecundante fructifera est.