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On the Lord’s Prayer

St Gregory of Nyssa, tr. Graef, 1954

4. The Lord’s Prayer: Sermon 4

Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread

I once heard a medical expert speaking on the subject of health, and what he said may perhaps not be without interest for us in regard to the well-being of the soul. He defined as the principal cause of a state of illness the deviation from the right proportion of one of the elements¹ in us. And, conversely, he said that the cure of the cause of the disease was brought about by restoring the balance that had been viciously disturbed. And therefore he advised that as a contribution to health, care should be taken to weaken those elements in us which were particularly stirred up to disorder by the proper strengthening of the opposing element. For example, if the element of heat is prevalent, one should give help to the oppressed by moistening what is dried up; lest, owing to the absence of fuel, the heat should wither up and be extinguished completely and so be consumed by itself. In the same way one should act also if any of the other opposing elements which are in us exceeds its limits by excessive growth, and give artificial support to what is weakened. If this is done, and nothing prevents the elements from being equally proportioned, the body is restored to health since the natural balance is no longer upset.

But what is the aim of this long introduction to our sermon? Perhaps the consideration is neither without purpose nor far removed from the subject under discussion. The words proposed to our consideration are, Thy Will be done. Now why we have called to mind the medical theory, we shall make clear in what follows.

Once upon a time the intelligent human being was healthy, for the movements of the soul, corresponding to the elements, were evenly balanced in us according to the conception of virtue. But when the concupiscent element gained the upper hand, the disposition known to be its opposite, namely continence, was defeated by its stronger enemy, and there was nothing to hinder the inordinate movements of cupidity towards forbidden things. Through this the deadly disease of sin was introduced into human nature. Therefore the true Physician² of the diseases of the soul, who shared the life of man for the sake of those who were sick, gradually weakens the cause of disease through the thoughts contained in the prayer and so restores us to spiritual health.

Now the health of the soul is the accomplishment of the Divine Will, just as, on the other hand, the disease of the soul that ends in death is the falling away from this good Will. We fell ill when we forsook the wholesome way of life in Paradise and filled ourselves with the poison of disobedience, through which our nature was conquered by this evil and deadly disease. Then there came the true Physician who cured the evil perfectly by its opposite, as is the law of medicine. For those who had succumbed to the disease because they had separated themselves from the Divine Will, He frees once more from their sickness by uniting them to the Will of God. For the words of the prayer bring the cure of the disease which is in the soul. For He prays as if His soul was immersed in pain, saying, Thy Will be done. Now the Will of God is the salvation of men. If therefore we prepare to say to God: Thy Will be done also in me, it is absolutely necessary first to renounce what was contrary to the Divine Will and to give a full account of it in confession.

For I am meant to say: The will that is opposed to God has worked evil in me throughout my former life, and I have been the servant of the wicked tyrant, carrying out the death sentence against myself like an executioner. Therefore have pity on my misery and give at last that Thy Will may be done in me. As darkness vanishes when light is brought into the gloom of caves, so also, when Thy Will is done in me, every foul and wicked movement of my free will is brought to nought. For continence will extinguish the uncontrolled impulses of a mind dominated by passion; humility will destroy conceit, moderation will heal the disease of pride; whereas the supreme good of charity will expel a whole catalogue of opposing evils from the soul. Before this virtue recede hate and envy, wrath and all angry dispositions of our emotions. It casts out treachery and hypocrisy, brooding over injuries and craving for revenge; it calms the furious beating of the heart and the evil eye. The whole host of such evils is wiped out by a charitable disposition. Thus the Will of God effectively casts out a twofold idolatry; a twofold idolatry, that is to say, that concerning idols, and the greed of silver and gold, which the prophecy calls the idols of the Gentiles.³ Therefore let Thy Will be done so that the will of the devil may be destroyed.

But why do we pray that the choice of the good may come to us from God? Because human nature, being once enervated by evil, is weak to do the good. For man does not return from evil to good as easily as he turns towards evil. The same principle can be seen also in the case of the body; the sick body is not healed in the same way nor as easily as the healthy body falls ill. Thus a man who has so far been in good health often finds himself in danger of death through just one wound. One fit or attack of fever may destroy the body’s strength completely, and one drop of poison will kill altogether or very nearly. The bite of a snake, or the sting of another venomous animal may be followed immediately by illness or death; and the same may happen through a slip or a fall, through overeating or anything else like these. The cure of the illness, on the other hand, is effected only with difficulty through much thought and medical skill, if it be brought about at all. Therefore if we feel an impulse to do evil we need no help; for evil accomplishes itself in our will. But if there is an inclination towards something good, we need God to carry the desire into effect. Therefore we say: Because Thy Will is temperance, but I am carnal and sold under sin, may this good Will be accomplished in me by Thy power; and so it is also with justice, piety, and deliverance from the passions. For the word “will” contains generically all the virtues; and all the individual things that are understood by the word “good” are contemplated in the Will of God.

But what means the additional clause, on earth as it is in Heaven? It seems to me that the words indicate perhaps one of the more profound doctrines, and contain a teaching of the Divine Mind through the contemplation of the creature.

What I mean is this. The whole rational creation is divided into the incorporeal and the corporeal natures. The incorporeal species is the angelic creature, and the other one is we men. The spiritual creature, inasmuch as it is separated from the body that weighs down—I mean the earthly body that is solid and heavy—sojourns in the upper region. It dwells in the light and ethereal places and is of a nimble and agile nature.⁴ But the other nature has necessarily been allotted to the earthly life because of the kinship of our body, which is, as it were, a sediment of mud, with what is earthly. Now I do not know what was the purpose of the Divine Will in so ordering it. Perhaps it was to bring the whole creation into relationship with itself, so that neither the lower portion should be without part in the heavenly heights, nor heaven wholly without a share in the things pertaining to earth. Thus the creation of man would effect in each of the elements a participation in the things belonging to the other; for the spiritual nature of the soul, which seems to be decidedly akin to the heavenly powers, dwells in earthly bodies, and in the restoration of all,⁵ this earthly flesh will be translated into the heavenly places together with the soul. As the Apostle says, We . . . shall be taken up . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord, into the air, and so shall we be always with the Lord.⁶ Hence, whether the wisdom of God intend this or anything else besides, every rational nature is assigned to one of these two lives: the one, incorporeal, obtains the heavenly beatitude; whereas the other is turned towards the earth because of the affinity between it and the flesh.

Yet the desire for the good and the beautiful⁷ is equally inherent in both natures, and the Lord of the world has both equally endowed with self-determined free will and complete freedom from necessity. Thus, every being privileged to possess a rational mind is meant to be governed by an autonomous free will. Now the heavenly life is perfectly free from evil, and none of the powers known to be opposed to it has communion with it. On the other hand, every impulse or emotion connected with the passions resides in the life below, where human nature is at home. Therefore the Divinely inspired Word fixes the attention on the heavenly city, the dwelling place of the holy powers, which is perfectly free from even the slightest stain of sin and evil. But whatever has placed itself outside the good through its own secession from it, has an admixture of evil in its substance; and it flows together in this life like new bad wine and dregs in a basin. Thus mankind is contaminated, for such darkness prevents it from beholding the Divine Light of Truth.

Since, then, the life above is passionless and pure, whereas this wretched life here below is immersed in all manner of passions and miseries, it should be clear that the city above, being pure from all evil, is firmly established in the good Will of God. For where there is no evil there must necessarily be the good. But our life, which has fallen away from sharing the good things, has at the same time fallen away from the Divine Will. Therefore the prayer teaches us thus to purify our life from evil that the will of God may rule in us without hindrance, in the same way as it does in the life of heaven. In other words: As Thy Will is done by the thrones and principalities and powers and dominations⁸ and all the supramundane hosts, where no evil hinders the action of the good, so may the good be accomplished also in us. Thus, when all evil has been removed, Thy Will may be accomplished in our souls in all things.

But someone might suggest an objection: How can those who have been destined for life in the flesh achieve the purity which is in the disembodied spirits? Do not the needs of the body plunge the soul into a thousand cares? Therefore I propose to solve this problem whilst dealing with the apparent difficulty in the next part of the subject under discussion.

For I believe that a definite doctrine is presented to us in these words, in that we are commanded to ask for our daily bread; that is to say, the nature that is temperate and content with little according to the idea of apatheia should be made equal to the nature that has no material needs at all. The angel does not pray to God for sufficient bread, because his nature has no need of such things. But man is commanded to ask this, because what is empty certainly needs to be filled. For the human life is constituted unstable and transitory, seeking to renew itself by supplying for what it loses. A man, therefore, who gives but nature its due and does not let his vain thoughts stray after things outside his needs is not far below the angelic state: he imitates their need of nothing as far as in him lies by being content with little. Therefore we have been commanded to seek only what is sufficient to preserve our physical existence.

So we say to God: Give us bread. Not delicacies or riches, nor magnificent purple robes, golden ornaments, precious stones, or silver dishes. Nor do we ask Him for landed estates, or military commands, or political leadership. We pray neither for herds of horses and oxen or other cattle in great numbers, nor for a host of slaves. We do not say, give us a prominent position in assemblies or monuments and statues raised to us, nor silken robes and musicians at meals, nor any other thing by which the soul is estranged from the thought of God and higher things; no—but only bread!

Do you realize the whole scope of the Divine teaching?⁹ How much doctrine is not compressed into this short sentence! Does He not clearly proclaim in these words something like this to His listeners: Men, let yourselves no longer be distracted by desiring vanities; stop heaping toil upon toil for yourselves. The needs of your nature are but few; you owe food to your flesh—a trivial thing and easily procured, if you content yourselves with what is necessary. Why do you lay yourselves under so much tribute? Why do you submit to the yoke of paying so many fines? Mining silver, digging gold, and searching for transparent stones—for no other purpose save that your stomach, this perpetual tax collector, may live daintily through all this. Yet it needs only bread to supply the needs of the body. But you go on business to the Indies and venture out upon strange seas; you go on a voyage every year only to bring back flavourings for your food, without realizing that the enjoyment of the spices goes no further than the palate. In the same way the loveliness of sight or smell or taste presents the senses with very transitory delight; except for the palate, there is no difference in the foods consumed, for nature changes all things equally into an evil smell. Do you see the end of fine cookery? Do you realize what are the results of wizard flavourings? Ask for bread because life needs it, and you owe it to the body because of your nature. But all those superfluous things that have been invented by men given to luxury are weeds sown in besides. The seed sown by the Master of the house is corn, from which bread is made. Luxuries, however, are the tares sown in by the enemy with the wheat. If men refuse to satisfy their nature by what is necessary they are truly choked, as Scripture says somewhere, by the pursuit of vanities;¹⁰ for if the soul is perpetually occupied with these things it remains atrophied itself.

I suppose that Moses perhaps teaches something like this by means of symbols,¹¹ when he presents the serpent as Eve’s counsellor in matters of taste. People say that this animal—I mean the serpent—cannot easily be drawn back by its tail, if one is trying to pull it in the opposite direction while it is crawling, head foremost, through a chink. For the sharp scales of its back naturally resist the force of those that are pulling it. Hence, whereas it can glide forward unhindered because the scales slide along smoothly, it is impossible to draw it out from the back, because the resisting scales prevent it. Thus Scripture, it seems to me, shows that one must beware of lust sneaking into the soul from the back, and that one has to block up as far as possible the “chinks” presented by the life of the body. Only thus can the spiritual life of man be preserved pure from the society of beasts.¹² For if these gain access to us, because the balance of our life has been upset,¹³ the serpent of lust sneaks in through the chinks and is difficult to dislodge from the precincts of the mind because of the scales.

Now by the metaphor of the scales we must understand the manifold occasions of lust. For, speaking generally, the passion of lust is but one animal; but the many various forms of lust which are intermingled with the human life through the senses are the scales surrounding the serpent, speckled by the various passion-provoking incidents. If, therefore, you wish to avoid having to live with the beast, beware of its head, that is, of the first assault of evil; for this is the meaning of the Lord’s symbolic command: He shall lie in wait for your heel, and you shall lie in wait for his head.¹⁴ Do not give access to the reptile creeping into the inner chamber, for its whole trail enters with it immediately. Cling only to what is necessary; let your care for your livelihood end when you have supplied for your needs by what you can easily obtain. If with you, too, Eve’s counsellor converses about what is pleasing to sight and sweet to taste, you will seek over and above your bread this or that flavour, making it more tasty by all manner of seasonings. And through these things which go beyond the range of what is necessary you will bring in desire, and presently you will see the reptile clandestinely creeping towards covetousness. For having once crept from the necessary food towards delicacies, it will proceed to what is pleasant to the eyes, seeking shining dishes and attractive servants. And so on to silver couches, soft divans, and transparent, gold-embroidered veils, magnificent chairs and tripods, washing vessels, mixing bowls, drinking horns, wine coolers and pitchers; water stoups, candlesticks, censers and similar things. And all this serves only to increase the desire for more. For in order that none of these paraphernalia may be missing, one needs an income adequate for providing all these requirements. And so someone must weep, his neighbour must sorrow, many who are deprived of their property must be miserable, in order that their tears may contribute to enhance the ostentatious display of his table. And when the serpent has wound its coils about these things and has filled its belly at will, then, as soon as it is sated, it drags itself crawling down to unbridled frenzy. This is the lowest degradation of man.

In order that none of these things may happen, life is defined by bread which is easily obtainable, for which you may seek the flavouring that is provided by nature itself. This is above all a good conscience which makes the bread tasty because it is eaten in justice. But if you want to enjoy also the physical sense of taste, let hunger be your flavouring; do not overeat yourself so that you have no appetite because you are feeling sick. But let the sweat mentioned in the commandment precede your meal—In sweat and labour shalt thou eat thy bread.¹⁵ You see this is the first kind of flavour Scripture mentions.

It will be enough for you to reflect as far as this need. Rather, do not even entangle your soul thus far in the care for bread; but say to Him who brings bread out of the earth,¹⁶ say to Him who nourishes the ravens¹⁷ and gives food to all flesh,¹⁸ to Him who opens His hand and fills with blessing every living creature:¹⁹ My life I have from Thee—from Thee let me also have the needs of life. Give Thou bread—that is to say, let me have food through just labour. For if God is justice, the man who procures himself food through covetousness cannot have his bread from God. You are the master of your prayer, if abundance does not come from another’s property and is not the result of another’s tears; if no one is hungry or distressed because you are fully satisfied. For the bread of God is above all the fruit of justice, the ear of the corn of peace, pure and without any admixture of the seed of tares. But if you cultivate what is another’s property, if you practise injustice and confirm your unjust gains by written documents, then you may indeed say to God: Give bread; but another will hear this your plea, not God. For the fruit of injustice is the product of the contrary nature. He who pursues righteousness receives his bread from God, whereas the man who cultivates iniquity is fed by the father of iniquity.²⁰

Therefore look into your own conscience before you ask God for bread; for you know that Christ has no company with Belial.²¹ But if you offer gifts of iniquity, they are the purchase money of a dog, the price of a prostitute. Even if you distinguish yourself by costly gifts, listen how the prophet abominates such offerings: To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims? saith the Lord. I am full of holocausts of rams and I desire not fat of fatlings and blood of calves and lambs. . . . Incense, He says, is an abomination to me.²² In another passage²³ someone who sacrifices a sheep is compared to one who kills a dog. If, however, you have your bread from the Lord, that is to say, through just labour, you may rightly offer Him of the fruits of justice.

Full of meaning is also the addition of this day, when He says: Give us this day our daily bread. These words contain yet another teaching.²⁴ For you should learn through what you say that the human life is but the life of a day. Only the present each one of us can call his own; the hope of the future is uncertain, for we know not what the day to come may bring forth.²⁵ Why then do we make ourselves miserable worrying about the future? He says, Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,²⁶ evil here meaning the enduring of evil. Why are we disturbed about the morrow? By the very fact that He gives you the commandment for today, He forbids you to be solicitous for the morrow. He says to you as it were: He who gives you the day will give you also the things necessary for the day. Who causes the sun to rise? Who makes the darkness of the night disappear? Who shows you the rays of light? Who revolves the sky so that the source of light is above the earth? Does He who gives you so great things need your help to supply for the needs of your flesh? Do animals take care for their livelihood? Do ravens have tilled land or eagles barns? Is not the one means of providing a livelihood for all the Will of God, by which all things are governed? Therefore even an ox or an ass, or any other animal is taught its way of life by instinct, and it manages the present well but does not concern itself in the least with what comes afterwards. And should we need special advisers in order to understand that the life of the flesh is perishable and transitory? Are we not taught by the misfortunes of others, not chastened by those of our own life?

What profits this rich man his wealth? Like a fool he chases vain hopes, pulling down, building up, hoarding and dissipating, shutting up long periods of years as it were in barns, without letting them bear fruit. Will not one night prove false all these imagined hopes, like some vain dream about a nonentity? The life of the body belongs only to the present, but that which lies beyond us and is apprehended by hope belongs to the soul. Yet men in their folly are quite wrong about the use of either; they would extend their physical lives by hope, and draw the life of the soul towards enjoyment of the present. Therefore the soul is occupied by the world of sense and necessarily estranged from the subsisting reality of hope. What hope it has leans upon unstable things over which it has no control or authority.

Let us therefore learn from the counsel under consideration what one must ask for today, and what for later. Bread is for our use today; the Kingdom belongs to the beatitude for which we hope. By bread He means all our bodily requirements. If we ask for this, the man who prays will clearly understand that he is occupied with something transitory; but if we ask for something of the good things of the soul it will be clear that the petition concerns the everlasting realities, for which He commands us to be most concerned in our prayers. Thus the first necessity is put in its right place by the greater one. Seek ye, He says, the kingdom and justice, and all these things shall be added unto you;²⁷ in Christ Jesus Our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

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