Traditional Latin Mass 101
The Our Father
And the Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X
By Father Ladis J. Cizik
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
The Pater Noster (Our Father) serves as a transition between the Canon of the Mass and the preparation for the reception of Holy Communion. The Pater Noster, understood through the shining light of basic Catholic Truths contained in the traditional "Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X," cuts through the noxious dark fog of Modernism which pervades our Church today. Modernists endeavor to diabolically change the Faith. As traditionally understood, the Our Father will help us to ‘ keep the Faith.’ Pope Saint Pius X issued his Catechism in 1908, based upon a text that he himself prepared when he was Bishop of Mantua (1884-1893). Some onehundred years later, on 2 May 2003, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, soon to be Pope Benedict XVI, stated: "The Faith, as such, is always the same. Therefore, Saint Pius X’s Catechism always retains its value."
We are fast approaching the 110th Anniversary of Pascendi Dominici Gregis, the Encyclical of Pope Saint Pius X on the Doctrine of the Modernists, issued on 8 September 1907, the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this magnificent document, Modernists are identified as "partisans of error" (par. 2) and Modernism is defined as the "synthesis of all heresies" (par. 39).
The Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X, as applied to the Our Father, will help us to avoid Modernist errors and identify Modernist heresies.
Quoting from the Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X, and referencing to the section numbers therein, we now proceed with a traditional reflection on the Pater noster:
Introduction
At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Our Father is introduced by the Priest, bowing his head to the Most Blessed Sacrament and joining his hands, as he says aloud: Oremus. Praeceptis salutaribus moniti, et divina institutione formati, audemus dicere (Let us pray.
Instructed by Thy saving precepts, and guided by the Divine institution, we make bold to say).
Such a grand introduction is merited, as the Catechism of Pope Saint Pius X explains: "The most excellent of all vocal prayers is that which Jesus Christ taught us, that is to say, the Our Father (1). The Our Father is the most excellent of all prayers because Jesus Christ Himself composed it and taught it to us; because it contains clearly and in a few words, all we can hope for from God; and because it is the standard and model of all other prayers (2). It is also the most efficacious of prayers, because it is the most acceptable to God, since in it we pray the very words His Divine Son has taught us" (3).
After first addressing Almighty God, the Pater Noster contains seven petitions.
The first three petitions are attentive to the glory and majesty of God; the following four are concerned with man and our salvation.
At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, after the Praeceptis salutaribus moniti, extending his hands, with eyes fixed on the Sacred Host, centered on Christ, the Pater Noster is then prayed aloud by the Priest. It is said that the seven petitions, recited aloud, call to mind the seven Last Words of Our Lord Jesus as He hung dying on the Cross.
Pater noster, qui es in caelis Our Father Who art in Heaven
"In the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer we call God Our Father, to foster confidence in His infinite goodness by the remembrance that we are His children (7). We are the children of God: first, because He created us in His own image, and preserves and governs us by His providence; and secondly, because by an Act of special benevolence He has adopted us in Baptism as brothers of Jesus Christ and co-heirs with Him to eternal glory (8). We call God Our Father and not my Father, because we are all His children, and hence we should look on and love one another as brothers and pray for one another (9). God is in every place, but we say: Our Father Who art in Heaven, to raise our hearts to Heaven, where God manifests His glory to His children" (10).
First Petition Sanctificetur nomen tuum Hallowed be Thy Name
"In the First Petition: Hallowed be Thy Name, we ask that God may be known, loved, honored and served by the whole world and by ourselves in particular (11). We intend to beg that infidels may come to the knowledge of the Lord God, that heretics may recognize their errors, that schismatics may return to the unity of the Church, that sinners may repent, and that the just may persevere in well-doing (12). We first of all ask that the Name of God be sanctified, because the glory of God should be nearer our hearts than all other goods and interests (13). We can promote the glory of God by prayer, by good example, and by directing to Him all our thoughts, affections and actions" (14).
Second Petition Adveniat regnum tuum Thy Kingdom Come
"By the Kingdom of God we mean a threefold spiritual Kingdom: that is, the reign of God in us, or the reign of grace; the reign of God on Earth, or the Holy Catholic Church; and the reign of God in Heaven, or Paradise (15). With regard to grace we beg that God may reign in us by His sanctifying grace, by which He deigns to dwell within us as a king in his palace; and that He may keep us ever united to Himself by the virtues of faith, hope and charity, through which He reigns over our intellect, our heart and our will (16). Regarding the Church, we ask that she may be spread and propagated ever more and more throughout the world for the salvation of mankind (17). Regarding Heaven, we beg to be one day admitted into that Paradise for which we were created and where we shall be perfectly happy" (18).
Third Petition Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra Thy Will be Done on Earth as It is in Heaven
"In the Third Petition: Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven, we beg the grace to do the Will of God in all things by obeying His Commandments as promptly as the Angels and Saints obey Him in Heaven; and we also beg the grace to correspond to Divine inspirations and to live resigned to the Will of God should He send us tribulations (19). It is as necessary to do the Will of God as it is to work out our salvation, because Jesus Christ has said that they alone who have done the Will of His Father shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven (20). We can know the Will of God especially by means of the Church and of the spiritual superiors appointed by God to guide us along the way of salvation; we may also learn His Most Holy Will from the Divine inspirations that come to us and from the very surroundings in which the Lord has placed us (21). Both in prosperity and adversity we should always recognize the Will of God, Who directs or permits all things for our good" (22).
Fourth Petition Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
"In the Fourth Petition we beg of God all that is daily necessary for soul and body (23). For our soul we ask of God the sustenance of our spiritual life, that is, we pray the Lord to give us His grace of which we stand in continual need (24). The life of the soul is nourished principally by the food of the Word of God and by the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar (25). For the body, we ask all that is necessary for the sustainment of our temporal life (26). We say: Give us this day our daily bread, rather than: Give us bread this day, to exclude all desire of what is another’s; and hence we beg the Lord to help us in acquiring just and lawful gains, so that we may procure our maintenance by our own toil and without theft or fraud (27). We say: Give us, rather than, Give me, to remind us that as everything comes from God, so if He gives us His gifts in abundance, He does it in order that we may share what we do not need with the poor (28).
We add, Daily, because we should desire that which is necessary to life, and not an abundance of food and other goods of the Earth (29). The word Daily signifies that we should not be too solicitous regarding the future, but that we should simply ask what we need at present" (30).
Note here that while Saint Luke’s Gospel reads "Give us this day our daily bread" (Lk 11:3), the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew (Douay-Rheims) has: "Give us this day our supersubstantial bread" (Mt 6:11). Of Luke’s use of "daily," the Haydock Biblical Commentary refers to Saint Augustine (Serm. Ii. De verbo Dei): "In Greek it is called epiousion; i.e.
supersubstantial. This is not the bread that goeth into the body, but the Bread of Eternal Life, that supports the life of the soul … (the) Heavenly and Most Venerable Sacrament." However, in its commentary on Matthew’s use of "supersubstantial," in addition to referring to the Most Blessed Sacrament, Haydock allows for an interpretation that also includes: "it need not be taken for supernatural bread, but for bread that is daily added, to maintain and support the substance of our bodies."
Fifth Petition Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris Continued Next Page
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