“... and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” (Luke 11:4.)
Tertullian of Carthage comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:
“To complete the prayer which was so well arranged, Christ added that we should pray not only that our sins be forgiven but also that we should completely shun them. “Lead us not into temptation,” that is, do not allow us to be led by the tempter. God forbid that our Lord should seem to be the tempter, as if he were not aware of one’s faith or were eager to upset it! That weakness and spitefulness belongs to the devil. Even in the case of Abraham, God ordered the sacrifice of his son not to tempt his faith but to prove it. He did this to set an example for his commandment that he was later to teach that no one should hold his loved ones dearer than God. Christ himself was tempted by the devil and pointed out the subtle director of the temptation. He confirms this passage by his words to his apostles later when he says, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” They were tempted to desert their Lord because they had indulged in sleep instead of prayer. The phrase that balances and interprets “lead us not into temptation” is “but deliver us from evil.” (On Prayer, 8.)
Collect
O God,
protector of those who hope in You,
without Whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
protector of those who hope in You,
without Whom nothing has firm foundation, nothing is holy,
bestow in abundance Your mercy upon us
and grant that, with You as our ruler and guide,
we may use the good things that pass
in such a way as to hold fast even now
to those that ever endure.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
