Prayer for enemies

[Michie]

I have motive these days to pray for enemies.

QUAERUNTUR:

What can be our attitude about enemies?

Can we enjoy the death or defeat of an enemy?

Must we pray for them?

Can we pray against them?

There are beautiful orations “Pro inimicis… For enemies” in the section called Orationes diversae in the traditional Missale Romanum. These prayers can be added to the other orations for Mass… a flexible dimension of the traditional form.

COLLECT:

Deus, pacis caritatisque amator et custos: da omnibus inimicis nostris pacem, caritatemque veram; et cunctorum eis remissionem tribue peccatorum, nosque ab eorum insidiis potenter eripe.

O God, lover of and guardian of peace and charity: to all our enemies grant peace and true charity; and give to them the remission of all their sins, and mightily snatch us away from their plots.

I found this prayer in Corpus orationum. It does not seem to be all that ancient, at least 10th c. (Fulda). There are some variants in the manuscripts, some including vera with pax, some invoking Mar and St. Michael. An 11th c. book, Leofric in the Bodleian adds nostris visibilibus and ab eorum invisibilibus, suggesting that the prayer is surely directed at corporeal enemies, human, rather than demonic.

The repetition of “peace” and “charity” is significant, especially with the inclusion of vera in the second instance. In a sense, there is no true charity in this world, nor is their true justice. Those will be only in heaven. Meanwhile, we strive for the best and most perfect peace and charity we can in this world.

In the second phase of the prayer, we pray that God will forgive the sins of our enemies. These could be the sins they have committed against us or against anyone else for that matter. A true Christian desires the best for others, even enemies. What that “best” is can be hard to determine. However, it absolutely excludes a positive desire that they go to Hell.

Finally, we ask God to save us from the traps and plots that our enemies lay for us. It is hard to think like the enemy and to lay plots to harmothers. God knows their machinations and He is powerful to thwart all their schemes. So we ask God to use His might to save us.

About those questions at the top.

We get some help from St. Augustine (who had enemies).

In his De sermone Domini in monte 76 (On the Lord’s sermon on the mount), Augustine he makes the point that we cannot hate enemies.

Augustine contrasts Old Testament passages about malevolence toward enemies with New Testament passage about compassion and not judging them unjustly. In discussing 1 John 5:16 Augustine holds that one need not pray for those who commit sins that lead to death. He also reflects on the Judas’s sin and Peter’s denial of Christ. Moreover, he thinks one should not pray for sinners who sin against the Holy Spirit.

For Augustine the moral obligation we have to love our enemies implies praying for them. We should pray for sinners and even sinful enemies, even enemies of the Church, in order that they convert and become friends. Christ, after all, while on the Cross prayed for those who crucified Him. Augustine thought that prayers of Christians led, for example, to the conversion of Saul. Stephen prayed for his enemies while he was being killed.

Augustine points out, however, that prayer for enemies does not exclude the hope that enemies be punished by God, just as God punished the devil (qu. eu. 2.45.2)!

Punishment in this life is in view of conversion. If what they need, truly, to get their attention and result in a conversion of heart, then suffering and punishment is the best thing for them. To merely let them drift along without any need to take stock of their situation would be not in their best interest, their true good.

Augustine does not foresee the eventual conversion of the devil, of course.

Here is the text in its raw form. The last part is especially good. This is from Quaestionum Evangeliorum libri duo… Questions on the Gospels.

2,45,2 hic ergo iniquus iudex non ex similitudine sed ex dissimilitudine
adhibitus est, ut ostenderet dominus quanto certiores esse
debeant qui deum perseueranter rogant, fontem iustitiae atque
misericordiae uel si quid excellentius dici aut audiri potest, cum
apud iniquissimum iudicem usque ad effectum implendi desiderii
ualuerit perseuerantia deprecantis. ipsa uero uidua potest habere
similitudinem ecclesiae, quod desolata uidetur donec ueniat
dominus, qui tamen in secreto etiam nunc curam eius gerit. si
autem mouet, cur electi dei se uindicari deprecentur, quod
etiam in Apocalypsi Iohannis de martyribus dicitur, cum apertissime
moneamur ut pro nostris inimicis et persecutoribus oremus,
intellegendum est eam uindictam esse iustorum ut omnes mali
pereant. pereunt autem duobus modis: aut conuersione ad iustitiam
aut amissa per supplicium potestate qua nunc aduersus
bonos, quamdiu hoc ipsum bonis expedit, uel temporaliter aliquid
ualent. itaque etiamsi omnes homines conuerterentur ad deum,
inter quos sunt etiam inimici pro quibus iubemur orare, diabolus
tamen, qui operatur in filiis diffidentiae, remaneret in saeculi fine
damnandus. quem finem iusti cum uenire desiderant, quamuis pro
inimicis suis orent, tamen non absurde uindictam desiderare
dicuntur.

WDTPRS: Prayer for enemies

 

[Taodeching]

It is a great challenge

 

[Michie]

Today I celebrated a Votive Mass “for any necessity” and I added the orations “for enemies”. I have cause to do so these days. There is a small group of people who are viciously stirring some pretty hateful stuff online.

In the Mass “for any necessity” the Gospel is from Mark 11, and it includes:

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any one; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

I pray almighty God for the grace to help me forgive these people who are determined to hurt me as must as they can.

The Secret for the prayers “Pro inimicis” has the same pedigree as the Collect (which I wrote about HERE). There are slight variations in the books.

SECRET:

Oblatis, quaesumus, Domine, placare muneribus: et nos ab inimicis nostris clementer eripe, eisque indulgentiam tribue delictorum.

We beg You, O Lord, be appeased by these sacrificial offerings: and mercifully snatch us away from our enemies, and grant to them the forgiveness of sins.

The first thing to notice, is the understanding that God must be appeased. The offerings raised to God are propitiatory.

Our sufferings are allowed by God to get our attention, to chasten, correct, test, strengthen our love. The are many means by which that chastening, etc., can be delivered: sickness, disasters, the Devil, other people… often agents of the Devil when they are hostile and intentionally inflicting harm on someone.

Another way to look at it, when we suffer, well… frankly, we are sinners and to an extent we deserve it. Our world is not called “vale of tears” for nothing. None of us are free from sin. Correction from God is both fitting and good for us. Frankly, we bring a lot of our sufferings on ourselves.

But God will never allow anything that is truly harmful to us in the most important ways, that is, our spiritual life. What God allows can produce good results.

There are people in the world work evil. Foreseen by God for us, they are permitted to harm us. God will offer us all the graces we need to endure them with holy resignation or holy resistance.

We have to pray both against our enemies and for them. Against is for, because they are not only hurting us, they are hurting themselves and endangering their immortal souls.

We must pray that they repent and seek the forgiveness of their sins. We must pray that they receive prevenient graces to feel remorse for their evil deeds and seek God’s forgiveness.

We should pray that God will give them exactly what they truly need.

WDTPRS: Prayer for enemies - Part II