Monday, March 07, 2022

Petition and Beatitude

 In his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount (Book 2, Section 11), St. Augustine gives a correspondence between the petitions of the Lord's Prayer and the Beatitudes, one which St. Thomas accepts (ST 2-2.83.9 ad 3).

PetitionBeatitude
Hallowed be Thy NameBlessed are the poor in spirit...
Thy Kingdom comeBlessed are the meek...
Thy will be done...Blessed are those who mourn...
Give us this day our daily breadBlessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness...
Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtorsBlessed are the merciful...
Lead us not into temptationBlessed are the pure in heart....
Deliver us from evilBlessed are the peacemakers...

This is actually a reasonably tight fit, for each one. Mourn and Meek are switched in order; I don't know if anything particularly hinges on that, but since the meek inherit the earth, I think one could argue that it would in fact make more sense to associate Meek with Will ('on earth as it is in heaven').  The correspondence between Daily Bread and Hunger-and-Thirst is very nice, as is the correspondence between Forgive and Merciful, and, more subtly, Temptation and Pure-in-Heart.

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