60. Prayer and Priesthood in Christ: Nature and Purpose

Subscribe in Podcast App | Download Transcript

Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Definition and Nature of Prayer #

• Prayer according to Damascene: “The asking of suitable things from God” and “the ascent of the understanding to God”
• Thomas’s fuller definition: Prayer is “a certain unfolding of one’s own will before God, that it might be fulfilled” (oratio est quaedam explicatio voluntatis nostrae ante Deum)
• Prayer fundamentally expresses the human will’s dependence on divine power for efficacy

The Apparent Paradox: How Can Christ Pray? #

Three classical objections:

1. Omnipotence objection: Christ can accomplish all things; therefore He need not ask anything from anyone
2. Foreknowledge objection: It is unnecessary to pray for what one knows will certainly occur in the future
3. Union with God objection: Christ’s understanding was always united to God; it need not “ascend” to Him

The Resolution: The Distinction of Wills in Christ #

Thomas resolves the paradox through fundamental metaphysical distinctions:

• Divine Will: Eternally effective and omnipotent; requires no prayer
• Human Will: Not efficacious through itself alone; must depend on divine power and thus necessarily expresses this dependence through prayer
• Because Christ possessed both a divine nature and a true human nature, He possessed both these wills
• Prayer belongs to Christ according as He is man, not according as He is God

Prayer and Sensuality #

• Prayer itself is not an act of sensuality (the desire of the flesh); it is an act of reason
• However, reason can express what sensuality desires in prayer, as an “advocate” or “lawyer” representing sensual affections
• Example: Psalm 83—“My heart and my flesh exult in the living God”—does not mean the flesh directly ascends to God, but rather the overflow from reason’s ordering descends to move the body
• This shows Christ assumed true human nature with genuine natural affections

Christ’s Prayer for Himself #

Christ prayed for Himself in two distinct ways:

1. According to His natural will: Expressing the sensual aversion to suffering (the chalice prayer: “Let this chalice pass from me”)
2. According to His deliberate will: Expressing what reason had determined (asking for the glory of the resurrection)

Both types of prayer were fitting for our instruction, demonstrating:

• That He had truly assumed human nature
• That it is licit for man to will something according to natural affection that God does not will
• That man ought to subject his own affection to the divine will

The Hearing of Christ’s Prayer #

Key distinction: Prayer is “heard” when the will of the one praying is fulfilled.

Two types of will must be distinguished:

• Absolute will (according to reason, deliberate): What one truly wills all things considered
• Conditional or sensual will: What one would will if nothing else stood in the way (secundum quid)

Christ’s absolute will was always conformed to God’s will, thus every prayer of His was heard according to His true will:

• The chalice prayer expressed His natural will, but His absolute will to undergo the Passion was fulfilled
• Multiple interpretations of the chalice prayer preserve this: Hillary (praying for future martyrs), Jerome (praying for the Jewish people), Dionysius (the chalice passes through Him to others), Origen/Chrysostom (expressing the natural motion of sensuality)

Ascent to God: Two Senses of Motion #

Thomas distinguishes two senses of “ascent” or “motion” to resolve the Damascene objection:

1. Motion in the strict sense (from potency to act): The human understanding of Christ did not need to “ascend” in this way because it was always united to God
2. Motion as the act of the perfect (operatio): Christ’s understanding always “ascended” to God through the perfect act of contemplation, seeing God face to face
   • This is not motion in the Aristotelian sense but the perfect activity of understanding
   • By analogy, even God’s knowledge and love of Himself can be said to “move” Him in this improper sense

Key Arguments #

Against Prayer Belonging to Christ #

Objection 1 (Omnipotence)

• Christ was able to do all things
• Therefore it does not seem fitting that He ask anything from anyone
• Conclusion: Christ does not pray

Objection 2 (Foreknowledge)

• It is unnecessary to pray for what one knows will certainly occur
• Christ knew all things that would be in the future
• Conclusion: It does not belong to Christ to pray

Objection 3 (Union with God)

• Damascene says prayer is the ascent of understanding to God
• Christ’s understanding was always joined to God (both by hypostatic union and by beatific vision)
• Conclusion: Christ’s understanding need not ascend to God, so He does not pray

Thomas’s Resolution #

• Prayer is the unfolding of the human will before God, expressing dependence on divine power
• Christ had a true human will distinct from His divine will
• The human will is not efficacious through itself except through divine power
• Therefore, Christ according as He is man necessarily prayed
• The apparent contradiction resolves when we understand that Christ prayed not from impotence but for our instruction

Against Prayer Belonging to Christ According to Sensuality #

Objection 1 (From Psalm 83)

• “My heart and my flesh exult in the living God”
• This suggests the flesh can exult in God
• Therefore sensuality can ascend to God and can pray

Objection 2 (From the Chalice Prayer)

• It belongs to one of whom it is to desire what is asked for
• Christ asked for the chalice to pass, which He desired (sensuali)
• Therefore sensuality in Christ prays

Objection 3 (From Personal Union)

• It is more to be united to God in person than to ascend by prayer
• The flesh was assumed in unity of person
• Therefore the flesh could ascend to God in prayer

Counter-argument (From Philippians 2)

• Other men do not pray according to their sensuality
• Christ was made in the likeness of men
• Therefore Christ does not pray according to His sensuality

Thomas’s Response #

Prayer can be understood in two ways according to sensuality:

1. Prayer as an act of sensuality: In this sense, Christ did not pray according to sensuality because:

   • Sensual emotion cannot transcend sensible things and reach God
   • Prayer requires reason, which orders things according to divine will
   • Sensuality alone cannot perform this ordering (ratio)

2. Prayer expressing what sensuality desires: In this sense, Christ could pray according to sensuality:

   • His reason, in praying to God, proposes what is in the desire of His sensuality
   • Prayer serves as the “advocate” expressing sensual affections
   • This displays that He had true human nature with natural affections
   • The flesh’s desires “ascend” through the overflow from reason’s ordering

Against Christ Praying for Himself #

Objection 1 (From Hillary)

• Prayer is not necessary for Christ as it benefits the speaking of prayer
• Therefore Christ prays only for our instruction, not for Himself

Objection 2 (From the Nature of Prayer)

• Prayer is the unfolding of one’s will to be fulfilled by God
• Christ willed to suffer the Passion
• Therefore He did not pray for Himself regarding these things

Objection 3 (From Augustine)

• Man often doesn’t will what he undergoes (e.g., sleep, hunger, thirst)
• But Christ willed all these things
• Therefore Christ did not undergo them unwillingly and need not pray for Himself

Objection 4 (From Cyprian and the Lord’s Prayer)

• The Master of Peace and Unity did not wish private prayer
• We say “Our Father,” not “My Father”
• Therefore Christ did not pray for Himself alone

Thomas’s Response #

Christ prays for Himself in two distinct ways:

1. By expressing the affection of His sensuality or simple natural will: The chalice prayer expresses natural aversion to suffering (what He would will if nothing else prevented it)

2. By expressing the affection of His deliberate will considered as reason: The prayer for the glory of resurrection expresses what He truly willed all things considered

Why both are fitting:

• Christ prayed to give us an example of prayer
• Christ prayed to show the Father as the author both of His divine nature (eternally) and His human nature (temporally)
• Just as Christ had received some goods in human nature already, He expected others from the Father
• For goods already received, He gave thanks (Matthew 26:27; John 11:41)
• For goods not yet had (the glory of the body), He asked in prayer
• This teaches us: to give thanks for what we have received and to ask for what we lack

Against the Prayer of Christ Always Being Heard #

Objection 1 (The Chalice Prayer)

• Christ asked for the chalice of the Passion to be removed
• It was not removed
• Therefore not all His prayers were heard

Objection 2 (The Prayer for Forgiveness)

• Christ prayed “Father, forgive them”
• Not all sins were forgiven (the Jews were punished for killing Him)
• Therefore not all His prayers were heard

Objection 3 (The Prayer for Believers)

• Christ prayed that all who believe through the apostles would be one in Him
• Not all believers attain this
• Therefore not all His prayers were heard

Objection 4 (From Psalm 21)

• “I cried out through the day and You did not hear me”
• Therefore not all His prayers were heard

Counter-evidence (From Hebrews 5:7)

• “With great clamor and tears, offering up prayers…He was heard for His reverence”

Thomas’s Response #

Prayer is heard when the will of the one praying is fulfilled.

Crucial distinction between types of will:

• Absolute will (according to reason, deliberate): What one truly wills all things considered
• Conditional/sensual will (secundum quid): What one would will if nothing prevented it
• Only the absolute will constitutes what one simply wills; the conditional will does not simply constitute the will

Therefore:

• Christ’s absolute will (according to reason) was always conformed to God’s will
• Consequently, every prayer of Christ was heard
• This parallels how the prayers of all saints are fulfilled: through conformity of their wills to God’s will (Romans 8 on the Holy Spirit interceding according to God’s will)

To Objection 1 (Chalice Prayer)

• Multiple interpretations preserve that the prayer was heard:
  • Hillary: Prayed that others would drink without fear
  • Jerome: Prayed specifically about the chalice of the Jewish people
  • Dionysius: Prayed that it would pass through him to others, not from him
  • Origen/Chrysostom: Expressed natural will aversion to death, not deliberate will
• If understood as praying that He would not drink it, this was not fulfilled
• But this was not His deliberate will; it expressed His natural will for our instruction

To Objection 2 (Forgiveness Prayer)

• Christ did not pray for all to whom He was speaking, but in the manner of an indefinite statement
• Aristotle’s distinction: indefinite statements (like “boys will be boys”) express what is true for the most part, not universally
• Thus “forgive them” means “forgive most/some,” not necessarily all

To Objection 3 (Prayer for Believers)

• Same indefinite statement interpretation
• Christ prayed for those predestined to attain eternal life through the apostles
• Not all who hear the gospel are predestined

To Objection 4 (Psalm 21)

• “I cry out and You do not hear” should be understood as regards the affection of sensuality
• His body naturally feared death and cried out
• But He was heard as regards the affection of His reason
• His true will (to undergo Passion for our redemption) was fulfilled

Illustration: A sailor throwing cargo overboard does not simply will the loss of cargo, but simply wills to lighten the ship to save the vessel. His absolute will is to preserve the ship; his conditional will is to keep the cargo.

Important Definitions #

Prayer (Oratio) #

• Primary definition: “A certain unfolding of one’s own will before God, that it might be fulfilled” (oratio est quaedam explicatio voluntatis nostrae ante Deum, ut impleatur)
• Secondary definition: “The ascent of the understanding to God” (Damascene)
• Characteristics:
  • An act of reason (ratio), not sensuality
  • Expresses the dependence of human will on divine power
  • Involves both intellectual ascent to God and practical ordering of desires
  • Fundamentally interprets (interpretativa) the human will

Sensuality (Sensualitas) #

• The desire of the flesh; the emotional motion toward sensible goods
• Cannot directly ascend to God or perform the act of prayer
• Can be expressed through prayer when reason acts as its advocate
• In Christ, genuine sensual affections corresponded to true human nature assumed

Will (Voluntas) #

• Absolute will (secundum se): The will as informed by reason; what one truly wills all things considered; constitutes the simple will
• Conditional/sensual will (secundum quid): What one would will if nothing else stood in the way; expressed by sensuality or simple natural desire; does not constitute the will simply
• Divine will: The will of God, eternally effective and omnipotent
• Human will: The will of Christ according to His human nature, dependent on divine power for efficacy

Motion (Motus) / Act (Actus) #

• Motion in the strict sense: From potency to act; incomplete activity (e.g., walking home)
• Motion as perfect act (operatio): The activity of what exists in act; complete in itself (e.g., understanding, sensing, loving)
• Prayer can involve motion in the second sense: the understanding’s perfect act of ascending to God
• God’s self-knowledge and self-love are sometimes expressed metaphorically as “motion” in this improper sense

Examples & Illustrations #

The Chalice Prayer (Matthew 26:39) #

• Christ prayed: “Let this chalice pass from me”
• Expresses His natural will (flesh’s aversion to suffering and death)
• His absolute will, however, was to undergo the Passion for human salvation
• Thus the prayer was “heard” because His true (absolute) will was fulfilled, even though the chalice was not removed
• Shows Christ had genuine human affections while maintaining perfect conformity of His absolute will to God’s will

The Flesh Exulting in God (Psalm 83) #

• “My heart and my flesh exult in the living God”
• The flesh does not directly ascend to God in prayer
• Rather, the overflow from the heart’s (reason’s) love descends to move the body
• Illustrates how sensual affections can be “raised up” through reason’s ordering

St. Teresa of Avila (St. Teresa of Ávila) #

• Referenced as an example of the overflow of spiritual joy into bodily pleasure
• Her dancing with other nuns showed how reason’s spiritual joy can overflow into sensual delight
• Illustrates the principle that legitimate sensual goods can express and participate in higher spiritual affections

The Partridge Story #

• A nun thought St. Teresa was enjoying partridge too much for penance
• St. Teresa’s reply: “Penance is penance and partridge is partridge”
• Illustrates the distinction between different goods and the legitimacy of natural pleasure when properly ordered
• Shows how sensuality itself is not evil when subjected to reason

Indefinite Statements in Scripture #

• “A prophet is not honored in his own country”
• Some prophets were honored in their home countries
• Christ speaks in indefinite statements (like “boys will be boys”), expressing what is true for the most part, not universally
• Applied to “forgive them, for they know not what they do”—need not mean all were forgiven

The Sailor and the Cargo #

• A sailor throws cargo overboard to save the sinking ship
• Does not simply will the loss of cargo (conditional will), but simply wills the ship’s preservation (absolute will)
• Illustrates the distinction between what one conditionally wills and what one truly/absolutely wills
• Applied to Christ: His conditional will aversion to suffering does not negate His absolute will to undergo the Passion

Guardian Angels and the Damned #

• Thomas’s example from the question on whether guardian angels are saddened by the damnation of those they protect
• Guardian angels will our salvation simply (absolute will)
• If someone is damned, the angels then will their damnation (conditional: given that they deserve it)
• Shows how absolute and conditional wills can differ while both being genuinely willed

Notable Quotes #

“Prayer is a certain unfolding of one’s own will before God, that it might be fulfilled.” — St. Thomas Aquinas (cited by Berquist)

“Because in Christ, other is the divine will and the human will, right? And the human will is not, through itself, right? Efficacious to fulfilling those things which it wills, except through the divine power. Hence it is that Christ, according as he is man, and having a, what? Human will. It belongs to him to pray.” — Berquist, explaining Thomas’s resolution of the prayer paradox

“He did not need prayer, right? But he prayed for us, lest we be ignorant of his being, the son.” — Hilary of Poitiers (10th book on the Trinity, cited by Thomas)

“The son of God, as one infirm to act, that that might be, what? Fulfilled, that he himself was not able to fulfill. For he is the author, the origin of power, right? The teacher of, what? Obedience.” — Ambrose on Luke (cited by Thomas)

“The Lord was able in the form of a servant, if it was necessary to pray in silence. But thus he wished to, what? Show a prayer to the father, right? That he would keep in mind that he was our, what? Teacher. Teacher by example.” — Augustine on John (cited by Thomas)

“I know that you always hear me, but on account of this people that stand around and have said this, that they might believe that you have sent me.” — Christ in John 11:42 (cited as reason for vocal prayer despite not needing it)

“Prayer is the interpreter of desire.” — Referenced by Berquist regarding prayer’s relationship to the will

Questions Addressed #

Article 1: Does Prayer Belong to Christ? #

Question: How can the omnipotent Christ, who knows all future things and is always united to God, properly be said to pray?

Resolution: Prayer belongs to Christ according to His human nature. Because the human will, though not omnipotent through itself, depends entirely on divine power for efficacy, it is fitting that the human will express this dependence through prayer. Christ prayed not from impotence (as God) but for our instruction, to show Himself as dependent on the Father according to His human nature.

Article 2: Does Prayer Belong to Christ According to His Sensual Nature? #

Question: Can Christ be said to pray according to His sensuality (the desires of the flesh), given that prayer is fundamentally an act of reason?

Resolution: Prayer is not an act of sensuality, so Christ did not pray as sensuality. However, Christ’s reason, in praying to God, can express what is in the desire of His sensuality, serving as an advocate for the flesh. In this sense, Christ prayed according to sensuality, displaying that He assumed true human nature with genuine natural affections and showing that it is licit for man to desire according to natural affection things God may not will, provided the absolute will remains conformed to God’s will.

Article 3: Did Christ Pray for Himself or Only for Others? #

Question: John 17 shows Christ praying for Himself, for the apostles, and for future believers. But doesn’t the nature of prayer imply asking for what one wills, and didn’t Christ will the Passion? How could He pray for relief from it?

Resolution: Christ prayed for Himself in two ways: (1) expressing His natural will (as when praying the chalice would pass from Him), and (2) expressing His deliberate/rational will (as when asking for the glory of resurrection). Both were fitting for our instruction, teaching us to accept natural affections while conforming our absolute will to God’s will, and to give thanks for goods received and ask for goods yet to be received.

Article 4: Was Christ’s Prayer Always Heard? #

Question: The chalice prayer went unanswered. Christ prayed forgiveness for all, but not all were forgiven. How can all His prayers be said to be heard?

Resolution: Prayer is heard when the will of the one praying is fulfilled. Christ’s absolute will (according to reason, deliberate) was always conformed to God’s will; therefore, every prayer of His was heard according to His true will. The chalice prayer expressed His conditional/natural will, not His absolute will. Similarly, prayers expressed in indefinite statements (like “forgive them”) need not apply to all in every case. The standard for whether prayer is heard is conformity of the (absolute) will to God’s will, not the literal granting of what is conditionally requested.