me, and dignities, too, were good for
them--good, that is, for those who used them well; but such things did
harm when not taken away from those who used them ill. Consequently,
brethren, let us ask for these temporal things with moderation, being
sure that if we do receive them, He gives them Who knoweth what is best
suited to us. You have asked for something, then, and what you asked for
has not been given you? Believe in your Father Who would give it you if
it were expedient for you (_Sermon_, lxxx. 7).

_S. Augustine:_ Sometimes God in His wrath grants what you ask; at other
times in His mercy He refuses what you ask. When, then, you ask of Him
things which He praises, which He commands, things which He has promised
us in the next world, then ask in confidence and be instant in prayer as
far as in you lies, that so you may receive what you ask. For such
things as these are granted by the God of mercy; they flow not from His
wrath but from His compassion. But when you ask for temporal things,
then ask with moderation, ask with fear; leave all to Him so that if
they be for your profit He may give them you, if they be to your hurt He
may refuse them. For what is for our good and what is to our hurt the
Physician knoweth, not the patient (_Sermon_, cccliv. 8).

"Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee; He
shall not suffer the just to waver for ever."[149]

VII

Ought We To Pray for Others?

S. James, in his Epistle, says[150]: _Pray for one another that ye may
be saved_.

As we said above, we ought in prayer to ask for those things which we
ought to desire. But we ought to desire good things not for ourselves
only but also for others, for this belongs to that charity which we
ought to exercise towards our neighbour. Hence charity demands that we
pray for others. In accordance with this S. Chrysostom says[151]:
"Necessity compels us to pray for ourselves, fraternal charity urges us
to pray for others. But that prayer is more pleasing before God which
arises not so much from our needs as from the demands of fraternal
charity."

Some, however, urge that we ought not to pray for others, thus:

1. We are bound in our prayer to follow the norm which our Lord
delivered to us; but in the _Lord's Prayer_ we pray for ourselves and
not for others, for we say: _Give us this day our daily bread_, etc.

But S. Cyprian says:[152] "We do not say _my_ Father, but _our_
Father, neither do we sa