sin that is not unto death, let him ask,
and life shall be given to him who sinneth not to death._[159]
But just as we can refuse to no one, as long as he liveth on
this earth, the benefit of correction--for we cannot distinguish
between the predestinate and the reprobate, as S. Augustine
says[160]--so neither can we refuse to anyone the suffrage of
our prayers.

And for good men we have to pray, and this for a threefold reason:
firstly, because the prayers of many are more easily heard; thus on the
words: _I beseech ye therefore, help me in your prayers for me_,[161]
the Ordinary Gloss of S. Ambrose says: "Well does the Apostle ask his
inferiors to pray for him; for even the very least become great when
many in number, and when gathered together with one mind; and it is
impossible that the prayers of many should not avail" to obtain, that
is, what is obtainable. And secondly, that thanks may be returned by
many for the benefits conferred by God upon the just, for these same
benefits tend to the profit of many--as is evident from the Apostle's
words to the Corinthians.[162] And thirdly, that those who are greater
may not therefore be proud, but may realize that they need the suffrages
of their inferiors.

"Father, I will that where I am they also whom Thou hast given
Me may be with Me; that they may see My glory, which Thou hast
given Me: because Thou hast loved Me before the foundation of
the world."[163]

VIII

Ought We To Pray for Our Enemies?

_But I say to you ... pray for them that persecute and calumniate
you._[164]

To pray for others is a work of charity, as we have said above. Hence we
are bound to pray for our enemies in the same way as we are bound to
love them. We have already explained, in the _Treatise on Charity_, in
what sense we are bound to love our enemies; namely, that we are bound
to love their nature, not their fault; and that to love our enemies in
general is of precept; to love them, however, individually, is not of
precept save in the sense of being prepared to do so; a man, for
instance, is bound to be ready to love an individual enemy and to help
him in case of necessity, or if he comes to seek his pardon. But
absolutely to love our individual enemies, and to assist them, belongs
to perfection.

In the same way, then, it is necessary that in our general prayers for
others we should not exclude our enemies. But to make special prayer for
th