In the next petition we ask Him to " Give us this day our daily bread." Those who have given themselves up to God in an interior life, and have cast themselves upon His providence, have no need to importune their divine Master to give them their earthly bread for their bodily support, for as they have forsaken the love of the world for Him, He will provide for them, as He is in a manner bound to do. So, in this petition, we beg for our spiritual necessities.
Pray here for all the graces you need, for strength to support you in temptation, for light to know the will of Our Lord, since we can not do His will, as we have asked that it might be done, without the assistance and light of the Holy Ghost. Also, when you are overburdened with grief, or temptations, or other trials, it is right you should pray for relief, as far as relief is needful for you; and in times of long-continued dryness, it is not wrong for you humbly to ask a little of the bread of consolation, if it be Our Lord's will. But this petition may, in a special manner, be applied to the Blessed Sacrament, in which Our Lord Himself becomes our daily or supersubstantial bread; and we can turn this clause into a contemplation upon the real presence, and holy communion.
As to the rest of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer, what has already been said of the first four is sufficient to show how the devout soul may occupy her time with each of the others. It is enough to say that in the petition, " Forgive us our trespasses," special consideration should be given to the second clause — "As we forgive those who trespass against us." For here we can make acts of patience under annoyances, of ready forgiveness of all injuries, offer ourselves to be ill-treated, humiliated, and insulted, and pray for the spirit of meekness. Here, also, in this connection, we can bring in the sacred Passion of Our Lord, and consider the meekness and patient love with which He endured so many outrages; and so,
