ours," because given us by the munificence of God; the sins which we commit are " ours," because with us rests their guilt. They are our own free acts, otherwise they could not be imputed to us as sins; sustaining, therefore, the weight, and confessing the guilt of our sins, we implore the divine clemency, which is necessary for their expiation. In this confession we seek not to palliate our guilt, nor to transfer the blame to others, as our first parents Adam and Eve did; [1] no, we unbosom ourselves unreservedly, and as we really are, pouring out, if we are wise, the prayer of the prophet: " Incline not my heart to evil words, to make excuses in sins." [2]
We do not say, "forgive me," but "forgive us;" because, in virtue of the fraternal relation and mutual charity subsisting between all men, we are each bound to be solicitous for the common salvation of all; and, when we pray for ourselves, it is our duty to pray also for others. This manner of praying, delivered by our Lord, and subsequently received and always retained by the Church of God, was most strictly observed and enforced by the Apostles. In the Old and New Testaments we find this ardent zeal and intense earnestness in praying for the salvation of others, strikingly exemplified in the conduct of Moses and of Paul; the former besought God in these words: " Either forgive them this trespass; or, if thou dost not, strike me out of the book that thou hast, written;" [3] the latter: " I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for sake of my brethren." [4]
"As WE ALSO FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS"] The word " as," may be understood in two senses: it has the force of a companson when we beg of God to pardon us our sins, as we pardon the wrongs and contumelies which we receive at the hands of those who injure us. It also marks a condition, and in this sense we find it interpreted by Christ our Lord: "If you will forgive men their offences, your Heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences: but if you will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences." [5] Either sense, however, equally implies the necessity of forgiveness on our part, intimating, as it does, that, to obtain from God the pardon of our offences, we must also extend pardon to those from whom we may have received injury. Such is the rigour with which God exacts from us the pardon of injuries, and the tribute of mutual affection and love, that he rejects and despises the gifts and sacrifices of those who are not reconciled one to another. To conduct ourselves towards others, as we would have them to demean themselves towards us, is an obligation founded also upon the law of nature; unparalleled, then, must be the effrontery of him, who, whilst feelings of hostility to a brother rankles in his breast, solicits from God the pardon of offences.
