Tract of Wednesday in Passion Week

Psalm 102:10; 78:8, 9

O Lord, deal with us not according to our sins, nor requite us according to our crimes. V. O Lord, remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may Thy compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. [Kneel.] V. Help us, O God, our Saviour, because of the glory of Thy Name, O Lord; deliver us and pardon our sins for Thy Name’s sake.

Haydock

Psalm 102

Verse 10. Iniquities. Which deserved eternal reprobation.

Psalm 78

Verse 8. Former iniquities, which we and our fathers have committed. The Hebrews generally pray for the remission of their parent’s faults. Lam. v. 7. Bar. iii. 5. Dan. ix. 5. C. — But here the penitents’ own transgressions may be meant. Bert. — God is ready to pardon such. W.

Verse 9. Help. The necessity of grace, and the co-operation of free-will, are here plainly asserted. S. Aug.

Denzinger

141: The Grace of God

ST. CELESTINE I 422-432
The Catalog or the Authoritative Statements
of the Past Bishops of the Holy See
Concerning the Grace of God

Therefore, in accordance with the ecclesiastical rules and documents taken on divine authority, we are so strengthened by our Lord’s aid that we confess openly that God [is] the author of all good dispositions of mind, and also of works, and of all zeal, and of all virtues by which from the beginning of faith we tend towards God; and we do not doubt that all the merits of man are preceded by His grace, through whom it is brought to pass, that we begin both to will and to do [Phil. 2:13] anything good. Assuredly free choice is not taken away by this aid and gift of God, but it is set at liberty, that light may come from darkness, right from wrong, health from sickness, and prudence from imprudence. For, so great is the goodness of God towards all men that He wishes the merits, which are His own gifts, to be ours, and in consideration of those which He has conferred, He intends to give eternal rewards. * For He acts in us that we may both will and do what He wishes, nor does He allow those gifts to be idle in us which He has given to be used and not to be neglected, that we also may be cooperators with the grace of God. And if we see that there is any listlessness in us as a result of our relaxation, let us carefully have recourse to Him,who heals all our weaknesses and redeems our life from destruction [Ps. 102:3 f.], andto whom we daily say: Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil [Matt. 6:13].

187: Grace

ST. FELIX III 526-530
COUNCIL OF ORANGE II 529
Confirmed by Boniface II
(against the Semipelagians)

Can. 14. “No wretched person is freed from misery, however small, unless he is first reached by the mercy of God” [St. Prosper] just as the Psalmist says: Let thy mercy, Lord, speedily anticipate us [Ps. 78:8]; and also: “My God, His mercy will prevent me” [Ps. 58:11].

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