On prayer and the contemplative life · Aquinas, Saint Thomas
1. To ask and to receive belong to the same person. But the Divine
Chapter 40 of 107 · 1 min read
Persons receive: the Son, namely, and the Holy Spirit. Consequently They can also pray; indeed it is the Son Himself Who says, I will ask the Father, and the Apostle says of the Holy Spirit, The Spirit Himself asketh for us.
But it belongs to the Divine Persons to receive by Their nature, whereas to pray belongs to one who receives through grace. The Son is said to ask or pray according to the nature He took upon Himself—that is according to His Human, and not according to His Divine, Nature; the Holy Spirit, too, is said to petition because He makes us petition.
