Hallowed Be the Name of God
“Hallowed be Thy Name” (Matt. 6:9). The first petition of the Lord’s Prayer begins with sentiments of praise and adoration for the most adorable Name of God. In so doing, our Savior, the true Author of this prayer, has shown us the primary importance of giving honor and glory to God from Whom all things come. How often do we pause to consider what this petition fully means?
The Roman Catechism addresses the meaning of this petition by tying it back to the greatest of the Commandments, namely, to love God above all else: “Acting thus, we shall be faithful to the claims and rules of charity, which teaches us to love God more than ourselves and to ask, in the first place, those things we desire on His account, and next, those things we desire on our own.”
In a similar vein, The Catechism of St. Pius X asks, “Why do we first of all ask that the Name of God may be sanctified?” The answer: “We first of all ask that the Name of God may be sanctified, because the glory of God should be nearer our hearts than all other goods and interests.”
Can We Add to an All-Powerful God’s Honor?
It is fitting that Our Lord and God – He Who is our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier – is honored and praised at the beginning of the Our Father. However, God is infinitely perfect in Himself and needs nothing from us, a truth that can be ascribed to the aseity of God (He exists in and of Himself). Consequently, one could conclude that God gains nothing from our praise and, taken to its extreme, that He ignores, or worse rejects, all prayers of adoration since He cannot benefit from them. In unwavering terms, the Roman Catechism denounces this error.
The Catechism adds: “In praying that the Name of God may be hallowed, our meaning is that the sanctity and glory of the divine name may be increased.” As a result, our prayer that God’s Name will be honored is prayed in part to help us recall our own duty to spread His adorable Name far and wide. St. Augustine, the illustrious Doctor of the Church (354-430 A.D.), concluded the same in a letter to Proba, more than a millennium before the Roman Catechism was written:
“We need to use words so that we may remind ourselves to consider carefully what we are asking, not so that we may think we can instruct the Lord or prevail on Him. Thus, when we say: Hallowed be Thy Name, we are reminding ourselves to desire that His Name, which in fact is always holy, should also be considered holy among men. I mean that it should not be held in contempt. But this is a help for men, not for God.”
A Poignant Anecdote
A catechist posed the following query to his youthful pupils. If our goal is to get to Heaven and spend eternity there in perfect bliss and happiness, then why doesn’t God just create us in Heaven already? The young students were stumped. The more intelligent ones raised the issue of free-will. Others who knew their catechism brought up original sin. Still others spoke of how “unfair” it was for God to place us in this ‘vale of tears’ filled with pain, suffering, and temptations that lead so many to hell.
However, one young girl replied, “Actually our goal is not to get to Heaven.” This caught the teacher off guard: “Please, explain.” The young girl proceeded to simply state: The reason we exist is to give God glory. We are called to know Him, to love Him, to obey Him, and to serve Him. We must always do this. We do it on earth and then we continue to do it in Heaven. So our time here is like getting practice for Heaven. But Heaven is not really the goal, it is simply a consequence of our real purpose – to glorify God. The catechist was impressed. Yes, this candidate was ready for confirmation and much more.
I bring up this incident because it highlights this prayer we offer every day: Hallowed be Thy Name. It is the first petition because it is our first concern. It is the first petition because it defines the essence and reason for our existence. It is all too easy for us to forget this and simply race past these words. The next time we pray the Our Father, may we reflect consciously and deliberately upon these priceless words.
The Five Sanctifications of God’s Name
The Roman Catechism enumerates and explains the five sanctifications of God’s Name for which we should pray.
- Glorification by the Faithful: We pray that the faithful may glorify God with their minds, souls, and lips, both inwardly and outwardly, following the example of heavenly beings, and adhering to the greatest commandment of loving and serving God.
- Conversion of Unbelievers: We pray for the conversion of those who do not believe in God, that they may come to know, worship, and reverence Him, embracing the true Catholic Faith, outside of which there is no salvation.
- Conversion of Sinners: We pray for sinners to repent and return to God, emphasizing the importance of saving souls from the state of mortal sin, and helping them recognize God as the source of all sanctity.
- Thanksgiving for God’s Favors: We praise and thank God for all His blessings, both spiritual and temporal, recognizing Him as the source of all good things in our lives, and that even the things we perceive as evil are permitted by God for our good, our sanctification, and for His greater glory.
- Recognition of the Church by All: We pray that the Church may be acknowledged as the one and only true religion and the necessary path for salvation, highlighting the importance of its sacraments and divine authority, and countering the fashionable errors of religious indifferentism.
Living a Holy Life Is Necessary
From this, it follows that by praying the Lord’s Prayer we affirm our own desire and intention to live a holy life. We must be uncompromising in our fidelity to true Catholic doctrine and Catholic worship, while also maintaining the utmost charity towards God and neighbor. Souls will only be converted after great labor by our work with apologetics. But souls will be lost in only a few moments if they see us living a hypocritical life at odds with the Faith we verbally profess. Keep this in mind in all your actions, no matter how small: souls are easily lost by scandal.
St. Padre Pio once remarked: “Holiness means loving our neighbor as our self for love of God. In this connection holiness means loving those who curse us, who hate and persecute us and even doing good to them. Holiness means living humbly, being disinterested, prudent, just, patient, kind, chaste, meek, diligent, carrying out one’s duties for no other reason than that of pleasing God and receiving from Him alone the reward one deserves.” Thus, to truly pray, “Hallowed be Thy Name,” we must be serious about pursuing and practicing these characteristics of a holy life.
For more on this and other elements of the Roman Catechism, please see the book “The Roman Catechism Explained for the Modern World.”
Conclusion
It is all too common to hastily pray the Lord’s Prayer and, in the process, forget the immense wisdom and meaning behind each of the petitions – precious words given to us by our Savior Himself. We would do well to take a minute right now to slowly pray the Our Father and, as we do so, to recall the five sanctifications of God’s Name for which we should earnestly pray. May Our Lord’s Name truly be honored and praised and may those who are separated from the true Faith convert so that we may all be united under the one true God and safe in the embrace of our Blessed Mother’s mantle.