“Thy kingdom come.”  This petition contains a great deal more than we at first see in it.  In it we ask that God may reign in our hearts and in the hearts of all men by His grace in this life, and that we and all men may attain our eternal salvation, and thus be brought to reign forever with God in Heaven—­the kingdom of His glory.  As the Church on earth is frequently called the kingdom of Christ, and as all the labors of the Church are directed to the salvation of souls, we pray also in this petition that the Church may be extended upon earth, that the true religion may be spread over the whole world, that all men may know and serve the true God and cheerfully obey His holy laws; that the devil may have no dominion over them.  While saying this petition we may have it in our minds to pray even for particular ways in which the true religion can be spread; for example, by praying that the missionaries may meet with success and all the missions prosper; that priests and bishops may be ordained to preach the Gospel; that the Church may overcome all her enemies everywhere, and the true religion triumph.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  In Heaven all the angels and saints obey God perfectly; they never offend Him; so we pray that it may be on earth as it is in Heaven, all men doing God’s will, observing His laws and the laws of His Church, and living without sin.

“Give us this day our daily bread.”  In this petition “bread” means not merely bread, but everything we need for our daily lives; such as food, clothing, light, heat, air, and the like; also food for the soul, i.e., grace.  If a beggar told you that he had not tasted bread for the whole day, you would never think of asking him if he had eaten any cake, because you would understand by his word bread all kinds of food.  We say “daily,” to teach us not to be greedy or too careful about ourselves, and not to ask for unnecessary things, but to pray for what we need for our present wants.

“And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  “Trespasses” means here our sins, our offenses against God.  When we trespass we enter places we should not, or where we are forbidden to go.  So when we sin we go where we should not go, viz., out of the path of virtue that leads to God, and into the way of vice that leads to the devil.

“As we forgive them.”  We take this to mean:  we forgive others who have offended us, and for that reason, God, You should forgive us who have offended You.  Our Lord told a beautiful parable, i.e., a story by way of illustration, to explain this. (Matt. 18:23).  A very rich man had a servant who owed him a large sum of money.  One day the master asked the servant for the money, and the poor servant had none to give.  Now the law of the country was, that when anyone could not pay his debts, all that he had could be sold and the money given to the one to whom it was due, and if