And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.
All Commentaries on Luke 11:1 Go To Luke 11
Cyril of Alexandria
AD 444
He requires his disciples to be gentle and slow to anger, so that they may be able to say blamelessly in their prayers, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted unto us.” … He first commands them to ask forgiveness of the sins they commit and then to confess that they entirely forgive others. If I may say so, they ask God to imitate the patience that they practice. The same gentleness that they show to their fellow servants, they pray that they may receive in equal measure from God, who gives justly, and knows how to show mercy to everyone….The Savior of all and Lord with good reason did not conclude this clause of the prayer at this point but commanded us to add, “For we also ourselves have forgiven every one who is indebted to us.” This is fitting to say only for those who have chosen a virtuous life and are practicing without carelessness “the will of God” that, as Scripture says, “is good and acceptable and perfect.” …We must ask God for the forgiveness of the sins that we have committed. First, we must have forgiven whoever has offended us in anything. This is if their sin is against us and not against the glory of the supreme God. We are not masters over such actions but only over those that have been committed against ourselves. By forgiving the brothers what they do to us, we will then certainly find Christ, the Savior of all, gentle and ready to show us mercy. Commentary on Luke, Homily
