ial sense. Therefore we should not ask God for them in our prayers. On the contrary, It is written ( Prov. 30:8 ): "Give me only the necessaries of life." I answer that, As Augustine says (ad Probam, de orando Deum, Ep. cxxx, 12): "It is lawful to pray for what it is lawful to de…

e most eligible form of life is that which is a mean between riches and poverty; for it is written ( Prov. 30:8 ): "Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only the necessaries of life." Therefore Christ should have led a life, not of poverty, but of moderation. Objection 2:…

gs. Yet neither is every kind of beggary an occasion of theft and perjury, as Solomon seems to add ( Prov. 30:8 ); but only that which is involuntary, in order to avoid which, a man is guilty of theft and perjury. But voluntary poverty is not open to this danger: and such was the…