Thy Will be Done

“As darkness vanishes when light is brought into the gloom of caves, so also, when Thy Will is done in me, every foul and wicked movement of my free will is brought to nought. For continence will extinguish the uncontrolled impulses of a mind dominated by passion; humility will destroy conceit, moderation will heal the disease of pride; whereas the supreme good of charity will expel a whole catalogue of opposing evils from the soul. Before this virtue recede hate and envy, wrath and all angry dispositions of our emotions. It casts out treachery and hypocrisy, brooding over injuries and craving for revenge; it calms the furious beating of the heart and the evil eye. The whole host of such evils is wiped out by a charitable disposition. Thus the Will of God effectively casts out a twofold idolatry; a twofold idolatry, that is to say, that concerning idols, and the greed of silver and gold, which the prophecy calls the idols of the Gentiles. Therefore let Thy Will be done so that the will of the devil may be destroyed.”

St. Gregory of Nyssa, Homily 4 on The Lord’s Prayer