St. Alphonsus Liguori emphasized that God wishes all to be saved, Christ died to save all, and the grace of prayer is given to all.
St. Thomas Aquinas stated: “Christ Jesus is mediator between God and men; not between God and some men, but between him and all men; and this would not be, unless he willed all to be saved.”
The saint said, “In God, the salvation of all men, considered in itself, belongs to that class of things which he wishes, and this is his antecedent will; but when the good of justice is taken into consideration, and the rightness of punishing sin, in this sense he does not will the salvation of all, and this is his consequent will.”
St. Alphonsus explained: “God’s will to save all men is on his part absolute; it is only conditional on the part of the object willed, that is, if man will correspond to what the right order demands, in order to be saved.”
We cannot force someone to love us. God respects human’s free will, and he would not force us to love him. St. John Chrysostom said. “Why then are not all men saved, if God wills all to be saved? Because every man’s will does not coincide with his will, and he forces no man.”
St. Ambrose said, “Christ came to cure our wounds; but since all do not search for the remedy … therefore he cures those who are willing; he does not force the unwilling.”
St. Augustine said, “God wills all men to be saved, but not so as to destroy their free will.” He taught: “By the very fact that God is most firmly believed not to command impossibilities, we are admonished both what to do in easy things, and in difficult things what to ask for.”
Later in history, the Council of Trent defined: “God does not command impossibilities; but by commanding he admonishes you both to do what you can, and to ask for that which is beyond your power, and by his help enables you to do it.”
St. Alphonsus explained: “The Council says that God does not impose impossible commands, because he either gives assistance to observe them, or gives the grace of prayer to obtain this assistance, which he always grants when it is prayed for.”
The saint wrote, “God, in the natural order, has ordained that man should be born naked, and in want of several things necessary for life, but then has given him hands and intelligence to clothe himself and provide for his other needs; so, in the supernatural order, man is born unable to obtain salvation by his own strength; but God in his goodness grants to everyone the grace of prayer, by which he is able to obtain all other graces which he needs in order to keep the commandments and to be saved.”
Commenting on the classic maxim, “To him who does what in him lies, God does not refuse his grace,” St. Alphonsus wrote, “To the man who prays, and thus makes good use of the sufficient grace which enables him to do such an easy thing as prayer, God does not refuse the efficacious grace to enable him to execute difficult things.”
The saint concluded with these strong words: “I say, and repeat, and will keep repeating as long as I live, that our whole salvation depends on prayer; and, therefore, that all writers in their books, all preachers in their sermons, all confessors in their instructions to their penitents, should not inculcate anything more strongly than continual prayer. They should always admonish, exclaim, and continually repeat, Pray, pray, never cease to pray; for if you pray, your salvation will be secure; but if you leave off praying, your damnation will be certain. All preachers and directors ought to do this; because, according to the opinion of every Catholic school, there is no doubt of this truth, that he who prays, obtains grace and is saved; but those who practise it are too few, and this is the reason why so few are saved.”
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天主給所有人祈禱的恩寵
聖亞豐索強調天主願意所有的人都能得救，基督為所有人的得救而死，祈禱的聖寵給了所有的人。
聖多馬斯稱：『基督耶穌是人和天主的中保；不是天主與一些人的中保，但祂和所有的人之中保；這會是不可能的，除非祂願意所有的人都能得救。』這聖人說：『在天主內，所有人的得救是屬於天主所願意的事，這是祂的先行旨意；但當要顧及公義的善，和懲處罪惡的正確性，從這個意義上說，祂不願意所有人的得救，這就是祂的後項旨意。』聖亞豐索解釋道：『天主拯救所有人的旨意為祂來說是絕對的； 它只取決於願意的對象，也就是說，如果人會符合正確秩序的要求，以便得救。』
我們不能夠強迫他人去愛我們。天主尊重人的自由，祂也不會強迫我們去愛祂。金口聖若望說：『如果天主願意所有的人都得救，為什麼不是所有的人都能得救？因為人的意願不跟祂的旨意相同，祂也不會強迫他人。』聖奧斯定說：『天主願意所有的人都得救，但不會因而去破壞他的自由意志。』聖安博說：『基督來治療我們的傷口；但因為不是所有人都去尋找治療…所以祂治療那些願意的；祂不會強迫那些不願意的。』
聖奧斯定教導：『事實上，我們確信天主不命令不可能的事，祂告誡我們需要做的事是容易做的，在困難的事要知道作什麼的請求。』後來，特倫多大公會議定義說：『天主並不命令不可能的事；但以命令，祂告誡你去做你所能做的，並且祈求那超出你能力所及的，藉祂的幫助祂讓你做到。』
聖亞豐索解釋道：『這大公會議說天主不會頒命不可能做到的，因為祂會是施與協助俾能奉行，或是會施與祈禱的恩寵使能得獲祂的幫助，祂時常施與所祈求的幫助。』這聖人寫道：『天主，在自然的次序中，讓人赤身出生，缺乏幾樣生活必需的東西，但給了他雙手和智力去尋找衣著和其他所需；所以在超自然的次序中，人是生來不能因自己的力量可以獲得救恩的；但天主以祂的仁愛允許每人祈禱的恩寵，以此人可以獲得所有其他的恩寵，世人是需要這些恩寵便能守好天主的誠命和得救。』
按傳統格言評論：『對那些做好他能夠做的，天主不會拒絕祂的恩寵』，聖亞豐索寫道：『對祈禱的人，即善用足夠恩寵來作祈禱這容易的事，天主不會拒絕那奏效的聖寵去使他們執行困難的工作。』
這聖人以強硬的語句作結束：『我說，並重複，在我有生一日也會不斷重複，我們全部的救恩依靠著我們的祈禱；所以所有的作者們在你的著作中，所有的宣道者，在的的講道中，所有聽告解的在你的指引中，諄諄教導任何的事物都比不上強調不斷祈禱更為重要。他們要時常告誡，呼喊和不斷重複，祈禱，祈禱，永不停止祈禱；因為如果你祈禱，你的救恩得以鞏固；可是如果你離開祈禱，你的喪亡會肯定。所有的講道人和神師都應該這樣做；因為根據所有天主教學派的意見，無可置疑這是真確的，祈禱的人得到聖寵並得救；但實踐祈禱的人不多，這就是為什麼得救的人少。』
