283] Much less, then, are their prayers heard for
things that do not concern them.

But this prayer of the Martyrs is nothing more than their desire
to obtain the garment of the body and the society of the Saints
who are to be saved; it expresses their agreement with the
Divine Justice which punishes the wicked. Hence on those words
of the Apocalypse,[284] _How long, O Lord_, the Ordinary Gloss
says: "They yearn for a greater joy, and for the companionship
of the Saints, and they agree with the justice of God."

2. It is said in Jeremias[285]: _If Moses and Samuel shall stand before
Me, My soul is not towards this people_. The Saints, then, are not
always heard when they pray for us to God.

But God here speaks of Moses and Samuel according as they were
in this life, for they are said to have prayed for the people
and thus withstood the wrath of God. Yet none the less, had they
lived in Jeremias' time they would not have been able to appease
by their prayers God's wrath upon the people, so great was the
latter's wickedness. This is the meaning of that passage.

3. The Saints in our Fatherland are said to be the equals of the
Angels.[286] But the Angels are not always heard in their prayers to
God, as is evident from Daniel[287]: _I am come for thy words. But the
Prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days._
But the Angel who spoke had not come to Daniel's assistance without
asking his freedom from God; yet none the less the fulfilment of his
prayer was hindered. In the same way, then, neither are the prayers of
other Saints to God for us always heard.

But this contest of the good Angels is not to be understood in
the sense that they put forth contrary prayers before God, but
that they set before the Divine scrutiny conflicting merits on
either hand, and awaited the Divine decision. Thus S. Gregory,
expounding the above words of Daniel, says: "These sublime
Spirits who rule over the nations in no sense strive for those
who do evil, but they scrutinize their deeds and judge justly;
hence, when the faults or the merits of any nation are submitted
to the Council of the Supreme Court, he who is set over that
particular nation is described as either losing or failing in
the contest. But the sole victory for all of them is the supreme
will of his Creator above him; and since they ever look towards