Lead us not into temptation

Lead us not into temptation is a recurring, largely unspecified request for special intercession. Repeated on small slips of paper given to a priest, it stands out because so few petitioners explain what they seek help with.

Use in the Narrative

The priest receives a steady flow of written requests for special intercession. Many consist simply of this phrase, while very few are more specific; the passage gives no further account of who wrote them or what particular temptation they had in mind.

The Surrounding Practice

The requests arrive amid a sharp increase in money counted for candles. The priest keeps reordering them, but deliveries cannot come quickly enough, and the flow of petitions adds to his work. The passage places a familiar prayer alongside these concrete signs of devotional activity without supplying an explanation for either the requests or their sudden increase.