About prayer

The work “On Prayer” (33 chapters) was written by Origen at the request of Ambrose and his wife Tatiana around 234. It consists of two parts. In the first part (chap. 1-17), Origen discusses the necessity, benefit, meaning and effect of prayer. In particular, he examines the argument that prayer cannot produce any change in the course of events ordained by God. Based on the doctrine of human freedom, Origen notes that God in His omniscience takes this freedom into account, therefore turning to God with prayers and requests is not meaningless, but is consistent with God’s plan to give something good to those who turn to Him. The real purpose of prayer is not to force God to do something, but to enter into mysterious communication with Him and thereby realize one’s true spiritual needs. Elevation of the heart towards God, presenting oneself in His presence, a God-fearing mood produce a sanctifying influence on all human activity. There are four types of prayer: supplication, intercession, thanksgiving and, in the proper sense, prayer. According to Origen’s false idea, prayer, in the proper sense, can only be addressed to God the Father and only about spiritual things, and not about earthly and temporary things, which mean nothing in comparison with the former. The content, nature and method of prayer are determined by the model given by the Lord Himself, and the second part of the work is devoted to an explanation of the Lord's Prayer (chap. 18-30). Based on the features of the text in Matthew (Matthew 6:9-13) and Luke (Luke 11:2-4), Origen is inclined to recognize two different prayers, very similar in their verbal expression. In conclusion (chap. 31-33), Origen returns to the explanations of the first part, supplementing them, and with references to Holy Scripture confirms his instructions about the mood, position of the person praying, time and place of prayer. General prayer in church and facing the east is preferably recommended. Prayer should always contain four parts: doxology, thanksgiving, confession of sins and petition. Prayer should begin and end with a doxology in honor of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. *The title of the essay in Latin is De oratione. Contents Preliminary information Introduction § 1. What is impossible for a person left to himself, becomes possible for him with the favor of God towards him in Christ; examples. § 2. The same with prayer. We must know what we are praying for and be reasonable about the type and manner of prayer. But Paul, who expressed such excellent thoughts about prayer, admitted that he did not know what to pray for as he should pray (Rom. 8:26); That’s why the Spirit comes to our help in our weakness. In a feeling of personal weakness, therefore, one of the Lord’s disciples already said to Him: Lord! Teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:7). That is why Origen appeals to Divine help when writing this argument. About prayer in general § 3. About the word εὐχή, which in Holy Scripture means both prayer and vow. § 4. Are both meanings also characteristic of the word προσευχή? § 5. Objections of opponents of prayer. Since the omniscient and all-good God directs everything for our good even without our prayers; since, in addition, both the earthly destinies and the eternal lot of each person are determined in the council of God from eternity and Divine decisions are not subject to change: then prayer is completely useless and even insane. § 6. Refutation of the previously stated objections. A person can completely freely surrender himself to both good and evil, or - which is the same - is capable of free self-determination, has a free choice. But God foresees from eternity what exactly, good or evil, will be chosen by this or that person; therefore, with regard to the free decision of the will of each individual person and spontaneously chosen actions, especially with regard to the prayer of a person, he makes determinations regarding each particular person. Examples. § 7. Reply to the assertion that prayer in general is as useless as praying for the sun to rise. § 8. About the right kind and image of prayer, namely about positioning oneself during prayer in the face of God and about the benefits that already occur from this alone. § 9. It is proven from Holy Scripture that before prayer one must forgive, that the female sex in particular must come to prayer in decent clothing, and that during prayer one must maintain reverence: this alone brings us the greatest benefit. § 10. Further, if we surrender ourselves with complete trust to Providence and are tireless in prayer, then in addition our petitionary prayers are heard, especially since our High Priest Jesus then prays with us and for us. § 11. And the Angels and saints in heaven pray for us. The saints are prompted to this by their completely perfect love for their neighbors; and angels contribute to the salvation of people as servants of Christ. § 12. In addition, the words of prayer can neutralize the tricks of our evil enemy. You just need to constantly pray. § 13. The necessity of prayer is revealed from the prayer of Jesus; its usefulness, or reality from the allegorical examples of the Old Testament: the same gifts that the pious people of the Old Testament were given as participants in, we also receive through prayer gifts that were only prefigured by those allegorical gifts and which are superior to those. § 14. We must pray for the noblest and heavenly blessings. There are then four types of prayer (petition, laudation, intercession and thanksgiving). This division is confirmed using examples from Holy Scripture. Requests, intercessions and gratitude find application in mutual relations between people; the more applicable it is, therefore, in our relationship to Christ. § 15. Prayer in its own right cannot be addressed to any creature; it is impossible to treat her even to Christ the Lord - a misconception that Origen tried to prove in more detail. But we must offer our prayers only to God the Father through the mediation of Christ, our high priest: we must pray “in the name of Jesus.” § 16. It would be a sin to pray to Christ. We must pray only to the Father, and, moreover, for things that are truly great and heavenly, because earthly blessings are only, as it were, a shadow accompanying those blessings. Therefore, if, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, temporary benefits were provided to the saints and bodily salvation was granted, then this was in some way bodily salvation, then in some way this was only a secondary matter and only a consequence of the much higher and spiritual gifts they received. § 17. Many of the people with heavenly gifts do not receive any earthly ones or only insignificant ones. But this does not mean anything because temporary blessings in comparison with heavenly ones are insignificant and mean nothing. § 18. Transition to the 2nd part. Is the “Lord’s Prayer” set forth by the evangelists Matthew and Luke the same? § 19. Explanation of the Lord’s words about the right kind of prayer, spoken by Him immediately before communicating the prayer Our Father. First of all, according to those who say, when praying, there is no need to seek praise from people; therefore one should not pray on street corners. § 20. One should not pray in synagogues; Following the example of the actors, one should not only be outwardly devoted to virtue; on the contrary, one should pray in a closed room. § 21. One should not pray for insignificant objects and talk too much like the pagans. § 22. About the conversion of the Our Father, and first of all about the word “Father”: truly filial relations with God, excluded by sin, became known only in the new testament. But whoever is not a true child of God should be afraid to call God “Father.” All our deeds, words and thoughts should be a continuous “Our Father.” § 23. Existing in heaven: just as it is generally impossible to imagine God present in one specific place, similarly one cannot imagine His spatial presence in heaven. His presence there must be imagined as the image of His residence in the saints. About some anthropologisms in the Old Testament. § 24. Hallowed be Thy name. What is a “name” anyway? What is the “name of God”? How can you sanctify the “Name of God”? Petitions in the Lord's Prayer are expressed in the imperative form, used instead of the desirable form. § 25. Thy kingdom come. By this kingdom we must understand the kingdom of God within the righteous, where God (Father and Son) rules, just as Satan and sin rule in the heart of a sinner. We should constantly repeat this and the previous petition because the name of God on earth is never perfectly hallowed, and the kingdom of God never fully comes. And since the kingdom of God and the kingdom of sin cannot exist side by side, we must tirelessly fight against sin. § 26. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. These words express the request: 1) that the will of God be fulfilled by us, the inhabitants of the earth, in the same way as by the inhabitants of heaven (to which evil spirits in heavenly countries, however, cannot be counted); or 2) so that it is fulfilled by fellow members of the Church, as well as by Christ; or, finally, 3) so that it is fulfilled on earth both by those people who are heavenly minded and by those who think only about earthly things. § 27. Our daily bread is given to us this day. – By bread here we should not mean food of the body, but food of the soul. This food for the soul is the word of God and the holy Eucharist. Of course, the same spiritual food is not suitable for both the imperfect and the perfect. But even the simplest truths of Divine revelation constitute more excellent food for the soul than the most ingenious false teachings. – This bread of the soul, which is also called the “tree of life” and “wisdom”, supports the foundations of the human being (its substance); - because it maintains a healthy and strong spiritual essence of a person, namely the soul. This spiritual food of ours is common to us with the angels; that is why angels can receive this food from us, just as we, in turn, can be spiritually fed by good and evil angels and our neighbors. - Therefore, we pray to God that He will give us the bread just named for this day, i.e. for this present life, or for the current period of time, and so that He gives it to us daily, i.e. during periods of time after this earthly life when God will prove extremely merciful and forgive sins even against the Holy Spirit. Finally, we call this bread ours because everything belongs to the saints. § 28. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. We all have many different responsibilities, some of them common in relation to our neighbors, to ourselves, to God and St. angels, some of whom are specially related to rank and status; and if we do not fulfill these duties, even partially or not at all, then we become debtors. And in relation to ourselves, in turn, many are debtors. But remembering our own guilt, we must treat our debtors leniently and forgive them again, especially since God acts with us in the same way, as we should do with our neighbors. This means that we all, to a certain extent, have the power to forgive sins, sins committed against us. The presbyter, in addition, has the authority in the name of God to forgive a sinner or to withhold his sins; but he cannot make arbitrary or frivolous use of this authority because many sins are unforgivable. § 29. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our entire earthly life is full of temptations, which, however, are not the same for beginners in spiritual life and for those who are perfect. This is taught by Holy Scripture in sayings and examples; this is also confirmed by general experience: rich and poor, righteous and sinner, healthy and sick, noble and commoner, they are all subject to various temptations; even the study of Holy Scripture has its dangers. Therefore, when the obligation is placed on us to pray, lest we fall into temptation, this does not have the same meaning, as if we should wish that we should not be subjected to temptations at all - this is impossible - but we should only wish that we should not be overcome by temptations. But those who are obliged to pray: Do not lead us into temptation, begs our attention to the question: Can God tempt someone and plunge someone into misfortune? The difficulty is not resolved by distinguishing, together with some heretics, the hard-hearted God of the law from the God of the gospel, because the New Testament God also leads people into temptations. The resolution, according to Origen, should be as follows. Just as God once healed him in the desert from disordered carnal desires, in the same way God to this day leads perverted people into temptations, i.e. gives them over to the sacrifice of their base desires, so that through immeasurable devotion to sinful pleasures they will receive an aversion to sin, and in their subsequent lives they will not so easily fall into sins. This can be the true, greatest punishment for sin; it is like purification in fire. In the words: Do not lead us into temptation; therefore we pray for grace, so as not to do anything to us, as a result of which we could be given over to the sinful desires of our hearts. Temptations, however, have the benefit that they reveal our true state of mind. Remembering previous temptations can prevent the victory of subsequent ones over us. § 30. But deliver us from evil. – This request, in fact, is already contained in the previous one. God does not deliver us from evil in such a way that the enemy no longer approaches us at all; but in such a way that through no temptation and no misfortune can he defeat us or deprive us of courage. We see this from the sayings of Holy Scripture; We especially see this in the example of the sufferer Job. Therefore, we must pray that our evil enemy cannot plunge our souls into flame with his kindled arrows. Conclusion § 31. About the mental mood and body position during prayer, as well as about the place and time for prayer, etc. As for the spiritual mood, especially before prayer, you need to concentrate, and during it, avoid distraction. The best position of the body during prayer is when one prays with outstretched arms and upward-facing eyes; should also, if possible, kneel, just as beings who do not have a human image, in a spiritual sense, still kneel before God. As for the place, then, of course, you can pray in any place; Still, you need to choose the most decent places in the house for prayer, not defiled by any sin. The most decent and most attractive place for prayer is the church, where angels join the faithful, especially their guardian angels, where the power of our Lord is, as well as where the souls of the dead and saints are present. If the majority of those gathered in the church consists of sinners who did not come together for holy reasons, then instead of angels and saints, evil spirits are mixed in with them. Thus, two kinds of people always gather in the church; either pious people and holy angels, or wicked people and evil angels. § 32. When praying, one should turn to the sunrise, as a sign that souls look to Christ as the true light of the world. § 33. Our prayer must always have the following components: glorification, thanksgiving, confession of sins and petition. In conclusion, Origen hopes that in the future he will be able to once again engage in discussion about prayer and write the best essay on this subject. Ambrose, a noble and wealthy native of Alexandria, who himself loved learning and patronized scientists, held significant and high positions at the imperial court and various assignments from him, had a great influence on the writing activity of the teacher of the Church Origen. Owing to Origen and his very conversion to Christianity, he provided his spiritual father and faithful friend until his death not only with rich material resources for the publication of his scientific works, but he constantly gave reasons and encouraged his teacher to write various works. Origen’s work “περἱ εὐχῆς” “On Prayer” owes its origin to the same impulse and demand on the part of Ambrose. There is no way to determine exactly when Origen wrote this work; in any case, it was not written in Alexandria, therefore, it was written no earlier than 231 AD. A) The content of this, undoubtedly genuine, rich in thoughts, and strictly logically developed in form, creation of Origen, can be briefly conveyed in the following terms. Introduction. Many things are impossible for a person if he relies only on his natural strengths; but, with the assistance of God’s grace, the impossible becomes possible for him. (§ 1). The same must be said about the right kind and manner of prayer and about writing such a discussion about this that would correspond to the dignity of the subject (§ 2). B) The first part of creation. After a thorough analysis of what the word “prayer” means (§§ 3 and 4), the objections of some pseudo-spiritualists and pre-Destinarians of that time against the usefulness and necessity of prayer are made (§ 5) and sensibly refuted (§§ 6 and 7). After this, thoughts are set out on how one should prepare for prayer; what way of thinking and disposition should be recognized as right when praying; these are: preliminary forgiveness of all offenses, fear of God and faith (§§ 8–10). If these conditions are met, says Origen, our prayer can be heard all the more easily because Christ, the angels, and the saints, especially our St., then pray with us and for us. guardian angel (§§ 10 and 11). The following explains how often one should pray (§ 12); how necessary prayer is and how useful it is; what earthly and supernatural benefits we become participants in through prayer (§ 13). Even further, four types of prayer are outlined, namely: prayer of supplication, prayer of humble adoration before the Divine, intercessory and thanksgiving (§ 14); At the same time, it is stated that deification, reverent worship should be rendered to the one God the Father (§ 15). Finally, in warm and convincing expressions, it is recommended to ask God primarily for supernatural gifts and spiritual benefits, because earthly and physical goods and gifts have much less value in comparison with those and are given by God as needed (§§ 16 and 17). C) The second part of creation. In §§ 18–30, Origen explains the Lord's Prayer, interpreting petition after petition from it and offering insightful explanations. This explanation of the Lord's Prayer is generally one of the most excellent of those that Origen gave to the Holy Scriptures. D) Conclusion. Finally, Origen talks about the position of the body during prayer and about the places where it is more decent to pray (§ 31), then about the country of the world to which one should turn when praying (§ 32), about the four components of each prayer and about their mutual sequence (§ 33). In conclusion, Origen asks for a lenient attitude towards his creation and at the same time notes that in the future, perhaps, he will write another, better essay on the same subject (§ 33). In places in this work of Origen there are his misconceptions and his personal opinions: they will be specified and briefly discussed by us in the appropriate places. Already from this dry skeleton one can judge how comprehensively and thoroughly Origen discusses the topic he chose, how all the points that could be taken into account are touched upon in the creation. In addition to this, the book attracts attention by its very form; almost all of it is written in a simple, calm language, one might even say accessible to the public. What makes this work especially attractive are the countless and well-chosen passages from the Holy Scriptures, which give Origen’s book the appearance of a magnificent mosaic, but it is all made by an interpretation of various passages of the Holy Bible, composed skillfully and yet naturally. § 1. What is impossible for a person left to himself, becomes possible for him with the favor of God towards him in Christ; examples. What is unattainable for the rational and mortal human race, as being superior in its sublimity, extremeness and peculiarity to our weak natural powers, then, with the fullness and immeasurable greatness of God’s grace poured out by God on people, is made possible, by the advice of God, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, the mediator of God’s insurmountable mercy towards us and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Consequently, if it is impossible for human nature to acquire that wisdom through which the universe was created - because according to David (Ps. 103:24) God made all things wisely - then this becomes possible through the mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). What man is able to know the counsel of God? Or who can investigate what God wants? The calculations of mortals are unreliable and our knowledge is unstable, for the corruptible body burdens the soul and the thinking mind about many things is suppressed by this earthly church. We can hardly comprehend what is on earth; and what in heaven has been examined by someone (Wis.9:13–16)? Who would be able to deny that it is impossible for a person to penetrate into what is in heaven? But this impossible, nevertheless, becomes possible with the abundant grace of God; because the one who was caught up to the third heaven penetrated, of course, into what was in the third heaven because there he heard unspeakable words which man cannot even retell (2 Cor. 12:4). Further, who will argue that it is possible for a person to know the intentions of the Lord? But God sends this to us through Christ, for the Lord said: I no longer call you slaves, for a slave does not know the will of his master; but I called you friends because I told you everything that I heard from My Father (John 15:15). The Lord does not proclaim to the disciples the will of His Master as slaves; but having interpreted His will to them, He no longer wants to be their master, but becomes a friend of those for whom He was previously the Master. Even as no one knows what is in man except the human spirit that lives in him, so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:11). But if no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God, then man (that is, with the assistance of only his natural powers) cannot know the things of God. Observe, however, how this is also possible. But we, it is said (1 Cor. 2:11), did not receive the spirit of this world, but we received the Spirit from God, so that we might be able to know what by grace was given to us from God, and about this we speak not in words learned from human wisdom, but in such words as the Holy Spirit taught us (1 Cor. 2:12-13). § 2. The same with prayer. We must know what we are praying for and be reasonable about the type and manner of prayer. But Paul, who expressed such excellent thoughts about prayer, admitted that he did not know what to pray for as he should pray (Rom. 8:26); That’s why the Spirit comes to our help in our weakness. In a feeling of personal weakness, therefore, one of the Lord’s disciples already said to Him: Lord! Teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:7). That is why Origen appeals to Divine help when writing this argument. But you, imbued with the most sincere fear of God and the most fiery jealousy, Ambrose and you, who have marked yourself with virtue and heroic courage, Tatiana 1, like Sarah (Gen. 18:11), are no longer like other women 2, you are probably perplexed why, in the introduction to the discussion about prayer, I expanded on things that are only possible for people except with the help of God. Some of these impossible things, reflected, firstly, in our weakness to write this whole discussion about prayer clearly, correctly and worthy of the subject, then in bewilderment regarding the type and image of how one should pray, then in hesitation as to what one should say when praying to God, as well as which times, in preference to others, are the most appropriate for prayer, some of these impossible things, it seems to me, were already expressed by Paul, who, due to the greatness of the revelations that were given to him ( 2 Cor. 12:7) was afraid that they would consider him to be some higher person than what they saw in him or what they heard from him (2 Cor. 12:6), so he openly expressed himself: I don’t know how to pray. We do not know, he says, what we can pray for as we should (Rom. 8:26). But it is necessary to pray and, moreover, to pray as one should pray and to pray for what one should pray for. This means that if we showed what we should pray for, then this would not be enough; we must also understand how we should pray. And on the contrary: what is the use of knowing how we should pray, if it remains unknown to us what we should pray for? Now what one should pray for constitutes the content of the prayer; the same way one should pray concerns the state of the one praying. – For example, this is what you should pray for: “Ask for important things, then less important things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). “Ask for heavenly things, and then earthly things will be given to you” (Matthew 5:44). “Pray for those who speak evil of you” (Matthew 5:44). Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He will send laborers into His harvest (Matthew 9:38). Pray not to fall into temptation (Luke 22:40; Matt. 26:41). Pray that your flight will not happen in winter or on the Sabbath (Matthew 24:20). But when praying, do not say too much (Matthew 6:7). There are other similar sayings. - And here are the instructions on how to pray. I wish that men in every place would say prayers, raising their hands pure, without anger and quarrelsomeness. In the same way, so that women in decent attire, with modesty and chastity, adorn themselves not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls and not with precious clothing, but with what is appropriate for women who commit themselves to godliness and good works (1 Tim. 2:8-10). The following saying also teaches how one should pray. If you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go, first make peace with your brother and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24). What gift from a rational creation is superior to others and can be offered to God, if not fragrant prayer offered by a conscience clear of the stench of sin? -Further, regarding how one should pray, the following saying is edifying. Do not deviate from each other unless by mutual consent for a while to devote yourself to prayer, and then to be together again, so as not to please Satan with your intemperance (1 Cor. 7:5). Because for the right kind and way of prayer, even that serves as an obstacle if that marriage secret, about which it is proper to remain silent, is not done more worthily, less often and more dispassionately; but by mutual agreement, the awkwardness of passion is removed, intemperance is mortified, and the joy of Satan, which causes us harm, is hindered. In addition, the following saying is instructive for the type and manner of prayer: When you stand in prayer, forgive if you have anything against anyone (Mark 11:25). The following passage from Paul makes this clear how one should pray: Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered disgraces his own head; and every woman who prays or prophesies with her head open disgraces her own head. (1 Cor. 11:4-5). But, although Paul taught all this, he could say a lot more about this from the law, from the prophets and on the basis of the rich content of the Gospel, in addition, he was able to attach various explanations to each point: nevertheless, imbued with a modest, but also completely rightful attitude, seeing, as after this, how much is still missing for him to really understand what one should pray for and how one should pray, he says: And what one should pray for and how one should pray We do not know how it is appropriate to pray (Rom. 8:26). To this saying he also adds an instruction from what source can be replenished for what is missing in someone who, although he does not understand the real essence of prayer, is worthy of having what he lacks in this regard replenished. He says: The Spirit himself intercedes for us before God with groanings that cannot be uttered. But God, who searches the heart, knows; his Spirit desires, because according to the will of God He intercedes for the saints (Rom. 8:26–27). Since the Spirit, the hearts of the blessed (i.e. hearts of Christians living under grace) encouraging to the cry: Abba, Father (Gal. 4:6), knows exactly that the sighs of the hearts clothed with this carnal church are capable of suppressing the fallen and lost more than relieving them, then He Himself, out of His great love for mankind, takes part in our sighs and intercedes for us before God with inexpressible sighs. And since in His wisdom He sees that our soul is brought low to the point of falling to the dust (Ps. 43:25; Ps. 119:25), He does not intercede for us before God with ordinary sighs, but ineffable ones, similar to those mysterious words of a person that he is not able to express (2 Cor. 12:4). But He, this Spirit, does not limit itself to simply interceding for us before God, but intensifies His petitions for us and intercedes for us with all His power, especially, at least in my opinion, for those who (i.e. as a result of this omnipotent intercession and the grace-filled mediation of the Holy Spirit) they win brilliant victories, and among them was, for example, Paul, who exclaimed: But over all these we have complete victory (Rom. 8:37). It’s just that the Spirit intercedes, without particular persistence, intercedes, probably for those who win victories, although not without difficulty and not without brilliance, but, nevertheless, about whom it only needs to be said that they conquer, and do not prevail. With the saying: What we should pray for and how we should pray, we do not know, but the Spirit Himself with all His power stands before God for us with groanings that cannot be expressed (Rom. 8:26), with this saying the following is related in meaning: I want to pray with the Spirit (the Holy Spirit, as is revealed from what follows), but at the same time with the mind; I want to sing songs with the Spirit, but also with the mind (1 Cor. 14:15). Our mind cannot (of course in a relative sense) pray if its prayer is not preceded by the prayer of the Spirit, to whose prayer we seem to join with our prayer; he cannot, our mind (i.e. itself), and with the praises of God to extol and glorify the Father in Christ euphoniously, melodically, rhythmically and harmoniously, unless the Spirit, who tests all things and the depths of God (1 Cor. 2:10), first, before our praise and glorification, penetrates with Himself the depths of our mind and, if possible, does not embrace them with Himself. In my opinion, one of Jesus’ disciples felt human weakness and inability to practice the right way of prayer; He knew this especially when from the lips of the Savior he listened to the sound and sublime words of prayer; therefore, when the Lord finished his prayer, the disciple said to Him: Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:1). In full connection of speech, this place is arranged as follows: And it came to pass that when the Lord was praying in one place and then finished praying, one of His disciples said to Him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:1). This disciple, who asked the Lord to teach him to pray, who was brought up studying the law, listening to prophetic books, and, of course, did not withdraw from liturgical meetings, means he was completely incapable of praying, until he realized his inability, having seen in one place how the Lord prayed? But such a conclusion would be absurd. That disciple prayed as was customary among the Jews; but he saw that he lacked the proper prayer of higher understanding. – And what instructions regarding prayer did John give to his disciples when they flocked to him from Jerusalem, from all of Judea and from all the surrounding Jordan (Matthew 3:5) to receive baptism from him? Regarding prayer, since he was more than a prophet (Matthew 11:9; Luke 7:26), John, of course, knew something that he probably did not communicate to all those who were baptized, but in secret only to those who became his disciples at baptism. Such (i.e., as the baptizer received them and taught them through the power of higher enlightenment) truly spiritual prayers, since the Spirit prays in the hearts of the saints, are depicted (i.e. in the Scriptures) as containing an abundance of mysterious and amazing teachings. In 1 Samuel, Hannah's prayer is only recorded in part because when she prayed before the Lord and spoke in her heart (1 Samuel 1:12–13), there was no need for her to write it down. Between the psalms, Psalm 16 is inscribed thus: “David’s Prayer”; and 89th: “The Prayer of Moses, the Man of God”; and 101st: “The prayer of the poor man, when he was in fear and poured out his petitions before the Lord.” Since these prayers were poured out with the assistance of the Spirit, and with His assistance they received expression in words, they are full of the teachings of Divine wisdom, so that one can say about their content: Who is wise to understand this? Who is intelligent enough to know this? ( Hos. 14:10 ). It is so difficult to talk about prayer; That is why enlightenment from the Father, the teaching of His Only Begotten Word and the assistance of the Holy Spirit are necessary for this, in order to think and speak about this subject worthy of it. That is why I pray as a weak person - because I do not dare to acquire an understanding of the prayer of the Spirit before I have not formed a correct concept of prayer - and I ask that we be granted an exhaustive and spiritual understanding of both prayer in general and especially the petitions in the Lord's Prayer set out in the Gospel. Let us now move on to the discussion about prayer itself. § 3. About the word εὐχή, which in Holy Scripture means both prayer and vow. Firstly, as much as I have become observant, the word εὐχή is used there, where it is said that Jacob, fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau, on the advice of Isaac and Rebekah, retired to Mesopotamia. The passage reads like this: And Jacob made a vow (ηὒξατο εύχήν) and said: If the Lord God will be with me and protect me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and bring me back safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone, which I have set up as a monument, will be the house of God; and of all that You give me, I will give You a tenth (Gen. 28:20–22). It should be noted here that the word εὐχή is often used in a different meaning (vow), and not to mean prayer (προσευχή), especially if during prayer someone promises to do this or that, wanting to receive something specific from God. Without a doubt, this word is used to designate what we usually designate with it (i.e., in the meaning of prayer), which is used, for example, in the Book of Exodus after the execution by frogs, the second in a series of ten plagues. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said: Pray (εὒξασθε) for me to the Lord, that He may remove the frogs from me and from my people, Then I will let the people (Israel) go to sacrifice to the Lord (Ex. 8:8). But if someone, on the basis that the word εὔξασθε is here put into the mouth of Pharaoh, was with difficulty convinced that εύχή, along with the previous meaning (vow: Gen. 28:20–22) also has an ordinary meaning that is current among us, then he should pay attention to what immediately follows those words and reads like this: Moses told Pharaoh. Appoint me yourself when I should pray (εὔξαμαι) for you 3, for your servants and for your people, so that the frogs disappear from you and from your people and from your dwellings and remain only in the river (Ex. 8:9). During the third plague, the plague of midges (Ex. 8:17–18), we notice that neither Pharaoh asks for prayer, nor Moses prays for him. And at the fourth plague, the plague of dog flies, Pharaoh says: Pray (εὔξασθε) for me to the Lord (Ex. 8:28). And Moses answered this: Behold, I am leaving you and will pray to God (εὔξαμαι) and the flies of dogs will be removed from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people (Ex. 8:29). And soon after that: And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed (ηὔξατο) to God (Ex. 8:30). Meanwhile, during the fifth and sixth plagues, neither Pharaoh asked for prayer, nor Moses raised it to God; at the seventh plague, Pharaoh sent again to call Moses and Aaron and said to them: This time I have sinned; The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are guilty. Pray (εὔξασθε) to the Lord, may the thunder (actually: the voices of God), hail and lightning cease (Ex. 9:27–28). And soon after that: And Moses went out from Pharaoh out of the city and stretched out his hands to the Lord and the thunder stopped (Ex. 9:33; cf. 9:29). Why is it not said: and he prayed (ηὔξατο) as in the previous places, but: and stretched out his hands (ἑξεπέταδε τὰς χεῖρας) to the Lord, it will be more convenient to make out this somewhere else. And at the eighth plague Pharaoh says: And pray to the Lord your God that He will turn this death away from me. And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed (ηὔξατο) to the Lord (Ex. 10:17–18). But often, as we have already said, the word εὐχή is not used in its usual meaning. So, for example, when speaking about Jacob (Gen. 28:20–22). And in the Book of Leviticus: And the Lord spoke to Moses and said: Speak to the Children of Israel and declare to them: If anyone makes a vow (εὔξηται εὐχήν) to betroth his soul to the Lord, then your assessment should be as follows: for men from twenty years old to sixty - fifty shekels of silver according to the shekel of the sanctuary (Lev.27:1-3) 4 . And in the Book of Numbers: And the Lord spoke to Moses and said: Speak to the children of Israel and declare to them this: If a man or woman decides to take a vow (εὔξηται εὐχήν) of the Nazirite in order to devote himself to the Lord, then he must abstain from wine and intoxicating drink (Num. 7: 1-3); see and so on about who takes upon himself the title of Nazarite 5. And soon after: And he will sanctify his head on the day on which he dedicated himself to the Lord for the time of the days of his vow (εὐχῆς) (Num. 7:11–12) 6. And again soon after: This is the law about the one who made a vow (τοῦ εὐξαμένου) of the Nazarite, on the day on which the days of his vow (εὐχῆς) ended, etc. (Numbers 7:13). And again soon after: And after this the Nazirite (ο μνγμένος) can drink wine. This is the law about the vowed (τοῦ εὐξαμένου) Nazirite, who promised his sacrifice to the Lord in fulfillment of his vow (εὐχῆς), in addition to the sacrifice that he will give voluntarily by virtue of his vow (εὐχῆς), given according to the law of sanctification (Numbers 7:20–21). And at the end of the Book of Numbers: And Moses spoke to the princes of the tribes of the children of Israel and said: This is the word that the Lord commanded: A man who makes a vow to the Lord (εὔξηται εὐχήν) or swears an oath or makes any decision regarding his life, that man shall not break his word; whatever comes out of his mouth, he must restrain. If a woman makes a vow to the Lord (εὔξηται εὐχήν) or makes any decision while still in her father’s house, while still at the age of youth, and if her father knows about her vows (εὐχάς) and about her decisions that she has made regarding her life, and if her father is silent, then all her vows (εὐχάί) are valid and all the decisions that she has made regarding her life must be binding for her (Numbers 30:2–5). And besides this, the law prescribes many more regarding the vows of women. In a similar meaning, in the Book of Proverbs it is written: A snare for a husband is to hastily dedicate something of his property. Because a promise (εὔξασθαι) can be followed by repentance (Proverbs 20:25). And in the Book of Ecclesiastes: It is better not to promise (μὴ εὔξασθαι) than to promise and not keep a promise (Eccl. 5:4; cf. Deut. 23:21–22) And in Acts: We have four people who have a vow (εὐχήν) (Acts 21:3). § 4. Are both meanings also characteristic of the word προσευχή? I found it not pointless to first distinguish the dual meaning of εὐχή from the word usage of Scripture; and then do the same with respect to προσευχή. Because, along with the general and ordinary, often found meaning (i.e. prayer), this word is placed in the meaning for us and unusual εὐχή (vow), at least in the story of Anna in the 1st Book of Kings: And the high priest Eli sat then on the seat at the door of the church of the Lord. And she (Anna) was sad at heart and prayed (προσηύξατο) to the Lord and wept bitterly, And she made a vow (πὔξατο εὐχήν), saying: Lord of hosts! If You look upon the sorrow of Your servant and remember me and do not forget Your servant and give Your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord as a gift for the entire time of his life, and no razor will come on his head (1 Samuel 1:9-11). Since “χαἰ πὔξατο εὐχήν” is compared here with “προσηύξατο πρὸς Κύριον”, it is not without reason that one can assign this meaning to this place: “She (Anna) did both, i.e. and “προσηύξατο πρὸς Κύριον” and “πὔξατο εὐχήν”. The expression “προσηύξατο”, in all likelihood, is put here in the ordinary meaning of εὐχή (prayer), and the other “πὔξατο εὐχήν” in the meaning in which it is found in the Books of Leviticus and Numbers (made a vow) 7 . Because the words: I will give him to the Lord as a gift for the entire time of his life, and a razor will not come on his head, in fact, do not mean that vow (εὐχή), which Jephia made in the following words: And Jephia made a vow (εὐχή) to the Lord and said: If you deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands, then when I return from the children of Ammon, he must Whoever comes out of the gates of my house to meet me belongs to the Lord, and I will offer him as a burnt offering (Judges 11:30–31) 8. § 5. Objections of opponents of prayer. Since the omniscient and all-good God directs everything for our good even without our prayers; since, in addition, both the earthly destinies and the eternal lot of each person are determined in the council of God from eternity and Divine decisions are not subject to change: then prayer is completely useless and even insane. First of all, you wanted 9 to have the reasons laid out, relying on which some argue that prayer is unnecessary, since nothing can be achieved through it: then we do not hesitate to satisfy this desire of yours as much as we can, and we will use the word εὐχή in its general and simplest meaning (i.e. in the meaning of “prayer”). Some deny the need for prayer. But their denial in truth is not based on anything and does not find any outstanding defenders, so that among those who recognize providence and assimilate the government of the world to God, it is not easy to find a person who would not approve of prayers. Those who deny prayer are either complete atheists, those who deny the existence of God, or those who accept God only by name, and those who reject His Providence. Of course, loving to cover up the most ungodly positions in the name of Christ and passing them off as the teaching of the Son of God, Satan was able to convince some with this kind of tricks 10 that there is no need to pray: the opinion accepted by those who completely expel (from the reverence of God) what is noted by the senses 11, have neither baptism nor the Eucharist, but they slander the Holy Scriptures, saying that they are not prayers at all demands, but teaches something completely different, in meaning completely different from this. For those who recognize that the world is controlled by God and admit the Providence of God, the following are the grounds for denying prayer. We will not present what is said by atheists and who completely deny Providence. God knows everything even before anything happened and there is nothing that would become known to Him only because it began to exist in reality, and then it would only become known to Him when it began to exist in reality, remaining unknown to Him until then. Therefore, there is no need to pray to Him: even before our prayer to Him, He already knew what we needed. The Heavenly Father knows what we need even before we ask Him for it (Matthew 6:8). It is natural that the Father and Creator of the universe, who loves everything that exists and does not disdain anything that he has created (Wisdom 11:25), directed the destinies of each of his creatures for their good and without their asking for it, like a father who takes care of his minor children, without expecting a request from them, because they are not yet able to ask him or, out of unreason, would often want to have something completely opposite to what is required and useful for them. But the difference between us people and God is incomparably greater than that which exists between small children and their prudent parents. It is more natural that God not only foresees the future, but also determines it, and nothing happens contrary to the order predetermined by Him. Therefore, someone who would want to invoke the sunrise with prayer should be considered crazy because in this case, he would begin to ask for the occurrence, as a result of his prayer, of the very same thing that occurs without his prayer: in the same way, the person who believes that through his prayer happens what would certainly happen if he had not prayed is also unreasonable. And again, just as the one who, during the summer solstice, troubled by the sun and suffering from the heat, would come to the idea that, as a result of his prayer, the sun would return to the heavenly signs of spring 12 so that one could enjoy the goodness of the air: in the same way, the completeness of madness would be revealed by the one who believed that by prayer he prevented those misfortunes that befall the human race due to necessity. Further, if the wicked from their very birth fall away (Ps. 57:4), but the righteous from his mother’s womb are chosen (Gal. 1:15); even further, if even about such persons who have not yet been born and have not had time to do either good or evil (of course Esau and Jacob), precisely in order for the counsel of God to be realized in free election, not for the sake of work, but according to the power of the Caller, even if about such persons in Scripture (Rom. 9:11-12) it is said: The elder will serve the younger (Gen. 25:23): then in vain, then, we pray about the forgiveness of our sins or about the Spirit of strength, so that we may have strength for everything through Jesus who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). If we are sinners, then we have retreated from God, (deviated from the good path) from the mother’s womb itself 13; if we are chosen by God, (singled out among the elect) from our mother’s womb, then we prove to be of the most glorious virtues, even if we did not pray. Otherwise, how could Jacob pray before his birth, since before his birth it was foretold that he would surpass Esau, and his brother would serve him (Gen. 25:23)? And what crime did Esau commit when he was already hated before he was born? And what benefit could prayer bring to Moses, as the 87th Psalm 14 says, if God was his refuge before the mountains were born, before the earth and the entire universe were formed (Ps. 89:1-3)? But about all those who are saved in the Epistle to the Ephesians, it is written that God the Father, in Christ, chose them before the foundation of the world, so that they would be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined them as sons to Himself through Christ (Eph. 1:4-5). Is there anyone among those who have been chosen since the creation of the world who would subsequently lose his pre-election? This means prayer is not necessary for him. If someone is not pre-elected and not predestined, then his prayer will be in vain and he will not be heard, even if he prayed countless times 15. Those whom God foreknew, he also predestined, so that they would be conformed to the image of the glory of his Son, and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified (Rom. 8:29-30). What was Josiah bothering about, or why was he concerned about whether he would be heard or not during his prayer? After all, already for many human generations his name was foretold by the prophet and his deeds were not only foreseen, but were predicted in the face of many listeners 16. Why did Judas pray when his very prayer served him as a sin (Ps. 109:7; cf. Matt. 27:3-4), since since the time of David it had been foretold that he would lose his episcopal dignity and another would receive it instead (Ps. 109:8; cf. Acts 1:20)? Since God is unchangeable, foresees everything and remains faithful to His predestination, prayer turns out to be even a foolish thing. It is crazy to think that God's counsel can be changed through prayer. It is crazy to beg God as if He were making wrong decisions while waiting for prayers from this or that person. It is crazy to beg God to arrange everything that the person praying needs, to arrange everything in accordance with his prayer and to approve what is expedient for the person praying, but which God does not seem to know before. Here is the place to literally quote from your letter to me the lines to which I must respond. You write: “Firstly, if God foresees the future and it must come, (because God’s foreknowledge is not false), then it is foolish to pray. Secondly, if everything happens according to the will of God and its determinations are unchangeable and nothing that He wants can be prevented, then praying is also foolish.” To resolve doubts that weaken our zeal for prayer, I find it useful to preface the following 17. § 6. Refutation of the previously stated objections. A person can completely freely surrender himself to both good and evil, or - which is the same - is capable of free self-determination, has a free choice. But God foresees from eternity what exactly, good or evil, will be chosen by this or that person; therefore, with regard to the free decision of the will of each individual person and spontaneously chosen actions, especially with regard to the prayer of a person, he makes determinations regarding each particular person. Examples. Of the moving things, some are set in motion by an external motor, which, for example, are subject to, for example, soulless objects, bound into unity only by the force of attraction 18. But the same external engine sometimes sets in motion objects that move according to the force of their natural life. This happens when they do not move as such, but when they are set in motion like objects connected into unity by the simple force of attraction 19. Stones, for example, extracted from the soil and dry trees from their roots are bound into unity only by the attractive force of particles and can only be set in motion by an external force. But the bodies of animals and plants, which are easily transported, if someone moves them from place to place, are transferred to it not as animals or plants, but like stones and dry trees, which cannot grow and support themselves with food. If dry trees sometimes move, for example, during general floods, then they smolder and experience movement associated with decay. The second type of movement is experienced by those objects that move to the extent of their inherent internal and natural vitality. According to the terminology of those who express this more precisely, they move from within themselves (έξ αὑτῶν). The third type of movement is characteristic of animals, whose movement is called movement emanating from themselves (ἁψ᾿ αὑτῶν). And the movement of rational beings, I believe, is movement through themselves (δἰ αὑτῶν). If we take away the movement characteristic of an animal and emanating from itself, then it can no longer be considered an animal, but will resemble either a plant moving to the extent of its inherent natural force, or a stone set in motion by some external engine. On the contrary, if any being follows a personal movement, then such a being must be endowed with reason, for we have already said that it is determined in its movements through itself. That is why those who deny our free self-determination (i.e., the movement of a person through himself) admit something completely incongruous. Firstly, they admit that we are not living beings at all. Secondly, as if we are creatures without reason. This means that our movements are determined by some external force and there is no independence in our movements. Therefore, one could say that what we do arbitrarily and out of personal motivation is accomplished only as a result of external influence on us. But if someone pays special attention to his personal feelings, he will see whether he can, without falling into shamelessness (for self-consciousness is an irrefutable internal fact), assert that he himself does not desire, does not eat himself, does not go for walks himself, does not himself agree with various kinds of scientific propositions and approve of them, and does not himself deny other kinds of propositions as erroneous. And just as there are some teachings that a person cannot hold by conviction, even if he tried to confirm them with many proofs, even if he attached importance to the evidence existing in their favor: so with regard to human activity it is impossible to harbor the belief that nothing in it depends on our power 20 . Who can be convinced that we are not able to comprehend anything with our minds? Or who lives in the world in such a way that he absolutely doubts everything? Who 21 does not reproach his servant if the suspicion sinks into his soul that the servant has committed a crime? And who doesn’t blame his son for failing to fulfill his duties towards his parents? Who does not blame and condemn an ​​adulterous woman for allowing herself something shameful? All this is forced and necessarily caused by the truth, even if we look for a thousand reasons against it, the truth directing us either to praise or to blame; What is noticeable here is free self-determination, which, regardless of us, honors whoever deserves either praise or blame. If free self-determination remains with us, if as a result of it we deviate countless times, either towards virtue or towards vice; if we hesitate between fulfilling a duty and neglecting it, then to God it means even before our self-determination in us took shape in one way or another, from the very creation and structure of the world 22, along with everything else, the properties of this self-determination of ours were necessarily already known, and with all His regulations in relation to every matter of our free choice, God, as a result of His foreknowledge, predetermined somehow, so that every movement of our free self-determination would be rewarded by Him providence according to our merits, He predetermined this; at the same time, it also means that in the course of future events should happen 23. But this predestination does not occur as if everything that happens and that is carried out by our free self-determination is carried out according to our own impulse, as if all this was caused by Divine foreknowledge 24. Because let’s assume such a case that God does not know the future, in this case we would still threaten that we want to do this and that. As a result of God's foreknowledge, it is better to say that what happens is that the free self-determination of an individual person is taken into account only for the guidance of the whole, which is more consistent with the properties of the world. Since now the free self-determination of each individual person is known to God and He foresees it, His providence predetermines 25 each according to his dignity; At the same time, what is taken into account is what this and that believer is praying for, with what kind of disposition and what he wants to receive. And since this is taken into account, then in the final decision God is defined approximately as follows. “This one who prays judiciously (relentlessly, constantly), I hear precisely for the sake of his prayer, which he does; but I do not heed his prayer, partly because he is unworthy of listening, partly because he prays for things that are useless for him as he prays, and it is not fitting for me to descend upon them; and with this kind of prayer I will not hear this and that of the people, but with the same kind, on the contrary, I will hear.” But if someone in confusion thought that since in foreseeing the future God cannot make mistakes, and our actions are therefore forced, then one must object that God certainly knows that this and that person will not be invariably and constantly disposed towards good, but that he will not be able to return to the useful 26. “And again 27 I will require this and this one who prays, because it is fitting for me, since his prayer to Me is impeccable, and he is occupied with it zealously; and to the one who prays only from time to time, I will give this and that incomparably more than what he asks or thinks about (Eph. 3:20), because it is fitting for Me to seek him with a good deed and to give him more than he can desire. And to this one, who is in such and such circumstances, I will send this angel as a servant, 28 who from this time will begin to promote his salvation and will support him until a certain point in time; and to him I will send another, for example, higher than the one who helps the first. On the contrary, from this one, who was previously a follower of sublime teachings, and therefore little by little sinks and again returns to the worldly, I will take away that strong helper” 29. And since in the matter of removing him, the hands of the known evil power 30 are untied, then it happens to get closer to his carelessness, begins to instill in him these and these sins and, after he loses the fear of sin, draws him into them. Thus, God, who predetermines everything, says as it were: “From Amos was born Josiah, who will not imitate the crimes of his father, but leaning on the hand of the angel, this guiding and protecting companion, and following the path of virtue, will remain noble and pious, and will destroy the sacrificial altar built by Jeroboam (cf. 2 Kings 23:15; 21:24–26; 24:24–25). But I also know that at the time of the appearance of My Son among the human race, Judas will initially be noble and pious, and later will be seduced and fall into human errors and, in all justice, will endure this and that.” Perhaps 31 this foreknowledge of everything is also characteristic of the Son of God. And in any case, He foresaw the identity of Judas and other mysteries. Knowing the development of future events, He foresaw the face of Judas and the sins that he committed, so that in his spirit comprehending this, even before Judas was born, He spoke through David: God, do not be silent about My praise (Ps. 109:1), etc. “And since 32 I know what will happen in the future and with what intensity Paul will strive for piety, I wanted to single him out for Myself before the universe was created by Me and before I touched the world with My right hand. I will entrust him with the forces that contribute to the salvation of people, I will entrust him immediately at his birth; from his mother's womb (Gal.1:15) I will choose him for Myself and allow him to be at the beginning, during his youth, in unreasonable zeal, in the guise of piety, he persecuted those who believe in the One Anointed by Me and guarded the garments (Acts 22:20) of those who stoned My servant and confessor Stephen, so that after the youthful passion has passed and, in a special way for him from Me reminder (Acts 9:3, etc.), he turned to something better, he did not boast before Me, but said: I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (1 Cor. 15:9); and so that after his youthful errors, into which he fell under the guise of piety, paying attention to the good deeds I poured out on him, he would later admit: By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. 15:10); and, finally, so that, in the consciousness of what he had done against Christ during his youth, he would not be exalted by the greatness of the revelations (2 Cor. 12:7), of which, out of mercy towards him, I made him a participant.” § 7. Reply to the assertion that prayer in general is as useless as praying for the sun to rise. And the objection regarding the prayer for the sunrise can be answered as follows 33. And the sun is characterized by some free self-determination, since it praises God together with the moon, which is why it is said: Praise Him, sun and moon (Ps. 149:3) 34. But obviously the same free self-determination is characteristic of the moon, and, consequently, of all the stars, since it is said: Praise Him together with the light of the stars (Ps. 149:3). Since we have now said (§ 6) that with regard to the free self-determination of the inhabitants of the earth, God established on it orders corresponding to their needs: then we must equally accept that with regard to the unchangeable, definite, constant and reasonable free self-determination of the sun, moon and stars, He established, in terms of the scale of harmony in the universe, the entire order of the heavens, together with the paths of the stars and their movement along them. And if with regard to my free self-determination it is not in vain that I pray, then to the stars moving in the sky in round dances 35 for the good of the universe, this has a lesser application (i.e., praying to them will be in vain and aimless). Because about the inhabitants of the earth, it still needs to be said that various kinds of ghosts, determined by the situation around us, our independence is limited and those ghosts tempt us to sin, to commit this and that, to speak this or that; on the contrary, the creatures that are in heaven, in their flow, responding only to the world with good, cannot be led astray by any ghosts, nor can they be carried away on the path of others. All of them, despite their guilt, have a soul imbued with reason and an ethereal and completely pure body 36. § 8. About the right kind and manner of prayer, namely about positioning oneself during prayer in the face of God and about the benefits that already occur from this alone. Since now objections to prayer can no longer deviate from it, it would be appropriate to use the following example to encourage it and deter from negligence about it. Just as the birth of children is impossible without a wife and productive power, in the same way much can only be achieved by a certain kind of prayer, imbued with certain dispositions, a certain strength of faith and a life corresponding to this kind of prayer. When praying, it is not a matter of verbosity; Therefore, one should not pray for trifles; further, one should not pray about earthly things, and should not approach prayer in passionate excitement and with scattered thoughts. Without being cleansed of sin, one cannot even understand what should be observed during prayer; on the other hand, the person praying cannot ask for forgiveness of his own sins if he does not forgive the offenses of his brother who is asking him for it from the heart. The one who prays rightly or strives for it to the best of his ability, for him, as far as I understand, many different benefits come from this. And above all, they are undoubtedly useful: spiritual concentration during prayer and presenting yourself, when you are in a prayerful state, in front of the face of God, talking with Him as if with a face that you see and hear. Just as some kind of ideas and memories blur the thoughts that arise from these ideas regarding the subject of our memories: so let us be convinced that in the same way 37 the idea of ​​an omnipresent God, penetrating into the most secret movements of our soul, brings us benefit. The soul is then so attuned that it becomes pleasing to God. He becomes, so to speak, a witness to this state of hers, he observes our soul, He enters into every thought, He who tests the hearts and examines the inner person (Ps. 7:10). Let us therefore assume that someone who turns his thoughts to prayer would not derive any further benefit from it other than this: such a person should not cry, as if he, transported during prayer into such a reverent mood, receives only insignificant benefit from it. How many sins does this placing ourselves before the face of God keep us from, how many virtues does it direct us towards, if it is often repeated! Those who devote themselves to prayer more relentlessly know this from their own experience. Because if remembrance and remembrance of a famous man, of a man distinguished by his wisdom, prompts us to compete with him, and often suppresses the inclination to evil in us: then how much more helps us the remembrance of God, the Father of all created things, remembrance combined with prayer to Him! How much more beneficial does it respond to those who are convinced that during prayer they stand before God, who is present and hears them, to those who imagine themselves speaking to Him! § 9. It is proven from Holy Scripture that before prayer one must forgive, that the female sex in particular must come to prayer in decent clothing, and that during prayer one must maintain reverence: this alone brings us the greatest benefit. From Holy Scripture what has been said can be confirmed as follows. The one who prays must raise clean hands (1 Tim. 2:8), forgiving everyone for the injustices done to him (which is what makes him worthy of God forgiving his own sins; Matt. 6:14); he must banish all passionate excitement from his heart and not be angry with anyone. Then, during prayer, one must forget everything that has no relation to it, because at this time the spirit should not be disturbed by any extraneous thoughts. Who can doubt that such a state of a praying soul is the most honorable? About him in 1 Timothy, Paul says the following: I desire that men in every place say prayers, lifting up clean hands without anger or doubting (1 Tim. 2:8) In addition, a wife, especially when praying, must observe modesty and be well-adorned both in soul and in body, fearing God most of all and primarily during prayer, driving away from the soul all unbridled and feminine memories and adorning herself not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls or expensive clothes, but by dressing up as befits a wife who has promised to keep the fear of God (1 Tim. 2:9-10). And it would be surprising for me if anyone doubted considering his wife happy just because of this alone, i.e. if she comes to prayer in this form. Which Paul taught in the same epistle with the words: I desire that women also, in decent apparel, with modesty and chastity, adorn themselves, not with braided hair, nor with gold, nor pearls, nor costly apparel, but with that which is becoming for women devoted to godliness, with good works (1 Tim. 2:9-10). And since the prophet David says that a God-fearing person is distinguished by many other things when he prays, then by the way it would be useful to bring this into clarity, as for one who devotes himself to God, it is extremely useful - even if this were the only thing to pay attention to - the right state of mind during prayer and preparation for it. The Prophet says: I lift up my eyes to You, O One who dwells in heaven (Ps. 122:1); To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul (Ps. 24:1). For when the eyes of the soul are directed to such a height that they no longer stop at earthly things and are not filled with earthly images, but soar with grief to such a degree that they completely neglect created things, and only stop at the contemplation of God and are busy with reverent and humble conversation with Him, Who bestows them with His favor: then how can one not say that even the eyes themselves then bring benefit to those praying, since those who pray then, as if in a mirror in unhidden splendor, see the glory of the Lord 38 and are transformed into the same image, 39 ascending from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18). For then, as it were, a certain Divine outpouring from God descends on them, which is revealed from the saying: Show us the light of Your face, O Lord (Ps. 4:7). And since, as it ascends, the soul (ψυχὴ) then follows the spirit (πνεῦμα) and is separated from the body, and even not only follows the spirit, but is closely united with it, as is revealed from the saying: To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul (Ps. 24:1): how can one not say that it then renounces its nature (τὸ εἰναι) and becomes already a spiritual soul (ϕυχὴ πνευματιχή) 40 ? Further, if forgetting the injustices suffered is such an important virtue that the whole law is contained in it, for the prophet Jeremiah says: This is not what I spoke to your fathers on the day of bringing them out of the land of Egypt, but I commanded them this (Jer. 7:22–23): Do not think evil against one another in your heart (Zech. 7:10); and if we approach prayer, abandoning vengeful thoughts in fulfillment of the commandment of the Savior, Who says: And when you stand in prayer, forgive if you have anything against anyone (Mark 9:25): then it is obvious that those who give themselves up to prayer in this way are already characteristic of us with the most beautiful virtues. § 10. Further, if we surrender ourselves with complete trust to Providence and are tireless in prayer, then in addition our petitionary prayers are heard, especially since our High Priest Jesus then prays with us and for us. We consider it proven that even if we assume the uselessness of prayer, we still have the greatest benefit from it if we are familiar with the right way of prayer and practice it. But it is clear that the one who prays in this way, even during prayer, penetrates into the activity of the Hearer and listens from His mouth to the word: Here am I (Is. 58:9), if before prayer he has expelled from his soul all dissatisfaction with Providence. This is revealed from the words: If you take off your fetters, you will stop stretching out your arms and give up murmuring (Is. 58:9); for he who is content with what he has is free from all fetters (free as a child of God) and does not stretch out his hands to God (resisting the established orders from Him), for He establishes certain orders for training us (in virtue); he does not grumble against God secretly in his thoughts, nor does he make any sounds of grumbling that people can hear. Those who grumble against God, like slaves weighed down by work, who do not dare openly express dissatisfaction with the orders of their masters, are those who clearly and with all the fullness of their souls do not dare to blaspheme Providence for what is happening, and even want to hide from the Lord of all creation himself why they are actually annoyed with Providence. This, I believe, is also true in the Book of Job in the saying: In all these incidents, Job did not sin with his lips against God (Job 2:10), while in the temptation that preceded these incidents it is said: In all these incidents, Job did not sin against God (Job 1:22) 41. The place in the Book of Deuteronomy, which prohibits such murmuring against God, says this: Beware lest any wicked thought enter into your heart against this law and lest it be said to you: The seventh year is approaching, the year of forgiveness of debts, etc. 42. Therefore, the one who prays this way first of all experiences the benefit we previously explained; and then he becomes more capable of the closest communication with the Spirit of the Lord, who fills the whole universe (Wis. 1:7), with Him, who fills all the earth and heaven, because He says through the prophet: Do I not fill heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24)? In addition, as we previously mentioned, due to his purity from sin and due to his prayer, he can have participation in the prayer of the Son of God, who stands in the midst of even those who do not know Him (John 1:26), who leaves no one without help and who, together with the person sought from Him, prays to the Father. Because the Son of God is the high priest, offering our sacrifices to the Father and interceding for us before the Father; He prays for those who pray and entreats the Father together with those who supplicate Him. But, of course, He does not pray for those close to Him, for those who do not pray tirelessly in His name; and He does not intercede before God as an intercessor for those who do not follow His instructions, who must constantly pray and are not burdened by prayer. He said, they say, a parable about how one should always pray and not give up, saying: In a certain city there was a judge, etc. And earlier: He decided that one of you, having a friend, would come to him at midnight and say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for my friend came to me out of the way and I have nothing to offer him (Luke 11:5-6). And immediately after that: I tell you: if he does not get up and give him out of friendship with him, then he will get up and give him as much as he asks because of the persistence of his request (Luke 11:8). Who among those who believe in the unfaithful lips of Jesus will not therefore find motivation for prayer in His words: Ask and it will be given to you; because everyone who asks receives (Luke 11:9–10)? For when we ask our heavenly Father for natural bread, He, the Good One, does not give us, who have received from Him the spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15), a stone, which, according to the desire of Satan, was to serve as food for Jesus and His disciples (Matt. 4:3; cf. Luke 11:11), but gives to those who ask Him a good gift (i.e., real bread), giving rain from heaven ( Luke 11:13; cf. Acts 14:17), so that fruits may grow in the fields. § 11. And the Angels and saints in heaven pray for us. The saints are prompted to this by their completely perfect love for their neighbors; and angels contribute to the salvation of people as servants of Christ. But not only the High Priest Christ prays with those who pray rightly, but also the angels who in heaven rejoice more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance (Luke 15:7). They pray for those praying and the souls of deceased saints. This is revealed on the one hand from the fact that Raphael offers a prayer of thanksgiving to Tobias and Sarah before God. And the prayer of both was heard, says Scripture, before the glory of the great God, and Raphael was sent to heal both (Tov.3:16). And Raphael himself, revealing to Tobias and Sarah that he had rendered services to both of them at the command of God as His Angel, said: When you and your daughter-in-law Sarah pray, I offered up before the Holy One from your prayer that which should be remembered (Tob. 12:12). And after this a little later: I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who offer the prayers of the saints and ascend before the glory of the Holy One (Tov.12:15) 43. In the words of Raphael: Prayer is a good deed, with fasting and almsgiving and justice (Tov.12:8). On the other hand, this is also revealed from what is reported in the Books of Maccabees about the appearance of the prophet Jeremiah, how he, adorned with gray hair and glory, surrounded by wondrous and extraordinary greatness, stretched out his right hand and gave Judas (Maccabeus) a golden sword (2Mac.15:13-15); and another deceased saint (Onias) gave testimony about him in the words: This is the one who prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah, the prophet of God (2 Mac. 15:14). If the highest knowledge (i.e., its objects), even to the worthy, is offered in this life only in a mirror and mysteriously (1 Cor. 13:12) 44, and in the future it will be acquired face to face: then it would not be permissible to not have a corresponding opinion regarding the remaining virtues (as well as regarding knowledge), namely, that, acquired in this life, they will only develop in the future to their actual perfection. But one of the most important virtues, according to the word of God, is love for one’s neighbors; therefore we must accept that the saints who have already died, in comparison with the saints still fighting in this life, are imbued with it to a much higher degree than those who are still subject to human weakness, but support the weakest in the struggle; because it is not in application only to this hereafter that the word has meaning: If one member suffers, then all suffer with it; and if one member is glorified, then all the members rejoice with it (1 Cor. 12:26). And for the love of those who have departed from this life, it is decent to say about themselves: Concern for all churches. Who is exhausted, with whom would I be exhausted? Whoever is tempted, for whom I would not burn (2 Cor. 11:28-29), especially since Christ Himself testifies about Himself that in every weak Christian (ἄγιος) He Himself is weak; in the same way that He is imprisoned, naked, and a stranger, and suffers hunger and thirst (Matthew 25:35-36). Because who of those reading the Gospel does not know that Christ attributes everything shown to the faithful to Himself and values ​​it as if it were shown to Him personally (cf. Matthew 25:35-54)? Further, if the angels of God approached Jesus and served Him (Matthew 4:11) and if we must accept not only that the angels of God served Jesus only for a short time, namely only during His sojourn in the flesh among people and while He (being in a state of humiliation), among the faithful, so to speak, was not reclining at the table, but serving among those reclining (Luke 22:27): then what a multitude of angels, in all likelihood, now serves Him, when He desires to unite the sons of Israel one with the other (cf. John 11:52; 10:16), to gather the scattered, and to save those who fear God and those who call upon Him, so that incomparably more than what was done by the apostles, to contribute to the exaltation and expansion of the Church; Why are some heads of churches in John’s Apocalypse called angels? 45 It is not in vain that the angels of God ascend and descend to the Son of Man (John 1:51) 46, so that they are visible with eyes enlightened by the light of higher knowledge. And since a Christian who prays precisely during prayer, depending on his needs, remembers the angels, then they, relying on God’s command common to all of us, fulfill in relation to him what is in their power. To clarify our thoughts about this, we can use, for example, the following comparison. Everyone who carefully prays for health has a conscientious doctor who knows how to properly deal with the disease, for which skillful handling of his illness the patient prays. But it is obvious that the doctor is also prompted by this prayer to treat the patient, not without reason assuming that it means in the very council of God that he should treat this particular patient, whose prayer for liberation from illness was heard by God. Or who among those who have rich means of living and at the same time are generous does not heed the requests of the poor, just as he, in the midst of his hopes, resorts to God with intense prayers? It is clear that from this category of rich people, someone is being sought out who will fulfill the desire of the poor man, and thus contribute to the paternal providence for him of the One who brings both the poor man and the rich man to the same place of prayer precisely so that one can help the other and, due to his kindness, is not able to refuse him. Just as it is impossible to believe that such a coincidence, as quickly as it occurs, occurs only by chance, because He, Who numbers all the hairs on the heads of the saints (Matthew 10:30), precisely during the prayer of the poor man, who offers it with faith, brings to him someone who listens to him and instead of God shows him a benefit: in the same way it must be accepted that angels, as observers and servants of God, often meet with that the rich man and with this poor man, supporting the former's request with the latter. But an angel is assigned to everyone, even the smallest member of the Church, who always sees the face of the heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10) and contemplates the Divinity of our Creator, prays with them and helps us as much as possible in what we pray for. § 12. In addition, the words of prayer can neutralize the tricks of our evil enemy. You just need to constantly pray. In addition, I believe that the prayer words of the saints, especially if the saints pray with spirit and mind (1 Cor. 14:15), are full of power and that those words, by Divine power, like light emanating from the cognitive ability of the one praying and passing through his mouth, invalidate that spiritual poison with which the forces hostile to us poison the mind with the prayer of those who neglect and do not follow what Paul says in accordance with the reminder of Jesus: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17; cf. Luke 18:1). From the soul of a praying saint, thanks to his wisdom, prayerful words and faith, an arrow flies out, as it were, to spirits hostile to God and trying to entangle us in the bonds of sin, inflicting mortal wounds and their destroying ulcers 47 . The one who adds prayer to his duties called for by his duties, and to this again the proper activities, prays unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:17), because virtue and the fulfillment of the commandments are equivalent to prayer. Only with this understanding of the apostolic saying: Pray without ceasing and it is possible to fulfill it. The entire life of a Christian should be continuous great prayer. One part of this great prayer is usually formed by the so-called prayer, which must be performed at least three times every day. This is revealed from the story of Daniel, who prayed three times a day and at a time when he was in great danger (Dan.6:10-13), namely, the danger of being thrown into a den with lions (Dan.6:12). Peter, who went up to the roof to pray at about the sixth hour (Acts 10:9), when he saw something like a large sheet tied at the four corners and descending to the ground towards him (Acts 10:11). Then he offered the middle of the three daily prayers; meanwhile, David spoke about the first of them before him in the expressions: In the morning you will hear my prayer; in the morning I will appear before You; I will then lift up my eyes with reverence and hope (Ps. 5:4-5). He speaks about the last of the daily prayers in the words: The lifting of my hands will be the evening sacrifice (Ps. 141:2). But even at night it is indecent for us to remain without prayer, because David already says: At midnight I rise to praise You for Your righteous judgments (Ps. 119:62) and because Paul, along with Silas, as reported in Book. Acts (Acts 16:25), they prayed in Philippi and glorified God around midnight, so that the other prisoners also heard it. § 13. The necessity of prayer is revealed from the prayer of Jesus; its usefulness, or reality from the allegorical examples of the Old Testament: the same gifts that the pious people of the Old Testament were given as participants in, we also receive through prayer gifts that were only prefigured by those allegorical gifts and which are superior to those. And if Jesus prays, and if He does not pray in vain, 48 since He achieves through prayer what He desires, without prayer which, perhaps, He would not have received: then which of us will decide to neglect prayer? Mark says: In the morning, when it was still very dark, He got up, went out, went into a deserted place and prayed there (Mark 1:35); and Luke: It happened that when He was praying in one place and stopped, one of His disciples said to Him (Luke 11:1); and in another place: And He remained all that night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12); John describes His prayer with the words: After these words, Jesus lifted up His eyes to heaven and said: Father, the hour has come, glorify Your Son, that Your Son also will glorify You (John 17:1). And the saying of the Lord recorded by the same evangelist: I knew that you would always hear me (John 11:42), indicates that the prayer of the one who prays unceasingly is always heard. Is it therefore necessary for our purpose to name all those who, as a result of their worthy prayer, received many great things from God: Each of the Holy Scriptures can easily choose many things that relate to this. Anna, for example, being barren, interceded for herself the birth of Samuel, compared with Moses (Jer. 15:1), praying to God with complete trust (1 Sam. 1:9, etc.). Hezekiah, while he listened to the word from the lips of Isaiah that he would die, prayed and was then accepted into the genealogy of the Savior (2 Kings 20:1, etc.; cf. Is. 38:19, etc.). By a simple command from the treacherous Haman, the people of Israel were to be wiped off the face of the earth; here the prayer of Mordecai and Esther combined with fasting was heard (Esth. 4:1, etc.) and the joyful day of Mordecai 49 joined the Mosaic and national holidays. And in the same way, Judith offered a sacred prayer to God and then, with the help of God, she defeated Holofernes and, thus, a lonely Jewish woman brought shame to the house of Nebuchadnezzar (Jude 13:6-10). Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael were heard and were honored that a wind was sent down to cool them and water them with dew, preventing the fiery flame from affecting them (Dan. 3:0). The lions in the den of Babylon had their mouths closed by Daniel's prayer (Dan.6:22). And Jonah, being in the belly of the fish that swallowed him, did not despair of the success of his prayer, therefore he came out of it and happily completed the embassy he had just begun to the Ninevites (Jon. 2: 2, etc.). But how much each of us can tell if he thinks with gratitude about the blessings of God shown to him and wants to glorify God for them! Souls 50 who had been barren for a long time and felt the weakness of their minds and the unproductivity of their reason, as a result of their unremitting prayer from the Holy Spirit, were put into their mouths and here words containing true teachings 51 were generated by Him. And how many enemies were defeated 52 when often many thousands of forces hostile to us fought against us and wanted to persuade us to fall away from the holy faith? We were inspired by courage, because some boast of chariots, others of horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our God (Ps. 19:8) and at the same time we notice that in truth a horse is unreliable for salvation (Ps. 32:17). Even the supreme leader of the enemy, the seductive and cajoling word that confuses many of those who are considered faithful, is often cut off by the head of the one who places his hope in the glory of the Lord 53 . And how many of those persons who find themselves in severe temptations, surpassing in their heat any fiery flame, did not suffer anything from them, but came out of them completely intact, without experiencing the slightest harm from the stench of the destructive fire! 54 Is it necessary to remind us of something else, namely, how many of the beasts that rage against us - I mean evil spirits and ignorant people - who met them often closed their mouths with their prayers, so that they could not touch our members, who had become members of Christ, with their teeth? 55 Because often the Lord, through one of the faithful, through their prayer, crushed the teeth in the mouth of lions, so that these meant no more than flowing water (Ps. 57:7-8). We also know that often violators of the Divine commandments were consumed by death, which overpowered them, and then, after cleansing their feelings from such evil, they were saved because they did not despair of the possibility of their salvation, although they had previously descended into the very womb of death 56. Death consumed them, and the Lord God wiped away the tears from their faces (Isa.25:8; cf. Rev.7:17) I found it imperative to present this after the list of those who received help through their prayer. Oh, if I were able to turn away those who are seeking the spiritual, striving for life in Christ, from praying for unimportant and earthly things, and oh, if I could turn the reader of this work to the spiritual, the previously mentioned type! Because he who does not make war according to the flesh (2 Cor. 10:4), but puts to death in the spirit the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), prays only for the spiritual and mysterious things mentioned above, and chooses as the subject of his prayers primarily that which, when examined by Scripture, turns out to have the highest meaning, and not what the letter of Scripture speaks of and which seems to some of those who pray to be the ultimate good deed 57 . We must also try not to remain sterile or weak inside; listening with spiritual hearing to the spiritual law 58, at the same time, we cease to be barren or weak and are listened to like Anna and Hezekiah; Moreover, we are freed from the encroachments of evil spirits hostile to us, like Mordecai, Esther and Judith. And since Egypt, as the image of the whole earth, is an iron furnace (Deut. 4:20) 59, then everyone who has been saved from the influence of the corruption of human life on it, everyone who has not yet been burned by sin and who has not lit a fire in their heart, as if in some furnace, should thank God no less for this than those who, being in the fire, felt the cooling dew. In the same way, the one who, during his prayers and invocations: Do not betray the soul of Your confessor to the beasts (Ps. 73:19), was heard and did not experience any evil from the serpent and the basilisk because he stepped on them, invested with the power of Christ; and he who, in the sublime power bestowed upon him by Christ, advances over serpents and scorpions and against all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19), tramples down the lion and the dragon (Ps. 90:13) 60, without suffering harm from them: and he should give more thanks than Daniel, when he was freed from the most terrible and dangerous beasts. In addition, if anyone knows what kind of monster was depicted that swallowed up the prophet Jonah; if he calls that this is exactly the monster about which Job says: Let them curse her (i.e. the night of my birth), capable of awakening the great monster (Job.3:8) 61, and if he ever found himself in the mouth of this monster through disobedience: then he must pray with contrition for his sin and will be saved from his mouth; and if he is saved from it and then constantly follows the commandments of God, then with the goodness of the Spirit 62 he can even today, on the day of the perishing Ninevites, serve as a prophet and bring them an opportunity for salvation, without annoyance at the goodness of God and without harboring in his heart the desire that He should remain strict with those who repent with contrition. As for Samuel further, about whom it is narrated that he sought something great with his prayer, this can still be brought to fruition in a spiritual way to this day by anyone who is truly devoted to God because through this he becomes worthy of having his prayer heard, for it is written: Now stand and look at this great deed that the Lord has done before your eyes. Is this not the wheat harvest? But I will call on the Lord and He will send thunder and rain (1 Samuel 12:16–17). Then it is said immediately after this: And Samuel cried to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day (1 Samuel 12:18) 63. But to every saint who is a true disciple of Jesus 64, the Lord says: Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest. He who is a reaper receives a reward and gathers fruit for eternal life (John 4:35–36). At this time of harvest, the Lord now performs a great work before the eyes of those who listen to the prophets 65, namely, if someone, adorned by the Holy Spirit 66, calls on the Lord, then God sends thunder and rain from heaven, watering the soul, so that the one who was previously in a state of sin is now imbued with great fear of the Lord and of the mediator of Divine grace (εὐεργεσίας), the success of whose prayer imparts greatness to him and makes him venerable 67. Elijah, finally, by Divine command, opens heaven, after it was closed for the wicked for three years and six months (1 Kings 18,19; James 5:17-18): anyone can do this (i.e. from the elders), and at all times bringing down rain with his prayer on the souls of those who had previously been deprived of it for their sinfulness. § 14. We must pray for the noblest and heavenly blessings. There are then four types of prayer (petition, laudation, intercession and thanksgiving). This division is confirmed using examples from Holy Scripture. Requests, intercessions and gratitude find application in mutual relations between people; the more applicable it is, therefore, in our relationship to Christ. After this reference to the gifts of grace, which the (Old Testament) saints received through their prayers, the saying becomes clear to us: “Ask for what is important, then something less important will be given to you; ask for heavenly things, and then earthly things will be given to you” 68. But everything figurative (symbolic) and prefigurative (typical) turns out to be less important and earthly in comparison with the truly important and supersensible, because the expressions “heavenly, important” in the word of God are used only where it invites us to imitate the prayers of the saints, offering us the essence of what was achieved by those saints only in pre-image and to which those earthly and unimportant things only hinted. In this case, the Word of God seems to say this: “You who want to become spiritual people, strive with your prayers to reach heavenly things, namely, so that you can become heirs of the heavenly kingdom and so that you can acquire important things, i.e. to become participants in the highest goods; earthly and unimportant things, which you need because of your bodily needs, the Father will give you to the extent of your need.” And since the apostle in his 1st letter to Timothy contains four expressions for the meaning of four things related to our treatise on prayer, I find it expedient to cite here those expressions of his and discuss how each of those four expressions should be understood as a rule in its own meaning. The Apostle writes: First of all, I ask you to make prayers, petitions, supplications, and thanksgivings for all people (1 Tim. 2:1) 69. By prayer 70, in my understanding, here we mean prayer that begs, convinces, is done to those in need of something, done in the hope of receiving what is missing. Prayer 71 is called here prayer in the most elevated mood of the spirit, not thinking about its own benefits, done to glorify God for His great deeds. Petition 72 is an intercession made by someone more just-minded before God for someone or for something. Thanksgiving 73, finally, is a recognition that certain gifts have been received from God, and the grateful one is imbued with the consciousness of either the real greatness of the benefit shown to him, or for the one who has experienced that benefit it seems great. An example of the first expression is Gabriel's greeting addressed to Zechariah, who was probably praying for a son. It was this: Fear not, Zechariah; for your prayer (δέησις) has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and call his name John (Luke 1:13). Further, in the Book of Exodus, regarding the pouring of the (golden) calf, it is noted: And Moses prayed (ἐδεήθη) to the Lord his God, and said: Let not Thy anger, O Lord, be kindled against Thy people, whom Thou broughtest with great power and with a mighty hand out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 32:11). Then in Deuteronomy it is written: And I prayed (ἐδεήθην) a second time to the Lord as the first time (Deut. 9:18). And in the Book of Esther: And Mordecai prayed (ἐδεήθη) to the Lord, remembering all the works of the Master, and said: Lord, Lord, King Almighty (Esth.4:17). And Esther prayed (ἐδεῖτο) to the Lord, the God of Israel, and said: My Lord, our King (Esth. 4:17). Examples of the second expression are the following passages. In Daniel: And Azariah stood and prayed (προσηύξατο), and opened his mouth in the midst of the fire and spoke (Dan.3:25) 74. And in the Book of Tobias: And in sorrow I prayed (προσηυξάμην), and said: You are righteous, O Lord, and all Your works; and all Your ways are mercy and truth, and You judge with true and righteous judgment forever (Tov.3:1-2). Since the above passage from Daniel is provided with an obel 75 as a sign that it is not in the Hebrew text, and since the Book of Tobias is not recognized by the Jews as canonical 76 , I will cite the passage about Anna from the first Book of Kings: And she prayed (προσηύξατο) and wept bitterly. And she made a vow, saying: Lord of hosts! If You look upon the sorrow of Your servant, etc. (1 Samuel 1:10–11). And in Habakkuk: Prayer (προσευχή) of Habakkuk the prophet, for singing. Lord, I have considered Your works and have been horrified. In the midst of the two living creatures you will be known; as the years approach, you will be revealed (Hav.3:1-2) 77. But it is primarily this prayer that proves the given definition of the concept of it, namely, that προσευχή (prayer of praise) is performed by those praying with the glorification of God. But Jonah also says: And Jonah prayed (προσηύξατο) to the Lord his God from the belly of the whale and said: I cried to the Lord in my affliction, and He heard me; from the belly of hell I cried, and You heard my voice. You cast me into the depths, into the heart of the sea, and the currents surrounded me (John 2:2-4). For the third expression, examples are from the Apostle (Paul), who, in all justice, assimilates prayer (προσευχή) to us, and intercession (ἔντευξιν) to the Holy Spirit, whose power and justice surpasses the one for whom He takes upon Himself the intercession, for we do not know what we should pray for, says the Apostle, and how it should be pray; but the Spirit Himself intercedes (ὐπερεντυγχάνει) for us before God with groanings that cannot be expressed. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes (ἐντυγχάνει) for the saints according to the will of God (Rom. 8:26–27). The Spirit intercedes and intervenes for us, and we pray (ἐντυγχάνει). And the prayer of Jesus (Joshua) at Gibeon for the sun to stop, it seems to me, was intercessory, because this is what it says: And Joshua cried to the Lord on the day on which the Lord gave the Amorites into the hands of Israel, and he said, when at Gibeon he destroyed the Amorites and they were destroyed before the eyes of the children of Israel: Let the sun become over Gibeon and the moon over the valley of El (Joshua 10:12 ) 78 . And in the book of Judges, in my opinion, Samson intercessively (ἐντυγχάνων) said: My soul die with the foreigners (i.e., the Philistines), at which he shook the pillars with all his might and brought the house down on the owners and on all the people who were in it (Judges 16:30). And although it is not said that Jesus and Samson made intercession, but simply only what they said, yet their speeches were intercessory prayer (ἔντευξις) 79; and this, I believe, we distinguish from prayer of praise, when in other cases we use the names of those prayers in their own meaning. An example of a prayer of thanksgiving, finally, is the appeal of our Lord when He said: I glorify You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes (Luke 10:21), because I glorify the same thing as I give thanks. Prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving can certainly be addressed to the saints; two kinds of them, namely intercession and thanksgiving not only to the saints, but to people and ordinary people 80; prayer (τὴν δέησιν) only to the saints 81, for example, if Paul or Peter is sought and found, so that they will help us and make us worthy participants in the given authority to forgive sins, except in the case where we would offend an unsaint: then, as soon as we notice our guilt before him, we are allowed to pray to such a person (δεηθῆναι) so that he would forgive us the offense 82. And if the mentioned types of prayer find application already in relation to the saints, then shouldn’t we give much more gratitude to Christ, Who, according to the Father’s will, has shown us such great benefits? But we must also turn to Him with intercessory prayers like Stephen, who said: Lord, do not impute this sin to them (Acts 7:60) and, imitating the father of the sleepwalker, says: Lord, have mercy on my son (Matthew 17:14; cf. Luke 9:38), or on myself, or on both. § 15. Prayer in its own right cannot be addressed to any creature; it is impossible to treat her even to Christ the Lord - a misconception that Origen tried to prove in more detail. But we must offer our prayers only to God the Father through the mediation of Christ, our high priest: we must pray “in the name of Jesus.” If we understand what it means to pray, προσευχή 83 , then of course, no one will ever turn with prayers to any creation 84 , not even to Christ Himself 85 , but only to God, (Lord) of the universe and the Father, to whom, as we have already mentioned above (cf. § § 10 and 13), – our Savior, just as He prayed 86 Himself, taught us to pray. Heeding the request: Teach us to pray (Luke 11:1), He taught us not to pray to Himself, but to the Father, and at the same time to say: Our Father who art in heaven (Luke 11:2; cf. Matt. 6:9), etc. Because if the Son is different in person from the Father - which we have proven elsewhere 87 - then one must either turn to the Son with prayers, and not turn to the Father, or to both, or only to the Father. The first: “To pray to the Son, but not to pray to the Father” will, of course, be recognized by everyone without exception as something incongruous, and to assert this would mean to assert something contrary to the evidence. If we should pray to both the Father and the Son, then it is clear that we should turn to Them with those prayers in the plural and in those prayers we should cry out: “Give,” “have mercy,” “grant,” “save,” etc. 88 But these expressions are already strange in themselves 89 and no one can prove that they were used by any of the persons mentioned in Holy Scripture. It remains to affirm, therefore, the third thing, that one should pray only to God, the Father of the universe, yet without avoiding the High Priest 90, who was appointed by the Father with an oath, as the saying testifies to this: He swore and will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek (Ps. 59:4; cf. Heb. 7:20-21). Therefore, if the saints give thanks to God in their prayers, then they express gratitude to Him through Jesus Christ. Just as now one who understands something in the right way of prayer cannot turn with prayer to the one who himself prays, but turns with it to the One whom our Lord Jesus taught in prayer to call Father: in the same way, we should not turn a single prayer to the Father besides the Son, to which the Son Himself gives a definite indication in the words: Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing. in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete (John 16:23–24). He did not say: “Ask Me”; He did not even say: “Ask the Father alone,” but said: Ask the Father in My name and he will give it to you. Until Jesus taught this doctrine, no one prayed to the Father in the name of the Son; and His word: Until now you have asked nothing in My name was the truth; after that, another of His words became true: Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. If anyone, confused by the concept of worship (προσχυνεῖν), holds the opinion that they should turn to Christ Himself with prayers, he will refer us to a place from the Book of Deuteronomy, undoubtedly related to Christ, a place that reads like this: Worship Him, all angels of God (Deut. 32:43) 91 then it will be necessary to object to the fact that the Church, from the prophet called Jerusalem, is worshiped by kings and queens as its nourishers and nurses, as evidenced by the following words: Behold, I will lift up My hand to the pagan nations and set My standard before the tribes, and they will bring your sons in their arms and your daughters on their shoulders; and kings will be your admirers and their queens your nurses; with their face bowed to the ground they will bow to you (προσχυνήσουσι) and lick the dust of your feet; and you will know that I am the Lord and that you should not be ashamed (Is. 49:22–23). And to what else can the words of Christ be equated: Why do you call Me good: no one is good except God the Father alone 92, if not to the following: “Why do you pray to Me? Only the Father should be prayed to, to whom I also pray, as you can see from Holy Scripture. Because you should not turn your prayers to Him who was endowed with the title of intercessor from the Father (1 John 2:1), but through the mediation of the high priest and intercessor you should pray, who is able to sympathize with your weaknesses, because He was tempted in all points like you, but through the grace of the Father in the midst of temptations He did not sin (Heb. 4:15). Know, therefore, what great grace you have received from My Father; through your rebirth in My name you received the spirit of sonship, so that you are called children of God and My brothers. After all, you have read the word that I spoke about you to the Father through David: I will proclaim Your name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise You (Ps. 21:23). But it is unreasonable for those honored with the glory of having the same (with Me) Father to turn with prayers to their brother 93; You must send your prayers to the same Father with Me and through Me.” § 16. To pray to Christ would be a sin. We must pray only to the Father, and, moreover, for things that are truly great and heavenly, because earthly blessings are only, as it were, a shadow accompanying those blessings. Therefore, if, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture, temporary benefits were provided to the saints and bodily salvation was granted, then this was in some way bodily salvation, then in some way this was only a secondary matter and only a consequence of the much higher and spiritual gifts they received. Hearing this from Jesus Himself, we will only offer prayers to God through His mediation, we will all say the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10) and we will not be divided because of the type and manner of prayer. Because wouldn't it be division if some of us sent our prayers to the Father and others to the Son? 94 Those who, in their great simplicity, without reasoning and without investigation, pray to the Son 95 fall into the sin of ignorance, whether it happens that they pray to the Father or do not pray to the Father. Therefore, let us turn to Him with petitions as to God; Let us stand before Him for others and for others as before the Father; in humility let us beg Him for help and mercy as the Lord; let us thank Him as God, Father and Lord, Who is not the Servant only the Lord, - for the Father, in all justice, can be confessed for the Lord and the Son 96, as well as for the Lord and those who became sons for His sake: - but just as He is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32), in the same way He is not the Lord and slaves who are not aware of their dignity, but those who were originally like children (as was the case in Old Testament), were ennobled by fear, and then (in the New Testament; cf. Rom. 8:15) called to an incomparably more joyful service than the service of a slave constantly under fear. In the souls of servants and sons of God even signs are noticeable, 97 only noticeable to those who see with their hearts. Everyone, therefore, 98 who prays to God for earthly and unimportant things does not appreciate His command, by which He indicated to ask Him for only great and heavenly things, because He cannot give anything earthly and unimportant. If someone, to prove that as a result of prayer, the saints also received bodily things, refers to the words even of the Gospel itself, that in addition we are given earthly things and little things, 99 then one must object to him as follows. Just as in moments when someone gives us some thing, we cannot say that this or that person gave us a shadow of the thing; because he gave us that thing not with the intention of giving us something twofold, namely the thing and its shadow, but the intention of the giver was to give the thing; receiving with the thing even a shadow of it was already a natural consequence of the gift: - in the same way, we, with more exalted feelings regarding the gifts with which God especially endows us, confessingly recognize that the bodily gifts that are given to one and another of the saints for the benefit (1 Cor. 12:7), are given to them according to the measure of faith (Rom. 12:6) or according to the discretion of the Generator, and therefore represent a natural consequence great and heavenly, spiritual gifts to them. And the advice of the Giver of those benefits is wise, although we are not able to point out the true motivating reasons that move the Generous Giver when endowing us with this or that gift. Mainly, therefore, Anna’s soul was relieved of some infertility and this i.e. the soul was impregnated, not the body, when Hannah conceived Samuel (1 Samuel 1:19–20). Hezekiah mainly, therefore, begat a generation of spiritual children of divine origin from himself, 100 and not those who came from his bodily seed. And Esther, Mordecai and the people (Israel), therefore, were saved more from spiritual persecution than from Haman and his accomplices (Esth. 7). And Judith, therefore, crushed the power mainly of that prince who tried to harm her soul, and not the power of Holofernes alone (Jude 13). And who will dispute that the spiritual blessing with which Isaac addressed Jacob and which was expressed by him in the words: May God give you of the dew of heaven (Gen. 27:28), that it does not apply to all the saints and did not rest in the richest measure on Hananiah and his companions, for they were more blessed with it than with the dew of the earth, which invalidated the flame of Nebuchadnezzar (the fire divorced by his command (Daniel 3:49–50)? But out of goodwill, the mouth of predominantly spiritual lions was closed to the prophet Daniel, 101 so that they would not be able to do anything against his soul, and not the mouth of visible lions, which we all thought about when reading the Scripture. Will anyone escape the belly of the monster defeated by our Savior Jesus 102, the monster that consumes every apostate, like Jonah (John 2:11), who as a saint became a partaker of the Holy Spirit? § 17. Many of the people with heavenly gifts do not receive any earthly ones or only insignificant ones. But this does not mean anything because temporary blessings in comparison with heavenly ones are insignificant and mean nothing. If, of those who receive such gifts, not all receive them with the same equal shadow; For many, the gifts, on the contrary, are not accompanied by any shadow at all, they do not cast it away from themselves (i.e., in addition to spiritual gifts, many do not receive any bodily benefits): then there is nothing to marvel at; because those who observe the laws of the sundial and the relationship of the shadow to the luminous body (i.e. the sun) clearly understand that this happens in physical things. At certain times, for some people, the hand on a sundial 103 indicates the time without a shadow at all, for others only with a short shadow, and still others with a relatively long shadow 104 . Since the Dispenser of extraordinary things 105, according to the inexpressible and mysterious reasonings of His Providence, bestows them on the recipients, paying attention to the times, it is not at all strange if, when giving those extraordinary things, the recipients often do not receive any shadow with them, or often receive a shadow cast not by all, but only by a few (i.e., from those extraordinary things), often smaller in comparison with the larger one that others receive along with spiritual gifts 106. But just as now someone who passionately desires to have a sundial is neither happy nor saddened by the existence of a shadow on it from physical things or by its absence; he possesses the most necessary things, if the clock is illuminated by the sun, a more or less long shadow still appears on it or does not appear on it at all: in the same way, we, possessing spiritual gifts and enlightened by God for the universal acquisition of spiritual benefits, are not the least concerned about unimportant and shadow-like things. Everything worldly and corporeal, whatever it may be, must be considered to resemble only a transitory and empty shadow, and in no way can it be equated with the saving and holy gifts of the Lord of the universe, God. Is it possible to compare material wealth and wealth in all teaching and in all wisdom (1 Cor. 1:5)? And who, if he is not insane, will compare the health of flesh and bones with the health of flesh and bones with the health of the spirit, with the firmness of the soul, with a sound way of thinking? If the right dispensation is introduced into our spiritual life through the word of God, then bodily suffering then becomes a light scratch on the skin, and sometimes less important than skin abrasions. And who has known the beauty of the bride, whom the Son of God loves as her bridegroom (John 3:29), i.e. the beauty of the soul, when it shines with heavenly and unearthly beauty, he is afraid to decorate the bodily beauty of a woman, child or husband in the name of beauty, because true beauty is not characteristic of the flesh, but ugliness is characteristic of it. Every flesh is like grass, and its beauty, revealed in the so-called beauty of women and children, is equal, according to the prophet, to the beauty of a flower, for the prophet says: All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever (Isaiah 40:6–8). But will anyone else even call what people usually call nobility in the proper sense nobility, if he has come to know the nobility of the children of God? And if someone has thought in spirit about the unshakable kingdom of Christ, is he able not to treat every kingdom on earth with disdain, as if it is not worth mentioning? And if someone inwardly contemplated with the greatest possible clarity the armies of angels and among them the supreme leaders of the forces of the Lord (archangels), archangels and thrones and dominions and powers and super-celestial powers, so much is the human spirit limited by the body capable of such contemplation; and if someone understood that he himself could be awarded by the Father the same honor as these heavenly spirits: then will he be able - even if he himself were weak shadows 107 - not to neglect in comparison with these creatures even such things that unreasonable people consider to be the most amazing? Will he not consider these things to be completely unimportant and not worthy of mention? And all this material, even if it were given to him, would he not recognize it as worth only a small price, so as not to truly lose his place of honor and Divine dignity and honor? Therefore, we must pray for special, truly great and heavenly blessings; and we must present the care of those shadowy things that accompany those extraordinary benefits to God, who knows, even before we ask Him, what we need because of our weak body (Matthew 6:8). § 18. Transition to the 2nd part. Is the “Lord’s Prayer” set forth by the evangelists Matthew and Luke the same? Hitherto we have talked (in general) about prayer, and to the extent of grace, in relation to our understanding given to us by God in the Holy Spirit through His Anointed One, we have explored this subject sufficiently. Whether this is really so, you will discuss 108 after reading this creation of mine. Now let’s turn to another work: let’s weigh the content of the “Lord’s Prayer” offered to us. And first of all, here it is necessary to make some comments regarding the belief of the majority that Matthew and Luke convey the same text of prayer, which they should adhere to when praying. In Matthew the passage (with the Lord's prayer) reads like this: Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:9-13). In Luke (the Lord's Prayer) it reads like this: Father! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, because we also forgive all our debtors; and do not lead us into temptation (Luke 11:2-4). Those who believe that both evangelists conveyed the same text of the prayer can object, firstly, that although the evangelists’ passages with the “Lord’s Prayer” contain much in common, yet on other points they are obviously different from each other, which we will prove when analyzing them. And secondly, it is impossible for the same prayer to be uttered as on the mountain where the Lord ascended, seeing crowds of people, where He sat down, where His disciples came to Him, and He, opening His mouth, taught (Matthew 5:1-2): - because that prayer is transmitted by Matthew in connection with the return of the beatitudes and, after that, the commandments set forth; - and after his prayer in one place, at the end of which He communicated that prayer to one of His disciples, who wanted to learn how to pray as John taught his disciples (Luke 11:1). Is it sufficient 109 for the same words to be spoken, without a previous question in the course of speech, and at the request of one of the students? Perhaps someone will object to this that both prayers are the same prayer with the only difference that once it was stated in connection with a speech, and another time before one of the disciples at his request, caused by the fact that he was not there when the Lord communicated the prayer transmitted by Matthew 110; or perhaps due to the length of time he forgot her. But it is better to accept that both of those prayers are different from one another, and only in some parts have something in common with each other 111. And when we turned to Mark, looking to see if he had conveyed any prayer that we had previously overlooked, we did not find any trace of such a prayer in him. § 19. Explanation of the Lord’s words about the right kind of prayer, spoken by Him immediately before communicating the prayer Our Father. First of all, according to those who say, when praying, there is no need to seek praise from people; therefore one should not pray on street corners. Was it said (§ 8) that the person praying must first of all be in a certain mood and state of mind and only then pray; Let us therefore delve into the words spoken about this by our Savior before the prayer given in Matthew, and read as follows: When you pray, you should not be like hypocrites, because they love to stop in synagogues and on street corners to pray, so that people can see them. Truly I tell you that through this they are already receiving their reward. And you go into your room to pray, lock the door behind you and pray to your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not talk too much like the pagans; they believe that for the sake of many words they will be heard (cf. 1 Kings 18:26, etc.) 112. Do not do as they do, for your Father knows, even before you ask Him, what you need. You should pray in this way (Matthew 6:3-8). It is known that our Savior often rebelled against ambition as against a disastrous passion (Matthew 23:5–12; Luke 14:7–11); He also rejects it here, not advising us in prayer to adopt the modus operandi of hypocrites. These people boast of their piety and generosity. But we, remembering the saying: How can you believe when you pursue honors from people, and do not seek the glory that comes only from God (John 5:44), we must neglect all human honors, even if those honors were given to us for virtue; but we must strive for true, and in the proper sense, glory, which is only received from Him, which alone adorns the glory of the one worthy of glory, and, moreover, above the merits of the one being adorned. Both virtue and praiseworthy deeds, therefore, are stained if we give ourselves to them because of honors from people and to show ourselves to them; that is why we do not receive any reward from God for this. Neither is every word of Jesus false; and if He uses any strong expression in connection with His usual oath 113, then it becomes even truer. But about those who do good deeds to their neighbors because of honors from people or who pray in synagogues and on street corners so that it can be seen by people, He says the following: Truly I say to you, through this they already receive their reward (Matthew 6:5). Just as the rich man in Luke (Luke 16:25: a squanderer of wealth), having already received his good in this temporary life, precisely because he had already received that good, could not receive it after the end of this life: in the same way, he who has already received a reward for charity or prayer, as if he sowed to the flesh and not to the spirit, will reap corruption, and not eternal life (Gal. 6:8). He sows into the flesh who, in the form of receiving honors from people, gives out alms in synagogues and on the streets, and thereby makes them trumpet themselves; - or who likes to stop in synagogues and on street corners to pray, so that people can see him and spread the word about him as a pious and holy man. But everyone who walks the broad road leading to destruction (Matthew 7:13), a road that is by no means straight, but crooked and gully, does not place himself on a prosperous path and he finds himself praying on street corners, because in his pursuit of pleasure he appears not on one street, but on many; and such people, showing their piety on the streets, are glorified here and are counted among the lucky ones by others, who, like people, die (Ps. 81:7), having neglected their Divine dignity (Ps. 82:6) 114. But there are many people who, when praying, love pleasure more than God (2 Tim. 3:4), at feasts and drinking bouts, when drunk, they abuse prayer, and thus, in truth, they stand and pray on street corners, because everyone who spends his life among pleasures and loves the broad way, already deviates from the narrow and sorrowful path of Christ, which does not have the slightest ruts or bends. § 20. One should not pray in synagogues; Following the example of the actors, one should not only be outwardly devoted to virtue; on the contrary, one should pray in a closed room. If there is a difference between the church and the synagogue (and there is), because the true church has no spot on it, nor is there any disorder in it or anything like that, but it is holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27); therefore, neither one born of a harlot (Deut. 23:2) 115, nor an eunuch or an eunuch (Deut. 23:1), nor even an Egyptian or an Edomite (Deut. 23:7), can enter into it, only whose offspring, and then in the third generation, can be accepted into the church with strict discrimination (Deut. 23:8); neither the Ammonite nor the Moabite, until their tenth generation comes and the time is fulfilled 116; the synagogue opposite was built by a centurion in the time before the coming of Jesus (Luke 7:5), when the Son of God had not yet said about this centurion that He did not find such faith in Israel (Matthew 8:10) 117, so if there is, we say, a difference between the church and the synagogue (and there is), then in truth the one who loves to pray in the synagogues is not far from the street corners 118. The saint 119 does not do this: he prays not for fun, but out of love; and not in synagogues, but in churches; and not on street corners, but on the straight, narrow and sorrowful path; and not so that people could see, but so that he could place himself before the face of God the Lord. This is a man who thinks about the pleasant summer of the Lord (Luke 4:19; Isaiah 59:2) 120 and follows the commandment: Three times a year all the male sex must appear before the Lord your God (Deut. 16:16). But you need to pay strict attention to the expression “φανῶσιν” (to be visible), for external virtue (φαινόμενον) is not virtue; it is a virtue, so to speak, for show, for show, and not in reality; her spiritual eye is introduced only in deception, and does not present him with a definite and real image of her. Just as well-known actions performed in the theater are in reality not at all what they are presented as; and the actors in reality are not what they pretend to be at the theater: in the same way, everyone who puts on display only external virtue is not in reality right, but only plays the role of people of the right, like the actors; and in their person only buffoons appear in their own theater, in synagogues and on street corners. On the contrary, whoever does not put on pretense, throws away everything unrelated to the essence of his soul and tries to please the incomparably sublime spectacle, he enters the church (Matthew 6:6), in which he, having generally given up his wealth for safekeeping, has concluded the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (2 Cor. 2:3), does not strive to leave it, does not regret the external world, closes the doors of all external senses, so as not to be constrained by sensory impressions: he himself does not impose such ideas on his spirit; but prays in his church to the Father, Who does not move away from such a hidden place and does not leave it, but is present there together with the Only Begotten. For it is said: I and the Father will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). And if we pray like this, then it is obvious that then we offer our prayers to God not only as the righteous, but also as the Father, who does not abandon us, his children; - in the church where we took refuge, to those present; - He who turns his eye on us and multiplies the treasures in the church, if only we have closed the doors behind us (Matthew 6:6). § 21. One should not pray for insignificant objects and talk too much like the pagans. But the subject of our prayers should not be insignificant (material, earthly) things. But we pray for insignificant things if, when praying, we do not pay attention to ourselves or to the words of the prayer, and therefore we ask the Lord or, standing before Him, we think about things that are transitory and vulgar, worthy of condemnation, and inconsistent with the eternity of the Lord. And whoever thinks about absurd things during prayer is in an even worse state than the just mentioned friends of the synagogue; and he stands on a more dangerous path than those standing on street corners because there is not even a trace of outward virtue in him. Because, according to the expression of the Gospel, only pagans pray for vain things, having no idea about great or sublime objects, and therefore constantly praying only for the physical and external. A pagan, therefore, who prays for vain things is likened to one who asks the Lord, who lives in heaven and in the heights of heaven, for earthly things. And, as it seems, praying about vain things (βαττολογεῖν) means the same thing as being verbose (πολυλογεῖν). Nothing material and corporeal has unity and simplicity in itself; material and corporeal objects, with which we assimilate unity and simplicity, in fact represent fragmentation, disunity and division into many parts that do not have any unity among themselves. Only all that is good is simple and uncomplicated, but all that is evil is manifold; the truth is simple and uncomplicated, but only lies are diverse; true justice is simple and uncomplicated, but only its perversion is varied; the wisdom of God is simple, but the wisdom of this world, which does not create souls, is manifold (1 Cor. 2:6); The word of God is simple and uncomplicated, but the word alien to God is varied. Therefore, if one speaks too much, no one will escape sin (Proverbs 10:19); and the prayer of him cannot be heard who dreams that he will be heard for his many words (Matthew 6:7), praying about vanity and about many things, doing something else like a snake (Ps. 57:5) 121: because God, the Father of saints, knows what His children need, which corresponds to the name of “Father.” And whoever does not know God and the Divine properties has no idea about his own needs. For what they think they need is completely wrong. On the contrary, whoever understands to what extent the best and above-earthly things are necessary for him, according to God’s definition, receives what he recognizes as necessary from God and the Father, to whom he has already prayed for this. After this explanation of the words conveyed by the Evangelist Matthew (Matthew 6:5–8) before the “Lord’s Prayer,” let us turn to consideration of the content of that prayer itself. § 22. About the conversion of the Our Father, and first of all about the word “Father”: truly filial relations with God, excluded by sin, became known only in the new testament. But whoever is not a true child of God should be afraid to call God “Father.” All our deeds, words and thoughts should be a continuous “Our Father.” Our Father who art in heaven (Matthew 6:9). It would be worth investigating more carefully whether there is a prayer anywhere in the so-called Old Testament in which someone would call God “Father,” because to this day, despite all our research, we have not found such a prayer there. We do not claim that God is not called “Father” in the Old Testament, or that those who were considered faithful are not called children of God there; we affirm only that nowhere in the Old Testament do we encounter that righteous boldness proclaimed by our Savior, which authorizes us in prayer to call God “Father.” That God is called “Father” in the Old Testament, and the followers of the Divine word “sons”, this is revealed from many places. So in Deuteronomy it says: You have forsaken God who gave birth to you and forgotten God who feeds you (Deut. 32:18). And again: Was it not this very Father who found you, created you and formed you (Deut. 32:6)? And again: Unfaithful children are (20). And in Isaiah: Sons I have begotten and raised up, but they have despised Me (Is. 1:2). And in Malachi: The son honors his father, and the servant his master. But if I am the Father, then where is the respect for Me? And if I am the Lord, then where is the reverence for Me (Mal. 1:6)? But although God is called (in the Old Testament) “Father,” and those born by God through the communication of the words of faith to him are “sons” of Him, still the ancients were not imbued with the consciousness of their constant and unchangeable sonship to God 122. At least, the above passages indicate that those who were called sons were brought to justice for their guilt. According to the apostle, the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, although he is the master of everything. He is subject to trustees and stewards until the time appointed by the father (Gal. 4:1-2); with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fullness of times was revealed (Gal.4:4) 123, in which those who desire it receive adoption as sons, as Paul teaches in the words: For you have not received a spirit of slavery, that you should live again in fear, but a spirit of sonship, in which we cry: Abba, Father (Rom.8:15). And the Gospel according to John says: And to those who received Him, He gave power to become children of God (John 1:12). And from the Catholic epistle of John, in the discussion of those born of God, we are taught that as a result of this spirit of sonship, everyone born of God does not sin, because the seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 John 3:3–9) 124. Understanding therefore; what does Luke mean by the word: When you pray, say: Father (Luke 11:2), we will hesitate to address God with this name, if we are not His true children, so that, in addition to our other sins, we do not burden ourselves before God with the sin of blasphemy. I connect the following thoughts with these words of mine. In 1 Corinthians, Paul assures: No one can say “Lord Jesus” except by the Holy Spirit; and no one speaking by the Spirit of God will utter anathema against Jesus (1 Cor. 12:3), and his expressions “Holy Spirit” and “Spirit of God” are equivalent. But what this expression means to call Jesus Lord in the Holy Spirit is not entirely clear, because this word “Lord Jesus” is uttered by countless hypocrites and countless heretics, sometimes even demons overcome by the power of this name. And, of course, no one will dare to assert that “Lord Jesus” has such a meaning for any of them, as if the address was not at all uttered by them, 125 and that only in the mouths of those this “Lord Jesus” is significant, who with all their souls are obedient to the word of God, and in all their activities do not confess anyone else as their Lord except Christ Jesus. And if only such people pronounce “Lord Jesus” with full meaning, then every sinner, by his transgression of the law, therefore curses the Divine word, and by his deeds, as it were, anathematizes the Lord Jesus. Just as, then, in the mouth of one who lives according to the commandments of Christ, this word “Lord Jesus” is significant, but in the mouth of one who lives in disagreement with them, it turns out to be a curse (1 Cor. 12:3): in the same way, everyone who is born of God and does not commit sin, because he is the bearer of the Divine seed, which excludes all sin (1 John 3:9), says by his very deeds: Our Father who is on heaven (Matt. 6:9; cf. Rom. 8:15); as well as another word (i.e. expresses by its very activity): the Spirit Himself bears witness to their spirit that they are children and heirs of God, just as joint heirs with Christ, since they suffer with Him, and thus they have a well-founded hope with Him and to be glorified on solid principles (Rom. 8:16-17). But if such (from Christians) must say: “Our Father” with a full understanding of the meaning of this word, then in addition to deeds it is necessary for them that their hearts, as the source and fundamental principle of good deeds, believe in justification, and in agreement with it, their lips confess for salvation (Rom. 10:10). So, all the works of such saints, all their words and thoughts, generated by the only begotten Son of God in His own image, represent the image of the invisible God 126 and reflect the image of the Creator, who commands His sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). That is why we conveniently discover in them the image of Him who came down from heaven (i.e. Christ; 1 Cor. 15:49), Who, on his part, is also the image of God the Father (Heb. 1:3; Phil. 2:6). Since the saints 127 are an image of the image of God, they therefore also bear within themselves the signs of sonship, because of the life in them of the image that the Son is; they (the saints) are uniform not only with the glorified body of Christ, but are consistent with Him, Himself, who took on the body; namely, in this they are conformed to Him, clothed with a glorified body, that they are transformed by the renewing of their mind (Rom. 12:2) 128. If such saints with all their deeds and dispositions say: Our Father who art in heaven, then it is clear that the one who commits sin 129, as John says in his Catholic epistle, is from the devil, because first the devil sinned (1 John 3:8) 130. And just as the Divine seed that is born of God is the reason that one who is conformed to the only begotten Son of God cannot sin, so in every sinner there is a seed of the devil, which, as long as it exists in the soul, deprives him of the opportunity to act virtuously 131 . But since the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), then perhaps through the return of the Divine Word (Christ) to us, it happens that the works of the devil (sins) are destroyed, the evil seed placed in us disappears 132, and we become children of God. We should not think that only at times appointed for prayer are we shown to say the words of prayer. One who correctly understands our explanation of the saying stated above (§ 12): Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) will find that throughout our entire lives we must pray without ceasing, saying: Our Father who art in heaven; Our residence should not be on earth at all, but entirely in heaven (Phil. 3:20), this throne of God, because the kingdom of God is strengthened in all who bear the image of Him who descended from heaven (1 Cor. 15:49) 133 and for this reason became heavenly. § 23. Existing in heaven: just as it is generally impossible to imagine God present in one specific place, similarly one cannot imagine His spatial presence in heaven. His presence there must be imagined as the image of His residence in the saints. About some anthropologisms in the Old Testament. When it is said that the Father of saints dwells in heaven, it does not need to be understood in such a way that He has a body (we will describe it in some bodily form) and lives in heaven; because if the being of God had to be imagined within certain boundaries or described in some limited image, then God would turn out to be less than the sky that embraces Him; meanwhile, one must imagine that He Himself embraces and supports the entire universe with the inexpressible power of His Divinity. And in general, those passages (of Scripture) which, in the opinion of simple-minded people, literally express the idea that God dwells in a certain place, must be understood in such a way that they correspond to sublime and spiritual concepts about God. These are the following passages in the Gospel of John: Before the feast of Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come to pass out of this world to the Father (he showed by deed that) He loved His own who were in this world, loved them to the end (John 13:1). And immediately after this: Although He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He knew that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He came from God and is going to God (John 13:3). And a little later: You heard that I said to you: I am going away from you and will come to you again. If you loved Me and none of you asks: Where are you going (John 16:5). If these passages need to be understood spatially, then the following is natural: Jesus answered and said to them: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). But this place must be understood, without a doubt, not spatially, as if the Father and the Son went to one who loves the word of Jesus; consequently, those places cannot be understood spatially 134 ; and they only expressed that the Son of God, who descended to us and during His sojourn among people, in comparison with His true dignity, was in a state of humiliation, departed from earthly poverty, freely chosen by Him, to the fullness of what truly belongs to Him, and we saw Him there, clothed in perfection, where we too will take possession of everything and be freed from all shortcomings if we choose Him as our guide. This, therefore, does not bother us that the Son of God returned to the Father who sent him; - that He left the world and went to the Father. And the place at the end of the Gospel of John: Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father (John 20:17) we must try to understand more in a mysterious sense: we must understand the ascension of the Son to the Father with sacred insight in a more worthy of the Divine way, so, i.e. that this was an ascent more spiritual than physical 135. This, in my opinion, should have been noted regarding the words: Our Father who art in heaven, in order to refute the opinion of those who believe that He lives in heaven, as it were, in some specific place, which is inconsistent with the true concept of Divinity, and so as not to mislead anyone into thinking that God lives in physical space 136. Because then, for the sake of consistency, it would be necessary to say that He is also clothed with a body 137; but from this follow the most godless positions, namely the view that He is divisible, material and subject to corruption, because every body is divisible, material and subject to corruption. Or those who boast of the clarity of knowledge and do not allow themselves to be determined only by feelings, let them tell us what other conditions a physical substance can be subject to besides those to which a material one is subject! And since, even before the bodily appearance of Christ, much in the Scriptures apparently indicated that God dwells in physical space, I find it appropriate to note a little about this in order to lead out of doubt those who, in their misunderstanding 138 of the true content of those expressions of God, who surpasses everything, conclude in a small and cramped space. And first of all, it is said in the Book of Genesis: Adam and Eve heard the voice of God walking in paradise during the cool of the evening, and Adam and his wife hid from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of paradise (Gen. 3:8). Those who do not want to enter the treasury of this place, even those who do not push through its doors (i.e. who are not concerned with the deepest meaning of this passage), we wish to ask whether they can prove that the Lord God, He Who fills heaven and earth (Jer. 23:24), He Who (according to those who attribute a body to God), more in His bodily composition, heaven serves as a throne, and earth as His footstool (Is. 66:1; Acts 7:49), can they prove that He is in comparison with heaven and the whole dwells with earth in such a small space that even the sensory 139 paradise is not filled with Him, but so surpasses God in its size that He can walk in it and the sound of His steps on it can be heard? But even more absurd in their way of understanding is that out of fear of God, who was passing by, Adam and Eve, in full view of Him, hid between the trees of paradise, because it is not said that they wanted to hide, but it is said that they actually hid; and then, how, in their opinion, should we understand that God turns to Adam with the question: Where are you (Gen. 3:9)? However, we expanded on this more when explaining the Book of Genesis; and so that even now such an important subject will not be passed over in complete silence, it will be enough to recall the words of God in Deuteronomy: I will live among them and walk among them 140. Just as it is characteristic of God to walk among the saints, so, to say this for example, this walking was also in paradise, because every sinner hides from God, runs away from His eyes and avoids His presence 141 . That is why Cain went from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Noad 142, opposite Eden (Gen. 4:16). Consequently, just as God lives among the saints (on earth among the righteous), so exactly does He live in heaven, whether by saints we mean every saint who bears within himself the image of the Heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49), or Christ, in whom all those redeemed by Him become the bright stars of heaven, or so that He is in heaven for the sake of the saints and Himself lives there 143. If it is said: I lift up my eyes to You, I who live in heaven (Ps. 122:1); and in the Book of Ecclesiastes: Do not hasten with your tongue to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, on the mountain; and you are on earth, down (Ecl. 5:1): then by this (Scripture) wants to point out the difference that exists between those who are in the lowly body (Phil. 3:21) and the Divinity living among the angels, exalted in the same way through the Son of God 144, and among the holy powers, or in Christ Himself (Who is called heaven). It is not incredible that Christ, in fact, serves as the throne of the Father 145; in a broader allegorical sense, He is called heaven, and His Church, called earth, serves as His footstool (Is. 66:1 and Acts 7:49). We have now cited several passages from the Old Testament, only imaginary representing God as present in one place; We have cited these passages in order, to the best of our ability, to encourage the reader by all means to understand those passages of Divine Scripture where it apparently teaches that God dwells in one place, understanding in a higher and spiritual sense. We found it necessary to note this regarding the words Our Father who art in heaven, in order to distinguish the essence of the Divinity from all creations. To beings whose essence is not identical with the Divine, God grants bliss to take part in His glory and power and, so to speak, pours out His Divinity on them 146. § 24. Hallowed be Thy name. What is a “name” anyway? What is the “name of God”? How can you sanctify the “Name of God”? Petitions in the Lord's Prayer are expressed in the imperative form, used instead of the desirable form. Hallowed be Thy name (Matthew 6:19; Luke 11:2). The one who prays expresses in his prayer part of what he has not yet received; he already possesses part of it and wants it to be left behind him for the next time; here, by the literal meaning of the words of this petition, transmitted by Matthew and Luke (in agreement with each other), we are clearly commanded to ask that the name of God be hallowed, as if it were not yet hallowed: hallowed be Thy name. But how, perhaps someone will ask, can a person pray for the name of God to be hallowed, as if it had not been hallowed before that moment? In response to this, we intend to consider what meaning the name “father” has and how one can “sanctify” this name? A name is a word that denotes, for the most part, the predominant property of the person bearing that name. So, for example, the Apostle Paul is distinguished by special properties: a part of the soul by which he is such and such; part of the spirit 147 by which he could comprehend this and that; part of the body by which he was such and such. The distinctive features of these properties, which were not found in other people, because everyone is somehow different from Paul, are expressed in the word “Paul.” If, in people, their distinctive properties, so to speak, change, then in perfect agreement with this, according to Scripture, his name also changes 148. After changing his properties, for example, Abram received the name Abraham (Gen. 17:5) 149; Simon was called Peter (Mk.3:16; John 1:42) 150, and Saul, who until that time was the persecutor of Jesus, began to be called Paul (Acts 13:9) 151. On the contrary, God, who is unshakable and unchangeable, has forever in some way only one and the same name, found in the Book of Exodus; this name: “He that is” (Ex. 3:14), interpreted in other similar ways. Since we all, every time we think about God, associate some specific ideas with this name, but under this name we imagine by no means everything that God is, because only a few people and even, if I can put it this way, less than a few comprehend His special being in all respects, then, of course, it would be fair for us to say here that the most correct concept of God will be when creativity and industry are recognized as His characteristics, that which He judges, chooses and leaves, accepts and rejects, and rewards and punishes each according to his deserts. In such and similar features can be expressed, so to speak, that special property of God, which, according to my understanding, in Holy Scripture is signified by the name of God. So in the Book of Exodus it says: do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exodus 22:7). And in Deuteronomy: Let my tears wait like rain; let my speech arise like dew; like pouring rain on the grass, like a snowstorm on the meadows, because I have called on the name of the Lord (Deut. 32:2-3). And in the Psalms: They will remember Your name to generation and generation (Ps. 44:18). Whoever connects inappropriate things with the concept of God takes the name of the Lord God in vain; and who, like rain, knows how to fertilize the souls of listeners with his speech and offer them words of consolation like dew; and in the further edification of the listeners he pours out a rain of words on them and with them stirs up a very necessary blizzard, he can do this only through this (name). Recognizing that he is not able to do this without God, he calls on the name of God for help (which is tantamount to recognizing Himself), and God gives him the strength to accomplish everything that we have just said. Finally, everyone who explains the Divine (i.e., the properties of God, according to Ps. 44:18, equivalent to the name of God), reproduces in his memory about this subject more than what he teaches, even if it seemed that he learned the secrets of religion from someone or even thought that he himself had reached them 152. But asking that the name of God be sanctified, the one praying must observe both what is said here (i.e., during prayer, he must be imbued with the right idea about God and have an understanding of His properties), as well as what is said in the psalms: Let us exalt His name together (Ps. 33:4). This (forefather) (David) demands that we first, in full agreement, in one spirit and in the same thoughts (1 Cor. 1:10), rise to a true understanding of the essential peculiarity of the Divine being, for this, of course, consists of exalting the name of God together. If 153 someone became through this a participant in the outpouring of the Divine, so that he was accepted under Divine protection and thus began to defeat enemies who can now no longer rejoice at his fall, then he extols this power in the 29th Psalm in the words: I will exalt You, O Lord, because You took me under Your protection and did not give the opportunity to my enemies to triumph over me (Ps. 29:2). But God is exalted if our interior is sanctified to Him in a dwelling, which is why the inscription of that psalm is as follows: Song of praise for the sanctification of the house of David (Ps. 29:1) 154. About the petition: Hallowed be Thy name and about the subsequent ones, put in the form of an imperative, the following should be noted here. And the translators (Seventy Interpreters) usually used the imperative form instead of the desirable one, for example, in the Psalms: Let the lying lips, which speak evil against the righteous (Ps. 30:19), become numb (γενηθειεν). And also: May the lender seize (ἐξερευνησάτω) everything that he has; let there be no one (ὁπαρξάτω) to help him (Ps. 109:11–12), which phrases in Psalm 109 are spoken about Judas because the whole psalm is nothing more than a prayer for such or other misfortunes to befall Judas. And since Tatian 155 did not know that through γενηθήτω (let there be) not every time a desire, but often a command, he came to a very wicked opinion, as if by the words: Let there be (γενηθήτω) light (Gen. 1:3) not a command is expressed, but a desire for light to occur; because (he says in his wicked way of thinking) God was in darkness until that time. To this one can object to him: How will he then interpret the following expressions: Let the earth produce (βλαστησάτω) grass for food (Gen. 1:11); and: Let the waters that are under the heaven be gathered together (συναχθήτω) (Gen.1:9); and: Let the water bring forth (ἑξαγαγέτω) living reptiles (Gen. 1:20); and: Let the earth produce (ἑξαγαγέτω) living creatures (Gen.1:24)? Remaining consistent with himself, doesn’t Tatian really want to assert that even with water, that under heaven God expressed a desire for it to gather in one place? Or was it not for this reason that He expressed the desire: Let the earth grow (Gen. 1:11), so that he may eat from its growth? And if God needed light, then what kind of necessity should He have wanted from the earth to produce water animals, air animals and on land? But if (Tatian) considers it, of course, absurd to impose on God the desire for such things, although these expressions are also in an imperative form, then why about owls: Let there be light (Gen. 1:3) it is impossible to affirm the same, i.e. that what is expressed here is not a desire, but a command? I considered it necessary, since the “Lord’s Prayer” is offered to us in an imperative form, to fill out the false interpretation (of some passages of Scripture by Tatian) for the sake of those whom we once knew, but who were misled by him and accepted his wicked teaching. § 25. Thy kingdom come. By this kingdom we must understand the kingdom of God within the righteous, where God (Father and Son) rules, just as Satan and sin rule in the heart of a sinner. We should constantly repeat this and the previous petition because the name of God on earth is never perfectly hallowed, and the kingdom of God never fully comes. And since the kingdom of God and the kingdom of sin cannot exist side by side, we must tirelessly fight against sin. Thy kingdom come (Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2). If the kingdom of God, according to the word of our Lord and Savior, does not come with external splendor and it is impossible to say: here it is here, or there: if the kingdom of God is in our interior (Luke 17:20-21), - because this word is very close to us; it is in our mouths and in our hearts (Deut. 30:14; cf. Rom. 10:8-10), - then the one who prays for the kingdom of God obviously rightfully prays that the kingdom of God will arise in him, bear fruit and develop to perfection. Every saint is under the authority of God and is obedient to the spiritual law of God (as opposed to the law of the flesh; cf. Rom. 7:23), and God dwells in him as if in a well-ordered state: the Father abides in him, and together with the Father Christ rules in a perfect soul; as His words above testify to this: We will come to him and make our abode with him (John 14:23). In my opinion, by the kingdom of God 156 we must understand that happy state of mind when its thoughts are ordered and imbued with wisdom; and by the kingdom of Christ we must understand words spoken for the salvation of the hearers and filled with works of righteousness and other virtues: for the Son of God is the word (John 1:1) and righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30) 157. Every sinner, on the contrary, is under the authority of the prince of this world because every sinner belongs to the present evil world as not giving himself up to Him who gave Himself for us sinners, to save us from the present evil world, to save us according to the will of God and our Father, as is said about this in the letter to the Galatians (Gal. 1:4). But whoever, through deliberate persistence in sins, remains under the power of the prince of this world, is also in the power of sin. Therefore, those instructed by Paul, let us not labor under sin; the apostle invites us to this with the words: And so let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you should obey it in your lusts (Rom. 6:12). Nevertheless, regarding both petitions: Hallowed be Thy name and: Hallowed be Thy kingdom come (Matthew 6:9: Luke 11:2), perhaps someone can object: If the one praying prays in the hope of being heard and is heard once, then after what has just been said it is obvious that the name of God is already hallowed by the one praying and he is given a share in the kingdom of God, And if he succeeds in this, is it convenient? After this, he should pray again for what he already has, as if he did not yet have it - pray and say: Hallowed be Thy name; may your kingdom come? Therefore, in some cases, aren’t these petitions more appropriate; Hallowed be Thy name; may Thy kingdom come to leave? We answer this. Just as someone who prays for the word of wisdom and knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8), can easily and always pray for this because if his prayer is fulfilled, he constantly acquires more concepts about wisdom and science, and everything that is comprehended here on earth is known to him only in part (1 Cor. 13:9), - because the perfect, before which the imperfect will disappear, will be revealed only when the spirit sees the spiritual face to face ( 1 Cor. 13:12) in addition to sensory perception: - in the same way, it is impossible for each of us to sanctify the name of God in a perfect way and to take a perfect part in His kingdom, if already in science and wisdom, but without a doubt in other virtues, the perfect will only come (1 Cor. 13:10). We strive for perfection if we strive for what is in front of us, and if we forget what is behind us (Phil. 3:13). Consequently, if we tirelessly stretch forward, then the kingdom of God will then reach its highest point in us when the word of the apostle is fulfilled, that Christ, after conquering all His enemies, will transfer the kingdom to God the Father, that God may be all and in all (1 Cor. 15:24,28). Therefore, in unceasing prayer, in a state of mind through the Son of God deified 158, let us cry to our heavenly Father: Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come. Further, regarding the kingdom of God, we must also keep the following in mind. Just as righteousness and lawlessness have nothing in common with each other, light is not united with darkness, and Christ is not of one mind with Belial (2 Cor. 6:14-15) 159: in the same way, the kingdom of sin cannot exist next to the kingdom of God. Therefore, if we are under authority, then sin in no way can reign in our mortal body (Rom. 6:12) and we no longer have the right to follow its commands, as soon as it wants to incline our soul to carnal and Godly deeds: on the contrary, we must mortify the earthly members (Col. 3:5), and thus bear the fruits of the spirit (counted in the last to Gal. 5:22-23), and The Lord walks in us, as it were, in a spiritual paradise, and He alone rules over us with His Anointed One, sitting in us at the right hand of that spiritual power 160 that we wish to receive; He will sit there until all His enemies in us 161 fall at His footstool (Ps. 109:1; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:12–13) and all rule and all authority and power are abolished in us (1 Cor. 15:24). It is possible that the last enemy is in each of us, i.e. death will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26), so that Christ will also say in us: Death, where is your sting? Hell is where your victory is (1 Cor. 15:55; Hos. 13:14). Already now the corruptible in us must, therefore, be clothed with holiness and incorruptibility, consisting in chastity (Matthew 22:30) and complete purity; and the mortal, after the destruction of death, must be clothed with the immortality of the Father (1 Cor. 15:53), so that, being under the dominion of God, we already now have the benefits of rebirth 162 and resurrection. § 26. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. These words express the request: 1) that the will of God be fulfilled by us, the inhabitants of the earth, in the same way as by the inhabitants of heaven (to which evil spirits in heavenly countries, however, cannot be counted); or 2) so that it is fulfilled by fellow members of the Church, as well as by Christ; or, finally, 3) so that it is fulfilled on earth both by those people who are heavenly minded and by those who think only about earthly things. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Luke, omitting these words, after Thy kingdom come, goes straight to Give us this day our daily bread (Luke 11:3). The above words are conveyed only by Matthew; here we will consider them in connection with the previous ones. Since we, the praying ones who are still here on earth, know that the will of God is fulfilled by all the inhabitants of heaven, we pray that it will be fulfilled in exactly the same way on earth in everything. And this will happen when we do nothing contrary to the will of God. If the will of God is carried out by us on earth just as accurately as it happens in heaven, then we will resemble the inhabitants of heaven because, like them, then we will bear within ourselves the image of Heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49; i.e., Christ, Who was obedient in everything to the will of the heavenly Father, (John 4:34; 5:30), and we will inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21); and when (never) we will move to heaven, then again our descendants on earth will pray to be like us. However, this expression, both in heaven and on earth, can be taken - of course only in Matthew - and as general (that is, relating to each of the first three petitions), so that when we pray we could say this: Hallowed be Thy name on earth as it is in heaven; may Thy kingdom come (to us) on earth as it is in heaven; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The celestials have already hallowed the name of God; the kingdom of God has already come for them; The will of God is already being fulfilled by them. We on earth still lack all this; we can take part in all this only if we find ourselves worthy of God listening to our prayers about all this. But someone regarding the expression: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, perhaps suggest the following question: How can the will of God be done in heaven, when there are spirits of evil there (Eph. 6:12), because of which the sword of God is drunk in heaven (Is. 34:5) 163? And if we pray that God’s will will be fulfilled on earth in exactly the same way as it happens in heaven, then aren’t we also praying, without realizing it, that the forces hostile to us will remain on earth, where they come from heaven because many on earth live viciously because they fall under the power of heavenly spirits of evil? But whoever understands heaven (in the place from Is. 66:1) figuratively and means Christ by it, and the Church under the earth, for what throne could be more worthy of the Father if not Christ; and what is more natural to be the footstool of God than the Church - he will easily resolve this question and say: that is why we should pray that every member of the church would do the will of the Father in the same way as Christ did it, Who came to do the will of His Father (John 6:38) and did it completely (John 17:4). Whoever is devoted to Him (Christ) will fulfill the will (of the Father), so that then it will be fulfilled on earth in the same way as in heaven because he who is devoted to the Lord becomes, according to Paul, one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). And I believe it is worth discussing it more thoroughly 164 . And whoever rejects it, it can be pointed out that at the conclusion of this Gospel (which contains the discussed petition of the Lord’s Prayer, i.e., the Gospel of Matthew), the Lord said after the resurrection to His disciples: All authority in heaven 165 and on earth has been given to Me (Matthew 28:18). “By having power over the inhabitants of heaven,” He says, “I have received power over the inhabitants of the earth.” The inhabitants of heaven were enlightened by the Son of God earlier 166; but in the fullness of times (Eph.1:10; Gal.4:4), as a result of the authority given to the Son of God, the inhabitants began to imitate the moral order prevailing in heaven, for the restoration of which the Savior received authority. He receives disciples to Himself in some way, therefore, as co-workers, supporting Him with their prayers to the Father that, according to the power given to Him, Christ, the power over both heaven and earth, He would be given the authority to put the earthly things in order in the same way as the heavenly things were subjugated to Him; and in this way He could lead the matter to a happy goal for those who submitted to Him 167. But whoever understands the Savior by heaven, and the Church by earth, and will assert that heaven is the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15), on which the Father rests as on a throne, he will say that man (i.e. human nature of Christ), whom He (the first-born or only-begotten Son of the heavenly Father) accepted and for the sake of His humiliation and His obedience (in the image of Whom) even to death (Phil. 2:8) was endowed with that power, he will say that it was this man in Him who said after the resurrection: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matt. 28:18), because as a man the Savior received power over the inhabitants of heaven is equal to the power over them of the Only Begotten, so that the man in the Savior shares this power with the Only Begotten, that man who is most closely united with His Divinity and is formed with Him only one person 168. And since another explanation (according to which heaven should not be understood allegorically, but literally), does not yet resolve the doubts about how the will of God can be fulfilled in heaven, when the spirits of evil in the countries of heaven are in conflict with the inhabitants of the earth (Eph. 6:12), then the question from this point of view can be resolved as follows: Just as he who is still on earth, having his fatherland in heaven (Phil. 3:20), lays up treasures for himself in heaven ( Matthew 6:20), has a heart in heaven and bears within himself the image of the Heavenly (i.e. becomes conformed to Christ; 1 Cor. 15:49), just as such a person, without a doubt, not in terms of place on earth does not belong and does not belong to the lower world, but of course, in the direction of life, belongs to heaven and belongs to the better, heavenly world: in the same way, the spirits of evil who reside in the countries of heaven, having their own fatherland on earth, through the persecution of people, fighting them, amassing treasures for themselves on earth (Matthew 6:19) and bearing within themselves the image earthly (1 Cor. 15:49), which is the beginning of God's creativity, created as a mockery of the angels (Job 40:14) 169, are not heavenly spirits, and due to their evil dispositions cannot yet be considered as living in heaven 170. Therefore, if it is said: Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then those spirits of evil who through pride fell away (from God) along with him who fell from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18) (Satan) should not be counted among the inhabitants of heaven. Perhaps our Savior also prayed with the commandment that the will of the Father would be fulfilled on earth just as it is fulfilled in heaven; he did not command us to pray for those living in some place on earth, so that they would become like those who are in some place in heaven, but he only wanted to indicate to the prayer that object, so that everything earthly, i.e. evil and akin to earthly things was like good, which has its homeland in heaven (Phil. 3:20), so that everything becomes heaven 171. The sinner is the earth, which he will always remain; and he will return in some way to his origin, if he does not convert (that is, he will turn into dust, if he does not repent: and will remain in an untransformed state); and whoever does the will of God and follows saving spiritual laws, he is heaven. Let us turn out to be earth because of our sins; This is why we must pray that God’s will will extend to us regarding our improvement in the same way as it has already begun to act in those who before us became heaven or are turning out to be heaven; or let us assume that we are considered by God to already belong to heaven, and not to earth: in this case, we must pray that just as the will of God is fulfilled in heaven, it would be fulfilled in the same way on earth; I mean, in evil people, which could, so to speak, turn into heaven, so that there would no longer be any earth on earth, but everything would become heaven. If, according to this interpretation, the will of God was fulfilled on earth in exactly the same way as it is fulfilled in heaven, then the earth would not remain earth because, making this clear by another example, if the will of God were fulfilled by a dissolute person in the same way as it is fulfilled by abstinent people, then the dissolute would turn into abstinent people; or if the will of God, as it is fulfilled by the righteous, was also fulfilled by the unrighteous, then the unrighteous would turn into the righteous. Therefore, if the will of God is fulfilled on earth as well as in heaven, then we will all become heaven; because, although the flesh, which does not use the least (John 6:63), and the blood akin to it cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50), it must still be said that it is inherited by those who have turned their own flesh and earth, dust and blood into heavenly substance 172. § 27. Our daily bread is given to us this day. – By bread here we should not mean food of the body, but food of the soul. This food for the soul is the word of God and the holy Eucharist. Of course, the same spiritual food is not suitable for both the imperfect and the perfect. But even the simplest truths of Divine revelation constitute more excellent food for the soul than the most ingenious false teachings. – This bread of the soul, which is also called the “tree of life” and “wisdom”, supports the foundations of the human being (its substance); - because it maintains a healthy and strong spiritual essence of a person, namely the soul. This spiritual food of ours is common to us with the angels; that is why angels can receive this food from us, just as we, in turn, can be spiritually fed by good and evil angels and our neighbors. - Therefore, we pray to God that He will give us the bread just named for this day, i.e. for this present life, or for the current period of time, and so that He gives it to us daily, i.e. during periods of time after this earthly life when God will prove extremely merciful and forgive sins even against the Holy Spirit. Finally, we call this bread ours because everything belongs to the saints. Give us our daily bread 173 this day (Matthew 6:11), or, as Luke conveys: give us our daily bread every day (Luke 11:3). Since many are of the opinion that in these words we are invited to pray for bodily bread, it is worthwhile to subsequently demonstrate the falsity of this opinion and develop the correct one regarding daily bread. You can return it to them like this: How could He who commanded us to pray to the Father about heavenly and great things (cf. in §§ 14 and 16) could command the Father to pray about earthly things and about trifles, as if, in their understanding, He had forgotten what He taught because neither the (ordinary) bread given to us, necessary for maintaining bodily life in us, is not the bread of heaven, nor is prayer for it prayer for something great? Following the Teacher, therefore, we examine in detail how He taught about bread. To those who came to Capernaum to look for Him, in John He says this: Truly, truly, I say to you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miracles, but because you ate bread and were filled (John 6:26). Anyone who has eaten and is satisfied from the bread blessed by Jesus feels a strong desire to get to know the Son of God closer and rushes to Him. That is why He gives an excellent commandment in the words: Do not strive for food that passes away, but for the food that remains for eternal life, which the Son of man gives you (John 6:27). And when then the listeners, asking Christ, said: What should we do to do the works of God (that is, works pleasing to God), then Jesus answered them: This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent (John 6:28–29) 175. But God sent, as it is written in the psalm, His Word and healed them (Ps. 56:20), i.e. sick; and those who believe this Word do the works of God, which are food 176 remaining for eternal life (John 6:27). And the true bread of heaven (which must be distinguished from manna, which was only a type of the real bread of heaven), He says, is given to you by My Father, for the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and will give life to the world. ( John 6:32–33 ). But this true bread is the one that feeds the true man, created in the image of God (Col. 3:10; i.e., the most important component of the human being, created in the image of God, the soul); whoever eats this bread becomes like the Creator 177. And if so, then what is more fitting to be soul food than the word of God? Or for the mind of one who comprehends Divine wisdom, what could be more precious than it? And what else, if not truth, is more consistent with spiritual nature? And if anyone objects to this and says that He (Christ) does not teach prayer about daily bread, as something (from Himself) different 178, let him listen to how in the Gospel according to John He speaks about this bread, either as something different from Himself, or in such a way that He is this very bread. He speaks of this bread as something (from Himself) different in the words: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven (John 6:34) 179. And to those who answered Him: Give us such bread always (John 6:34), He says about this bread, identifying it with Himself: I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst (John 6:35). And a little later: I am living bread; descended from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give 180 is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:51–52). Since in Scripture all food is called bread, as is clear from what Moses wrote: For forty days he did not eat bread (that is, any food at all) or drink water (Deut. 9:9); and since the word that serves as food is heterogeneous and varied because not everyone can be fed by solid and difficult to comprehend Divine teachings: that is why He, wanting to offer the more perfect food befitting fighters 181, says: The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John 6:51). And immediately after this: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you will not have life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is truly food and My blood is truly drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me, and I live through the Father, so he who eats Me will also live through Me (John 6:54–57). This flesh of Christ is therefore true food; she became flesh as the Word according to the expression: And the Word became flesh (John 1:14). When we eat from it (i.e. from the Word made flesh), then it dwells in us (John 1:14). And when it is divided 182, then the word is fulfilled: And we have seen His glory (John 1:14) 183. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers ate manna and died; whoever eats this bread will live forever (John 6:58). On the contrary, addressing the Corinthians who were minors and still acting as human beings, Paul says: I fed you with milk, and not with solid food; for you were not yet able, and even now you are not able, because you are still carnal (1 Cor. 3:2-3). And in Hebrews: What you need is milk, not solid food. Anyone fed on milk is not versed in the words of truth (i.e., in the highest Christian teachings), because he is a baby. Solid food is characteristic of the perfect, whose senses (mainly the judgment ability) are accustomed by skill to distinguish between good and evil (Heb. 5:12–14) 185. And also the saying: Some are confident that one can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables (Rom. 14:2) refers, in my opinion, not primarily to bodily food 186, but to the word of God, which nourishes the soul. He who is strong in faith and wholly perfect can comprehend everything; and the word applies to him: Another believes that one can eat everything (Rom. 14:2); the less strong and imperfect is satisfied with the simplest and not particularly difficult teachings, and this is what he (i.e., the apostle) means when he says: But the weak eats only vegetables (Rom. 14:3) 187. But then, what is found in Solomon in the Book of Proverbs, but instructs, in my opinion, the same thing, i.e. that one who does not comprehend in its simplicity the most difficult and highest teachings, but does not harbor any false opinions, has an advantage over one who, although more reasonable, more insightful, and more capable of understanding those things, is not able to understand the foundations of peace and harmony in the universe 188 . Solomon's saying reads like this: It is better to be treated to greens with love and good will, than to eat the fatted calf of an unkind person (Proverbs 15:17). Often, therefore, we accepted a feast that was poor and simple, but arranged in good conscience by people who could not offer us more, when we were invited to visit them, with greater pleasure than lofty, but not reconciled with the knowledge of God, words in which with false persuasiveness a different teaching was offered than that which was revealed by the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Author of the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 22:40) 189. Let us therefore follow the instructions of our Savior and, remaining in faith and righteous life, let us pray to the Father for living bread, which is the same as our daily bread (ἐπιοὐσιον); let us pray so as not to get sick from a lack of spiritual food or so as not to die of hunger for God; we will consider the meaning of the word ἐπιοὐσιον (Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3) First of all, you should know that the word ἐπιοὐσιον is not found among Greek writers or anyone, nor is it used in the language of everyday communication, but it seems to have been formed by the evangelists themselves. Matthew and Luke, who introduced this word, both used it completely in agreement with each other in the same place. Translators 190 did the same when translating other places (Scriptures) from Hebrew. Because what Greek ever expressed himself like this: ἐνωτἱζου (in the Seventy, for example, in Is. 1:2; Ps. 5:2; 16:1; 38:13 and generally often) or ἀχουτὶσθητι (of course it should have stood ἀχουτισον because from this verb only the active voice is found in the Seventy, for example, in Ps. 2:14; 8:13) instead of εἰς τὰ ὧτα δέξαι (hear, receive in your ears) and ἀχοῦσαι ποίει (listen)? An expression completely similar to ἐπιούσιος, uttered by the mouth of God, was conveyed by Moses, who wrote: You will be for Me λαὸς περιούσιος (Exodus 19:5) 191. And it is obvious that both words are formed from οὐσία 192: the first (ἐπιούσιον) actually denotes bread, connecting with our being (substance, οὑσία) 193; and through the latter (περιούσιον) is designated the people who become the property (οὐσία) (of God) and form His property. Substances (οὐσία) in the proper sense 194 by those in whose assurance incorporeal beings previously exist 195 are, however, understood as incorporeal beings, which in their existence are unchangeable and are neither capable of reproduction nor do they experience decline, which is a feature only of corporeal things that experience increase and decrease because during their transitory existence they constantly need new material to support themselves and nourish themselves. If at a certain time more of this substance is added to them than lost, then an increase follows; if his opinion comes, then the consequence is a decrease in those things. Many of the things, perhaps, do not receive any addition at all, and therefore, so to speak, uncontrollably tends to decrease. Those, on the contrary, according to whom the existence of incorporeal things develops only after (corporeal) 196 and which is preceded by corporeal things, the concept of it (i.e., substance), define it as follows: Substance (οὐσία 197) is the first matter (materia prima of scholasticism) of things, from which they originated: the matter of bodies, and from this came the bodies of individual things, and from these bodies individual things; or in other words: it is the primary basis that does not have any properties 198; or that which exists before (real) things; or: what takes all sorts of forms and changes, but in its concept itself is unchangeable; or: that allows any change and transformation. According to these (philosophers), substance in its concept means that it is qualityless and formless; it does not even have a certain size, but serves as a preparatory place, the basis for any quality. Form 199 is called in this connection (in connection with substance) any kind of reality 200 in general, which includes movements and states (special relations and properties of a thing, for example, magnitude, etc.); yet none of these (forms) is said to be possessed by the substance as such; but is constantly and necessarily connected with any one of them; however, it is so that, despite its passivity, the form is nevertheless accessible to all influence on the part of the educator (τοῦ ποιοῦντος), so that this one can form and change it. In substance, the living force that penetrates the entire universe 201 must be the cause that produces every form and all changes in it. And it (i.e., substance), they say, is entirely changeable and entirely divisible, and each substance can unite with each (other) into one unity 202. Because we now, because of ἐπιούσιος ἄρτος (daily bread) and περιούσιος λαός (people - property), entered into this investigation of the word οὐσία (substance) and to distinguish the meanings οὐσία outlined this investigation here; and in the previous bread, for which we must pray, there was a spiritual one (cf. the beginning of this §): then we must think of that substance as akin to bread (hence spiritual), so that just as bodily bread, when it is digested (literally: when it is divided in the body), passes into the substance of the body, in the same way, living bread, descended from heaven, digested by spirit and soul, bread could impart something of its power to the one who will feed on it. This kind of daily (ἐπιούσιος) bread for which we pray 203 is. And again: just as looking at the essence of food, i.e. whether it be hard and suitable for fighters, or milky and vegetable, the one who feeds on it receives different strength: in the same way, the nutrition of the word of God, which is distributed either as milk suitable for children, then as vegetables characteristic of the weak, then as meat suitable for fighters, in the same way, we say, and eating from the word of God has its natural consequence that everyone who feeds on it, according to their personal relationship to it, becomes capable or to this or so it becomes like this or like that. However, there are many things that are considered food but are harmful; there are many other things that cause diseases; and again there is something else that cannot even be digested: all this can be transferred to the difference in teachings considered to be (spiritual) food. Daily (ἐπιούσιος) bread, therefore, is that which, completely corresponding to the spiritual (λογιχῇ) nature and being akin to the substance itself, brings health, complacency and strength to the soul, and imparts to the eater something of its own enduring existence because the word of God is eternal (Matthew 24:35; 5:18; Mark 13:31). This daily bread is called in Scripture, as it seems to me, by another name, the tree of life; and whoever stretches out his hand to him and takes from him will live forever (Gen. 3:22). This tree is also called by Solomon the third name of the wisdom of God. She (i.e. wisdom) is a tree of life for all who hold fast to her and gives security to those who rely on her as on the Lord (Proverbs 3:18). But the angels also feed, not on material bread, but on God’s wisdom, the contemplation of truth and wisdom, 204 by which they are strengthened to accomplish the deeds entrusted to them. The psalms say that the angels feed and that at the same time the children of God, as the Jews are called, enter into communication with the angels and become, as it were, their table mates. Only the following saying: Man ate the bread of angels (Ps. 77:25). Because our mind is not limited to the same extent as to think that the angels always received some material (σωματιχός) bread, which, according to the testimony (of Scripture), fell from heaven from Egypt, and as if they ate it, and as if this very bread was sent down to the Jews, which is used by the angels, the spirits serving God 206. In our study of what kind of “daily bread” this is, what kind of “tree of life” this is and what kind of “Divine wisdom” and what kind of food is characteristic of holy people and angels, it is appropriate to pay attention to those three men who, according to the image of the Book of Genesis, stayed with Abraham and ate bread mixed from three measures of the finest flour and baked in hot ashes (Gen. 13: 2, etc.): maybe exclusively and only figuratively 207 this only expresses the fact that the saints can communicate food not only to people, but to reason and intelligence and higher powers, partly for their benefit 208, and partly to prove that they can use extremely nutritious food. The angels only rejoice at such proof (of human wealth) and feed on them, and even more so express their readiness to be helpers to man and assist him in every possible way so that, enjoying such food and, so to speak, feeding on it, he receives even more and higher than what, with his previous knowledge, he offered them, the angels, as food. However, there is no need to be surprised that man feeds the angels, because even Christ declares that He stands before the door and knocks, so that he who opens the door may enter and eat with him from the provisions collected from him, and so that he can then provide from his provisions to the one who previously treated the Son of God to the best of his ability (Rev. 3:20). He, therefore, who feeds on daily bread and strengthens his heart through it, becomes the son of God; on the contrary, the one who eats the bread of the snake is none other than the spiritual Ethiopian and through the machinations of the serpent in the same way turns into a serpent, 209 so that even if he sought baptism, he will hear from the Son of God 210 the reproach: You are serpents, you are vipers; who warned you to flee from the wrath to come (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7)? David speaks about the snake's body, which serves as food for the Ethiopians: 211: You cut the heads of the snakes in the water; You crushed the head of the dragon and gave it to the people of Ethiopia for food (Ps. 73:13–14) 212. And although just as the Son of God is a person, so our enemy the dragon, the serpent, Satan, our evil enemy, is also a person: it still turns out that both one and the other serve this or that person as food; It is not impossible, therefore, for each of us in particular to be nourished by all good and evil forces, as well as by people. That is why, when Peter was preparing to enter into communication with the centurion Cornelius and those gathered in Caesarea, and, consequently, to allow the pagans to hear the word of God, he saw a canvas being lowered from heaven by its four ends, in which were all the four-legged, reptiles and wild animals of the earth; and he was commanded to rise, slaughter and eat; and when he refused this with the words: Lord, You know that nothing vile or unclean has ever come into my mouth (Acts 10:14; 11:8), then he was inspired not to call any person vile or unclean (Acts 10:28) 213 because what had been purified by God Peter had no right to declare worthy of contempt. The words are authentic: What God has cleansed, you do not consider unclean (9). The distinction between clean and unclean food, made in the laws of Moses when naming many animals (Lev. 11:2-47; Deut. 14:3-20) and having a correlation with the various moral properties of rational beings, teaches therefore that some of them (i.e., rational beings) serve as healthy food for us, others, on the contrary, are harmful, until the God of all of them or several from each kind (i.e., from kind of Jews and pagans), does not purify and through this will not make them healthy food 214. This is the case with food, and its diversity lies in what has been said; meanwhile, in contrast to everything mentioned, there is still truly and only daily bread, for which we must pray in order to be worthy of it; We must feed on the word, which was already in the beginning with God and by God (John 1:1), and through this we must become like God. Someone, of course, could object that the word ἐπιούσιον is formed from ἐπιέναι (to approach, to advance, to follow), and, therefore, here we are invited to pray that God will give us the bread characteristic of the future world already in advance, so that in some way we will already receive today what should be given to us in the morning; today should be understood about the present world, and “tomorrow”, “in the morning” about the future 215. But since the first understanding (i.e., when ἐπιούσιος is produced from οὐσία), at least in my judgment, is better, then (without going into details of what it is and what kind of this bread characteristic of the future world) we want (in addition to what has been stated) to explore, in addition, the meaning of the word added in Matthew (Matthew 6:11) σήμερον (this day) or instead of this, the expression χαθ’ ἡμέραν (daily) put in Luke (Luke 11:3). The Holy Scriptures often usually designate the entire continuation of time (ὰὶών) through expressions: now, this day, as, for example, in the place: He is the father of the Moabites until now (Gen. 19:37); and: He is the father of the Ammonites to this day (Gen. 19:38); and: And this word spread among the Jews to this day (Matthew 28:15) 217; and in the psalms: Now, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts (Ps. 94:8) 218. But this is most definitely expressed in the book of Jesus as follows: “Do not depart from the Lord even to these days” 219 . And if by now, by this day we mean the entire present period of time, then yesterday, of course, is a period of time that has passed. This, in our opinion, is expressed in the psalms and in Paul, in the letter to the Hebrews, as follows. In the psalms as follows: In Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday when it has passed away (Ps. 89:4) 220; and here the well-known millennium 221 is compared with yesterday, in contrast to the present (according to others); and the apostle writes: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to this day, and forever (Heb. 13:8). There is nothing surprising here at all, that for God a whole period of time, in a relative sense, lasts as long as one day for us; I believe that for Him it is even shorter 223. It is also necessary to examine 224 whether what is said about the prescribed (for the Israelites) holidays or religious gatherings for certain days or months or times or years does not refer to the eons 225. If the law has a shadow of things to come (Heb. 10:1), then many of the Sabbaths must be a shadow of many days 226; and, due to the fact that the unknown moon with the known sun enters into combination at certain periods, new moons return 227. But if the first month 228 and from this days the tenth to the fourteenth 229 and the Feast of Unleavened Bread 230 from the fourteenth day to the twenty-first have a shadow of the future, then who after this is so wise and to that extent pleasing to God that between so many months he will discern the first day and from this the tenth, etc.? And what should I say about the festival of the seven weeks 231 and about the seventh month 232, of which the new moon was the feast of trumpets 233 and of which the tenth (day) was the day of atonement 234 because they (being a shadow of the future) are only known to God, who established them? And who is imbued with the spirit of Christ to such an extent that he can understand the Sabbath years appointed for the liberation of Jewish slaves, for the forgiveness of debts and for leaving the sacred land fallow 235? Even higher than the seventh anniversary holiday, the so-called jubilee year 236; but what kind of this or the laws assigned to be fulfilled 237, about this no one can form even a somewhat clear idea except the One who matured in the advice of the Father (i.e., except the only begotten Son of God), since He, according to His incomprehensible judgments and His unsearchable paths (Rom. 11:33), established His own orders for all periods of time. But often, when comparing two passages from the apostle, a doubt came to my mind, what kind of fullness of times is this, in which Jesus appeared to blot out sins, when after this fullness more periods of time should follow. The words of the apostle are as follows: But now He appeared once, at the end of the ages (ἐπἰ συντελείά τῶν αἰώνων) to blot out sins by His sacrifice ( Heb. 9:26 ); and in the Epistle to the Ephesians: So that in the times to come (ἐν τοῖς αἱῶσι τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις) the exceeding fullness of His grace might appear to us in goodness (Eph. 2:7). And regarding such difficult things, if anyone wants to know, I harbor the following opinion: Just as the completeness, the end of a year constitutes its last month, and after that another month begins: in the same way, perhaps, the completeness of many periods of time, forming, as it were, a year of periods of time, constitutes the present period of time; and after this period of time, there will come many future periods of time, beginning with the one nearest to them; and in these future (periods of time) God will manifest in His good pleasure the riches of His grace in the fact that the greatest of sinners, namely the one who throughout the entire present period of time and from beginning to end in the one closest to him is not freed from sin (Matthew 12:32; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10), after this will mysteriously become a participant in saving grace (οἰχονομησομένου). 238 He, therefore, who sees this in the spirit and who knows what the week of aeons 239 is, he also sees into the holy triumph of the Sabbath; and whoever comprehends what the month of aeons is, he also spends the sacred new moon of God; and whoever penetrates with his spirit into the year of the aeons, he also knows the holidays of the year when the entire male sex must appear before the Lord God (Deut. 16:16); and whoever has studied the corresponding years (individual years of the eons) from such great periods of time understands what the seventh sacred year is; and who has found out what the jubilee year of the aeons is, for which he glorifies the One who gave the laws, which embrace such a distant time: how can he attach importance to such a trifle as the smallest particle of the daytime hour of such a period of time: and will he really not do everything in order, through good preparation here on earth, to become worthy of receiving daily bread for “this day” (Matthew 6:11), and then to receive it daily ( Luke 11:3)? So, what is the meaning of the word daily, this is already clear from what was previously stated 240. The meaning of this is that whoever prays to the eternal God not only about today, but also about everyday things, can receive from Him, even more, from Him, who is able to give abundantly more than what we ask or think (Eph. 3:20), or, to put it exaggeratedly, we can receive what no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and even more, which is not even in the heart of any person. rose up (1 Cor. 2:9; Is. 64:4) 241. This investigation, it seemed to me, was absolutely necessary to understand the expressions today and daily in prayer to our Father for our daily bread. Finally, if we also wanted to investigate the addition in the first Gospel (according to Matthew), our addition, since it says: Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11), then the question would arise: how can we call that bread ours, which according to Luke 11:3 should be given to us daily, i.e. and in subsequent periods of time. But the apostle already answers this question for us, that the future also belongs to the saints. He says: Either life or death: either the present or the future, all is yours (1 Cor. 3:22), i.e. belongs to the saints. Therefore, there is no need to dwell on this supplement. § 28. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. We all have many different responsibilities, some of them common in relation to our neighbors, to ourselves, to God and St. angels, some of whom are specially related to rank and status; and if we do not fulfill these duties, even partially or not at all, then we become debtors. And in relation to ourselves, in turn, many are debtors. But remembering our own guilt, we must treat our debtors leniently and forgive them again, especially since God acts with us in the same way, as we should do with our neighbors. This means that we all, to a certain extent, have the power to forgive sins, sins committed against us. The presbyter, in addition, has the authority in the name of God to forgive a sinner or to withhold his sins; but he cannot make arbitrary or frivolous use of this authority because many sins are unforgivable. And forgive us our debts, just as we have forgiven (αϕήχαμεν) our debtors (Matthew 6:12) 242; or according to Luke: And forgive us our sins, for we have also forgiven all our debtors (Luke 11:4). The apostle says about debts: Give everyone their due; to whom to give, to give; to whom respect, respect; to whom payment, payment; honor to whom honor is due. Do not owe anyone anything except to mutual love (Rom.13:7–8) 243. Consequently, we have many responsibilities and are obliged not only to material gifts, but also to friendly relations and to this and not other kinds of actions; we are obliged to nurture even one and not another type of disposition towards others. We either pay these debts by fulfilling the requirements of the Divine law; or, despising common sense, we do not pay them, and thus remain debtors. In the same way, we must judge the duties to those of the brethren who, along with us in a religious sense, have been reborn in Christ: we must treat them as having the same mother and the same Father with us 244. And we have responsibilities towards our fellow citizens; and then other duties are common to those who are of the age of parents; and other duties lie upon us in relation to those who, in all justice, belong to the honor befitting sons and brothers. Therefore, whoever does not fulfill what he is obliged to provide to his brothers, what he did not fulfill remains a duty. Likewise, if we leave unfulfilled what we should have provided to our neighbors in a friendly spirit of wisdom (in the spirit of Christian love for neighbors), then the debt only increases. But we also have responsibilities towards ourselves. Namely, we must use our body in such a way (as reason and revelation teach), and not exhaust it in pleasures; We are obliged to take care of the soul, to maintain the sharpness of the mind, as well as to pay attention to the words so that they do not have a sting in themselves (which could hurt our neighbor), on the contrary, so that they are distinguished by edification and are not idle (which words are subject to the judgment of God, Matthew 12:36). And if we do not fulfill our responsibilities to ourselves, then our duty will only fall on us with greater weight. And since we are God’s most beloved creation and image of God, then, to top it all off, we are obliged to maintain a certain spiritual mood towards God, namely love with all our hearts, with all our strength, with all our soul (Mark 12:30 and Deut. 6:5); and if we do not do this properly, then we remain debtors to God and sin against the Lord. And who then will intercede for us? Because if a person sins against another, then you can still pray for him 245; and if he sins against the Lord, then who will pray for him 246, as Eli says in the 1st Book of Kings (1 Samuel 2:25). But we are also debtors to Christ, who redeemed us with His blood (Acts 20:28; 1 ​​Cor. 6:20), just as every servant is a debtor to the one who ransomed him to pay a certain amount of money for him. And in relation to the Holy Spirit we have debts (1 Cor. 6:19-20), payable if we do not grieve Him (by sins: because with them we drive Him out of our hearts), Him by whom we are marked on the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30); and if we do not grieve Him, then we bear the fruits required of us (Matt. 3:8; Luke 3:8-11; 8.15; John 15:16; Rom. 7:4; Gal. 5:22-23), since in this He helps us and gives our soul (supernatural) life (because only through the influence of the Holy Spirit on us can we bear fruits of virtue that are dear to God; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). But if we are with our personal angel (guardian; cf. end of § 11), who sees the face of the Heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10), are briefly unfamiliar, then to each of us, with proper reflection, at least, it becomes clear that in relation to him we are also major debtors. Further, if we are a spectacle for the world, for angels and people (1 Cor. 4:9), then we must know this: just as an actor is obliged to say or do this and that in front of the audience, and he is subject to punishment if he does not fulfill what is due because he offends the entire audience: in the same way, we owe this to the whole world, to all angels and to the human race, which, while maintaining good will in ourselves, we can learn from Wisdom 247. In addition to these more general (duties or duties), the widow also has special duties, recognized by the church; the deacon has other duties; again another presbyter; and a particularly difficult duty rests on the bishop, for neglect of which the Savior will exact from him in the name of the entire church. Finally, the apostle mentions the common duties of husband and wife, saying: The husband must fulfill (marital) duties towards his wife, and so must the wife towards her husband (1 Cor. 7:3). He also adds: And do not turn away from one another (1 Cor. 7:5). And why list how many responsibilities we have (according to our recognition and condition), because the readers of this work can deduce the rest themselves from what has been said? We either do not fulfill these duties, and then remain bound by them; or we fulfill them, and then we are free from them. Of course, in this life it is impossible not to have some kind of duty 248 for every hour of the day and night. But those who are obliged to us can either fulfill their duties or neglect them; You can fulfill them in life, but you can not observe them: therefore, there are many people who are not obliged to anyone or anything; there are many people who perform most of their duties and remain responsible for only a few; many pay only a little, but remain in debt for most; perhaps there are those who pay nothing, but remain in debt for everything. And whoever does everything in such a way that he does not owe anything to anyone 249, he gets the opportunity to do this, of course, only over time and therefore needs to have his early debts forgiven; nevertheless, he may probably receive this forgiveness if from a certain time he tried to live in such a way that he did not leave any of his duties unfulfilled and did not have any (in this direction) debts. Lawful actions, on the contrary, are written in the soul and, thus, become that handwriting that is crying out against us (Col. 2:14) according to which we will be judged, as if by some book, so to speak, written with our own hands, and which will then be announced when we all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one will receive according to what he did while living in the body, good or bad (2 Cor. 5:10; Rom.14:10). Concerning these debts, Proverbs says: Do not be one of those who, out of fear, guarantee the debts of others. If you have nothing to pay, then why bother yourself so that they take your bed from under your body (literally: from under your ribs) (Prov. 22:26-27). But if in relation to many we are in debt, then many also owe us: some are in debt to us as their neighbors, others as their fellow citizens, others as fathers, still others have obligations to children, and then wives have marital obligations to their husbands, friends to their friends. If many of the great number of our debtors turn out to be negligent in fulfilling their duties towards us, then we should act all the more friendly towards them, forgetting their injustices towards us and remembering the many of our own duties, which in many cases we have not fulfilled not only in relation to our neighbors, but also in relation to God Himself. Because if we remember what we did not fulfill as debtors, but what we omitted, allowing time to pass, during which we had to provide this and that to our neighbor, then we will be lenient towards those who owe us and we will not demand too strictly the payment of their debts to us, especially if we are against God’s law and in which we turned out to be criminal against His greatness, whether it be out of ignorance of the truth or out of dissatisfaction with our destinies. If we do not want to be lenient towards our debtors, then we will be dealt with in the same way as with the one who did not want to forgive his fellow slave a hundred denarii: despite the fact that, according to the parable of the Gospel, his debt was previously forgiven, the Lord commands to put chains on him 250 and demands from him the previously forgiven debt, saying to him: You are an evil servant and lazy 251 . Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your companion, just as I had mercy on you? Throw him into prison until he has paid all his debt (Matthew 18:32–34). The Lord adds: So will My heavenly Father do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother his sins from the heart (Matthew 18:35). Consequently, if our offenders express repentance, then we must forgive them even if our debtor often does this to us. It is written: If your brother commits crimes against you seven times a day and seven times a day turns back and says, “I repent,” you must forgive him (Luke 17:4). And against those who do not express any repentance, we should not be cruel because such are their own enemies, according to what is written: he who rejects instruction neglects his own soul (Proverbs 15:32). But, of course, in such cases we must take every possible care to heal the one who has so completely perverted himself that he does not even feel his own misery and remains in the darkness of his perversity, as if in the most dangerous intoxication, the intoxication of wine. But since sins occur because we do not fulfill our duties, then with the words: And forgive us our sins Luke (Luke 11:4) expresses the same thing as Matthew (in the words: Forgive us our debts (Matthew 6:12); but, it seems, Luke excludes (from among those worthy of forgiveness) the one who (praying for the forgiveness of his sins, himself) would like to forgive only sinners who lament their sins, for he speaks of what the Savior commanded us to add in prayer: because we also forgive each of our debtors (Luke 11:4) 252. We all, therefore, have the power to forgive sins committed against us 253. This is clear from the words: just as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12) and from others: because we also forgive each of our debtors (Luke 11:4). But whoever is inspired by Jesus like the apostles (John 20:22) 254 and by his fruits 255 makes it clear that he has the Holy Spirit in himself and is spiritual because he, in the image of the Son of God, in all the activities of his calling is guided by the Holy Spirit 256, he forgives sins in the name of God 257 and keeps them from being healed because he is like the prophets, who proclaimed not their personal fabrications, and Divine advice, acts in the service of God, Who alone has the power (of Himself) to forgive sins. The words concerning the power of the apostles to forgive sins are read in the Gospel of John as follows: Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven; On whomever you leave it, it will remain on him (John 20:22–23). If these words are accepted without further investigation, then the apostles could be reproached for them, that they do not forgive everyone, so that everyone can take part in the remission of sins (by God), but that they retain the sins of some, so that for their sake those sins are not removed from a person by God. Therefore, it becomes expedient to borrow an example from the law (of Moses) in order to understand how the forgiveness of human sins by God is mediated to people through people. Presbyters under the law were forbidden to make a sacrifice for certain sins, because of which the crimes of those for whom it was offered could be abandoned to them. And although the presbyter had the authority to offer sacrifices for many unintentional sins and crimes (Lev. 4:2, etc.), he still did not offer burnt offerings or atonement for adultery or for premeditated murder and for other serious crimes. In the same way, the apostles, taught by the Holy Spirit, and those who, as elders in the image of the great High Priest, resemble the apostles and understand the divine service, know that sacrifices must be made for sins 258 and when and how; They also know for whom this should not be done. That is why, when the (first) priest Eli learned that his sons Hophni and Phinehas lead a sinful life, and that he is unable to do anything to forgive them their sins, he says something in which one can even see his despair; he says: If a person sins against another, then you can pray for him; if a person sins against the Lord, then who will pray for him (1 Samuel 2:25; cf. above countries 250). It is clear to me how some arrogate to themselves that which goes beyond the presbyteral authority; and, no doubt, due to a lack of proper understanding of theological science, they boast that it would be possible to forgive idolatry and adultery and fornication, as if by the power of their prayer 259 sin could be resolved for such lawless people to death (1 John 5:16) 260. Haven't they read the words: There is sin leading to death; I’m not talking about anyone praying for these (1 John 5:16) 261. And this should not be passed in silence, as the valiant Job made sacrifices for his sons, saying: My sons could have thought something evil in their hearts against God (Job 1:5). He makes a sacrifice for unknown sins that have not yet reached the lips 262. § 29. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Our entire earthly life is full of temptations, which, however, are not the same for beginners in spiritual life and for those who are perfect. This is taught by Holy Scripture in sayings and examples; this is also confirmed by general experience: rich and poor, righteous and sinner, healthy and sick, noble and commoner, they are all subject to various temptations; even the study of Holy Scripture has its dangers. Therefore, when the obligation is placed on us to pray, lest we fall into temptation, this does not have the same meaning, as if we should wish that we should not be subjected to temptations at all - this is impossible - but we should only wish that we should not be overcome by temptations. But those who are obliged to pray: Do not lead us into temptation, begs our attention to the question: Can God tempt someone and plunge someone into misfortune? The difficulty is not resolved by distinguishing, together with some heretics, the hard-hearted God of the law from the God of the gospel, because the New Testament God also leads people into temptations. The resolution, according to Origen, should be as follows. Just as God once healed him in the desert from disordered carnal desires, in the same way God to this day leads perverted people into temptations, i.e. gives them over to the sacrifice of their base desires, so that through immeasurable devotion to sinful pleasures they will receive an aversion to sin, and in their subsequent lives they will not so easily fall into sins. This can be the true, greatest punishment for sin; it is like purification in fire. In the words: Do not lead us into temptation; therefore we pray for grace, so as not to do anything to us, as a result of which we could be given over to the sinful desires of our hearts. Temptations, however, have the benefit that they reveal our true state of mind. Remembering previous temptations can prevent the victory of subsequent ones over us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4) 263. The words: But deliver us from evil are omitted from Luke. If the Savior commands us not to pray for anything impossible, then I find it worth investigating whether it was possible to give us the commandment to pray so as not to fall in temptation, when all human life on earth is a time of temptation. Because as long as we live on earth, as long as we are clothed in flesh, which resists the spirit (Gal. 5:17) and whose aspirations are enmity against God, because it does not submit to the law of God, and cannot (Rom. 8:7), so long will we support temptations. And that all human life on earth (indeed) is a time of temptation, Job teaches us this in the words: Is not human life on earth a time of temptation (Job 7:1)? 264 A similar thing is revealed from the words of the 17th Psalm: By You I will be delivered from temptation (Ps. 17:30) 265. But Paul also writes to the Corinthians that the grace of God does not consist in our not being subject to temptations, but in our not being subjected to temptations beyond our strength, for he says: Only human (i.e., proportionate to human strength) temptation has befallen you; But God is faithful: He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength; but when you are tempted, he will also give you relief, so that you can endure it (1 Cor. 10:13). We are never free from temptation; not now, when we must fight against the flesh; desiring what is contrary to the spirit, or resisting it (Gal. 5:17), or against the soul of all flesh 266, which, bearing the same name with the body, which is its seat, is the commanding principle, the so-called heart 267; not when, as fighters moving forward and perfect, we no longer have to fight against flesh and blood and are not tested in already defeated human temptations, but we are already fighting against the authorities and powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this age and the spirits of evil (Eph. 6:12). How, then, does the Savior command us to pray so that God does not allow us to fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41), when in some way God tempts everyone? Because Judith speaks not only to the elders of his time, but to all readers of her book: Remember how He dealt with Abraham (Gen. 12:1; 21:12; 22:1, etc.), how strongly he tempted Isaac (Gen. 22:9; 26:1, etc.), what happened to Jacob when he was tending the sheep of his uncle (brother) in Mesopotamia in Syria his mother) Laban (Gen. 29). Just as He did not tempt them to torture their hearts, so we should not take revenge, but only for admonition the Lord punishes those who approach Him (Jude 8:26-27). About all the righteous in general, David speaks in these words: Many are the sorrows of the righteous (Ps. 33:20); and the apostle in Acts: Through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). And if we do not properly understand the prayers about not leading us into temptation, which the majority really lack, then we must, of course, affirm that the prayer of the apostles was not heard because during their lives they endured so many terrible things in countless labors, in numerous insults (in sojourn), beyond measure in prisons, in private mortal dangers (2 Cor. 11:23); and Paul, mainly because of the Jews, received 39 blows five times, was whipped three times, was stoned once, was shipwrecked three times, spent a night and a day in the depths of the sea (2 Cor. 11:24-25); this man was oppressed in every possible way, driven into despair by circumstances, persecuted and deposed (2 Cor. 4:8-9), for he himself admits: Even to this hour we endure hunger and thirst, nakedness, fist beatings, we do not have a permanent residence and we work until weary with our own hands; they curse us, and we bless; they persecute, but we endure; They defame us, but we pray (1 Cor. 4:11–13). But if the apostles did not achieve any success with their prayer, then what hope of being heard from God can any of the less courageous ones be inspired by? If the 25th Psalm then says: Try me, O Lord, and tempt me; melt my entrails and my heart in fire (Ps. 25:2), then one who does not precisely understand the Savior’s commandments will easily come to the conclusion that this contradicts our Savior’s teaching on prayer 268. Further, when has anyone, since he fully entered into reason, when and who believed that the people he knew lived without temptation? And what kind of time can one point to in which there would be nothing to fear from sin because there is no need to fight (with it)? If anyone is poor, let him be careful not to steal and then take the name of God in vain (Proverbs 30:9). If, on the contrary, someone is rich, then he should be afraid because in the midst of abundance he can become a liar and in his arrogance say: Who sees me (Prov. 30:9)? Wasn’t Paul, with his wealth in all teaching and in all knowledge (1 Cor. 1:5), not completely free from the danger of sinning by self-exaltation, and did he not need some thorn with which Satan oppressed him, so that he would not become exalted (2 Cor. 12:7)? But if anyone has a good conscience and is exalted above evil, read what is told about Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles, who is told here how he fell through his arrogance (2 Chronicles 32:25-31). If, on the basis that we have not talked about the poor, and especially on the basis that the poor, according to Solomon, does not hear any threat (from robbers) (Prov. 13:8), someone would indulge in carelessness, as if there were no temptations in poverty, then let him know that the enemy lies in wait to overthrow both the poor and the needy (Ps. 37:14; 10:9). There is also no need to dwell on how many, as a result of the dissolute use of wealth, inherited a share in the place of torment together with the rich man of the Gospel (Luke 16:22). And how many lost the right to hope for heaven because they endured poverty cowardly, and behaved in such a way that their commands were more befitting slaves and people from the lower classes of society, rather than behaving as befitted saints (Eph. 5:3). Meanwhile, those who occupy the middle between wealth and poverty are far from safe from sinning even with their mediocre property. Is anyone physically healthy and strong and, because of his health and strength, considers himself free from all temptation: but who else, if not healthy and strong, is characterized by the sin of desecrating the church of God (1 Cor. 3:17)? If no one dares to speak clearly about this 269, then, without a doubt, it is only because it is already clear to everyone. And what sick person escaped the temptation to desecrate the church of God, remaining idle during illness and very easily inclined to thoughts about unclean objects? But why should I talk about what worries him besides those unclean thoughts if he does not guard his heart with all precaution (Proverbs 4:23)? Because overpowered by suffering and unable to endure illness courageously, quite many already admitted that they were then sick much more in soul than in body; and many covered themselves with eternal shame because, out of fear of dishonor, they were ashamed of the noble bearing of the name of Christ (Luke 9:26). Maybe someone believes that he will then have peace from temptations when he is held in high esteem by people, but isn’t this harsh word addressed to those: they are already receiving their reward (Matthew 6:2), isn’t it to those who are proud of their honor among the masses as some kind of good? Is this word not full of reproach: How can you believe when you receive glory from one another? and do you not seek the glory that is from God alone (John 5:44)? There is no need to list the sins of arrogance into which those who consider themselves noble fall, as well as the so-called commoners, in their helplessness practicing before the supposedly noble, a flattering baseness that separates them from God, to which they, not having true friendship for their inferiors, respond with hypocrisy, covering only the lack of the noblest thing in man, love? Thus, all human life on this earth, as mentioned above (cf. the beginning of this §; Job 7:1), is a time of temptation. Therefore, we must pray for liberation from temptation, not in the sense of not being tempted at all - because this is impossible, especially for the inhabitants of the earth - but so that we do not fall in temptation. The one who is overcome by temptation, in my opinion, is the one who falls into it and becomes entangled in its nets. It was into these nets that the Savior entered for the sake of those caught in them; and in vain, through the net, as they say in the Song of Songs (Song. 2:9), He answers those who fell into it and fell into temptation and calls to them as to His bride: Arise, my beloved, my beautiful come out (Song. 2:10) 270. To confirm that every time for a person is a time of temptation, I would like to add the following. Even the one who is busy with the law of God day and night, and the word: The mouth of the righteous fails of wisdom (Prov. 10:31) who tries to fulfill it perfectly, even he is not free from temptations. Therefore, therefore, I will go through all the multitude of people who, having devoted themselves to the study of the divine scriptures, falsely understood the sayings of the law and the prophets and began to harbor wicked and arbitrarily invented opinions, or even completely stupid and ridiculous; What benefit will come from exposing such errors, into which very many have fallen, even from such people who cannot be blamed for a careless attitude towards the study of Scripture? The same thing happened to many when they studied the apostolic and evangelical Scriptures because in their recklessness they created in their imagination a different Son, then a Father, than they teach about and which, in accordance with the truth, they accept (the writers of the Holy Scriptures) 271 . But whoever has a wrong concept about God and His Anointed One has fallen away from the true God and His only begotten Son; the prayer to the imaginary Father and Son, whom his foolishness invented, remains invalid. And this happened to him because he did not take temptation into account when studying Holy Scripture, and was not prepared for the struggle that threatened him then. We must, therefore, pray not to not be subject to temptations - because this is impossible - but to not be overcome by temptations, as happens to those who are entangled in temptations and overcome by them. Since outside prayer 272 it is written: Pray so as not to fall into temptation (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4), which saying after all that has been said, of course, will be clear to everyone; and since in prayer to God the Father, on the contrary, we must say: Lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4), then the subject is worth paying attention to, that very subject, how to understand this, that God leads him into temptation who does not pray or whose prayer is not heard. Since the one who is overcome by it falls into temptation, the opinion that God leads someone into temptation, as if betraying him to defeat, turns out to be inappropriate. The same absurdity is represented by the first understanding of the passage that came to mind: Pray so as not to fall into temptation (Luke 22:40; Matt. 26:41). Namely, if something evil represents being subject to temptation, and if we pray that this does not happen to us, then is it not senseless to think that a good God, who cannot bear evil fruit (Matthew 7:18), causes anyone to sin? Here it will be useful to quote what Paul says in his letter to the Romans. Posing themselves as wise, they went mad and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness and image of corruptible man, and birds, and four-legged animals, and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts with uncleanness, so that they mutually defiled their bodies (Rom. 1:22-24). And a little further: Therefore God gave them over to shameful passions: their women replaced natural use with unnatural; in like manner, men, leaving the natural use of women, became inflamed (Rom. 1:26–27), etc. And again a little further: And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do inappropriate things (Rom. 1:28). But all this can be contrasted with those by which the Divinity is divided; and since in their opinion the good Father of our Lord is different from the God of the law, we can ask them: Does the good God lead him into temptation whose prayer is unsuccessful; and whether the Father of the Lord gives sinners uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts, so that they mutually defile their bodies; And is it, which, according to their assurance, is far from condemnation and punishment, betrays them to shameful passions and a perverted mind to do inappropriate things: because they would not have fallen to the lusts of their hearts, if God had not betrayed them by this 273; and they would not have given themselves over to shameful passions if the same God had not betrayed them with this; and they would not have been given to a corrupt mind if they had not been condemned and betrayed by God. And I know very well that this causes them great confusion. They created a God other than the Creator of heaven and earth in their imagination because they found much of this kind in the law and the prophets, and therefore they stumbled over the opinion that He who utters such words is not good. But because of the doubt stated regarding the place: Lead us not into temptation (Matt. 6:13; Luke 11:4), for the sake of which we cited the words of the apostle, we must now consider whether we cannot 275 find a resolution of the contradictions that would be worthy of recognition. I am of the opinion that every rational soul is guided by God with regard to its eternal life; namely, she constantly maintains free choice and, according to her own decisions, moves forward along the path of good, even rising to the pinnacle of virtue; or, through various stages, starting with inattention, she descends into very deep abysses of vice 276. Since the healing is now rapid, accomplished in a very short time, it gives many a reason to neglect the diseases into which they fell, as if they were easily healed, so that after their recovery they fall into them again; then for God this seems to be a solid basis not to give such with his providence for them, and to leave them without it, so that the corruption in them would increase, would increase in them to the highest degree and would become (in this life) incurable, so that they would be fed up with a long vicious life and excessive satisfaction of sensual desires, would notice their damage and then would hate what they had previously embraced with joy; and thus, after healing, could derive more lasting benefit from the newly restored health of their soul. Likewise, those who mixed with the Israelites 277 once had a passionate desire, sat and wept along with the children of Israel and said: Who will feed us with meat? We remember the fish that was eaten for free in Egypt, cucumbers and melons 278, and onions (green) and onions and garlic; and now we are thin. We see nothing except manna (Numbers 11:4–6). Then it says a little further: And Moses heard that the people were crying among their families, every one at the door of his tent (Numbers 11:10). And again, a little further on, the Lord says to Moses: And you must say to the people: sanctify yourself (cleanse yourself) in the morning and eat meat. Since you wept before the Lord and said: Who will feed us with meat; It was good for us in Egypt: then the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat meat. You will not eat for one day, not for two days, not for five days, not for twenty days, but for a whole month you will eat, until it comes out of your nose and becomes disgusting to you because you despised the Lord who was among you and did not trust Him and wept before Him and said: Why did we come out of Egypt (Num. 11:18-20)? Now we will see whether we brought this story appropriately to resolve the difficulty contained in the place: Lead us not into temptation (Matthew 6:13; Luke 11:4) and in the words of the apostle (Rom. 1:23-28). In their passionate desire the foreigners wept among Israel, and the children of Israel with them (Num. 11:4). It is clear that as long as they did not have what they wanted, they did not receive any aversion to it and could not drown out their passion within themselves; and when the loving and merciful God gave them what they wanted, He wanted to give it to them to such an extent that there was no more desire left. Therefore He says that they should not eat meat for just one day (Numbers 11:19); the passion in her soul would remain hot and inflamed if she received meat only for a short time. But God does not give them what they want for just two days; He wants to instill in them a disgust for him; and therefore, in the words that seem to express favor towards them, for one capable of judging, there seems to be no promise, but a threat, namely when He says: “And not only will you eat meat for five days, or for twice the amount of these days or twice the amount of these digested, but until then you will eat that meat - because you will eat that meat for a whole month - until the imaginary pleasure and reprehensible shameful desire for meat goes away from you nostrils back in the form of vomiting (Num. 11:19–20). Thus I will recall you from this life free from carnal desires; and if you leave life in this state, then, pure from those desires and remembering the great sufferings through which you were freed from them, you will be able either not to fall into them again at all, or if it ever happens after long periods of time that you will forget the sufferings that you endured because of your lust; and if you don’t look after yourself and don’t invite reason to be your advisor, reason which completely frees you from all passion, you again fall into vice and then, out of devotion to the temporary, you again want to see your wishes satisfied, then you will be able to neglect the object of your desires, and thus again turn to good and heavenly food, which you neglected, instead desiring something bad” 279 . The same thing that happens to these also happens to those who have changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the image and likeness of transient man and birds and four-footed and creeping animals (Rom. 1:23): they are abandoned (by God) and given over in the desires of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defile their bodies (Rom. 1:24), they have degraded the name to a dead and senseless body (i.e. idols). The One who grants to all beings endowed with feeling and reason that they not only feel, but also feel intelligently, and to some even that they feel and think completely and virtuously 280 . And rightly those who have abandoned God are abandoned by Him and given over to shameful passions (Rom. 1:26); In this they receive punishment for their error, in which they fell in love with a pleasure similar to scabies. Being given over to shameful passions. (Rom. 1:26), for their error they suffer a higher punishment than what they would have suffered if they were cleansed by spiritual fire 281, and than what they would have suffered if they were forced in prison to pay all their debts even to the last day (Matthew 5:26). Because indulging in shameful passions, not only natural, but also in many cases unnatural, they defile themselves and become dulled by the flesh (get fat, get fat) to such an extent, as if they had lost their soul and mind, and became, as it were, entirely flesh; in fire and in prison, in the form of saving suffering, assigned to those greedy for pleasures for the purification of their prophets, to whom they indulged during their delusion, in fire in prison, for their delusion, they would not have suffered any punishment, but only a benefit 282, freed from all uncleanness and blood, with which they were defiled and dishonored, and were not able to even think about their death in order to protect themselves from it. After all, God will wash away the filthiness of the sons and daughters of Zion and cleanse the bloody guilt from among them with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of fire (Is. 4:4); He will come like fire in a furnace and like purifying lye (Mal. 3:2) and will wash and cleanse those for whom such healing remedies were necessary because they did not take care to have God in their minds (Rom. 1:28). And if by this (i.e. saving means) they surrender themselves willingly, then the inglorious image of dispositions becomes hateful to them; – God does not want anyone to be virtuous under compulsion, but for everyone to be so of their own free will; - many, due to their very long life in sin, hardly even knew its vileness, and they now turn away from it because they falsely considered it to be good. Consider further whether God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for this reason (Exod. 7:3; 8:15), so that he could say what, no longer being hardened, he said: The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are guilty (Exod. 9:27), but it was necessary to harden him even more (Exod. 9:34-36) and he had to endure even greater disasters, so that he would despise the hardening as evil precisely because it was not too soon stopping the bitterness 283, and in such a way that there is no need to harden it even more often. Therefore, if it is not unfair that the nets are placed for the birds, as stated in Proverbs 284, on the contrary, it is fair that God brings us into the net according to the word: You have brought us into the net (Ps. 65:11); and if, without the will of the Father, even the smallest among the birds, namely the sparrow, does not fall into the snare (Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6) - because whoever falls into the snare falls into it because it means he did not properly use the wings given to him for flight - then we must pray that we do not do anything like that, which would earn permission from the righteous judgment of God to be led into temptation 285. Everyone is led into temptation by God giving himself over to the desires of his heart for impurities (Rom. 1:24); and everyone is given over to shameful passions (Rom. 1:26), and everyone, in the same way as he rejected God in himself (in the spirit to know God, in the mind to have), is left to a corrupt mind to do inappropriate things (Rom. 1:28). The benefits of temptation are as follows. What is hidden in our soul from everyone except God, even from us, is revealed in temptations, so that what we are becomes clear. We then learn to know ourselves, and thus, with good will, to notice our own shortcomings, and to give thanks for the good that is revealed in temptations. And that temptations come for this purpose, so that it may be revealed who we are, or to reveal the secrets of our hearts, this is proven by the saying of the Lord in the Book of Job and in places in Deuteronomy, which read like this: “Do you think that I competed with you for some other purpose, and not to reveal your righteousness 286? And in Deuteronomy: He tested you with misfortune, tormented you with hunger and fed you with manna (Deut. 8:3), and He was your guide in the wilderness, where there were biting serpents (Num. 21:6) and scorpions and thirst (Deut. 8:15), so that the dispositions of your heart might be revealed (Deut. 8:2). And if we want to remember something from history, we will have to understand that Eve’s gullibility and the fickleness of her spirit were not only revealed when God despised her and turned His attention to the serpent, but obviously already existed earlier because the serpent approached her because in his cunning he noticed her weakness (Gen. 3:1-6) 287. And in Cain, his evil intention did not occur when he was killing his brother because even earlier, God, the knower of the heart, was not looking at Cain and his sacrifice (Gen. 4:5) 288: his malice was revealed when he killed Abel. Further, if Noah had not drunk the wine he cultivated, and, as a result, had not become drunk and had not been revealed, then neither Ham’s reckless audacity and shamelessness against his father, nor the respect and reverence of his brothers would have been revealed (Gen. 9:20-23). And the persecution of Jacob by Esau became the reason for the taking away of the blessing (Gen. 27:1, etc.); but even before that his soul contained the seeds of a fornicator and a despiser of the saint (Heb. 12:15–16) 289. And we would not have known about Joseph’s brilliant chastity, with which he was armed, so that no position constrained him, if his mistress had not made him love proposals (Gen. 39: 7, etc.). Therefore, in the interval of time, when temptations are replaced, let us stop and calmly ponder the upcoming and all possible misfortunes, so that what can always happen does not find us unprepared, but we refuse to be carefully armed. For what, as a result of human weakness, is still lacking to us, when we do everything on our part, is supplemented by God, who works for good in all things for those who love Him (Rom. 8:28) 290, about them, about whom He, in His correct foreknowledge, knew in advance what they would one day be in themselves. § 30. But deliver us from evil. – This request, in fact, is already contained in the previous one. God does not deliver us from evil in such a way that the enemy no longer approaches us at all; but in such a way that through no temptation and no misfortune can he defeat us or deprive us of courage. We see this from the sayings of Holy Scripture; We especially see this in the example of the sufferer Job. Therefore, we must pray that our evil enemy cannot plunge our souls into flame with his kindled arrows. It seems to me that Luke, with the words: Lead us not into temptation (Luke 11:4), meant that he already said this: But deliver us from evil. 291 It is likely that before the disciple, who had already achieved some success, the Lord expressed himself more briefly; and before the great assembly of the people it is clearer because this one still needed more definitive instruction. But God delivers us from evil 292 not when the enemy approaches us in general to defeat us with his various cunnings through his collaborators, but when we courageously resist adversity and thus triumph in victory. This is precisely the meaning, according to our understanding, that takes place: The righteous have many sorrows, and the Lord will deliver him from all of them (Ps. 33:20). God does not deliver us from sorrows in such a way that no more sorrows visit us; – after all, Paul also says: We endure all kinds of oppression (2 Cor. 4:8), so, i.e. that we are never left without sorrow; - but in such a way that, with God’s help, we never find ourselves in difficult situations in sorrow. The expression to be distressed (θλίβεσθαι), according to Jewish usage, denotes misfortune that befalls us against our will; On the contrary, the expression being in a difficult situation (στενοχρεῖσθαι) is used about someone who voluntarily allows himself to be overcome by constrained circumstances and succumbs to them. That is why Paul says very well: We endure all kinds of oppression (ἐν παντἰ θλιβόμενοι), and yet we are not oppressed by them (ἀλλ’ αὐ στενοχωρούμενοι) ( 2 Cor.4:8). In my opinion, the passage in the Psalms is similar to this expression: I was straitened; but You gave me space (Ps. 4:2. Through space (πλατυσμός) here the joyful and bright mood of the soul is denoted, which in unfortunate times God gives us because God’s Word then encourages us and saves us with His help and His presence with us. Deliverance from evil must be understood in the same way. Thus, God delivered Job from evil not in such a way that the devil was not given the power to surround him with these and those temptations - he received such power after all - but in such a way that despite all the misadventures Job did not sin in anything before the Lord (Job 1:22), but turned out to be righteous. Because Satan said: It is not for nothing that Job honors the Lord: Have You not surrounded with a rampart everything that is outside of him (Job), that is inside his house and outside it in the area around his possessions? Have you not blessed his servants, and made his flocks numerous on earth? But stretch out Your hand and touch everything that he possesses, and with it, he will curse You to your face (Job 1:9-11), but to his shame he turned out to be a slanderer of Job. Because this one, although he endured a lot, still did not curse God to his face, as Satan claimed; on the contrary, he remained firmly in glorifying the Lord even when he was betrayed to the tempter. And when his wife said: Speak a word to the Lord and die (Job 2:9) 293 then he condemns her and reproaches her with the words: You speak like a woman of madness. Having received good from the hand of the Lord, should we not also accept evil (Job 2:10)? And Satan spoke a second time about Job: Skin for skin and all that a man has will give for his soul 294 . But stretch out Your hand and touch his bones and his flesh, and he will curse You to your face (Job 2:4-5). Defeated by the virtuous, and here he turned out to be a liar. Because even in the most severe suffering, Job remained constant and did not sin in anything with his lips before God (Job.2:10). And after Job victoriously withstood two struggles, he was no longer subjected to a third similar one. Because that triple struggle, set out in the three Gospels (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13; Luke 4:1–13) had to remain for the Savior: three times our Savior, in his humanity, defeated the enemy. Since, in order to reasonably pray to God so that we do not fall into temptation (Matthew 26:41; Luke 22:40) and be delivered from evil (Matthew 6:13), we entered into a rather thorough examination of these sayings, expressing some considerations about them; since through obedience to God we ourselves deserve to be heard from Him: then let us pray, so that in temptation we will not be put to death (cf. 2 Cor. 6:9) and so that when the fiery arrows of the evil one hit us (Eph. 6:16) 295 we will not be set on fire by them. And everyone is inflamed by them, whose heart, in the words of one of the 12 prophets, has become like an oven 296 (Hos. 7:6); On the contrary, those who with the shield of faith extinguish all the fiery arrows (Eph. 6:16) 297 thrown at them by the evil one are not inflamed by them: they have within themselves rivers of that water that flows into eternal life (John 4:14). From these waters the red-hot arrows of the evil one remain ineffective; They easily neutralize those arrows: from the influx of Divine saving thoughts, which through consideration of the truth are imprinted on the soul of someone trying to lead a spiritual life, the impact of those arrows remains without effect. § 31. About the mental mood and position of the body during prayer, as well as about the place and time for prayer, etc. As for the spiritual mood, especially before prayer, you need to concentrate, and during it, avoid distraction. The best position of the body during prayer is when one prays with outstretched arms and upward-facing eyes; should also, if possible, kneel, just as beings who do not have a human image, in a spiritual sense, still kneel before God. As for the place, then, of course, you can pray in any place; Still, you need to choose the most decent places in the house for prayer, not defiled by any sin. The most decent and most attractive place for prayer is the church, where angels join the faithful, especially their guardian angels, where the power of our Lord is, as well as where the souls of the dead and saints are present. If the majority of those gathered in the church consists of sinners who did not come together for holy reasons, then instead of angels and saints, evil spirits are mixed in with them. Thus, two kinds of people always gather in the church; either pious people and holy angels, or wicked people and evil angels. In order to more fully exhaust the topic of prayer, it seems to me appropriate to discuss in more detail the mood and behavior of the body that the person praying should observe, the place where he should pray, the region of heaven to which the gaze should be turned, as far as the situation allows, the time especially appropriate for prayer, and the like. Mood relates to the soul, holding oneself opposite to the body. Therefore, referring to the mood, Paul, as mentioned above (cf. the beginning of §§ 2 and 9) says that one should pray without anger and contentiousness (1 Tim. 2:8); and hinting at how one should hold oneself during prayer, declares that one should lift up clean hands (1 Tim. 2:8). And this, it seems to me, he borrowed from the Psalms, where it is said: The lifting of my hands is like an evening sacrifice (Ps. 141:2). Regarding the place, he says: I desire that men pray in every place (1 Tim. 2:8). And regarding the land of the sky, Solomon says in the Book of Wisdom: So that it may become known that the sun should warn the sun by offering thanks to You and that before the onset of daylight, it should have fellowship with You (Wisdom 16:28) 299. Therefore, whoever is preparing to go to prayer, in my opinion, should stop and prepare for several moments in order to maintain concentration of spirit and ardor throughout the entire prayer; he must remove from himself all temptation and distraction of thoughts and, as far as possible, remember the greatness before which he stands; he must leave everything foreign (cf. § 20 from the middle) and after that go to prayer because before his hands the one praying must stretch out his very soul; before one ascends to God with one’s eyes and heart; Before getting up from his place, he must soar with his mind to God and place himself before the Lord of the universe, and in the same way abandon all quarrelsomeness with imaginary offenders, just as from God he desires forgiveness for himself of all that he has sinned against Him and with which he has offended many of his neighbors, or in which, according to his own consciousness, he acted only against sound reason. Namely, 300 we have no right to doubt that of all the countless positions of the body, the position with outstretched arms and raised eyes deserves preference 301; because then an image of that special property that befits the soul during prayer is imprinted on the body 302. We say, however, that this position of the body should be preferred only when circumstances allow it; because under certain circumstances it is often more decent to pray sitting, for example, with some, which can be very important, disease of the legs; – or even lying down during feverish and similar illnesses; and depending on the circumstances, you can pray in such a way that others will not notice; for example, if we are on a ship, or if our activities do not allow us to retire and indulge in proper prayer. You should further know that kneeling is also necessary when someone is going to repent of their sins before God and pray to Him for healing from them and forgiveness of them; kneeling is a symbol of how Paul prostrated himself, expressing his submission with the words: For this cause I bow my knees to the Father 303, from whom is the name of the whole family in heaven and on earth (Heb. 3:14-15). It seems to me that the apostle hints at spiritual kneeling, so called because everything that exists bows before God in the name of Jesus and humbles itself before Him, in the words: So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, beings in heaven, on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2:10). Because it cannot be assumed that the bodies of celestial beings are so formed that they even have bodily knees; Those who reasoned thoroughly about this proved that their bodies are spherical 304. Anyone who does not want to agree with this, putting himself before reason in other cases, even though he should not be ashamed of himself, must recognize the purpose behind each of the members, so that there is nothing that God would have created for those (celestial beings) in vain; and thus, he will run into punctuation on both sides: both in the case when he begins to assert that the bodily members of heavenly beings were given by God in vain and not at all for their inherent function 305 , and in the case when he says that the entrails and rectum 306 of celestial beings also fulfill their inherent functions 307 . And it would be a very stupid desire to get out of this difficult situation, that both in statues and in extra-mundane creatures only the appearance is humanoid, and not the inside 308. – I wanted to notice this regarding bowing the knee regarding the investigation and consideration of how at the name of Jesus every knee bows of beings in heaven, on earth and under the earth (Phil. 2:10). The same is written by the prophet: Before Me every knee will bow (Isa.95:23; cf. Rom.14:11). And regarding the place of prayer, one should know that in every place it is decent to pray, as long as the right to pray 309, because in every place, says the Lord, you will offer sacrifices to Me (Mal. 1:11); and: I wish that men would pray in every place (1 Tim. 2:8). But in order to pray calmly and not become distracted while praying, it is more correct to choose a place in your home for prayer, if possible, so to speak, the most decent place and to pray there; but at the same time, along with general discernment regarding the place, it is necessary to investigate whether there has ever been any atrocity on it and whether acts inconsistent with sound reason have been committed because because of these, not only from ourselves, but also from the place of our prayer, the eye of God turns away 310. If, regarding this point (i.e., regarding the place of prayer), further investigation is appropriate, then I must say something that will be somewhat tempting, but with a more careful verification, perhaps, it will seem important, namely: we need to reflect on whether it is decent and fair to enter into communication with God in the place of not only illicit sexual intercourse, but also permitted, which, according to the word of the Apostle, is allowed out of condescension, and not a command regarding which is given ( 1 Cor.7:6). Because if proper diligence to prayer is conditioned by abstinence for a certain time, then perhaps this same thing, where possible, should be taken into account regarding the place 311. But along with the benefits of prayer, there is something attractive about its place, namely the place of gathering of the faithful. This is natural. Because in the assemblies of the faithful there are present both heavenly powers, and the power of our Lord and Savior Himself is also inherent in them; in addition, the souls of saints are also present here, especially, at least in my opinion, the souls of saints who have already departed; and what is even more certain is that the souls of saints who are still alive are present here; as for how this happens, it is not easy to explain. The presence (in Christian prayer meetings) of angels can be concluded from the following: If the Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him (i.e. Lord) and saves them (Ps. 33:8; Gen. 32:1, etc.); and if Jacob expresses the truth not only about himself, but also about all the worshipers of the omniscient God with the words: the angel who delivers me (as well as all the godly) from all evils (Gen. 48:16): then it is all the more natural that during the right meetings of a large number (of the faithful) for the glory of Christ, the angel of everyone would take up arms around every God-fearing person, would be next to every man whose protection and guidance are entrusted to him 312, so that in the assemblies of saints there is a twofold society: one consisting of men, the other of angels. And when Raphael says that he already brought to mind the prayer of one Tobit (Tob. 12:12; 3.1, etc.), and then the prayer of Sarah (Tob. 3:11-25), who later, through marriage with (the younger) Tobiah, became the daughter-in-law of that older Tobiah (i.e. Tobit): then what needs to be said about when many converge in the same spirit and in the same thoughts ( 1 Cor.1:10) and form one body in Christ (Rom.12:5)? Further, that the power of the Lord is inherent in His community, Paul says about this: In your assembly in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is common with my spirit (1 Cor. 5:4), which expresses that not only the Ephesians, but also the Corinthians 314 were partakers of the power of the Lord. And if Paul, still relieved in body, believed that he could act with his spirit in Corinth, then, of course, it would be reasonable to accept that in the same way the departed blessed ones come with their spirit to church meetings and, perhaps, even faster than someone rushing there while in the body. That is why the prayers in those meetings cannot be considered unimportant: for those present behind them, rightly, they contain something extraordinary. But as the power of Jesus, the spirit of Paul and those like him joins with those and with those who gather together with the right disposition; how the angels of the Lord take up arms around every saint; One must pay attention in this way so that one does not betray oneself to the angel of Satan through a sinful life, if one turns out to be unworthy of the holy angel 315. Because such a person, if there are few of his kind, will not be able to keep watch for long and will lose the angels who, by divine definition, serve as leaders of society and the misdeeds of such a person are brought to public attention. If the number of such persons has multiplied and they come together following the example of human societies and more for some earthly pursuits 316, then they become completely unobservable (neither God nor holy angels). This is revealed from the words of the Lord in Isaiah: And then I will not desire your sacrifices from you, if you appear before My face (Is. 1:11-12); I will turn away My eyes from you, He says; and even though you pray a lot, I will not hear you (Is. 1:15). Instead of the above-mentioned double society of holy people and blessed angels, then perhaps another double combination occurs: wicked people and evil angels. Both holy angels and pious people could say about such a meeting: I do not sit in the council of vanity and I do not want to deal with evildoers. I hate the assembly of evil people; I do not want to sit among the wicked (Ps. 25:4-5). The inhabitants of Jerusalem and all of Judea, burdened with many sins, I believe, fell under the power of the enemies because they, having neglected the law, were abandoned by God, guardian angels and the help of holy people: often entire societies are abandoned, fall into temptation, what they thought they still had is taken from them (Matthew 25:19; Luke 8:18), because like that fig tree ( Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:13–21), which was cursed and then dried up from the root, as if it did not produce any fruit during the famine of Jesus, they dry out and lose a little of the supernatural vitality that they still had in themselves. These explanations seemed to me necessary here, in determining the place of prayer and in setting out the advantages that are the places of assembly of the saints, who come together in church with due fear. § 32. When praying, one should turn to the sunrise, as a sign that souls look to Christ as the true light of the world. Now little can be said about which side of the sky one should face when praying. But since there are four sides of the sky, namely north and south, west of the sun and east, then who would not agree that the country to the east of the sun clearly indicates that when praying we should turn there, as a sign that souls are looking at the rising of the true Light? 317 If anyone wants to offer their prayers, it is better to have the doors of the house open, no matter which direction the doors of the house are facing; and if anyone argues that the view of the sky has something more attractive in itself than the view of a wall - if the house at sunrise does not have any skylight - one can object to this: since buildings are arranged by human order with spans to one side or the other of the sky, and the east has a natural advantage over other sides of the sky, then the natural must be preferred to the arbitrarily arranged one. Otherwise, on this basis, whoever wants to pray in freedom, why would he consider it better to turn to the east of the sun when praying than to the west 318? But if there are sufficient reasons to prefer the east, then why should this not be observed constantly? But enough about this. § 33. Our prayer must always have the following components: glorification, thanksgiving, confession of sins and petition. In conclusion, Origen hopes that in the future he will be able to once again engage in discussion about prayer and write the best essay on this subject. I consider it appropriate to now say more about the constituent parts of prayer and thus conclude the discussion about it. It seems to me that four components can be distinguished in prayer: I found so many parts distinguished by Scripture, although they are offered here scatteredly. Everyone's prayer should consist of those four parts. These components are the following 319. At the beginning and in the introduction to prayer, we must glorify God to the best of our ability, co-glorified through Christ, glorified in the Holy Spirit. Then everyone should add thanksgiving, both general for the benefits provided to all people, and for special ones, in particular those received. Through thanksgiving, I believe, one should pour out repentant sorrow for one’s sins before God and, firstly, pray to Him for healing from the inclination to sin and liberation from it; secondly, about the forgiveness of sins hitherto committed. After confessing sins, I believe, fourthly, petitions should be added “about important and heavenly things” (cf. above in §§ 14 and 16), both special and general, as well as petitions for family and friends. And to all this, conclude the prayer with the glorification of God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. These components of prayer, as already mentioned, are offered scatteredly by Scripture, viz. The glorification is contained in Psalm 103 in the following words: Lord my God! How wonderfully great You are! You are clothed with glory 321 and majesty, You who dress yourself with light as a robe, Who spread out the sky like a covering, Who cover the spaces above it with waters (Gen. 1:7; Dan. 3:60), Who make the clouds Your chariot, Who walk on the wings of the storm, Who make Your angels winds and Your servants blazing fire 322 Who hath set the earth on firm foundations, so that it shall not be shaken for all eternity. You covered it with the abyss like a garment. There are waters on the mountains. They flee from Your rebuke 323, the voice of Your thunder is terrified (Ps. 104:1-7). But most of this psalm contains glorification of the Father. Everyone himself can collect more of these glorifications and see how an integral part of prayer, glorification, is scattered in many places (Scriptures). An example of thanksgiving is David’s exclamation in the 2nd Book of Samuel after the promises (2 Samuel 7:8-17) given to him through Nathan, when this king, overwhelmed with amazement at the evidence of God’s mercy to him, expressed his gratitude for it in the following words: Who am I, O Lord, my Lord, and what is my house, that You have loved me so much? And I 324 was still too small before You, my Lord! You spoke about the house of your servant and in the distant future, This is already human, Lord, my Lord! What else can David tell you (i.e., how could I express my gratitude in words)? For the sake of Thy servant (Vulgate in accordance with the Hebrew: for the sake of the promise, for the sake of Thy word) Thou didst this, and after Thy heart Thou dost all these great things; to reveal this to Your servant, so that he may exalt You, O Lord, my Lord (2 Samuel 7:18-22). An example of confession of sins: Deliver me from all my iniquities (Ps. 39:9). And in another place: My wounds stink and fester because of my iniquity. I am bent and completely drooping, I walk around lamenting all day (Ps. 37:6-7). An example of petitions in the 27th Psalm: Do not destroy me along with the wicked, and do not blot me out with the evildoers (Ps. 27:3), etc. It is fair, finally, that a prayer that begins with glorification should end and conclude with glorification, namely with exaltation, and should end and conclude, namely with the exaltation and glorification of the Father of the universe through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, to Whom be glory forever. These, the most inquisitive and in piety, completely equal to each other as brother and sister, Ambrose and Tatiana 325, I worked hard to the best of my ability on the topic of prayer and the prayer contained in the Gospels 326, as well as the sayings that are found before it in Matthew. If you strive for what is in front of you and what is behind you, then forget (Phil. 3:14) and at the same time pray for us, then I hope to discuss all this even more extensively and more satisfactorily to the extent of the gift I have received, and then write about the same subject the most beautiful, most sublime and clear essay. At the present time, treat this (my work) with condescension. Church history has no detailed information about Tatian. Only that she was in a very close relationship with Ambrose. Since Origen calls Ambrose’s wife Marcela in a letter to Africanus, Tatiana could be Ambrose’s sister. Or maybe it was Ambrose's wife, who was given two names. They guess that this was the sister of Tatian, to whom Gregory the Wonderworker addressed his book “On the Soul.” Like Sarah (Gen. 18:12), Tatiana was already at such an age when Origen wrote this creation that she had lost her fertility. Origen expresses pleasure on this occasion with the attitude that, probably, now, not being led astray by sensual desires, she will be concerned with the Lord in order to be holy both in body and in spirit (Cor. 7:34). Since here, Origen wants to say, Moses himself uses ὔχεεδθαι to mean pray, this meaning of his word, therefore, undeniably corresponds to its use in Scripture. The meaning of this passage in the Book of Leviticus is as follows: If someone condemns himself to serve in the sanctuary as an altar boy, he can buy off his personal service by contributing a certain amount of money, which must correspond to the age and gender of the person making the vow and the normal weight of the shekel kept in the sanctuary. A Nazarene or Nazirite was the name given to one who made a vow, either for his whole life or for only a certain period of time, to serve exclusively the Lord God, and for the undisturbed transmission of religious life, he removed himself from society: the prototype of monastic Christian life. Neither scissors nor razor were to touch the Nazarene's head until the time had passed during which he dedicated himself to the Lord. Origen wants to say: “That προσεύχεσθαι is used here in a different meaning (i.e., in the meaning of a vow), and not in the meaning of “pray,” this can still be argued against.” Consequently, Origen used this word exclusively in the meaning of “prayer,” especially since he did not know of any other places in which προσεύχή would be used in the meaning of “vow.” Origen says here that Jephaia’s vow was the same (έχείνη ἡ εὐχὴ, ῆντινα χαὶ Ἰεφθάε ηὔξατο) that Anna also made, dooming her son Samuel to become a Nazirite. From here, according to Origen, it undoubtedly becomes that the word burnt offering (ὁλοχαύτωμα) should be understood not literally, but about eternal action and separation from the world. It is remarkable that in this understanding (the only true one) Origen contradicts all ancient interpreters. Amrosius and Tatiana, who asked Origen to write a treatise on prayer for them, themselves outlined to him some points to which, in fulfillment of their desire, Origen had to answer; This is why his book begins first of all with a presentation of objections to prayer and an analysis of them. Earlier, Origen said that among faithful Christians there is hardly anyone who would reject prayer; Here Origen somewhat supplements this opinion. “Indeed, as he says, there are no such people among the faithful, but there are heretics in our time,” Clement of Alexandria calls them “Prodicians,” “who declare prayer useless, based in this case, through the deception of Satan, even on the teaching of Christ Himself.” These are the so-called “pseudo-spiritualists” who denied the need for any external signs and rituals during worship, claiming that the body should not take part in worship. The ecliptic, or the path of the sun, is divided into 12 equal parts, called the celestial signs, or signs of the zodiac. There are three spring signs: Aries, Taurus and Gemini. In this case, we have become inseparably fused with sin, so that we are in no way able to free ourselves from it. In current editions of the Bible, the 89th Psalm is written like this. Such were the views of the Predestinians, which appeared so often and in such diverse shades in church history. They developed them into a lie that outraged every moral feeling because, according to their false teaching, it turned out that prayer and good deeds for salvation are not only useless, but also downright harmful. Already 350 years ago, the prophet predicted the eradication of idolatry through Josiah in these words: Altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: Behold, a son will be born to the house of David—his name is Josiah—and he will sacrifice the priests of the high places upon you, etc. ( 1 Kings 13:1-2 ). When refuting objections to prayer on the part of the Predestinatians, Origen sets out and thoroughly proves that man freely chooses both good and evil and must necessarily contribute to his own salvation: the path for refuting the Predestinatians is absolutely correct. Because those who reject the need for prayer and good deeds usually proceed from the false assumption that a person does not have freedom of moral choice and can approach the matter of his justification and sanctification in a purely passive manner. Inanimate objects form a unity or whole due to the fact that individual material particles have the property of mutual attraction, or the so-called cohesion force. These inanimate objects cannot move on their own, but receive a push from the outside to move. If, for example, plants or animals, as Origen immediately says, have within themselves the ability to move, they are brought into it like inorganic things through external influence. Origen wants to say the following: Just as there is little reason to assert freedom of understanding when obvious errors are held to be true, in the same way there is no reason to dispute the freedom of the will to decide in favor of evil or good. Pointing out their personal relationship to the environment is the most valid argument against skeptics. Or rather: even before the creation of the world, from eternity. From eternity, the predetermined life destinies of a person depend partly on the natural course of events, partly on the special foreknowledge of God, conditioned by the confirmation by his actions of human free will. It is not because God foresees them that human actions must occur, but on the contrary: since they are performed (freely), then God foresees them. Of course, also from eternity, but still in logical order, after foreknowledge. If God foresees the future without error, then this happens because in His omniscience He infallibly foresees the free decision of the will of man in favor of good and evil. Continuation of the Divine Predestination Decree. All Angels are ministering spirits, sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb. 1:14). If a person does not use God’s mercies towards him or abuses them, then, in all fairness, he is deprived of the richest and highest mercies of God, and only the most necessary ones are left to him. Satan, who constantly walks like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8) and in alliance with carnal lusts attacks man. It is not “maybe” (τάχα), but it is certain that the Son also foresees everything. Although this place is not clear enough for Origen to grasp the opinion of the subordination of the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, it is still obvious that he did not express himself here quite definitively about the mutual relationship of the three persons of the Divine.” Subsequently, Origen clearly expresses his well-known opinion about the animation of the sun, moon and stars. Since, according to Origen, all spirits were initially completely equal to each other, then during the great falling away from God that occurred between them, the souls of the stars, who had sinned less than the souls of people, were sent into nobler bodies. Origen does not distinguish between the direct, immediate glorification of God by rational beings and the indirect or silent glorification of Him by irrational creatures, whose mere existence testifies to the Divine properties and perfections, and through this they glorify God in the way described by the saying: “It is the right thing to praise your master.” Among the ancients this was a common image to indicate the movement of stars. The stars, Origen wants to say, invariably adhere to the paths once chosen by them with free determination. This is all the more possible for them because they do not experience, as people do, revolts of sensuality against reason and against its decisions dictated to its will. Therefore, praying that, for example, the sun would rise at a certain time would be pointless. Our time would have given a simpler answer to the pre-Destinarians’ comparison of prayers to God, who predetermines our lot from eternity, with a prayer for the rising of the sun: It is pointless to pray for the rising of the sun because the sun and stars, as irrational creatures, with physical necessity pass along the paths indicated to them by the Creator. From unclean ideas come dirty thoughts; Religious thoughts are also generated by religious ideas. When Moses, after a conversation with God, descended from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the covenant, his face shone with extreme brilliance, so that the Israelites began to fear Moses, and he saw himself forced to have a veil over his face every time he spoke to them (Ex. 34:29-35). This veil symbolically expressed the truth that all the rituals, sacrifices and prescriptions of the Old Testament, of which Moses was the representative, were to be considered only a temporary cover of the eternal truth: the Israelites have this eternal truth, the brilliance of which they could not bear, to mature only under the cover. We Christians, on the contrary, see this truth in an undisguised, open form. Of course, we too see the “glory of the Lord” not in its objective reality, as we will once see on the other side of the tomb; but we see it, so to speak, in a mirror, which, however, cannot be covered with anything, just as the mirror of Moses’ face was once covered. And we see the “image” of the Divine, which in itself, although always remains equal to itself; but due to the countless number of infinite Divine perfections, for our eyes it is constantly transformed from one glory to another. Otherwise, this passage from Origen can therefore be translated as follows: “For with open face they contemplate the glory of God, as if in a mirror they are transformed from glory to glory into the same image.” In the expressions found here, Origen contains a clear and definite hint of the so-called “trichotomy” of the human being, about which in other cases he usually expresses himself very vaguely and hesitantly. At that time, this view had not yet been discussed and rejected by the church. It was as follows. According to him, a person consists of three substances, body, soul and spirit. The soul in a person is the principle that animates him and thinks and represents a kind of intermediate link between the body and the rational spirit; Consequently, it is in closer connection with the body than with the spirit; That’s why it was often called the “physical soul” as opposed to the “spiritual soul.” The fulcrum or evidence in favor of such a view for Origen here are both passages from Scripture: To You I lift up my eyes (Ps. 122:1), where by eyes Origen means ὁψθαλμοί τοῦ διανοητικοῦ, identical with πνεῦμα, and the passage from Ps.24:1: To You, O God, I lift up my soul. In reverent prayer, the “eyes of the spirit” (i.e. spirit) ascend to God; but the soul also separates from the body, with which it is, therefore, in the closest connection, and unites with the spirit, so that it becomes a “spiritual soul,” whereas outside the state of prayer it can of course only be called a “bodily soul.” The first of these passages (in his own mouth) Origen seems to refer to open murmuring against God; the second, on the contrary, leads to discontent in the heart. However, in our Russian translation, published from the Holy Synod, in the Slavonic and in the Vulgate the expression with one’s own lips appears in both places, and in the Hebrew text in Ch. 1 tbsp. 22 this supplement is not available. Those. Beware of being reluctant and sad about this law, which commands in the seventh year, the small year of jubilee, to forgive all debts. Wed. Rev. 1:4; 4:5; 5:6; 8:2 etc. – These seven angels stand before the throne of God, receive commands directly from God Himself and offer the prayers of the saints before the face of God. Here, in this earthly life. We contemplate supernatural things directly, but we see only their reflection in the mirror of faith, therefore we perceive them in a mysterious and dark way. Rev. 1:20; 2:1.8.12.18; 3:7.14 – Same ministry, same names. An allusion to the ladder seen in Jacob's dream (Gen. 28:12). The meaning of this place, of course, is this: the words of prayer spoken with understanding enlighten the mind and strengthen the will to such an extent that the forces of darkness with the spiritual arrows of their tricks cannot do anything against souls; on the contrary, they themselves are completely defeated. To the question of how the prayer of Christ Jesus is consistent with His omnipotence, Thomas a à Kempis aptly answers in this way: “If in Christ there was only one will, i.e. Divine, then He would not have prayed, since the Divine will through itself produces what it wants. But since in Christ one will was Divine, and the other human, and the human will through itself could not otherwise accomplish what it wanted than with Divine help, then it was natural to pray to Christ as a man and having a human will.” Days of Purim from the Persian word “Fur” i.e. lot (cf. Esther 3:7; 4:1 et c.; 9:21–31), 14 and 15 Adar (extends from half of February to half of March), which are still celebrated by the Jews today as days of extreme joy. They also call this holiday the day of Mordecai (2 Mac. 15:36). Similar to the previous examples, the spiritual charitable consequences from it are now set forth as the fruit of prayer. The comparison is taken from Hannah and Hezekiah. Like Haman and his companions. Just as Judith killed the leader of the enemies, Holofernes: similarly, the spiritual Judith, glorifying God, or prayer, kills the leader of the enemies of our soul, who encroaches on our faith. Like the three young men in the fiery furnace. Just as Daniel closed the mouth of the lions in Babylon with prayer. By analogy with the Platonic trichotomy of the human being, supposedly consisting of body, soul and spirit, in the Bible, Origen distinguished a threefold meaning: 1) the literal (bodily), or natural meaning of words; 2) moral (physical), related to the moral life of a person and 3) typical or analogical (pneumatic), indicating the state after death. At the same time, Origen came out of the position that every passage of Scripture has a higher meaning, allegorical, the discovery of which constitutes the most important and most difficult task of the exegete. Those. trying to penetrate into the highest meaning of Holy Scripture. Origen wants to say: temptations everywhere are as great and as dangerous for the soul as the heat for the body in a red-hot “iron furnace.” According to the Vulgate and the Russian translation published by the Holy Synod: “Leviathan,” whose properties the Holy Scripture depicts in such expressions (for example, Job 41:24–25) that many of the church fathers, like Origen in this place, mean Satan by him. By those capable of waking him up we must of course mean wizards. The “goodness of the Holy Spirit” is revealed in the fact that He even grants to sinners, if they are converted, the qualities necessary for prophets. However, by “goodness of spirit” here one can understand the human spirit, and the present passage will then need to be translated as follows: “then he can, according to his spiritual giftedness...” God sent this storm to the Israelites as punishment for their desire to have a king; with it, the spiritual rain compared by Origen, on the contrary, is sent by grace. The comparison, therefore, applies only to special cases where the success of prayer is revealed with particular clarity. The sudden rain that followed Samuel's prayer was all the more surprising because around the time of harvest, according to the testimony of the blessed one. Jerome, it doesn’t rain at all in Palestine. Who not only corresponds to his Christian dignity (ἅγιος), but also to the apostles and disciples of Christ is a true helper (γνησὶως μαθητεύων), i.e. vested with presbyteral powers. Here, of course, Origen refers to the prophets of a new tomorrow. Of course, these are elders who receive the grace of the Holy Spirit with the power to forgive sins (cf. John 20:22–23). Under these prayers offered by people “embellished by the Holy Spirit,” of course, there is, of course, the remission of sins in the sacrament of repentance (cf. below § 28), which is still communicated in our Church in the form of prayer. By “thunder,” according to Origen, perhaps one could mean a shock of the heart, repentance and the intention to improve; under “Rain” - justifying grace, under the influence of which the soul is cleansed of sins and (like a field fertilized by rain) becomes capable of producing the fruits of virtue. Mainly because of his authority to forgive sins, the presbyter rises above the laity and is venerable. These sayings are not found in our editions of Holy Scripture; therefore, we are dealing here either with an interpolation of Matthew 6:33 (Seek first the kingdom of God, etc.), or perhaps they were borrowed by Origen from the apocryphal “gospel of the Nazarenes,” which the ancients often spoke of with praise. The faithful must practice all types of prayer and, moreover, pray for all people without exception. The difficulty of accurately distinguishing between these four different expressions is recognized by interpreters of Scripture. Δέησις, related to δέομαι, need, means a prayer arising from a feeling of need for help, or a prayer of supplication. Προσευχή, related to εὔχομαι, the main meaning of which is “out loud, speaking loudly,” means, therefore, glorifying God or worshiping Him, exalting Him in an elevated mood of spirit, glorifying Him, praising Him for His great deeds. Ἒντευξις, related to ἐντυγχάνειν ὑπέρ or περὶ τινος, to stand up for someone before someone, to intercede, to try to intercede, to intercede. Through ευχαριστία, related to χάρις, it means inner happiness, pleasure, appreciation for it, gratitude. This is followed by a prayer of praise: Blessed are You, Lord God of our fathers, etc. A critical sign in the form of a lying spear to indicate dubious places in order to, so to speak, stumble the reader onto them. There is no Book of Tobias in the Jewish canon of Holy Scripture; it refers to ἀντιλεγόμενα (as opposed to ὀμολογούμενα, which was constantly and universally recognized as canonical). This passage is given by Origen, according to the text of the Seventy; and here it is mutual and allows for many interpretations, while in the Hebrew, Vulgate and Russian translation published by the Holy Synod, it reads like this: “Among the years, complete your work (or call it to life), among the years, reveal it,” i.e. a matter of salvation. The difference in translation comes from the fact that the LXX read “shenain” (two) instead of “shashain” (years). In accordance with the Hebrew text, the valley, the former site of the battle, is called in the Vulgate and in the Russian translation published by the Holy Synod, the Valley of Aialon. Because they had the benefit of others in mind. But in this case they can be placed between types of prayer in a sense that is only improper. By saints (ἅγιοι) we here mean persons of presbyteral rank, sanctified for this purpose in a special sense. In discussing their presbyteral powers, especially the power to forgive sins, they are equated here with the apostles Peter and Paul. Therefore, by δἑησις (petitionary prayer) here we should mean mainly prayers for the remission of sins. Since sins can be forgiven only by “saints” (presbyters), this refers to such petitions that are sent only to persons of presbyteral dignity. Only personal offenses can be forgiven by every person (of course, except for the guilt here against God) and therefore everyone who is offended can be approached with prayer. According to the previous definition, this is primarily a prayer of praise or a prayer of reverent honor, humble adoration before the Divine; then – prayer in general. According to the connection, one might expect that Origen would here discuss in particular the prayer of praise; but here he means by προσευχή obviously any prayer, in the proper sense. Because prayer contains recognition of the unconditional, limitless omnipotence of the One to whom we turn with prayer, as well as our complete dependence on Him: prayer is an act of religion, of reverence for God. That is why we, although we talk about prayer to the angels and saints living in heaven; but there is a big difference between this kind of prayer and our prayers to God: we do not want to ask for something from the inhabitants of heaven, but through them, relying on their merits and their intercession for us before God. This prayerful invocation of saints and angels is called prayer to them in an improper sense. In any case, here Origen fell into a great error. Because due to the hypostatic union of the Divine and human natures and the so-called “communion of properties” connected with this (communicatio idiomatum, i.e. communication of the characteristics of each nature to a person), the “Son of Man” undoubtedly befits the cult of prayer. However, Origen’s desire, obviously, was to support the position of the only begotten Son of God in Himself, i.e. Without regard to the human nature He assumed upon Himself, prayers should not be addressed. But when Theophilus of Alexandria accuses Origen of introducing into the dogma of the Trinity the doctrine of the subordination of the second person to God the Father (subordinatianismus), then against this accusation it should be noted that on the basis of the evidence given in support of his opinion by Origen himself, it is impossible to impose on him that view, i.e. as if he assimilated a different nature and essence to the Son than to the Father. The Savior's prayers were, without a doubt, the only prayers of their kind, because they were the prayers of a soul inseparably united with the person of God the Word; these were the prayers of God, who, according to His Divinity, not actually being able to pray, took to Himself those prayers and found Himself worthy to offer them through the organ of His humanity. It is not proper for any created spirit to penetrate into the secrets of such prayers. But it can be said with all certainty that all the prayers of Christ were related to His high priestly service (cf. above in § 10) and that Christ did not pray as God, but only according to His humanity (both for Himself and for others); because you can pray only to the face of the highest, and above the face of the Divine nature no one is higher. Even though Christ Himself, as a man, prayed, it is still impossible to build evidence on this circumstance that prayers cannot be addressed to Him Himself because He was and is still God. In a commentary on the Gospel of John (vol. 10, § 21). Here Origen disputes the like-minded people of Noetius, called “Patripassians,” for they argued that in the Divinity there is only one person, in the discussion of his various external actions called by various names: “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.” Accordingly, they taught this, that it was possible to say that “the Father suffered.” But it is possible to pray to all three persons together at the same time: this is all the more possible because, given the unity of the Divine being, prayers addressed to one person also apply to the other two persons, just as the external actions of the Divine are usually attributed to one person, although they are common to all three persons. However, they would not be wrong. This is the usual way of prayers in the Church: she turns them to God the Father, as the primary source of the Divinity, turns them through the mediation of His only begotten Son, our high priest. Usually such prayers end with the formula: “by the mercy and bounty of your only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. Not infrequently, the Church turns her prayers directly to the Son, and then concludes them, for example, like this: “For Thy most honorable and magnificent name has been sanctified and glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit,” etc. According to the LXX translation, this place is also in Deuteronomy; in the Hebrew text and in the Vulgate these words are not present; in the Russian translation published by the Holy Synod, they are placed in brackets, as if included in the text from the LXX translation. In the Hebrew original they appear in Ps.96:7; Wed Hebrews 1:6. Mark 10:18; Luke 18:19; Wed Matthew 19:17. “Father”, this word is not found in this place in any of the evangelists; therefore, it was added by Origen as an explanatory word, and it was added unsuccessfully. The Savior says that this epithet is not applicable to Him, a simple teacher (albeit a famous one), which the young man undoubtedly considered him to be. But by this the Lord does not deny that as the eternal Son of God, as the radiance of the glory of the Father (Heb. 1:3), He Himself is ἀγαθός. If the Savior had added the word “Father” to His words, which Origen does here for Him, then the analogy Origen develops here would indeed quite strongly prove the position that prayers cannot be addressed to Christ. Indeed, this would be unreasonable if Christ were our brother by His Divine nature. If no one asserts that a person of low birth, honored by the king with trust and friendship, can, on this basis, not show his friend and king the usual royal honors: then no one should assert that it is not fitting for Christ to be honored with honor befitting God, for example, through the cult of prayer: of course He is our brother, but also our God. No, because in this case we all pray to the same God, for the Father and the Son are one Divinity. Obviously, Origen here alludes to divisions in Corinth, where one sided with Paul, others with Apollos, etc. 1 Corinthians 1:12. On the contrary, it is not those who fall into the sin of ignorance who, without reasoning and without investigation, pray in simplicity to the Son, but Origen fell into this sin here in the midst of his reasoning and with all the solidity of his research. Because as the Son of man, Christ came down from heaven not to do His will, but the will of the Father who sent Him (John 6:38). Of course, there are features that characterize a baptized person and the garment of saving grace. These signs of a baptized soul indicate that a person has been ennobled, from a downtrodden slave he has become a child of God. Having begun at the beginning of § 14 to explain the words of Scripture: “Ask for important things,” etc., Origen interrupted their explanation by inserting an excursive investigation about the four kinds of prayer; With the same words, he again moves on to the interpretation of that saying. Matthew 6:33; therefore, God can give us both earthly and small things. Those. saving words and good deeds: some are born in us under the influence of Divine grace, others are realized with its assistance (2 Kings 20:3). Those. evil spirits, which St. Peter the Apostle compares it to “roaring lions” (1 Peter 5:8). This refers to the womb of Satan, or eternal death in hell cf. in § 13. The gnomon, or hand of the sundial, the introduction of which into use in Greece dates back to Anaximander or Anaximenes (500 years BC), was placed vertically on a semicircular marble or copper board and with its shadow showed the hours marked on that daughter. It is known that shadows are the longest at sunrise and sunset, and shortest at midday. Over some of the people, namely over the inhabitants of the tropical or hot zones (between both turning circles), at certain times the sun rises at noon exactly at its zenith; this happens twice a year; the arrow on the sundial and, in general, all material objects then remain in those countries without a shadow at all (which is why the inhabitants of those countries are called Ascii, i.e., shadowless), at other times, along with the inhabitants of other earthly countries, shadows from objects are cast more or less long. Τὰ προηγούμενα. This word is borrowed from Stoic philosophy, in which “preferred things” were called, for example, health, etc., while Origen here uses this word about the highest and heavenly gifts. The meaning of this place is as follows: Just as material things, in considering their position to the sun, are very different, and often do not cast any shadow at all: in the same way, spiritual things, these only true goods, for which alone we must therefore pray, are sometimes not accompanied by any earthly goods similar to the shadow, sometimes they are accompanied by it more or less, i.e. sometimes a larger, sometimes a smaller shadow, depending on the position in which different people at different times are towards the sun of Divine predestination. This expression must be understood about moral weakness. This appeal refers to Amrosius and Tatiana; see § 5. Why not enough? He could have been a disciple of John, and at the time of the Sermon on the Mount he still did not belong to the disciples of Christ. The “Lord's Prayer” of the Evangelist Luke is, of course, essentially the same as that of the Evangelist Matthew; nevertheless, we must accept that the Lord taught such an important instruction regarding prayer to the disciples twice: the first time in the Sermon on the Mount, at the beginning of His public ministry (Matthew 6:9–13), and the second time at the end of it (Luke 11:2–4). With these words, the Lord does not condemn the duration of prayer, because He Himself spent whole nights in prayer, but condemns only lip prayer, about which the heart knows nothing. "Amen" i.e. “truly” was also a persuasive formula among the Israelis. Numbers 5:22; Deut.27:15; Nehemiah 5:13. In an allegorical sense, those praying on “street corners” are those who, walking the winding and gully path of sin, have the audacity to avert people’s eyes with some external deeds of piety. Like the Pharisees, they receive the reward they sought; but it is received from such people who, like people, die, whose praise, therefore, has no meaning. Deuteronomy speaks here of “the congregation of the Lord.” The Vulgate and our Russian translation, published by the Holy Synod, in agreement with the Hebrew text, convey this passage as follows: And their tenth generation cannot enter into the society of the Lord forever. The centurion was then still a pagan, but was disposed to the faith of the Israelites and their cult; He was no stranger to Messianic hopes. It is difficult to say what Origen means by synagogue here. The expression, no doubt, must be understood figuratively, and not with the house of prayer and the Jewish “community of the Lord.” And since the most important feature of the synagogue here is that it was built by a pagan centurion, and, moreover, before the testimony of Christ about his faith; then the meaning of Origen’s words is of course this: “Only those who do not lead such an impeccable life pray in the synagogues that they can be numbered among the church, which does not have any stains on itself and is impeccable; but he joins the society of those who are on the same level as the most prudent of the pagans. Such a person is not far from the street corner, i.e. resembles those who walk the broad path, or lead a dissolute life.” Those. a Christian who lives in accordance with the commandments of Christianity. An allusion to the Jewish “year of jubilee” (Lev. 25:39–41), a prototype of the time of grace that came with the appearance of Christ. The psalmist compares the sinner, who is only hypocritically devoted to virtue, to a snake, which has always served as an example of cunning and deceit. Filial relationships with God in the Old Testament were very easy to darken again through sins, which is actually confirmed by the examples of sinners just given. Those. at the time predetermined by the heavenly Father; by this time the heir of the Father, i.e. the human race was to receive all filial rights. The Jews in the Old Testament, as children of Abraham, were, of course, heirs of the promise and children of God, but still minors: they were under the tutelage of the law and did not differ from slaves. The New Testament children of God, in their sinlessness, therefore, differ significantly from the Old Testament children of God. So according to Origen. Meanwhile, the above passage from the letter of St. John must be understood, of course, not about perfect purity from sin and the unconditional impossibility of sinning (otherwise it would contradict the passage from John 1:8; 2:1; Heb. 6:4-6), but only about the moral impossibility for a person born of God to sin because the Divine seed abiding in him, i.e. the assisting or saving grace of God or the Holy Spirit living in the soul powerfully protects him from sin. The Apostle, therefore, wants to say the following: Whoever constantly maintains a supernatural life in himself cannot, until that life disappears from the soul along with the Divine seed, disappears as a result of sin leading to death (1 John 5:16). And this explanation of Origen, completely correct, fully corresponds to the thought of the apostle. St. Paul in this place had in mind, of course, not only the naming of the name of Christ Jesus with his lips, but the faith-filled confession of Christ as the Savior. The Divine Savior helps believers, throughout their entire lives, to be conformed to Him, and, therefore, to embody the image of God, i.e. would imitate the properties of God in their thoughts, words and deeds. By this they prove their true sonship in relation to God: just as, on the other hand, this is the deepest reason why we, the sons of Adam, can be accepted by God instead of children. This adoption is not only an external relationship; it produces a corresponding revolution in a person, which is now proven by Origen in the following. Of course, all pious Christians represent the hundredth image of Christ. This revolution, or renewal, consists in the fact that the Christian puts off the old man with his deeds, and puts on the new, renewed in the image of the One who created him (Col. 3:9-10). Not just any sin here, of course, but a sin that has turned into a habit and perverted the will. If a righteous person, by his good deeds, declares himself to be a child of God, unconditionally good, then it is absolutely consistent for a sinner to declare himself to be a child of hell with his evil deeds. The “divine seed,” or saving grace living in the righteous, corresponds in the sinner to the seed of the devil, or evil lust, which prevails in him and makes a virtuous life morally impossible. Evil wishes or the tinder of sin, of course, remain in a righteous person. But under the influence of the “Divine Seed” they can extinguish that tinder much more easily. The “evil seed”, or evil wishes, when justified, do not disappear, but are only weakened. Since the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is already within us (Luke 17:21), then we must constantly live as heavenly citizens. This virtuous life will be a continuous “Our Father”. This final conclusion, however, cannot be considered completely correct. While in the last place the Father and the Son undoubtedly come into the human soul spiritually, the previously cited places must still be understood spatially, i.e., that the incarnate Son of God, by His bodily composition and by His human nature, wanted and could depart from a certain place on earth (and subsequently departed) to a certain place in heaven. With this explanation of the passage from the Gospel of John cited here, a passage that is obscure and interpreted in various ways, Origen did not make it any clearer. However, in this place we are, without a doubt, primarily about ascending to heaven and with the body. Those. enclosed in space. Without a doubt, God fills space with Himself and, due to His omnipresence, is located in every place of the universe; but due to His invisibility, He is not limited by space. This is not entirely true because disembodied angels and souls of people are in physical space and in a certain place, although they reside in it, of course, differently from bodies and corporeal beings. A body, being in a certain place, is describable because it is commensurate with the place; all that needs to be said about an angel is that he is in a certain place so that he is not in another place at that time. Therefore, from the presence of God in a certain place it does not necessarily follow that God is clothed with a body. Those. anthropomorphisms found in many places in the Old Testament Scriptures, anthropomorphisms that are more understandable to a mind undeveloped by scientific education than abstract concepts. Together with Philo, Clement of Alexandria and others, Origen, as is known, understood the biblical message about paradise allegorically: real paradise, as a place of residence for people, according to this interpretation, did not exist: and by “paradise” one must understand the moral nature of man. This place is not in Deuteronomy (cf., however, 23:14), but it is given in 1 Cor. 6:16. St. Paul borrowed it, it seems, partly from Lev. 26:12, partly from Ezek. 37:27. And Origen elsewhere (in his commentary on Matthew) quotes it as borrowed from the Book of Leviticus. According to this explanation of Origen, the walk of God in paradise should be understood not as if God actually walked in paradise and circulated among the first parents in a visible form, in the visible body He took upon Himself. But the story of Holy Scripture that the ancestors disappeared must be understood only about their evil conscience and their fear of God. In the Hebrew text Nod, i.e. in the land of "flight" or "exile". Under the sky, according to Origen, one must therefore understand either each chosen one, or Christ (along with the visible sky, having a shining star), i.e. all the saved, or, finally, a special place where angels and saints reside. But this place is not the place of the true presence of God because God is present there only because and because He is with the angels and with the saints. According to Origen, the mediatorial ministry of the “Savior of the world” extends, therefore, to the angels. Wed. Heb.1:8 and Ps.94:7, where the Messiah Himself is said to have a throne. Origen wants to say this, of course, the following: Although we are given the right to call God “father,” yet our nature and essence are not identical with the Divine, just like the nature and essence of the true and actual Son of God; God exalts us and makes us partakers of His nature (2 Pet. 1:4) only through adoption; which is why it turns out to be necessary to distinguish creation from God. This expression again very definitely suggests the trichotomy of the human being; Wed in §§ 9 and 13. By this change of name a hint is made of some kind of revival. Abram, i.e. “exalted father,” renamed Abraham, “Father of multitudes,” when, in the 99th year of his life, he was chosen to be the forefather of numerous offspring, both in the ordinary and spiritual sense. Those. “cliff” when he showed the faith on which the Church was to be founded. Instead of the Jewish name "Saul" (Saul), he received the Roman name "Paul" in order to express his calling to be the "apostle of the tongues." Usually, however, this change of name is connected with the conversion of the proconsul Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:12). Other exegetes believe that the Apostle bore the name Pavlus (from pusillus - small) from a young age along with his Jewish name. Here we are dealing with a new important error of Origen, with his belief in the pre-existence of souls, even the soul of Christ. Originally, all spiritual beings - angels, evil spirits and human souls - were completely equal to each other; It was only as a result of their voluntary falling away from God that the spirits became morally different and, according to the degree of their guilt, were imprisoned in different material bodies; the human soul, therefore, is expelled into the body only as punishment and for purification; and if at death it turns out to be not yet completely pure, then it is sent to another body (this is already a soul transmigration!), however, not to the body of any animal. Therefore, everything that a person contains in real life from the highest truths is a recollection of what the soul already knew before its union with the body. Beginning with this word, it speaks in an exemplary way about the Divine properties, about which we must form an understanding for ourselves before glorifying God; for example, they must know something about His omnipotence. According to Origen, the meaning of the first petition of the “Lord’s Prayer,” therefore, is this: “Grant to me, Lord, and to all people with me, to understand the right of Your properties and perfections, so that, as a result of this knowledge, we can erect an altar to You in the church of our heart and there worship You and glorify You.” Syrian and disciple of St. Justina the Philosopher, b. 130 AD As an apologist for Christianity, he gained fame; unfortunately, he gained even greater fame after the death of his teacher (166), having fallen into Gnosticism and becoming the founder of his own Gnostic sect with rigoristic rules, called the Encratites or Hydroparasts. Those. the actual kingdom of the Father; but both Holy Scripture and tradition like to identify the Father with Christ under the same name “God.” Dominion in the kingdom of God - in the human soul - is attributed to divine persons, therefore, according to the law of appropriation or appropriation: The Father, as the original source of the Son, is ascribed dominion over the mind and over thoughts, this original source of words and deeds. Through the regeneration mediated by Christ, we, in a way, become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4) and are “deified,” so that in truth we are then able to call God our “Father.” It is usually written “Belial”, which sounds are characteristic of this word in the Hebrew language (2 Samuel 22:5). Those. at the right hand of almighty God the Father (Heb. 10:12). Those. various evil desires that remain in a person even after his justification. They are called the enemies of Christ because they tempt people to sin, and thus push aside Christ with His dominion over the soul. By “rebirth” we mean here a complete transformation with the resurrection that will follow (Matthew 19:28). Spirits who carry out the will of God far from accurately, so that by their disobedience they provoke bloody vengeance on the part of God. This explanation by Origen of Isaiah 66:1 as applied to the 3rd petition of the “Lord’s Prayer” can be briefly conveyed as follows: Thy will be done as in heaven, i.e. Christ, Who can be taken as the throne, or throne of God (in Is. 66:1 the throne is heaven); so on earth, i.e. the church, or followers of Christ, who are of one spirit with Him. But it is here that heaven differs from Christ. By this “enlightenment” we must understand, of course, all the activities of the Savior in relation to the angels. And His activity in relation to people is often called enlightenment, as for example in John 1:9; 3:19 ; Hebrews 6:4, 10:32. In other words: Just as the will of God is fulfilled by the inhabitants of heaven, thanks to the activity of the Son of God, so it must be fulfilled by people on earth, thanks to the mediation of the Savior made man, whose work we support by praying: Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. "Καὶ ἑνούμενος αὐτῷ." A wonderful testimony to the hypostatic union of two natures (natures) in Christ. By “earthly” or “earthly” Origen here probably means a hippopotamus or leviathan (Job 90:10–27; 91:1–26), which are considered by many church fathers and interpreters of Scripture to be the image of Satan. According to this opinion of Origen, fallen angels, “spirits of evil” in heaven, cannot be counted among the celestials only because of their perverted image of disposition. This is undoubtedly false. The evil angels were immediately cast out from heaven (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 12:7–9). Of course, not all of them are constantly in hell; but according to the testimony of the apostle (Eph. 2:2; 6:12), the atmosphere surrounding our earth serves as a residence for evil spirits, although this is not the only or usual and not natural location for them. The difficulty that occupied Origen can most simply be resolved, of course, this way: The spirits of evil are not in heaven, but under heaven, on earth. Origen’s understanding of the 3rd petition of the “Lord’s Prayer” can therefore be briefly conveyed as follows: Thy will be done on earth, i.e. by sinful people in it, just as it is fulfilled in heaven, i.e. good people living on earth. Because sensual aspirations and carnal desires (Gal. 5:16–17) are suppressed in oneself, and thus transformed into the image of Heavenly (1 Cor. 15:49). Wed. thoughts related to this at the end of the previous §. "Ἐπιούσιος." It is difficult to determine the exact meaning of this word because, with the exception of two places, in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3 it is not found anywhere in all Greek literature; moreover, it allows for various productions. That is why this word is translated and explained differently. The difficulty was especially evident when translating this word in the Vulgate, where it, being one and the same, was once (Matthew 6:11) conveyed through supersubstantialis (supernatural), and another time (Luke 11:3) through quotidianus (daily). It is most convenient to consider this word as composed of ἐπί and οὐσία (related to εἷναι) and translate: “bread that has a relationship with our existence, being, life”; This bread is essential for life, both physical and mental, by which we must understand first of all bodily food, then the word of God and, finally, St. Eucharist. Our Russian word nasushnyy exactly corresponds to the original word. What is false here: to pray with the words of this petition of the “Lord’s Prayer” for the granting of bodily food to us? The Old Testament required a person to conscientiously fulfill various works of the law: the New Testament requires in the closest way open, free faith in the Savior; This is the first good deed before God. “The works of God,” or good deeds, can therefore be called “food for eternal life,” since we will feed on them in eternity, so to speak, in the same way as here on earth we support our existence with acquired money. Every deed determines for us the highest degree of bliss for all eternity. Origen, together with many Church Fathers, distinguishes the image of God (εἰχών) from likeness (ὁμοίωσις): the image of God is characteristic of the human soul by its natural property; her likeness to God lies in her supernatural qualities and is achieved by justification, especially by taking into herself heavenly bread. Those. By daily bread we must understand only the God-man Himself, and not the word of God at the same time, or the truth. The passage cited here, strictly understood, however, cannot here by itself prove what it should prove; because by this true bread, which was given by the heavenly Father, it will be absolutely correct to understand the only begotten Son of God, whom the Father gave for the salvation of the world (John 3:16). The speaker himself eats bread; but the image of its communication to individuals in the sacrament of St. Communion was then still something to come; That is why the Lord said: the bread that I will give. Greek athletes or wrestlers observed special rules regarding their food, which at different times were different, depending on the point of view on it, and these points of view at different times were opposite: while in the first centuries athletes completely abstained from eating meat, later they thought that it was meat, especially goat, that increased strength. Origen here obviously alludes to the latter kind of food, because he calls the flesh of the Son of Man food characteristic of wrestlers or athletes. Holy Communion, therefore, is the true soul food for Christian athletes who fight here on earth against flesh and blood, as well as against the spirits of evil that are in the air (Eph. 6:12). And in fact, from time immemorial they strengthened themselves with the Lord’s table and achieved such a degree of courage and such spiritual strength that they were not afraid of the most severe torment and overthrew all the enemies of salvation. Those. under the guise of bread and wine being transubstantiated through consecration, it is divided among the faithful. An obvious allusion to Exodus 90:34, which says: And the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. This glory of the Lord, which had the appearance of a bright cloud over the ark and served as a symbol of the gracious presence of Jehovah, was visible to the high priest when he entered the Holy of Holies on the great day of atonement. And since in the holy Eucharist, in which the incarnate Son of God is truly present, the bodily eye does not notice anything from the glory of the Lord, then by the sight of His glory during the sharing of holy communion, Origen could understand either the sight of spiritual eyes or the sight of generation and glorification, which was visibly rendered by believers to the God-man appearing in a mysterious form, and in what worship and glorification the glory of God appeared in the same way, as once in the Old Testament it was represented as a cloud. Those. to the Corinthians, who were still as helpless in their spiritual life as small children are helpless in their natural life. Often they followed the attractions and inclinations of Divine revelation. It is these, therefore, that Origen contrasts here with the previously mentioned “more perfect fighters.” Minors in Christ can only digest milk and not solid food, i.e. they can comprehend only the elementary foundations of the Christian faith, and not the highest teachings, such as, for example, just mentioned about the Holy Eucharist. That is why this teaching in the first Christian centuries, as is known, was not yet presented to the catechumens, but was communicated only to the baptized. This opinion of Origen is in any case incorrect. From the connection of concepts it is obvious that the apostle is talking about the Mosaic laws on food, and the apostle wants to say: “One believes that you can eat everything that was forbidden to eat in Judaism; and weak, i.e. suspicious, believes that there is no need to eat any meat for fear that he will, out of ignorance, eat meat sacrificed to the gods or some other meat from which the Jews were forbidden to eat, so that through eating it they would not become defiled” (Ex. 34:15; Lev. 11: 4, etc.; Deut. 14: 7, etc.). This allegorical interpretation may be clever, but the real thought of the apostle is conveyed incorrectly. In other words: An ordinary believer with a limited power of understanding should be valued higher than a philosopher who, although he knows a lot, does not find God in His works: out of beautiful harmony, i.e. from harmony, correspondence to one another, uniformity in everything, from general balance, agreement of everything with each other, cannot be concluded to the all-wise Creator. Meaning: instruction from a mediocre teacher of truth was more expensive spiritual food for us than the wittiest contemplation of some gifted and word-wielding false teacher. Those. the so-called "Seventy Interpreters", in short simply called "The Seventy". In many places of the Old Testament Scriptures they formed their Greek words in the same way as the evangelists do here; in other cases those words were not common. Likewise, in the language of Latin ecclesiastical writers and church fathers we find many words and expressions not found in classical Latin. New ideas often required new expressions. By the people, My property. From Hebrew (according to Mandelstam): “You will be My treasure”; on translation, ed. From the Holy Synod: “You will be My portion”; Vulgate: “You will be My property.” Which means both “substance” or “essence” and “property”. “Ὁ εἰς τὴν οὐσίαν συμβαλλόμενος α’ ρτος”: this is Origen’s interpretation of the concept ἐπιούσιος. But this word allows for many interpretations. It can be translated, for example, like this: “bread combining with substance”, or: “turning into substance”; or: “useful for the substance”; or: “relating to being and life”; or: “necessary for food, for existence.” Here Origen inserts a metaphysical discussion about such an important question regarding the substance or essence of things. He cites two different theories, not daring to openly adhere to either of them. According to Plato and others, the soul existed before the body. However, by τά ἀσώματα he may mean primarily “ideas” of things or “universal concepts” to which real existence was attributed earlier than physical things began to exist; according to the known position: Universalia anle rem. The word subslantia, related to substare, means existing under the name of some thing or in (the form of) a known thing; this is the so-called essence of phenomena - that which is and remains the same in things, equal to itself (as opposed to accidents). According to the scholastic expression, "primum subjectum", or potency, becoming reality or determinate reality only through form. Among these philosophers belonged the majority and, moreover, the most famous Greek philosophers, such as the Stoic Zeno, the Pythagoreans Ocellus and Timaeus, then Platomus and especially Aristotle. Even to this day, “substance,” following the example of scholasticism, is usually defined completely in accordance with this. So Göttinger defines it as follows: “Matter or, as Aristotle calls it, primary matter (ὕλη, substance), is the basis of all being; it exists in a completely simple, indefinite form; the possibility of any determinate being is determined by the addition of a form, which makes an individual being what it is (Apolog. I Bd. 1 Abtl. 2 Aufl. S. 171). “Substance... is the subject of accidents existing on it; she is the bearer of accidental phenomena” (Apolog. II Bd. 2 Abtl. S. 183). This is the name for the manifestation of substance because, being indefinite in itself, through form the substance receives a certain appearance, image. Actus (ἐνέργεὶα) is reality in contrast to potency (δύναμίς) or possibility (matter). The world soul of the Stoics, which they accepted as absolute, is an ethereal force that penetrates formless matter and shapes its individual particles into bodies. This philosophical view, expounded at length by Origen, is condensed by Cicero in a few words as follows: Subjectam putant omnibus sine ulla specie, atque carentem omni qualitate materiam quondam, ex qua omnia expressa atque efficta sint; quae tota omnia accipere possit, jmnibusque modis mutari atque ex omni parte (Acad. I, 8). Those. the word of God, which is like material bread of very different nutritional content, which is further proven by Origen. Those. seeing God not in a mirror, but directly (1 Cor. 13:12), seeing the truth with wisdom. Literally: “people of God”, i.e. people, by virtue of a special covenant, were in a relationship of sonship with God. When manna is called angelic bread, this, of course, only expresses its superiority (Wisdom 16:20) and says the following: “If the angels ate material bread, it would resemble manna.” From Origen’s further words that angels do not feed on any material food, but on God’s wisdom, his opinion about the incorporeality of angels is clear. Those. this story in the Book of Genesis supposedly needs to be understood solely in a figurative, allegorical meaning, and as if it is not a historical fact; it is as if this event never actually happened, and under the cover of the story only such and such a truth is offered. This is absolutely not true. Wed. note 2nd in column 47. However, the Greek text here also presents another reading: οὐ γυμνῦῶς, ἀλλὰ τροπίχῶς. Those. for the instruction of angels, with which they are literally nourished spiritually. The meaning is probably this: whoever, instead of the word of God, feeds on false teachings coming from the devil, the father of lies (John 8:44), and sinful food, in a spiritual sense, feeds on a serpent, which is also called the devil and Satan (Apoc. 12:9), and thus refers in a spiritual sense to the Ethiopians, who actually eat snakes. And the one who falls into the net of the hellish serpent (2 Tim. 2:26) turns into a serpent, or - in other words - becomes like Satan; while the one who eats daily bread becomes a child, a son of God. From God the Word. However, the words that follow speak of John the Baptist. It is known that the ancients usually attributed all the psalms to David; Therefore, citing a few words from Psalm 73, Origen speaks about David. In fact, the 73rd Psalm, in the Slavic Bible, is inscribed like this: “Reason for Asaph,” i.e. the mind of Asaph, psalm of Asaph; therefore, in any case, it does not belong to David, but was written much later, by one of the descendants of the famous singing family of Asaph. The psalmist here means by snakes the crocodiles that were depicted on the shields of the Egyptians; and under the dragon is the snake par excellence, i.e. Pharaoh (Exodus 51:9). The Egyptians died in the waves of the Red Sea and were thrown ashore by them (Ex. 14:31), thus becoming prey and food for the wild animals of the desert. The various animals from which Peter was offered to eat, as well as all that were declared clean and unclean in the laws of Moses, therefore mean good and evil people, i.e. Jews and pagans, so that, consequently, people can also be food (spiritual) for us: since the time of the cleansing death of Christ, pagans can also be such food. This is Origen's allegorical explanation of the difference between clean and unclean animals. The true, internal basis for such a distinction between clean and unclean animals is, strictly speaking, unknown. Perhaps it consisted in the fact that things considered unclean had a connection with the damaged state of our sinful nature and, in addition, perhaps this difference was supposed to accustom the Israelites to abstinence. This difference, of course, also pointed to the curse that burdened the creature with the Fall. And since this curse has been ideally erased since the atoning death of Christ, the distinction between clean and unclean food was objectively destroyed; and, therefore, at the same time, this indicates that for the future the distinction between clean and unclean people, between Jews and pagans, which was in use until that time, should cease. This last, in fact, was clarified to the Apostle Peter in the above-mentioned vision. According to this production, ἐπιούσιον would stand instead of τῆς ἐπιούσης (i.e. ήμέρας) and would have to be translated: “Give us this day the bread of the coming (or coming, approaching, tomorrow) day, i.e. future life. Oh blessed. Jerome is told that in the Gospel of the Jews, instead of ἐπιούσιος, he found the word “mohor”, “in the morning”, “in the morning”, “in the morning” or “future” standing. This was the strongest evidence in favor of the correctness of the last word production and explanation. If we consider that, unfortunately, the lost non-canonical “Gospel of the Jews,” which in any case was related to our canonical Gospel of Matthew, could become nothing more than a damaged review of the Gospel of Matthew, which is why St. Irenaeus and Blessed Epiphanius and it is directly called “Matthew’s Gospel”; and if then, with regard to the almost unanimous evidence of antiquity, we admit that Matthew originally wrote our canonical Gospel in Hebrew: then it will be very easy to accept that in our place (Matthew 6:11) there was originally “mohor”, that then this word was transmitted into Greek through ἐπιούσιος: then the right key would be given to the production and understanding of the word ἐπιούσιος. The Vulgate also conveys this expression through “this day.” But all these places do not at all prove that through this day, through now, entire periods of time are designated here. This may now here be taken to mean a longer period of time, a continuation of the time of grace and salvation. This expression, which, without a doubt, would have evidentiary force, is not found in the Book of Joshua either according to the translation of the Seventy or according to the Vulgate; The only expression that is often found here is: even to this day. Through this yesterday, not the entire past period of time is designated here, but in contrast to eternity, it here means a small part of time that escapes attention, less than a day; “The day that has passed” seems to us already like an instant, an instant. Of course, here the thousand years are different, in which, after His second coming, but before the general resurrection and general judgment, Christ will open the brilliant messianic earthly kingdom, which was expected in vain at His first coming to earth; upon the opening of this kingdom, He will, together with the resurrected righteous, rule the earth from Jerusalem. This so-called chiliasm arose primarily among Jewish Christians; in the first three centuries he counted among his defenders even the fathers of the church, such as Papias, Justina, Irenaeus; it has reappeared in church history from time to time; in our time continues to live in the Mormon sect. That the kingdom would last exactly a thousand years was originally concluded, of course, from the above passage (Ps. 89:4) in connection with the story of creation told by Moses. The most zealous opponent of chiliasm in the first centuries was Origen. Here yesterday and today really represent known periods of time. In short: before God’s eternity, time completely disappears. To state even more precisely that by σἡμερον and χαθ ἡμέραν we must mean the longest periods of time. Ἐπὶ αἰῶνας i.e. Isn’t this and that referring to future times, their continuation, or to periods of time? But “eons” can also mean worlds, especially if this word is combined with the concept of various stages in the development of the visible world. In contrast to the absurd, reminiscent of pagan theogonies, the teaching of the Gnostics, namely the Valentinians, about the spiritual worlds of the eons, which flowed out of “Bythos” in infinite gradualism. Origen subsequently develops his, albeit intricate, but erroneous doctrine of the eons, namely the doctrine of countless successive periods of time or worlds. While in other cases, in his allegorical way of understanding Holy Scripture, Origen relegates its literal meaning to the background, and often completely excludes it (cf. 1st note in column 19), here he attaches too much importance to the literal meaning of the passage from the last. to Hebrews 10:1. He understands the word shadow too forcefully, believing that the Old Testament Sabbaths, as shadows in the future, should correspond to the Sabbath days themselves, by which those shadows, so to speak, were cast. He thinks the same about other Old Testament holidays and institutions, which he goes through here. Meanwhile, when the Old Testament institutions are called shadows, this only means that in themselves they are insignificant and meaningless, but received meaning and significance from the fact that they pointed to something higher in the kingdom of Christ. So, for example, the Sabbaths of the Israelites pointed to the Sabbath that awaits us in heaven, to the eternal Sabbath (Heb. 4:6). The first day of the new moon in each month was a holiday for the Jews, on which a sacrifice was made with the sound of a trumpet (Num. 10:10; 28:11-15; Ps. 131:4). The first month, the beginning of the holy or ecclesiastical year of the Jews, was called Nissan, and began, according to our reckoning, about the middle of our month of March. In grateful remembrance of the liberation of the firstborn of Israel, according to the law (Ex. 12:2–6), on the 10th day of this month the Passover lamb was to be separated, and on the 14th day it was to be slaughtered. This is the first of the three main Jewish holidays, called “Passover” or “Passover”, “Passah” (“Phase”); it lasted seven days, of which the 1st and 7th were solemn days (Ex. 12:16). During these seven days it was not allowed to eat sour bread or even keep it in the house (Ex. 12:14–20). Literally: “O festival of seven-day weeks.” This 2nd main holiday of the Jews was to be celebrated 7 weeks or 50 days after the 16th Nisan (Deut. 16:10), on which day the first harvest sheaves were sacrificed at the beginning of the harvest (Lev. 23:15). Since the harvest ended within 7 weeks, this holiday was also called the “Feast of Weeks” (Deut. 16:10) or “Feast of the Harvest” (Ex. 23:16). And since it was celebrated on the 50th day after Easter in remembrance of the Sinai legislation, which followed on the 50th day after the exit from Egypt, it was called “Pentecost” (πεντεχόστη i.e. ημέρα) (Acts 2:1). Called "Tisri". This was the 1st month of the Jewish civil year, coinciding with the half of our September and October. Most of the holidays fell on this month (Saturday). The Jewish New Year was a trumpet festival because it was announced to the people with a special trumpet call in remembrance of the trumpet sounds under the Sinai legislation (Lev.23:21; Num.29:1). Lev.16:29–30; 23:27–28. On this great day of repentance (Lev.16:29; 23:29), the high priest entered the holy of holies of the church only once a year (Lev.16:1–31; Heb.9:7–15). Those. in order to understand that in the times to come they were transformed by the fact that in the Sabbath year or the small year of petition (Deut. 15:9), Jewish slaves were to be set free without money (Exod. 21:2; Deut. 15:4–7), that debts were to be forgiven (Deut. 15:1–4), as well as that the land was to remain fallow (Lev. 25:4–7). He had to celebrate after seven times seven years, i.e. in the 50th year (Lev.25:8–10). In contrast to the Old Testament definitions about the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:8–71; 26:17–24), which were only a shadow of these laws of the future. Consequently, if Christ assures that “sins against the Holy Spirit” will not be forgiven either in this world or in the future (Matthew 12:32), i.e. neither during earthly life, nor after the second coming of Christ to judgment or in eternity, then Origen explains these words in such a way that in the present and the closest era of the world or periods of time, those sins will no doubt not be forgiven, but, of course, they will be forgiven in the next era. This denies with sufficient certainty the eternity of hellish torment and confirms Origen’s main delusion. A week consisting of seven aeons or great periods of time instead of ordinary days. Those. If this day is used to denote all present time, then by daily we must mean all subsequent periods of time. Through daily, therefore, the following thought could be expressed: we receive that bread over a whole series of periods of time, so little amenable to observation and so incommensurable, that in some way we receive even more than what the apostle announced as the wisdom of God in the mystery, hidden (1 Cor. 2:6-10). Therefore, we must begin prayer after first forgiving those who have offended us. In Russian Translation of the ed. from the Holy Synod, in accordance with the Vulgate: we forgive. You can never free yourself from the duty of love. We must treat Christians, as our brothers in Christ, without a doubt, in the same way as our relatives according to the flesh. According to the Vulgate: then God can still be likened to him; in Russian from the Holy Synod ed. translation: then they will pray to God for him; from Hebrew it is more precise: then God will judge him. For the sins of the Israelites, the Old Testament priests had to offer sacrifices and prayers to God, and after them (for the supposed future merits of Christ) the sins were forgiven. But so that the sin of temptation and dissipation (1 Samuel 2:24) could be blotted out by sacrifice and prayer, Eli despairs of this. Origen similarly doubts whether the greatest crimes against the love of God can be forgiven. From Divine personal Wisdom. Wed. Ecclesiastes 24:40–44; 33:18–19. By example of virtues we must display the light we have received from God before the whole world (Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 2:12). Even though we have freed ourselves from some of our duties by fulfilling them, we are still not completely free because other duties bind us after us; and so on for every hour. But who succeeds and does it succeed? According to reading: ἀπειλήσα - “The Lord makes cruel reproaches to him.” Words: and lazy Origen, quoting from memory, transferred the Savior to this place from another parable (Matthew 25:26). But they will not leave here because it is not the laziness of the slave that is condemned, but the hardness of heart. If we want to receive forgiveness of our sins from God, then in any case we must forgive in our hearts all our offenders, even our irreconcilable enemies (Mark 11:25–26). Because through this injustice is caused to us personally, regardless of the insult to God, which lies in every injustice inflicted on our neighbor. Subsequently, Origen presents a completely definitive testimony about the power of elders to forgive sins. The abandonment of guilt concerning us is contrasted here with forgiveness, befitting only God, and ours (i.e., to which all people have the right), God's forgiveness, which is in the name of God and according to the will of God and is distributed by the clergy representing His person (cf. the last notes at the end of § 14). These are not the fruits of virtue; otherwise, from these words of Origen, it could be deduced, since the time of disputes about the baptism of heretics, that the error has been so often supported (especially by the Hussites) and so often condemned that a sinner cannot absolve sins and generally distribute the sacraments. The first and decisive point in the authority to forgive sins, Origen puts forward is this: if someone, like the apostles, is inspired by Jesus, i.e. if he is ordained a presbyter. From Origen’s addition about fruits, it would be a mistake to draw the conclusion that Origen makes the power to forgive sins dependent on the special moral dignity and spiritual ability of the presbyter; Origen does not make the power to forgive sins dependent on these, but places it only in connection with those moral virtues, for no one, of course, will argue against the fact that the personal spiritual enlightenment and direction of the will of the presbyter greatly contributes to the saving acceptance of the sacraments. The personal merits of the presbyter in each specific case mean only expedient and salutary; but, nevertheless, the possession of authority is assumed. In a certain sense, even a sinful presbyter, when undergoing his calling, is guided by the Holy Spirit, whose grace he received at initiation. Literally: “he forgives sins only forgiven by God.” This expression is borrowed from the Old Testament analogue to the sacrament of repentance, from the cleansing sacrifice and stands instead: to give permission. By the power of permissive words, which then took the form of prayer: cf. last note in § 13. By sin leading to death, Origen seems to mean the gravest falls: murder, idolatry, adultery, etc., which according to it are incurable, just as in the Old Testament no sacrifice could be made for mortal sins (cf. Numbers 18:22). What did St. mean by sin leading to death? John, exegetes have different opinions about this. Cornelius a Lapide comes closest to Origen's opinion, however, citing twelve different opinions. By sin leading to death, he means any very serious sin, which, due to its ugliness or habit of it, does not seem to be amenable to treatment, correction, and he knows these sins “as if unhealed”; and Origen directly calls them “unhealable.” But whether Origen meant by this to say that such sins leading to death are absolutely incurable and cannot be forgiven under any conditions is a moot point. Many of those who have written about Origen believe that with the above words he expresses the desire that the same severity be applied to incurable sins as was found by some of their African bishops, for example, the Council of the Fathers in Illoberis (in 305), who did not allow such sinners to repent at all and even on their deathbed deprived them of receiving the Holy Mysteries: an attitude not approved by the Council of Nicaea. On the contrary, de la Rue, in a note to the above passage of Origen, writes: I am convinced that Origen here forbids the presbyter only the frivolous use of his authority to forgive all sins without distinction and without choice, whenever it pleases him and because it so pleases him; According to Origen, the presbyter should not remove responsibility for some serious sins, such as, for example, idolatry, adultery and fornication from the guilty person until the sinner, in a long and carefully completed repentance, bears worthy fruits and makes himself worthy of forgiveness and reconciliation (cf. C. Celsum III, 50). Megler says the same thing (Patrologie S. 563): “Origen here makes an objection to himself: why do the apostles and elders, who have received authority from God to forgive and restrain sins, not distribute this benefit to everyone, so that everyone can be saved?” And he responds to this objection as follows: “The presbyter should not use this right of his arbitrarily, but following the example of the Old Testament, in accordance with God’s command and in his spirit, distribute this grace only to those who are properly prepared for it and turn out to be worthy of it because the inwardly unrepentant, even if outwardly accepted from the bishop, remains inwardly bound by his guilt before God. That is why Origen is jealous against many frivolous and ignorant presbyters of his time, who, having a one-sided idea of ​​​​the breadth of their presbyteral powers or the opus operatum of the sacraments, thought that such crimes as idolatry, adultery, in short the greatest of them, could be absolved without further ado simply by their simple permission. In this he expressed what was in the heart of the universal church.” Despite these excellent explanations, it is unlikely that anyone can erase from their thoughts the positive impression of Origen’s words in the present place; It seems that it would be more accurate to think that, according to Origen, the mentioned sins should not be forgiven by the presbyter under any conditions. The Apostle did not mean here, however, the practice of the sacrament of repentance, of course, but spoke only about the prayers of the Christian community for sinners. Origen wants to say: From this the conclusion can be drawn that Job considered the sins against God, which had already gone into action, to be incurable. Doxology: Because Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever is found only in some Greek editions. Of these, it early entered into the liturgical use of the church, in which it remains to this day. Origen did not yet know both this doxology at the end of the “Lord’s Prayer” and the word Amen at the end of it. So it is according to the Slavic translation. According to Russian from the Holy Synod: is not the time determined for man on earth? According to the Vulgate: Is not human life on earth military service? So, glory. Translation. According to Russian from the Holy Synod, published: with You I defeat the army. Those. against blood because, according to Lev.17:11, the soul of all flesh is blood (according to the Vulgate and Russian translation from the Holy Synod: in the blood). “Soul” - (or “heart” - consisting of the main seat of the blood, or the main seat of the desired ability, or, according to Origen’s trichotomous understanding, the seat of the soul, in contrast to the “spirit”, is equivalent to “soul” and this word is often used in this sense) - with its sinful desires it provokes the spirit into a great struggle against itself. The psalmist prays: Tempt me; and the Lord commands us to pray: And do not lead us into temptation. It is disgusting to a tender Christian feeling to even name some unclean sins (Eph. 5:3). The Savior accepted human nature and began to live this earthly life, which is surrounded on all sides, as if by a network, by sin. He entered this network to free those caught in the bonds of sin. Therefore, He addresses every captive human soul with a call so that it approaches Him because only by Him can it be saved from its captivity. Origen had in mind here mainly, of course, the Marcionites with their fairly widespread teaching that the God of the Old Testament is completely different from the God of the New Testament. And that Origen distinguishes precisely this false teaching, and subsequently somewhat refutes it, the basis for this was especially that, according to the testimony of Blessed. Jerome and Ambrose, for whom Origen wrote this essay “On Prayer,” was previously a Marcionite. Those. in another place, and not where the “Lord’s Prayer” is stated, namely in the places named in the text below. Origen understands the apostolic παρέδωχεν, therefore, not in the sense of just a simple assumption. Drawing attention to the mass of evil in the world, Marcion considered it impossible that this world was created by a good God; and since he understood Holy Scripture quite literally, it seemed to him that much of what the Old Testament communicated about God was unworthy of God. That is why, in addition to the “God of the Law” or the “Creator of the world,” a very imperfect and cruel being, he accepted the existence of an even higher God, Who revealed himself only in the New Testament in order to destroy the work of the Old Testament God. That is why Origen here contrasts Marcion with the fact that, according to the passages quoted from the Apostle, God acts in the new Testament just as hard-heartedly as in the Old: how will de Marcion explain this? Origen later contrasts the dreams of the Marcionites with dreams. This ascent and descent of the soul must naturally be understood metaphorically. According to Origen, the time of activity and merit, therefore, does not end with death, but a person always retains freedom of choice and can during his visible, constantly continuing life, i.e. during countless successive periods of the world (cf. in § 27 columns 125–9) both to free oneself from previous sins, even from the greatest (cf. § 27 columns 128–9), and to indulge in new ones or acquire virtues. According to Orthodox teaching, this opinion is completely false. At the exodus from Egypt. Exodus 12:38. From Hebrew: “a large mixed crowd.” Πέπων actually means: ripened and cooked fruit. Melons were eaten only when ripe, while cucumbers (σίχυος) were only eaten when unripe. If we accept this, it would mean accepting that a person, even after this temporary life, can still sin and improve again. They considered the One from Whom all life and all spiritual activity of man emanate to be a soulless being. Literally: “intelligent (φρονίμφ) fire.” To this fire, in the passage below from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 4:4), called πνεῦμα χαύσεως, Origen, following the example of Clement of Alexandria, assigns the epithet “reasonable” because, as an instrument of God, it does not burn without distinction, but according to 1 Cor. 3:12–15, it burns only evil. This view of Origen, which he often expressed (cf. contra Cels 5:15), stems from the opinion, which is fundamentally false, that all and at all times the punishments for sins that befall us have only a healing and purifying character, and never have the character of vengeance; Those punishments are supposed to be only a cleansing agent and a means of improvement. According to the Orthodox teaching of the Church, punishments in hellish fire and darkness have the character of only retribution, therefore, they are punishments in the proper sense of the word. Because, according to Origen, like the above-mentioned satiety of the Israelites, it was supposed to serve as a means to a thorough improvement. In Russian from the Holy Synod, ed. translation and according to the Vulgate: In vain, in front of the eyes of the birds, it is placed. Meaning: Just as birds, by divine permission, are caught in a net only when they do not follow their instinct and fly up, in the same way God leads us into the net of temptations, i.e. betrays the power of evil only when we ourselves deserve it through our faults. That is why in the words: Do not lead us into temptation, we pray for grace that would help us not to fall into any such sins, as a result of which God could leave us and betray us defenseless to the will of passions. There is no such saying in the Book of Job (cf., however, Job 39:32–35). It is hardly possible to talk about the weakness of Eve before the fall, therefore, when the foremother was still in a primitive state of innocence. The sin of Cain was a fall of a completely different kind than the fall of Eve because in Cain the consequences of hereditary sin had already manifested their effect. The fornicator stands here according to Old Testament usage, probably instead of “apostate”; Esau turned out to be a “despiser of a saint” when selling his birthright (Gen. 25:31–34). Transforming the sentence: For those who love God, all things work together for good, so that the word God becomes the subject of the sentence, Origen obviously wants to quote the passage not literally, but only in meaning, and therefore for the correct reading of συνεργεῖ ὁ θεός in this case one cannot refer to Origen because in his commentary on the Epistle to the Romans he clearly says that this passage reads like this: For those who love God, everything works for good. Luke does not cite the seventh petition of the prayer “Our Father” (Matthew 6:13) (cf. § 18) because it is already contained in the 6th petition. Following the example of St. Chrysostom's words: But deliver us from evil are therefore not accepted as a special petition by the Reformed, Arminians and Socians; The Lord's Prayer, therefore, consists of only six petitions. Origen understands the expression “ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ”, of course, not as the neuter gender (“moral evil”), but in the masculine gender, i.e. about the devil. Yet the usual translation: but deliver us from evil can be withheld. According to Hebrew and Vulgate: Praise God and die, i.e. No matter how much you praise God or glorify Him, you will still have to die. In order to save his own skin, his own life, a person will willingly give even the skin or life of his dearest (Job 1:19–21). An allusion to the so-called incendiary arrows (malleoli) of the ancients, which were filled with flammable material consisting of sulfur, resin, pitch and oil, and were lit before launching. By these especially dangerous arrows one must understand, visually, of course, the temptations to unchastity with which the evil one (predominantly) overwhelms a person. If passions ignite in a person, especially impure desires, then his heart resembles a red-hot furnace blazing with fire. However, speaking of an “inflamed heart” with extremely excited pious feelings of love and joy (cf. Luke 24:32). To protect against incendiary arrows, the ancients used a shield made of light wood covered with cowhide, which was wetted so that it could not ignite from incendiary arrows (cf. Lubker s.v. “arma” and “Belagerung”). Such a shield, completely saturated with the water of sacred thoughts and therefore not allowing the fire of “incendiary arrows” from temptation into the soul, is faith. After something has already been said about this earlier (see § 8). The manna had to be collected before sunrise because it melted at the first rays of the sun. This, according to Origen, made it clear to the Israelites that they should turn to God even before the day came. But this indicated not so much the heavenly country to which one should turn during prayer, but rather the time of prayer. By this “exactly” what is further stated is probably connected with what was said earlier about stretching out the arms and raising the eyes upward. This position of a praying person, arising from a feeling of need for help, which Tertullian calls (Apol. C. 30) “the position of a praying Christian,” is so natural that it has always and everywhere been characteristic of pagans. “We people, writes, for example, Aristotle (de mundo c.6), stretch out our hands to the sky, making prayers” Cf. Hom. II. VIII, 346, 347. Raised hands and eyes are an expression of the elevated mood of the soul. It is remarkable that for criticism of the very suspicious addition in the Vulgate, the Slavic translation and our Russian, from the Holy Synod ed., the addition: “Our Lord Jesus Christ,” which, according to the testimony of Blessed. Jerome, was not in any Greek manuscript, and is not here in Origen either; it is also disputed by some of the newest editors of the New Testament. This was taught, for example, by Timaeus, Plato and Aristotle. They argued that the world and all celestial bodies are spherical. Plato and the Stoics even attributed a similar form to the Creator of the world. By heavenly beings the apostle means in any case the angels and saints who are in heaven; Origen, on the contrary, in the apostolic saying means by celestial beings, without a doubt, the stars in the sky, the so-called “heavenly bodies”, in which he saw animate beings (cf. § 7). Of course, there was an opinion that Origen was talking here about the state of the human body after the resurrection. But this is still a question whether Origen taught that the transfigured bodies of saints are spherical and exist without many members, although on the basis of some inaccurate expressions this teaching was attributed to him and was condemned under his name; in one place, cited by the martyr Pamphilus, he says the exact opposite: “This appearance, which is now inherent in us, we will have in the future century”; or as this place leads bl. Epiphanius “εἷδος ταυτὸν εἷναι τῷ μέλλοντι.” But even if we do not pay attention to this evidence in favor of Origen, in any case there are no sufficient grounds for attributing the passage we encountered in Origen’s work “On Prayer” to the property of the human body after the resurrection, or for deducing from this passage evidence that Origen adopted a spherical, spherical shape for the transformed bodies of the resurrected. He wants to say in the place we met only the following: The stars cannot bend their knees in the literal sense because they do not have any knees. Because it is unreasonable: God does not create anything aimlessly. “Τὸ ἀπευθυσμένον ἔντερον” literally: “rectum” because the lower end of the large intestines, the so-called terminal intestine, is the sedimentary chamber through which materials unsuitable for nutrition are ejected, in contrast to other, variously writhing and intertwining intestines, ends straight. Hujus vero intestine, rightly notes the English translator of Origen's real work, who withheld his name, quod sentinae instar ad excrementa corporis recipienda, et egereuda, comparatum est, mentionem facit Origenes, ut eos pudore afficiat, qui membra eadem omnia, quae terrestribus sunt necessaria, coelestibus quoque attribute. Origen wants to take this opinion about the existence of members in extraterrestrial beings to the point of absurdity (ad absurdity): “then, he wants to say, it would be necessary to accept that the celestial bodies also excrete excrement.” This is the opinion that celestial bodies have human-like external members, for example, knees, and not internal ones, i.e. do not, for example, have a system of intestines, therefore it turns out to be absurd that Origen considers those bodies to be living and animate. Origen speaks more fully about this in his other work, namely Contra Cels. VII, 44. This idea also serves as the main basis of the church rule that a church desecrated by some atrocity must be consecrated again. In order to rightly devote oneself to prayer for this, where possible, one must choose a place that not only was not defiled by any sin of intemperance, but in which the spouses did not allow themselves to have marital relations. For Origen's teaching on guardian angels cf. something in the 2nd half of § 6, at the end of § 11 and in the 1st half of § 28. Those. elder Tobiah. This one is called by Origen according to the Seventy “Tobit”; his son “Tobias”; whereas in the Vulgate both of them, without distinction, bear the same name “Tobias.” Not only the Ephesians, among whom are St. Paul the Apostle was present at the time of writing the first letter to the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor. 16:8), but also the Corinthians, therefore, each of the Christian communities. That a person during his earthly life has two angels as companions, good and evil, Origen often mentions this; and refers, in support of his opinion (in the 35th conversation on St. Luke and in his work “On the Beginnings” I. III. c. 2. N. 4) to the “Shepherd” of Hermas. If a person indulges in sin, then the good angel is alienated from such a person, moves away from him, and the angel of Satan gains dominance over him (cf. above in § 6). If they abuse the church by negotiating here or doing worldly things here, like the buyers and sellers in the Jerusalem temple. Those. Christ, who is the true light (John 1:9) and as the promised Messiah is figuratively directly called the east (ἀνατολή) (Zech. 3:8; 6:12; Luke 1:78), i.e. the rising light (Isa.9:2), the rising sun (Mal.4:2). From the reasons shown, therefore, indeed, starting from the most ancient times of Christianity, there was a custom, as before, especially among therapists, to turn to the east when praying (cf., for example, Tertull. “Apolog.” P. 16). In the “Apostolic Canons” (2.57) there is a rule, observed by the church to this day, that churches with the main altar should face the east; This is why it happens that the faithful also turn to the east during prayers in the church. Because you can see as much of the sky towards the west as towards the east. Origen had in mind here probably the most important components of liturgical or liturgical prayer, and wanted the faithful to follow the same norm in their private prayers. This “as,” an intensifying expression, is not found either in the Hebrew, or in the Seventy, or in the Vulgate; it was probably borrowed by Origen from the 24th verse of this psalm. Literally, as in Slavic: in confession. From Hebrew: to glory, which as a synonym for greatness is obviously more in place. “Seventy” and the Vulgate Hebrew word geyd was derived from yodo, to confess, to glorify, instead of being derived from nogeid, to be exalted, and therefore was translated through ἐξομλόγησις. One can here understand glorification on the part of creation, with which God surrounded Himself like clothing from everywhere. Those. You endow your angels with the speed of winds and the power of fire to carry out orders from You. From Hebrew it is more correct, however, this place should be conveyed in the same way as it was conveyed in Russian. from the Holy Synod published translation: You, Who make the winds your angels and the blazing fire your servants. It is depicted here drastically, i.e. especially strong, the separation of water from the earth during creation. The Vulgate and our Russian translation published by the Holy Synod convey this passage from the Hebrew more correctly: But this was still too little before Your eyes. With the expression “γνησιώτατοι ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ ἀδελφοί” whether Origen wanted to mean only a kind of spiritual relationship between Ambrose and Tatiana (Matthew 23:8), or whether they were really brother and sister to each other, this cannot be decided (cf. beginning of § 2). About prayer in general, and then “about the Lord’s Prayer.” You might be interested in: