Chapters 10 and 15 of Origen, On Prayer

  

English Translation taken from:

 

Origen, Prayer, Exhortation to Martyrdom (Ancient Christian Writers; trans. John J. O’Meara; New York: Newman Press, 1954)

 

	English	Greek
Chapter 10	All this has been said on the supposition, that even though we should gain nothing else by our prayer, we gain the most excellent benefits in understanding how to pray and disposing ourselves accordingly. It is evident that the man who prays thus, even while he is still speaking and contemplating the power of Him who is listening to him, will hear the words, Behold, I am here. He will have cast off any dissatisfaction about Providence before he prays. This is clear from the text: If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee and cease to stretch out the finger and to speak the word of murmuring. For he who is well satisfied with whatever happens, is free from every chain, and does not stretch out his finger to God who arranges what He wills for our training; nor does he even murmur his difficulties in secret, not being heard by men. For like the murmuring of evil servants who criticize, but not openly, the commands of their masters, is the murmuring of those who do not dare with their voice and whole soul to speak ill of Providence because of what happens. They act as if they hoped that their complaints would not be known to the Lord of all. I think this is what is meant in Job: In all these things that happened to him Job did not sin “with his lips” against God; whereas it was written of the previous trial: In all these things that happened to him Job sinned not before God. And the word which enjoins that this murmuring should not take place is also to be found in Deuteronomy: Beware lest perhaps a hidden word steal into thy heart, something forbidden, and thou say: The seventh year draweth nigh and so on.  2. The man who prays in this way and who has already received such benefits, becomes more fitted to be united with the Spirit of the Lord who fills the whole world and with Him who fills the whole earth and heavens and who speaks thus by the mouth of the prophet: Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. Moreover, because of the purification already mentioned, he shares in the prayer of the Word of God, who stands in the midst even of those who are not aware of it, who is not wanting to the prayer of anyone and prays to the Father with him whose mediator He is. For the Son of God is the High Priest of our offerings and our advocate with the Father, praying for those who pray and pleading with those who plead. He will not pray for us as His friends if we do not pray constantly through His intercession. Nor will He be an advocate with God for His followers if we do not obey His teaching that we ought always to pray and not to faint. For He spoke, it is said in the Gospel, a parable, that we ought always to pray and not to faint. There was a judge in a certain city, and so on. And before that: And He said to them: Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him. And a little later: I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend; yet, because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And what man who believes in the infallible word of Jesus who says: Ask, and it shall be given you; … for every one that asketh receiveth—will not turn to prayer without hesitation? The good Father gives to us, if we ask Him for it, the living bread (and not the stone proffered as nourishment by the Adversary to Jesus and His disciples)—to us who have received from the Father the spirit of adoption of sons. The Father gives the good gift, raining from the heaven on them that ask Him. (pp. 40-42)	Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὡς καθʼ ὑπόθεσιν εἴρηται, καὶ εἰ μηδὲν ἡμῖν ἐπακολουθήσει εὐχομένοις, ὅτι τὰ κάλλιστα κερδαίνομεν, τὸ καθὸ δεῖ εὔχεσθαι νενοηκότες καὶ κατορθοῦντες· σαφὲς δὲ ὅτι ὁ οὕτως εὐχόμενος ἔτι λαλῶν ἀκούσεται, τῇ ἐνεργείᾳ τοῦ ἐπακούοντος ἐνορῶν, τὸ Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι· πᾶσαν τὴν πρὸς τὴν Πρόνοιαν δυσαρέστησιν πρὶν εὔξασθαι ἀποβεβληκώς. Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι δηλούμενον ἐκ τοῦ, Ἐὰν ἀφέλῃς ἀπὸ σοῦ σύνδεσμον καὶ χειροτονίαν καὶ ῥῆμα γογγυσμοῦ· τοῦ εὐαρεστουμένου τοῖς γινομένοις, ἐλευθέρου ἀπὸ παντὸς δεσμοῦ γεγενημένου, καὶ μὴ ἀντιχειροτονοῦντος τῷ Θεῷ. ἃ βούλεται πρὸς γυμνάσιον ἡμῶν διατασσομένῳ· ἀλλὰ μηδὲ κατὰ τὸ κρυπτὸν τῶν λογισμῶν γογγύζοντος χωρὶς ἀκουστῆς ἀνθρώποις φωνῆς· ὅντινα γογγυσμὸν, δίκην πονηρῶν οἰκετῶν οὐκ ἐν φανερωτέρῳ αἰτιωμένων τὰς προστάξεις τῶν δεσποτῶν, γογγύζουσιν οἱ μὴ τολμῶντες μὲν φωνῇ καὶ ὅλῃ ψυχῇ κακολογεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβαίνουσι τὴν πρόνοιαν· οἱονεὶ δὲ βουλόμενοι καὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Κύριον ἐφʼ οἷς δυσαρεστοῦνται λαθεῖν. Καὶ οἶμαι τοῦτʼ εἶναι καὶ τὸ ἐν Ἰώβ· Ἐν τούτοις πᾶσι τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν Ἰὼβ τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἐπὶ τοῦ πρὸ αὐτοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἀναγεγραμμένου· Ἐν τούτοις πᾶσι τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν Ἰὼβ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ. Ὃ δὴ προστάσσων μὴ δεῖν (83) γίνεσθαι ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ ὁ λόγος φησί· Πρόσεχε μήποτε γένηται ῥῆμα κρυπτὸν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σου ἀνόμημα, λέγων, Ἐγγίζει τὸ ἔτος τὸ ἕβδομον, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Ὁ τοίνυν οὕτως εὐχόμενος τοσαῦτα προωφεληθεὶς (84) ἐπιτηδειότερος γίνεται ἀνακραθῆναι τῷ πεπληρωκότι τὴν πᾶσαν οἰκονομίαν (85) τοῦ Κυρίου Πνεύματι, καὶ τῷ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν πεπληρωκότι διὰ τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος (86) οὕτως· Οὐχὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ, λέγει Κύριος; Ἔτι δὲ (87) διά τε τῆς προειρημένης καθαρεύσεως, καὶ τῆς εὐχῆς τοῦ μέσον καὶ τῶν μὴ γινωσκόντων αὐτὸν ἑστηκότος Λόγου Θεοῦ, οὐδενὸς ἀπολειπομένου τῆς εὐχῆς μεθέξει, συνευχομένου πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα τῷ ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μεσιτευομένῳ· ἀρχιερεὺς γὰρ τῶν προσφορῶν ἡμῶν καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα παράκλητός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ· εὐχόμενος ὑπὲρ τῶν εὐχομένων, καὶ συμπαρακαλῶν τοῖς παρακαλοῦσιν,οὐκ ἂν ὡς ὑπὲρ οἰκείων εὐξάμενος (88) τῶν μὴ διʼ αὐτοῦ συνεχέστερον εὐχομένων, οὐδʼ ἂν ὡς ὑπὲρ ἤδη ἰδίων παράκλητος ἐσόμενος πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν τῶν μὴ πειθομένων ταῖς εἰς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν διδασκαλίαις· Ἔλεγε γὰρ, φησὶ, παραβολὴν πρὸς τὸ δεῖν πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ μὴ ἐκκακεῖν· Κριτής τις ἦν ἔν τινι πόλει, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· Καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τούτων· Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἕξει φίλον, καὶ πορεύσεται πρὸς αὐτὸν μεσονύκτιον (89), καὶ εἴπῃ αὐτῷ· Φίλε, χρῆσόν μοι τρεῖς ἄρτους, ἐπειδὴ φίλος μου παρεγένετο ἐξ ὁδοῦ πρός με, καὶ οὐκ ἔχω ὃ παραθήσω αὐτῷ· καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα· Λέγω ὑμῖν εἰ καὶ οὐ δώσει αὐτῷ ἀναστὰς, διὰ τὸ εἶναι φίλον αὐτοῦ, διά γε τὴν ἀναίδειαν αὐτοῦ, ἐγερθεὶς, δώσει αὐτῷ, ὅσων χρῄζει. Τίς δὲ μὴ προτραπῇ τῶν τῷ ἀψευδεῖ στόματι πιστευόντων Ἰησοῦ, ἀόκνως εὔχεσθαι, λέγοντος· Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει; ἐπεὶ ὁ χρηστὸς Πατὴρ τὸν ζῶντα ἄρτον αἰτούντων ἡμῶν αὐτὸν, οὐχ ὃν βούλεται λίθον τροφὴν γενέσθαι τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὁ ἀντικείμενος, δίδωσι τοῖς τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς υἱοθεσίας εἰληφόσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρός· καὶ δίδωσιν ὁ Πατὴρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν δόμα ὕων ἐξ οὐρανοῦ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν (90).
Chapter 15	If we understand what prayer really is, we shall know that we may never pray to anything generated—not even to Christ—but only to God and the Father of all, to whom even Our Saviour Himself prayed, as we have already said, and teaches us to pray. For when He is asked, Teach us to pray, He does not teach how to pray to Himself, but to the Father, and to say: Our Father, who art in heaven, and so on. For if the Son, as is shown elsewhere, is distinct from the Father in nature and person, then we must pray either to the Son and not to the Father, or to both, or to the Father only. Everyone will agree that to pray to the Son and not to the Father would be very strange, and maintained against the clearest evidence; and if to both, then we must obviously pray and make our requests in the plural saying, “Grant ye,” “favour ye,” “provide ye,” “save ye,” and everything similar in the same way. But this is clearly incongruous, nor can anyone point out where anyone has used it in Scripture. There remains, then, to pray to God alone, the Father of all, but not apart from the High Priest who was appointed with an oath by the Father, according to the words: He hath sworn and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.   2. The saints, then, in their prayers of thanks to God acknowledge their thanks to Him through Christ Jesus. And as, if one is to pray correctly, one does not pray to Him who prays Himself, but rather to the Father whom Our Lord Jesus taught us to call upon in our prayers, in the same way one must not offer a prayer to the Father apart from Him. He Himself makes this clear when He says: Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask my Father anything, He will give it to you in my name. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full. He did not say simply, ask me, or ask the Father; but rather, If you ask the Father anything, He will give it to you in my name. Until Jesus taught this, no one had asked the Father in the name of the Son; and what Jesus said was true—Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name; and true too—Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.   3. But suppose someone, believing through confusion about the meaning of the term “worship” that we should pray to Christ Himself, brings against us the text, Let all the angels of God worship Him—which is admittedly said of Christ in Deuteronomy: we should reply that the Church, too, called by the prophet “Jerusalem,” is said in the following text to be “worshipped” by kings and queens, that nurse her and provide for her: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and will set up my standard to the islands. And they shall bring thy sons in their arms and carry thy daughters upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses. They shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord and thou shalt not be confounded.   4. And as He has said: Why callest thou me good? None is good but one, that is God the Father, so He might equally say: “Why prayest thou to me? One should pray to the Father alone, to whom I also pray. Learn this from the Scriptures. You should not pray to Him who has been set over you as High Priest257 by the Father, nor to the Advocate who has this office from the Father; but you should pray through your High Priest and Advocate who can have compassion on your infirmities, being tempted in all things like as you are, but, through the gift of my Father, tempted without sin. Learn, then, what great gift you have received from my Father, through having received the spirit of adoption of sons in your rebirth in me, so that you may be called sons of God and my brothers. Surely you have read the words said by me, in the person of David, to the Father about you: I will declare Thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the church will I praise Thee. It is not right that they who have been held worthy to have the same Father with Him, should pray to their Brother. You should pray with me and through me to the Father alone.” (pp. 57-60)	Ἐὰν δὲ ἀκούωμεν, ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι προσευχὴ, μἡποτε οὐδενὶ τῶν γεννητῶν προσευκτέον ἐστὶν, οὐδὲ αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ (55), ἀλλὰ μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων καὶ Πατρὶ, ᾧ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν προσηύχετο, ὡς προπαρεθέμεθα, καὶ διδάσκει ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι· ἁκούσας γὰρ, Δίδαξον ἡμᾶς προσεύχεσθαι, οὐ διδάσκει αὑτῷ προσεύχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τῷ Πατρὶ, λέγοντας· Πάτερ ἡμῶν, ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς· εἰ γὰρ ἕτερος, ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις δείκνυται, κατʼ οὐσίαν καὶ ὑποκείμενός (56) ἐστιν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ Πατρὸς, ἤτοι προσευκτέον τῷ Υἱῷ καὶ οὐ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἤ ἀμφοτέροις, ἢ τῷ Πατρὶ μόνῳ. Τὸ μὲν οὖν τῷ Υἰῷ καὶ οὐ τῷ Πατρὶ, πᾶς ὁστισοῦν ὁμολογήσει εἶναι ἀτοπώτατον καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἐνάργειαν (57) λεχθησόμενον ἄν· εἰ δὲ ἀμφοτέροις, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ ἀξιώσεις προσενεγκοῦμεν πληθυντικῶς, παράσγεσθε, καὶ εὐεργετήσατε, καὶ ἐπιχορηγήσατε, καὶ σώσατε, καὶ εἴ τι τούτων ὅμοιον, διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν λέγοντες· ὅπερ καὶ αὐτόθεν ἀπεμφαῖνον, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς Γραφαῖς ἔχει τις δεῖξαι κείμενον ὑπό τινων λεγόμενον· λέγεται (58) τοίνυν προσεύχεσθαι μόνῳ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ τῶν ὅλων Πατρί· ἀλλὰ μὴ χωρὶς τοῦ ἀρχιερέως ὅστις μεθʼ ὁρκωμοσίας κατεστάθη ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς κατὰ τό· Ὤμοσε, καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται· σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. Εὐχαριστοῦντες οὖν οἱ ἅγιοι ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς ἑαυτῶν τῷ Θεῷ, διὰ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ χάριτας ὁμολογοῦσιν (59) αὐτῷ. Ὥσπερ δὲ τὸν ἀκριβοῦντα τὸ προσεύχεσθαι οὐ χρὴ τῷ εὐχομένῳ προσεὑχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὅν ἐδίδαξεν ἐπὶ τῶν εὐχῶν καλεῖν Πατρὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς· οὕτως οὑ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ προσευχήν τινα προσενεκτέον τῷ Πατρί· ὡς αὐτὸς τοῦτο παραδείκνυσι σαφῶς οὕτω λέγων· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἄν τι αἰτήσητε τὸν Πατέρα μου, δώσει ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου. Ἔως ἄρτι οὐκ ᾐτήσατε οὐδὲν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου· αἰτεῖτε καὶ λήψεσθε, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη· οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν· Αἰτεῖτέ με, οὐδὲ, Αἰτεῖτε τὸν Πατέρα, ἁπλῶς, ἀλλʼ Ἐάν τι αἰτήσητε τὸν Πατέρα, δώσει ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου. Ἕως γάρ διδάξει (60) ταῦτα ὁ Ἰησοῦς, οὐδεὶς ᾐτήκει τὸν Πατέρα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Υἰοῦ· καὶ ἀληθὲς ἦν ὑπὸ Ἰησοῦ λεγόμενον τό· Ἕως ἄρτι οὐκ ᾐτήσατε οὐδὲν ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου· ἀληθὲς δὲ καὶ τό· Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ λήψεσθε, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ὑμῶν ᾖ πεπληρωμένη. Ἐὰν δέ τις, οἰόμενος (61) δεῖν αὐτῷ τῷ Χριστῷ προσεύχεσθαι, συγχεόμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ προσκυνεῖν σημαινομένου, προσάγῃ ἡμῖν τὸ, Προσκυνησάτωσαν αὐτῷ πάντες ἄγγελοι Θεοῦ (62), ὁμολογουμένως ἐν τῷ Δευτερονομίῳ περὶ Χριστοῦ εἰρημένον· λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὅτι καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία, Ἱερουσαλὴμ πσρὰ τοῦ προφήτου ὀνομαζομένη, προσκυνεῖσθαι ὑπὸ βασιλέων καὶ ἀρχουσῶν γινομένων τιθηνῶν αὐτῆς καὶ τροφῶν, λέγεται διὰ τούτων· Ἰδοὺ αἴρω εἰς τὰ ἕθνη τὴν χεφά μου, καὶ εἰς τὰς νήσους ἀρῶ σύσσημόν μου· καὶ ἄξουσι τοὺς υἱούς σου ἐν κόλπῳ, τὰς δὲ θυγατέρας σου ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἀροῦσι. Καὶ ἕσονται βασιλεῖς τιθηνοί σου· οἱ δέ ἄρχουσαι αὐτῶν τροφοί σου. Ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σε καὶ τὸν χοῦν τῶν ποδῶν σου λείξουσι. Καὶ γνώσῃ, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσῃ. Πῶς δὲ οὐκ ἔστι, κατὰ τὸν εἰπόντα· Τί με λέγεις ἀγαθόν; οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Πατήρ (63)· εἰπεῖν ἄν· Τί ἐμοὶ προσεύχῃ; Μόνῳ τῷ Πατρὶ προσεύχεσθαι χρὴ, ᾧ κἀγὼ προσεύχομαι· ὅπερ διὰ τῶν ἁγίων Γραφῶν μανθάνετε ἀρχιερεῖ γὰρ τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν (64) κατασταθέντι ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ παρακλήτῳ ὑπὸ τοῦ Πατρὸς εἶναι λαβόντι, εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς (65) οὐ δεῖ, ἀλλὰ διʼ ἀρχιερέως καὶ παρακλήτου, δυναμένου συμπαθεῖν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις ἡμῶν (66), πεπειρασμένου κατὰ πάντα ὁμοίως ἡμῖν (67), ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν δωρησάμενόν μοι Πατέρα πεπειρασμένου χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Μάθετε οὖν ὄσην δωρεάν ἀπὸ τοῦ Πατρός μου εἰλήφατε διὰ τῆς ἐν ἐμοὶ ἀναγεννήσεως τὸ τῆς υἱοθεσίας πνεῦμα ἀπειληφότες, ἵνα χρηματίσητε υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἀδελφοὶ δὲ ἐμοῦ· ἀνέγνωτε γὰρ τὴν διὰ τοῦ Δαυΐδ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ εἰρημένην περὶ ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν Πατέρα φωνήν Ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ἐν μέσῳ Ἐκκλησίας ὑμνήσω σε. Ἀδελφῷ δὲ προσεύχεσθαι τοὺς κατηξιωμένους ἑνὸς αὐτοῦ (68) Πατρὸς οὐκ ἔστιν εὔλογον· μόνῳ γὰρ τῷ Πατρὶ μετʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ διʼ ἐμοῦ ἀναπεμπτέον ἐστὶν ὑμῖν προσευχήν.