De oratione

 Therefore, the one of these, I mean the 'what we should pray for,' is the words of the prayer, but the 'as we ought' is the state of the one praying

 we are more than conquerors.” It is likely that “intercedes” only concerns those who are not so great as to be more than conquerors, nor again such as

 God be with me, and keep me in this way that I go, and give me bread to eat and a garment to put on, and bring me back with safety to my father's hous

 of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying: This is the word, which the Lord commanded: A man, who shall vow a vow to the Lord or swear an oath with

 of those who say there is providence for it is not our present purpose to examine the sayings of those who entirely deny God or providence) God kn

 since God exists and has comprehended the whole universe and abides in His pre-arranged decrees, to pray, supposing that by his prayer he will alter G

 and from what is in our power, which will be enacted according to our impulse. For even if, hypothetically, God did not know the future, we would not

 “let him not boast” “before” me but let him say: “I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God,” and perceiving my

 of prayer benefits those who have persuaded themselves that they have stood before and are speaking to a present and hearing God? 9.1 What has been sa

 to God, who ordains what he wills for our training, but not even murmuring in the secret of our thoughts without a voice audible to men which murmuri

 his preeminence, and stretching forth the right hand and giving to Judas a golden sword, to whom another saint who had fallen asleep testified, sa

 an angel, «of the» in the church «little ones,» «always» seeing «the face of the Father» «who is in heaven» and beholding the divinity of the one who

 the prayer of Holofernes with God prevails and one woman of the Hebrews brought shame to the house of Nebuchadnezzar But 'Ananias' 'and Azarias and M

 suffering from a basilisk, because through Christ he has stepped upon them and has trampled “lion and dragon,” having used the good authority given by

 doxology for greater things, offered up more magnificently by someone, and intercession, a request to God concerning certain things by one having a ce

 And an example of thanksgiving is the voice of our Lord, saying: “I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these thing

 kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their princesses your nurses they shall bow down to <you> with their face to the ground, and shall lick the

 with him the intelligible blessing reaching all the saints, spoken by Isaac to Jacob, namely: «May God give you of the dew of heaven,» to have come to

 of things truly and genuinely great and heavenly, and matters concerning the shadows that follow the preceding things must be entrusted to God, who kn

 For it is the work of hypocrites to want to put on airs before men for the sake of piety or for social reasons. But it is necessary, remembering the s

 20.2 And we must listen carefully to that they may be seen, since nothing that is merely apparent is good, as if existing in appearance and not in t

 It is not that God has not been called 20father20, or that those who are considered to have believed in God have not been named sons of God but rathe

 he has imitated the image «of the invisible God» and has become «according to the image of the one who created him,» who makes «his sun» rise «on the

 20Father20» let him go. And let us seek to understand more mystically the saying at the end of the Gospel according to John: «Do not touch me, for I h

 in order to persuade the reader from every side, according to the power given to us, to hear the divine scripture in a higher and more spiritual way,

 to exalt «0the name20» of God «at the same time,» is <when> someone, having partaken of an emanation of divinity by being taken up by God and having p

 We are commanded by Paul no longer to be subject to sin which wants to rule over us, and indeed we are ordered through these words: Let not sin there

 for us «0on earth20» likewise to them in all things “the 20will20” of God should be done which will happen, when we do nothing contrary to His «0will

 to divinity and being united with it. 26.5 But since the second point does not yet solve the difficulties about how «0the will20» of God is «0in heave

 we will set these things forth from more numerous sources. He says in the Gospel according to John to those who had come to Capernaum to seek him: “Tr

 nor are you able even now for you are still of the flesh” and in the one to the Hebrews: “and you have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyon

 being set apart, but is subject to every quality just like a prepared place. And by qualities they mean dispositively the activities and productions i

 by a demonstration of the angels and their becoming more ready to cooperate in every way and henceforth to concur in the apprehension of more and grea

 in the psalms thus: a thousand years in your eyes are as yesterday, which has passed (which is the famous millennium, which is likened to the yeste

 «0today20» but also in a way of the «0daily20» he who prays for «0today20», from the one who is able to grant «exceedingly abundantly above all that w

 and we are in a theater of the world and of angels and of men, it must be known that, just as the one in the theater is a 20debtor20 to say or do cert

 heavenly Father will do, unless you 20forgive20 each his brother from your hearts.” They say, however, that we 20must forgive20 those who have sinned

 they conceived a thought against God” for he offers the sacrifice concerning things of which it is doubted whether a sin has been committed, and this

 which our Lord taught concerning prayer. But when has anyone considered men to be outside of 20temptations20, whose word he knew he had fulfilled? And

 every time is one of 20temptation20 for men, even these things not even he who meditates on the law of God «day and night» and practices to fulfill w

 Finding such things in the law and the prophets, they stumbled as at one who was not good, who uttered such words but for us, on account of the diffi

 having desired generation, pray again to obtain twice what you desire, having come to hate the thing desired, and then thus to return to the good thin

 of our own evils and let us give thanks for the good things revealed to us through 20temptations20. But that the 20temptations20 which happen are for

 to put on (for he has received), but by in all that befell him not to have sinned at all before the Lord but to be shown to be righteous of the o

 to pray, stretching out the soul, as it were, before the hands, and stretching the mind toward God before the eyes, and before standing, arousing the

 which is possible, unless one gives himself to this by agreement for a time, that perhaps also concerning the place, if it is permissible, it must b

 It seems to me that these things have necessarily been said, while examining the place of prayer and representing what is exceptional as in a place at

 for the sake of magnifying you, my Lord, Lord.” 33.4 An example of confessions: “Deliver me from all my iniquities,” and in other places: “My wounds h

and from what is in our power, which will be enacted according to our impulse. For even if, hypothetically, God did not know the future, we would not on this account lose the ability to do certain things and to will certain things; rather, from foreknowledge it comes about that each person’s free will receives its ordering into the administration of the whole, as something necessary for the constitution of the world. 6.4 If, then, what is in each person's power is known to him, and for this reason it is reasonable that what has been foreseen by him is ordered by providence according to the worth of each person, and that it has been pre-apprehended what a certain person will pray for, <and> what disposition he has in so believing, and what he wishes to happen for himself; and this having been pre-apprehended, something of this sort will accordingly be arranged in the ordering, that I will hearken to this one who prays with understanding, because of the very prayer which he will pray, but I will not hearken to that one either because he will be unworthy of being heard, or because he will pray for things which it is neither profitable for the one praying to receive nor fitting for me to grant; and, for instance, in response to this prayer of a certain person I will not hearken to him, but in response to this other one I will hearken. (But if anyone is troubled because God, having foreknown the future, cannot be mistaken, as if events were necessitated, it must be said to such a person that this very thing is known firmly by God, that this particular person will not firmly and surely wish for the better things, or will so will the worse things that he will be incapable of a change toward what is profitable.) And again, I will do these certain things for this one who prays, for this is fitting for me, as he will pray to me not blamefully nor will he conduct himself carelessly in prayer; but to this one who prays for a certain amount, I will grant certain things "exceedingly abundantly above what" he asks or thinks, for it is fitting for me to overcome this one in good deeds and to supply more than he has room to ask for. And to this certain person who will be of such a character, I will send this ministering angel, beginning from this time to cooperate in his salvation and to be with him until this time, and to that one, for example, this other angel, more honored than the first, because this person will be better. But from another, who after having given himself to excellent doctrines will be weakened and will relapse into more material things, I will remove this better co-worker; and when he has departed, in accordance with his deserts, this certain worse power, having found an opportunity to attack his indolence, coming upon him for these certain sins, will provoke him, since he has given himself over as ready for sinning. 6.5 Thus, then, he who pre-ordains all things will now, as it were, say that Amos will beget Josiah, who will not imitate his father's faults but, having obtained this path that urges him toward virtue through these who will be with him, will be noble and good, who will tear down the altar of Jeroboam that was badly built. And I also know Judas, who, when my son has visited the human race, will at first be noble and good, but will afterwards turn aside and fall into human sins, for which it will be reasonable for him to suffer certain things. (And this foreknowledge perhaps applies to all things, but it certainly applies to Judas and other mysteries, and is also in the Son of God, who saw by his comprehension of the unfolding of future events Judas and the sins that would be sinned by him; so that with understanding, even before Judas was born, he said through David: "O God, do not be silent about my praise" and what follows.) And knowing the future, and what kind of earnestness Paul will have toward godliness, within myself, before I created the world, as I set my hand to the beginning of the world's creation, I will choose him and entrust him at his birth to these powers which cooperate for the salvation of men, setting him apart "from his mother's womb" and permitting him at first in his youth, with a zeal born of ignorance, on the pretext of godliness, to persecute those who have believed in my Christ and to watch "the garments" of those who were stoning my servant and witness Stephen, so that having acted boldly in his youth, later, taking the opportunity and changing for the better

καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ' ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν ὁρμὴν ἡμῶν ἐνεργηθησομένοις. εἰ γὰρ καὶ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν μὴ γινώσκοι ὁ θεὸς τὰ ἐσόμενα, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀπολοῦμεν τὸ τάδε τινὰ ἐνεργήσειν καὶ τάδε θελήσειν· πλέον δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς προγνώσεως γίνεται τὸ κατάταξιν λαμβάνειν εἰς τὴν τοῦ παντὸς διοίκησιν χρειώδη τῇ τοῦ κόσμου καταστάσει τὸ ἑκάστου ἐφ' ἡμῖν. 6.4 εἰ τοίνυν τὸ ἑκάστου ἐφ' ἡμῖν αὐτῷ ἔγνωσται, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προεωραμένον αὐτῷ διατάττεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς προνοίας τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν παντί τῳ εὔλογον καὶ τὸ τί εὔξηται <καὶ> ποίαν διάθεσιν ἔχων ὁ δεῖνα οὕτως πιστεύων καὶ τί βουλόμενος αὐτῷ γενέσθαι προκατ ειλῆφθαι· οὗ προκαταληφθέντος, καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι ἀκολούθως ἐν τῇ διατάξει τετάξεται, ὅτι τοῦδε μὲν ἐπακούσομαι συνετῶς εὐξομένου δι' αὐτὴν τὴν εὐχὴν, ἣν εὔξεται, τοῦδε δὲ οὐκ ἐπακούσομαι ἤτοι διὰ τὸ ἀνάξιον αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι τοῦ ἐπακουσθήσεσθαι ἢ διὰ τὸ ταῦτα αὐτὸν εὔξασθαι, ἃ μήτε τῷ εὐχομένῳ λυσιτελεῖ λαβεῖν μήτε ἐμοὶ πρέπον παρασχεῖν· καὶ κατὰ τήνδε μὲν τὴν εὐχὴν, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τοῦ δεῖνος οὐκ ἐπακούσομαι αὐτοῦ κατὰ τήνδε δὲ ἐπακούσομαι. (ἐὰν δέ τις ταράττηται διὰ τὸ μὴ οὐ ψεύσασθαι τὸν θεὸν τὰ μέλλοντα προεγνωκότα, ὡς τῶν πραγμάτων κατηναγκασμένων, λεκτέον πρὸς τὸν τοιοῦτον ὅτι αὐτὸ τοῦτο τῷ θεῷ ἔγνωσται ἀραρότως, τὸ μὴ ἀραρότως τόνδε τινὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ βεβαίως βούλεσθαι τὰ κρείττονα ἢ οὕτω θελήσειν τὰ χείρονα, ὥστε ἀνεπίδεκτον αὐτὸν ἔσεσθαι μεταβολῆς τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ συμφέροντα.) καὶ πάλιν τάδε μέν τινα ποιήσω τῷδε εὐξομένῳ, ἐμοὶ γὰρ τοῦτο πρέπον ἐστὶν οὐ ψεκ τῶς μοι εὐξομένῳ οὐδὲ ἀμελῶς περὶ τὴν εὐχὴν ἀναστραφησομένῳ· τῷδε δὲ ἐπὶ ποσὸν εὐξομένῳ «ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν» αἰτεῖται ἢ νοεῖ δωρήσομαι τάδε τινὰ, ἐμοὶ γὰρ τόνδε πρέπει νικᾶν ἐν ταῖς εὐποιΐαις καὶ χορηγεῖν πλείονα ὧν αἰτῆσαι κεχώρηκε. καὶ τῷδε μέν τινι τοιῷδε ἐσομένῳ τόνδε τὸν ἄγγελον λειτουργὸν ἐπιπέμψω, ἀπὸ τοῦδε ἀρξόμενον τοῦ χρόνου συνεργεῖν αὐτοῦ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ μέχρι τοῦδε συνεσόμενον, τῷδε δὲ τόνδε, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τὸν τοῦδε τιμιώτερον, τῷ τοῦδε ἐσομένῳ κρείττονι. τοῦδε δέ τινος, μετὰ τὸ ἐπιδεδωκέναι ἑαυτὸν λόγοις τοῖς διαφέρουσιν ὑπεκλυθησομένου καὶ παλινδρο μήσοντος ἐπὶ τὰ ὑλικώτερα, ἀποστήσω τόνδε τὸν κρείττονα συνερ γόν· οὗ ἀποστάντος, κατ' ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ χείρων τις ἥδε ἡ δύναμις, καιρὸν εὑρηκυῖα τοῦ ἐπιβαίνειν τῇ ῥᾳθυμίᾳ, ἐπιστᾶσα ἐπὶ τάδε τινὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτὸν, ἕτοιμον ἑαυτὸν πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν δεδω κότα, προκαλέσεται. 6.5 οὕτως οὖν ἤδη οἱονεὶ ἐρεῖ ὁ προδιατασσόμενος τὰ ὅλα ὅτι Ἀμὼς γεννήσει τὸν Ἰωσίαν, ὅστις οὐ ζηλώσει τὰ τοῦ πατρὸς πταίσματα ἀλλὰ τυχὼν τῆσδε τῆς ἐπ' ἀρετὴν προτρεπούσης ὁδοῦ διὰ τῶνδε τῶν συνεσομένων καλὸς ἔσται καὶ ἀγαθὸς, ὅστις κατασκάψει τὸ τοῦ Ἱεροβοὰμ κακῶς οἰκοδομηθὲν θυσιαστήριον. οἶδα δὲ καὶ Ἰούδαν, ἐπιδημήσαντός μου τοῦ υἱοῦ τῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει, κατὰ μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐσόμενον καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν ὕστερον δὲ ἐκτρα πησόμενον καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀνθρώπινα ἁμαρτήματα ἐκπεσούμενον, ὅντινα ἐπὶ τούτοις εὔλογον ἔσται παθεῖν τάδε τινά. (ἡ δὲ πρόγνωσις αὕτη τάχα μὲν ἐπὶ πάντων πάντως δὲ ἐπὶ Ἰούδα καὶ ἑτέρων μυστηρίων καὶ ἐν τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεται, ἑωρακότι τῇ κατανοήσει τοῦ ἐξε λιγμοῦ τῶν ἐσομένων τὸν Ἰούδαν καὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τὰ ἁμαρτη θησόμενα αὐτῷ· ὥστε μετὰ καταλήψεως αὐτὸν, καὶ πρὶν γενέσθαι τὸν Ἰούδαν, διὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ εἰρηκέναι· «ὁ θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσῃς» καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς.) εἰδὼς δὲ τὰ μέλλοντα, καὶ ὁποῖον τόνον ἕξει πρὸς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ὁ Παῦλος, ἐν ἐμαυτῷ μὲν, πρὶν κτίσαι τὸν κόσμον ἐπιβαλλόμενος τῇ ἀρχῇ τῆς κοσμοποιΐας, αὐτὸν ἐπιλέξομαι καὶ ταῖσδε συνεργούσαις ἀνθρώπων σωτηρίᾳ δυνάμεσιν ἅμα τῷ γεννηθῆναι παραθήσομαι, ἀφορίζων αὐτὸν «ἐκ κοιλίας μη τρὸς» καὶ ἐπιτρέπων κατὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἐν νεότητι ζήλῳ μετὰ ἀγνοίας ἐγγινομένῳ προφάσει θεοσεβείας διώκειν τοὺς εἰς τὸν Χριστόν μου πεπιστευκότας καὶ τηρεῖν «τὰ ἱμάτια» τῶν λιθοβολούντων τὸν θε ραπευτήν μου καὶ μάρτυρα Στέφανον, ἵνα νεανιευσάμενος ὕστερον ἀφορμῆς λαβόμενος καὶ μεταβαλόμενος ἐπὶ τὰ βέλτιστα