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 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 certain things in the sight of the spectators, and if someone does not do these things, he is punished as one who has insulted the entire theater; so also we 20owe20 to the whole "world" and to all the "angels" and to the race of men these things, which, if we wish, we will learn from wisdom. 28.4 But apart from these more general things, there is a certain debt of a widow who is cared for by the church, and another of a deacon, and another of a presbyter, and the debt of a bishop is most heavy, being required by the Savior of the whole church and avenged if it is not paid. And already the apostle has named a certain common debt of a man and a woman, saying: "Let the husband render to his wife the debt, and likewise also the wife to her husband"; and he adds, "Do not deprive one another." And what need is there for me to say, when it is possible for those who encounter this writing to gather for themselves from what has been said, how many things we 20owing20 will either be seized for not paying or be set free for paying? But it is not possible for one living in this life not to 20owe20 at every hour of the night and day. 28.5 But in 20owing20, one either pays or withholds the debt; and it is possible in this life to pay, and it is also possible to withhold. And some 20owe20 nothing to anyone; some paying the most things <20owe20 few things, and some> paying few things 20owe20 the most; and perhaps there is one who pays nothing but 20owes20 everything. And yet the one who pays all things, so as to 20owe20 nothing, achieves this only over time, needing forgiveness for his former debts; which forgiveness one can reasonably obtain who has striven from a certain time to become such that he 20owes20 none of the things required, in that they are not unpaid. But these lawless activities, being imprinted on the ruling faculty, become "the handwriting that is against us," from which we shall be judged, just as books handwritten by all, so to speak, will be brought forth, when "we shall all stand before the judgment seat" "of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad." In accordance with these debts it is also said in Proverbs: "Do not give yourself as surety, being ashamed of a face; for if you do not have the means to pay, they will take your bed from under your sides." 28.6 But if we 20owe20 to so many, surely some also 20owe20 to us; for some 20owe20 to us as men, others as citizens, others as fathers and some as sons, and after these, women as to husbands or friends as to friends. Therefore, when some among our many 20debtors20 behave rather weakly concerning the payment of what is due to us, we will act more philanthropically by bearing no malice towards them and remembering our own debts, how many we have often neglected not only toward men but also toward God himself. For remembering the things of which we are 20debtors20 and have not paid but have withheld as time has passed, during which we ought to have done certain things toward our neighbor, we will be gentler toward those who have incurred a debt to us and have not paid the debt; and especially if we do not forget our transgressions against the divine and the iniquity "spoken on high" by us, either through ignorance of the truth or through displeasure with the circumstances that have befallen us. 28.7 But if we do not wish to be gentler toward those who have incurred a debt to us, we will suffer the fate of the one who did not forgive his fellow servant the "hundred denarii," whom, having been previously forgiven, according to the parable set forth in the gospel, the master seized and exacted what had been previously forgiven, saying to him: "Wicked and slothful servant," "should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I also had mercy on you?" Cast him "into" "prison," "until he should pay all that was 20owed20." And to these things the Lord adds: "So also will my Father who is

καὶ ἐν θεάτρῳ ἐσμὲν κόσμου καὶ ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἰστέον ὅτι, ὥσπερ ὁ ἐν θεάτρῳ 20ὀφειλέτης20 ἐστὶ τοῦ τάδε τινὰ εἰπεῖν ἢ ποιῆσαι ἐν ὄψει τῶν θεατῶν, ἅπερ μὴ πράξας τις ὡς τὸ πᾶν ὑβρίσας θέατρον κολάζεται· οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς «τῷ» ὅλῳ «κόσμῳ» «καὶ» τοῖς πᾶσιν «ἀγγέλοις» τῷ τε τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει 20ὀφείλομεν20 ταῦτα, ἃ βουληθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς σοφίας μαθησόμεθα. 28.4 χωρὶς δὲ τούτων καθολικωτέρων ὄντων ἔστι τις χήρας προ νοουμένης ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὀφειλὴ καὶ ἑτέρα διακόνου καὶ ἄλλη πρεσβυτέρου, καὶ ἐπισκόπου δὲ ὀφειλὴ βαρυτάτη ἐστὶν, ἀπαιτουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς ὅλης ἐκκλησίας σωτῆρος καὶ ἐκδικουμένη, εἰ μὴ ἀπο διδοῖτο. ἤδη δὲ ὁ ἀπόστολος ὀφειλήν τινα κοινὴν ὠνόμασεν ἀν δρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς λέγων· «τῇ γυναικὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἀποδι δότω, ὁμοίως καὶ ἡ γυνὴ τῷ ἀνδρί»· καὶ ἐπιφέρει· «μὴ ἀποστερεῖτε ἀλλήλους.» καὶ τί με δεῖ λέγειν, παρὸν τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἀναλέγεσθαι ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τῇδε τῇ γραφῇ, ὅσα 20ὀφείλοντες20 ἤτοι μὴ ἀποδιδόντες κατασχεθησόμεθα ἢ ἀποδιδόντες ἐλευθερωθησό μεθα; πλὴν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ ὄντα πάσης ὥρας νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέ ρας μὴ 20ὀφείλειν20. 28.5 ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ 20ὀφείλειν20 ἤτοι ἀποδίδωσί τις ἢ ἀποστερεῖ τὴν ὀφειλήν· καὶ δυνατόν γε ἐν τῷ βίῳ ἀποδιδόναι, δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ ἀποστερεῖν. καὶ τινὲς μὲν οὐδενὶ 20ὀφείλουσιν20 οὐδέν· τινὲς δὲ τὰ πλεῖστα ἀποτιννύντες <ὀλίγα 20ὀφείλουσι20, τινὲς δὲ> ὀλίγα ἀποδιδόντες τὰ πλείονα 20ὀφείλουσι20· καὶ τάχα ἔστιν ὁ μηδὲν ἀποδιδοὺς ἀλλὰ πάντα 20ὀφείλων20. καὶ ὁ ἀποδιδοὺς μέντοι γε πάντα, ὥστε μηδὲν 20ὀφείλειν20, χρόνῳ ποτὲ τοῦτο κατορθοῖ, δεόμενος ἀφέσεως περὶ τῶν προτέρων ὀφειλῶν· ἧστινος ἀφέσεως εὐλόγως δύναται τυχεῖν ὁ φιλοτιμησά μενος ἀπό τινος χρόνου τοιοῦτος γενέσθαι, ὥστε μηδὲν 20ὀφείλειν20 τῶν ἐπιβαλλόντων ὡς οὐκ ἀποδιδομένων. αὗται δὲ αἱ παράνομοι ἐνέργειαι, ἐν τῷ ἡγεμονικῷ τυπούμεναι, «τὸ καθ' ἡμῶν» γίνονται «χειρόγραφον,» ἀφ' οὗ δικασθησόμεθα, δίκην βίβλων τῶν ὑπὸ πάν των, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, κεχειρογραφημένων προαχθησομένων, ὅτε «πάν τες παραστησόμεθα τῷ βήματι» «τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε φαῦλον.» κατὰ ταύτας τὰς ὀφειλὰς καὶ τὸ ἐν ταῖς Παροιμίαις λέγεται· «μὴ δίδου σεαυτὸν εἰς ἐγγύην ὁ αἰσχυνόμενος πρόσωπον· εἰ γὰρ οὐχ ἕξει πόθεν ἀποδώσει, λήψονται τὸ σὸν στρῶμα τὸ ὑπὸ τὰς πλευ ράς σου.» 28.6 εἰ δὲ τοσούτοις 20ὀφείλομεν20, πάντως καὶ ἡμῖν τινες 20ὀφείλου σιν20· οἱ μὲν γὰρ 20ὀφείλουσιν20 ἡμῖν ὡς ἀνθρώποις οἱ δὲ ὡς πολίταις, ἄλλοι δὲ ὡς πατράσι καί τινες ὡς υἱοῖς, καὶ μετὰ τούτους ὡς ἀνδράσι γυναῖκες ἢ ὡς φίλοις φίλοι. ἐπὰν οὖν ἀπὸ τῶν πλείστων ἡμῖν 20ὀφει λετῶν20 ἀσθενέστερόν τινες περὶ τὴν ἀπόδοσιν τῶν πρὸς ἡμᾶς καθη κόντων ἀναστραφῶσι, φιλανθρωπότερον ποιήσομεν ἀμνησικάκως ἐνεχθέντες πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἰδίων μεμνημένοι ὀφειλῶν, ὅσας πολ λάκις παραλελοίπαμεν οὐ μόνον πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν τὸν θεόν. μεμνημένοι γὰρ ὧν 20ὀφειλέται20 ὄντες οὐκ ἀποδεδώ καμεν ἀλλὰ ἀπεστερήσαμεν παραδραμόντος τοῦ χρόνου, ἐν ᾧ ἐχρῆν ἡμᾶς τάδε τινὰ πρὸς τὸν πλησίον πεποιηκέναι, πρᾳότεροι ἐσόμεθα πρὸς τοὺς καὶ ἡμῖν ὀφλήσαντας καὶ μὴ ἀποδεδωκότας τὴν ὀφειλήν· καὶ μάλιστα ἐὰν μὴ ἐπιλανθανώμεθα τῶν εἰς τὸ θεῖον ἡμῖν παρα νενομημένων καὶ τῆς «εἰς τὸ ὕψος» ἀδικίας ἡμῖν λελαλημένης ἤτοι κατὰ ἄγνοιαν τῆς ἀληθείας ἢ κατὰ δυσαρέστησιν τὴν πρὸς τὰ συμ βάντα ἡμῖν περιστατικά. 28.7 εἰ δὲ μὴ βουλόμεθα πρᾳότεροι γίνεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἡμῖν ὀφλήσαντας, πεισόμεθα τὰ τοῦ τὰ «ἑκατὸν δηνάρια» τῷ ὁμοδούλῳ μὴ συγχωρήσαντος, ὅντινα προσυγχωρηθέντα κατὰ τὴν κειμένην ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ παραβολὴν ἐνειλήσας ἐκπράσσει ὁ δεσπότης τὰ προ συγκεχωρημένα, λέγων αὐτῷ· «πονηρὲ δοῦλε καὶ ὀκνηρὲ,» «οὐκ ἔδει ἐλεῆσαί σε τὸν σύνδουλόν σου, ὡς κἀγώ σε ἠλέησα;» βάλετε αὐτὸν «εἰς» τὴν «φυλακὴν,» «ἕως ἀποδῷ πᾶν τὸ 20ὀφειλόμενον20.» ἐπιφέρει δὲ τούτοις ὁ κύριος· «οὕτως καὶ ὑμῖν ὁ πατὴρ ὁ