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For he speaks of a Father, and the name of a Father, and a kingdom; and again, he presents the Son of this Father in grace, as the one praying. And he seeks for those in heaven and on earth to be of one will. He commands to ask for the daily bread. He legislates reconciliation for men, and through forgiving and being forgiven he binds nature to itself, so that it is not divided by a difference of opinion. And he teaches to pray not to enter into temptation, as a law of sin; and he exhorts to be delivered from the evil one. For it was necessary for the author and giver of good things to be also a teacher, providing, as it were to disciples, to those who believe in him, and imitate his conduct in the flesh, these sayings of the prayer as precepts of life, through which he revealed the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge subsisting in him 15Γ_230 in form, clearly driving the desire of those who ask towards their enjoyment.

For this reason, I think, the word called this teaching a prayer, as it contains a request for the gifts given by grace from God to men. For thus our divinely-inspired Fathers have definitively expounded concerning prayer, saying that prayer is a request for things which God is naturally suited to bestow upon men fittingly for himself; just as a vow is a promise, that is, an offering, of things which men who genuinely worship God bring to him, presenting Scripture in many ways as testifying to their own word, as in, "Make your vows, and pay them to the Lord our God;" and, "Whatever I have vowed, I will pay to you, my Savior, the Lord;" spoken concerning the vow; and again concerning prayer, as in, "And Hannah prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord Adonai, Eloi Sabaoth, if you will indeed listen to your handmaid, and give me fruit of the womb;" and, "Hezekiah king of Judah, and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet prayed to the Lord;" and, "When you pray, say: Our Father who art in heaven," spoken by the Lord to his disciples; so that the vow can be the keeping of commandments, confirmed by the intention of the one who has vowed; and prayer, a request for the one who has kept them to participate in the good things that have been kept; or rather, the vow a prize of virtue, which indeed God most graciously accepts when offered; and prayer, a reward for virtue, which indeed God, greatly rejoicing, gives in return.

0884 Therefore, since prayer has been shown to be a request for the good things 15Γ_232 from the incarnate Word, setting him before us, the teacher of the Word of prayer, let us boldly proceed, carefully stripping [examining] the meaning of each saying, as far as possible, through contemplation; as the Word himself is accustomed to supply what is expedient, and grants capacity to the power of the speaker's mind.

Our Father, who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come

thy. Immediately in these words he teaches those

who pray, the Lord, to begin fittingly with theology, and he mystically reveals the existence of the creative cause of beings, being essentially the cause of beings. For the sayings of the prayer contain a declaration of the Father, and of the name of the Father, and of the kingdom of the Father; so that from the very beginning we may be taught to revere, call upon, and worship the monadic Trinity. For the name of God and the Father, subsisting essentially, is the only-begotten Son; and the kingdom of God and the Father, subsisting essentially, is the Holy Spirit. For what Matthew here calls kingdom, another of the evangelists elsewhere has called Spirit

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Πατέρα γάρ, καί Πατρός ὄνομα λέγει, καί βασιλείαν· καί τούτου τοῦ Πατρός αὖθις Υἱόν ἐν χάριτι, τόν προσευχόμενον ὄντα παρίστησιν. Ἑνός τε θελήματος τούς ἐν οὐρανῷ καί γῇ γενέσθαι ζητεῖ. Ἄρτον αἰτεῖσθαι προστάττειν τόν ἐπιούσιον. Καταλλαγήν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νομοθετεῖ, καί τῷ συγχωρεῖν καί συγχωρεῖσθαι τήν φύσιν πρός ἑαυτήν συνδεῖ, τῇ διαφορᾷ τῆς γνώμης μή τεμνομένην. Εἴς τε πειρασμόν εἰσελθεῖν, ὡς νόμον ἁμαρτίας, ἀπεύχεσθαι διδάσκει· καί ῥυσθεῖναι τοῦ πονηροῦ παραινεῖ. Ἔδει γάρ τόν αὐτουργόν καί δοτῆρα τῶν ἀγαθῶν εἶναι καί διδάσκαλον, οἷα δή μαθηταῖς, τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν, καί μιμουμένοις αὐτοῦ τήν διά σαρκός ἀγωγήν, ὑποθήκας ζωῆς ταύτης παρεχόμενον τῆς προσευχῆς τά ῥητά, δι᾿ ὧν τούς ἐν αὐτῷ 15Γ_230 κατ᾿ εἶδος ὑφεστῶτας τῆς σοφίας καί τῆς γνώσεως ἀποκρύφους ἐμήνυε θησαυρούς, πρός τήν αὐτῶν ἀπόλαυσιν δηλονότι τῶν αἰτούντων ἐλαύνων τήν ἔφεσιν.

∆ιά τοῦτο προσευχήν, οἶμαι, ταύτην κέκληκε τήν διδασκαλίαν ὁ λόγος, ὡς αἴτησιν ἔχουσαν τῶν ἀνθρώποις κατά χάριν ἐκ Θεοῦ διδομένων δώρων. Οὕτω γάρ οἱ θεόπνευστοι Πατέρες ἡμῶν ὁριστικῶς περί τῆς προσευχῆς διεξῆλθον, φήσαντες, εἶναι τήν προσευχήν αἴτησιν, ὧν Θεός πρεπόντως ἑαυτῷ δωρεῖσθαι πέφυκεν ἀνθρώποις· ὥσπερ καί τήν εὐχήν, ὑπόσχεσιν, ἤγουν ἐπαγγελίαν, ὧν γνησίως λατρεύοντες Θεῷ προσκομίζουσιν ἄνθρωποι, τήν Γραφήν μαρτυροῦσαν τῷ οἰκείῳ λόγῳ πολλαχῶς παραστήσαντες, ὡς τό, Εὔξασθε, καί ἀπόδοτε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν· καί, Ὅσα ηὐξάμην, ἀποδώσω σοι Σωτῆρί μου τῷ Κυρίῳ· περί τῆς εὐχῆς εἰρημένα· καί αὖθις περί προσευχῆς, ὡς τό, Καί προσηύξατο Ἄννα πρός Κύριον, λέγουσα· Κύριε Ἀδωναΐ, Ἐλωΐ σαβαώθ, ἐάν εἰσακούων εἰσακούσης τῆς δούλης σου, καί δῷς μοι καρπόν κοιλίας· καί, Προσηύξατο Ἐζεκίας βασιλεύς Ἰούδα, καί Ἠσαΐας υἱός Ἀμῶς ὁ προφήτης πρός Κύριον· καί τό, Ὅτ᾿ ἄν ὑμεῖς προσεύχησθε, λέγετε Πάτερ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, παρά τοῦ Κυρίου τοῖς μαθηταῖς εἰρημένον· ὡς εἶναι δύνασθαι τήν μέν εὐχήν, ἐντολῶν τήρησιν κατά γνώμην τοῦ ηὐγμένου κεκυρωμένην· τήν δέ προσευχήν, τῆς πρός τά τηρηθέντα καλά τοῦ τετηρηκότος μεταποιήσεως αἴτησιν· ἤ μᾶλλον, τήν μέν εὐχήν ἀρετῆς ἆθλον, ὅ δή μάλιστα προσφιλῶς δέχεται Θεός προσκομιζόμενον· τήν δέ προσευχήν, ἀρετῆς ἔπαθλον· ὅ δή μάλα χαίρων Θεός ἀντιδίδωσιν.

0884 Οὐκοῦν, ἐπειδή δέδεικται τῶν ὑπό τοῦ Λόγου σαρκωθέντος 15Γ_232 ἀγαθῶν αἴτησιν εἶναι τήν προσευχήν, αὐτόν προστησάμενοι τοῦ Λόγου τῆς προσευχῆς τόν διδάσκαλον, θαῤῥοῦντες ἐπέλθωμεν, ἐπιμελῶς ἑκάστου ῥητοῦ γυμνάσαντες [γυμνάζοντες], ὡς οἷον τε θεωρίᾳ τήν ἔννοιαν· ὡς αὐτός τε χορηγεῖν συμφερόντως εἴωθεν ὁ Λόγος, καί χωρεῖν δίδωσι τῆς τοῦ λέγοντος διανοίας τήν δύναμιν.

Πάτερ ἡμῶν, ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· ἁγιασθήτω τό ὄνομά σου· ἐλθέτω ἡ βασιλεία

σου. Εὐθύς καθηκόντως θεολογίας ἐν τούτοις ἀπάρξασθαι διδάσκει τοῖς

προσευχομένοις ὁ Κύριος, καί τήν πως ὕπαρξιν τῆς τῶν ὄντων ποιητικῆς αἰτίας μυσταγωγεῖ, κατ᾿ οὐσίαν τῶν ὄντων αἴτιος ὤν. Πατρός γάρ, καί ὀνόματος Πατρός, καί βασιλείας Πατρός δήλωσιν ἔχει τῆς προσευχῆς τά ῥητά· ἵν᾿ ἀπ᾿ αὐτῆς διδαχθῶμεν τῆς ἀρχῆς τήν μοναδικήν Τριάδα σέβειν, ἐπικαλεῖσθαί τε καί προσκυνεῖν. Ὄνομα γάρ τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός οὐσιωδῶς ὑφεστώς ἐστιν ὁ μονογενής Υἱός· καί βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ καί Πατρός, οὐσιωδῶς ἐστιν ὑφεστῶσα, τό Πνεῦμα τό ἅγιον.Ὅ γάρ ἐνταῦθα Ματθαῖός φησι βασιλείαν, ἀλλαχοῦ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν ἕτερος Πνεῦμα κέκληκεν