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

De oratione

ORIGEN ON PRAYER. 1.1 Those things which are greatest and exceedingly beyond man, and are above our mortal nature, are impossible for the rational and mortal race to comprehend, but through the great and immeasurable grace of God poured out from God to men, through the minister of His unsurpassable grace to us, Jesus Christ, and of the co-working Spirit, they become possible by the will of God. For example, the acquisition of wisdom, by which all things were made (for according to David, God "made all things in wisdom"), being impossible for human nature, becomes possible from impossible through our Lord Jesus Christ, "who was made for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption." "For what man shall know the counsel of God? Or who shall conceive what the Lord wills? For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our devices are uncertain; for a corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly tent burdens the mind that has many cares. And we with difficulty guess the things on earth, but who has traced out the things in heaven?" Who would not say that it is impossible for a man to trace out "the things in heaven?" But yet this impossibility becomes possible through the exceeding grace of God; for he who was caught up to the third heaven perhaps traced out the things in the three heavens because he had heard "unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." And who can say that it is possible for a man to know the mind of the Lord? But this too God grants through Christ ....................................... ........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ .................. the will of their Lord no longer, when he teaches. them, of one wanting the will of the Lord to be, but changing into a friend for these, of whom he was formerly Lord. But just as no one "among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him, so also the things of God no one" knows "except the Spirit of God." And if no one "knows" "the things of God" "except the Spirit of God," it is impossible for a man to know "the things of God." And consider this, how it becomes possible: "But we," he says, "have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the Spirit." But it is likely, most devout and industrious Ambrose and most modest and courageous Tatiane (from whom I pray "the way of women" has already ceased, just as it had ceased for Sarah), that you are wondering why, when our subject is prayer, these things have been said in the preface about things impossible for men becoming possible by the grace of God. I am persuaded that one of the impossibilities, so far as our weakness is concerned, is to set forth clearly the entire teaching concerning prayer accurately and in a manner worthy of God, and concerning how one ought to pray, and what one ought to say to God in prayer, and what seasons are more suitable than other seasons for prayer ..................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ....................................... him who on account of the abundance "of the revelations" was cautious, "lest anyone" should "think of" him "above what he sees" him to be "or hears from" him, confessing that he does not know how to pray "as he ought"; for what we should pray for, he says, "we do not know as we ought." And it is necessary not only to pray but also to pray "as we ought" and to pray for what we ought. For in order that we may be able to comprehend even what we ought to pray for, this is deficient, unless we also receive "as we ought." But what is the benefit to us of "as we ought," if we do not know for what we ought to pray? 2.2

De oratione

ΩΡΙΓΕΝΟΥΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΕΥΧΗΣ. 1.1 Τὰ διὰ τὸ εἶναι μέγιστα καὶ ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον τυγχάνειν εἰς ὑπερβολήν τε ὑπεράνω τῆς ἐπικήρου φύσεως ἡμῶν ἀδύνατα τῷ λογικῷ καὶ θνητῷ γένει καταλαβεῖν ἐν πολλῇ δὲ καὶ ἀμετρήτῳ ἐκ χεομένῃ ἀπὸ θεοῦ εἰς ἀνθρώπους χάριτι θεοῦ διὰ τοῦ τῆς ἀνυπερ βλήτου εἰς ἡμᾶς χάριτος ὑπηρέτου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ συνεργοῦ πνεύματος βουλήσει θεοῦ δυνατὰ γίνεται. ἀδύνατον γοῦν τῇ ἀν θρωπίνῃ φύσει ὑπάρχον σοφίας κτῆσις, ᾗ τὰ πάντα κατεσκεύασται («πάντα» γὰρ κατὰ τὸν ∆αυῒδ ὁ θεὸς «ἐν σοφίᾳ» ἐποίησε), δυνατὸν ἐξ ἀδυνάτου γίνεται διὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, «ὃς ἐγενήθη σοφία ἡμῖν ἀπὸ θεοῦ δικαιοσύνη τε καὶ ἁγιασμὸς καὶ ἀπο λύτρωσις.» «τίς γὰρ ἄνθρωπος γνώσεται βουλὴν θεοῦ; ἢ τίς ἐνθυ μηθήσεται τί θέλει ὁ κύριος; ἐπεὶ λογισμοὶ θνητῶν δειλοὶ, καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς αἱ ἐπίνοιαι ἡμῶν· φθαρτὸν γὰρ σῶμα βαρύνει ψυχὴν, καὶ βρίθει τὸ γεῶδες σκῆνος νοῦν πολυφροντίδα. καὶ μόγις εἰκά ζομεν τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς, τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανοῖς τίς ἐξιχνίασε;» τίς δ' οὐκ ἂν εἴποι ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἀνθρώπῳ ἐξιχνιάσαι «τὰ ἐν οὐρανοῖς;» ἀλλ' ὅμως τοῦτο τὸ ἀδύνατον τῇ ὑπερβαλλούσῃ χάριτι τοῦ θεοῦ δυνατὸν γίνεται· ὁ γὰρ ἁρπαγεὶς εἰς τρίτον οὐρανὸν ἐξιχνίασε τάχα τὰ ἐν τοῖς τρισὶν οὐρανοῖς διὰ τὸ ἀκηκοέναι «ἄῤῥητα ῥήματα, ἃ μὴ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ λαλῆσαι» ἦν. τίς δὲ δύναται εἰπεῖν ὅτι δυνατὸν ἀν θρώπῳ γνωσθῆναι τὸν τοῦ κυρίου νοῦν; ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο ὁ θεὸς διὰ Χριστοῦ χαρίζεται ....................................... ........................................................ ........................................................ ........................................................ .................. τὸ θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου ἑαυτῶν οὐκέτι, ὅτε διδάσκει. αὐτοὺς τὸ θέλημα τοῦ κυρίου εἶναι θέλοντος ἀλλὰ εἰς φίλον μεταβάλλοντος τούτοις, ὧν κύριος πρότερον ἦν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ὡς οὐδεὶς «οἶδεν ἀνθρώπων τὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώ που τὸ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὕτω καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδεὶς» οἶδεν «εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ.» εἰ δὲ μηδεὶς «οἶδε» «τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ» «εἰ μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ,» ἀδύνατον εἰδέναι ἄνθρωπον «τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ.» καὶ τοῦτο δὲ κατανόησον, πῶς δυνατὸν γίνεται· «ἡμεῖς δὲ,» φησὶν, «οὐ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ κόσμου ἐλάβομεν ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἵνα εἰδῶμεν τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ χαρισθέντα ἡμῖν, ἃ καὶ λαλοῦμεν οὐκ ἐν διδακτοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλ' ἐν διδακτοῖς τοῦ πνεύ ματος.» Ἀλλ' εἰκὸς, Ἀμβρόσιε θεοσεβέστατε καὶ φιλοπονώτατε καὶ Τατιανὴ κοσμιωτάτη καὶ ἀνδρειοτάτη (ἀφ' ἧς ἐκλελοιπέναι «τὰ γυ ναικεῖα» ὃν τρόπον ἐκλελοίπει τῇ Σάῤῥᾳ ἤδη εὔχομαι), ὑμᾶς ἀπο ρεῖν τί δή ποτε, περὶ εὐχῆς προκειμένου ἡμῖν τοῦ λόγου, ταῦτα ἐν προοιμίοις περὶ τῶν ἀδυνάτων ἀνθρώποις δυνατῶν χάριτι θεοῦ γινομένων εἴρηται. ἓν τῶν ἀδυνάτων ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ ἡμῶν πείθομαι τυγχάνειν τρανῶσαι τὸν περὶ τῆς εὐχῆς ἀκριβῶς καὶ θεο πρεπῶς πάντα λόγον καὶ τὸν περὶ τοῦ, τίνα τρόπον εὔχεσθαι δεῖ, καὶ τίνα ἐπὶ τῆς εὐχῆς λέγειν πρὸς θεὸν, καὶ ποῖοι καιροὶ ποίων καιρῶν πρὸς τὴν εὐχήν εἰσιν ἐπιτηδειότεροι ..................... ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ............................................................ ....................................... τὸν διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν «τῶν ἀποκαλύψεων» εὐλαβούμενον, «μή τις» εἰς αὐτὸν «λογίσηται ὑπὲρ ὃ βλέπει» «ἢ ἀκούει ἐξ» αὐτοῦ, ὁμολογεῖν «καθὸ δεῖ» προσεύχεσθαι μὴ εἰδέναι· ὃ γὰρ δεῖ προσεύξασθαι, φησὶ, «καθὸ δεῖ οὐκ οἴδαμεν.» ἀναγκαῖον δὲ οὐ τὸ προσεύχεσθαι μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ προσεύχεσθαι «καθὸ δεῖ» καὶ προσεύχεσθαι ὃ δεῖ. ἵνα γὰρ καὶ ὃ δεῖ προσεύχεσθαι δυνηθῶμεν καταλαβεῖν, ἐλλιπές ἐστι τοῦτο, ἐὰν μὴ καὶ τὸ «καθὸ δεῖ» προσλάβωμεν. τί δὲ ἡμῖν ὄφελος τοῦ «καθὸ δεῖ,» μὴ εἰδόσιν εὔχεσθαι ὃ δεῖ; 2.2