On Prayer

Origen, tr. Oulton, 1954

Before bringing this treatise to an end, I think I ought to say something about the …

The Subjects of Prayer (Chapter XXXIII)

Before bringing this treatise to an end, I think I ought to say something about the subjects of prayer. It seems to me that four subjects, which I have found here and there throughout the Scriptures, may be outlined, and that every one should form his prayer accordingly. The subjects are these. At the beginning and preamble of the prayer, so far as possible, God is to be glorified,¹ through Christ glorified together with him, in the Holy Spirit hymned together with him. And next in order after this each one must offer general thanksgiving including blessings bestowed on many besides himself, together with those he has personally obtained from God. After thanksgiving, it seems to me that he ought to accuse himself bitterly before God of his own sins, and then ask God, first for healing that he may be delivered from the habit that causes him to sin, and secondly for forgiveness of the past. After confession, it seems to me that in the fourth place he should add his request for great and heavenly things,² his own and general, and also for his family and his dearest. And finally he should bring his prayer to a close glorifying God through Christ in the Holy Spirit.

These subjects of prayer, as we said before, we found in one place or another of the Scriptures. The subject concerned with giving glory to God is thus expressed in the one hundred and third Psalm: “O Lord, my God, how greatly art thou magnified!³ Thou art clothed with praise and majesty;⁴ who coverest thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain, who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds a place for his feet, who walketh upon the wings of the winds; who maketh winds his messengers, his ministers a flame of fire:⁵ who layeth the foundations⁶ of the earth to remain stedfast; it shall not be removed for ever and ever. The deep is his covering as a vesture: the waters shall stand upon the mountains. At thy rebuke they shall flee: at the voice of thy thunder they shall be afraid.”⁷ And the greater part of this Psalm contains a glorification of the Father. And each one can collect many other passages for himself, and he will thus see how widely the subject of glorification is dispersed.

As for thanksgiving, this example may be cited from the second [book] of the Kingdoms. After the promises made to David through Nathan,⁸⁹ David was astonished at the gifts of God, and is reported to have given thanks for them in these words: “Who am I, O Lord my Lord, and what is my house, that thou lovedst me thus far? And I was made little¹⁰ in thy sight, my Lord, and thou hast spoken concerning the house of thy servant for a long time to come; but this is the law of man, O Lord my Lord. And what can David say more unto thee? And now thou knowest thy servant, O Lord.¹¹ For thy servant’s sake¹² thou hast done it, and according to thine heart hast thou wrought all this thy greatness to make it known unto thy servant, that he may magnify thee, O Lord my Lord.”¹³

An example of confession: “From all my transgressions deliver me”¹⁴; and elsewhere: “My wounds stink and are corrupt, because of my foolishness. I am pained and bowed down to the uttermost: I go mourning all the day long.”¹⁵

Of requests, in the twenty-seventh Psalm: “Draw me not away with sinners,¹⁶ and with workers of iniquity destroy me not”¹⁷; and like words.

And having begun by glorifying God it is fitting to conclude and bring the prayer to an end by glorifying him, hymning and glorifying the Father of the universe through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, “to whom be the glory for ever.”¹⁸

Notes

XXXIII, 1. God is to be glorified, etc.] Cf. the concluding words of this section “glorifying God through Christ in the Holy Spirit.” Although Origen is speaking of private prayer, it seems almost certain that he has in mind a liturgical formula corresponding to the Gloria Patri. At a later date Basil, De Spiritu Sancto, in discussing different forms of this formula, seems to imply (section 71) that “in the Holy Spirit” was the most usual ending. He refers, however, to two forms of doxology, both of which he used in public worship, sometimes glorifying God the Father “in fellowship with [μετὰ] the Son, together with [σὺν] the Spirit,” and at others using the prepositions (as Origen here) “through” the Son and “in” the Holy Spirit. Basil’s preference is for the former of these two forms, since he wrote subsequently to the Arian heresy, and it was desirable not to give a loophole to those who denied that the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-essential with the Father. He proceeds to cite many authorities in the past who used the phrase “together with the Holy Spirit,” among them “Origen in many of his expositions of the Psalms.” (I have failed to find an example of this in the extant fragments of this work.) Basil then goes on to say of Origen (ch. 73) that “the opinions he held concerning the Holy Spirit were not always and everywhere sound; nevertheless in many passages even he reverently recognizes the force of established usage, and expresses himself concerning the Spirit in terms consistent with true religion” (N.P.N.F., VIII, 46).
See II, 2.
XXXIII, 2. “how greatly art thou magnified”] B and ℵ omit “how.”
XXXIII, 2. “majesty”] This is the reading of A. The first hand of ℵ reads “goodliness.”
XXXIII, 2. “a flame of fire”] So the second hand of A, instead of “a flaming fire.”
XXXIII, 2. “who layeth the foundations] So A: v.l., “he laid the foundations.”
Ps. 104:1–7.
II Sam. 7:1–17.
XXXIII, 3. through Nathan] διὰ τοῦ Νᾶθαν. This is an emendation for διὰ τοῦ θανάτον (sic) of T, the scribe of which the Anonymous calls “half asleep”: semisomnis librarius.
XXXIII, 3. “I was made little”] This is also the reading of B. A reads “it was made little.”
XXXIII, 3. “thou knowest thy servant, O Lord”] This is the reading of T in this place, and also of B and A in the LXX. Rahlfs, however, gives “my Lord” as the reading of Origen’s recension.
XXXIII, 3. “For thy servant’s sake”] Here again T gives a reading not in accordance with the Origenist text, which according to Rahlfs has “On thy account.”
II Sam. 7:18–22.
Ps. 39:8.
Ps. 38:5, 6.
XXXIII, 5. “Draw me not away with sinners”] This is the reading of Codex ℵ. v.l., “Draw not my soul away with sinners.”
Ps. 28:3.
Rom. 16:27.