On the Lord's Prayer 1119–1137
Greek text: PG 44.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 1119
1119PG 44:1120b–1120a
nun ωε A’. Προσευχῆς ἡμῖν διδασκαλίαν ὁ θεῖος ὑφηγεῖται i6ᾑρηηω,,ηυγ υιυυιυιιυυιιαν ο υειος ῡφηγεῐται λά γος, διʼ ἦς τοῖς ἀξίοις αὑτοῦ μαθηταῖς, τοῖς ἐν σπουιη, ν.,,,υις αςιυις, αυτου μαυηταις, τοῖς ἐν σπου- δῇ τὴν γνῶσιν τῆς προσευχῆς ἐπιζητοῦσιν, ὅπως νη..μ ινωυιν -ιης προσευχῆς επιςητουσιν, ὅπως οἰκειοῦσθαι προσήκει τὴν θείαν ἀκοὴν, διὰ τῶν ρη-.- Δ-..-- Α ’ “ ---------ν... “tum”. up υειαν ακοην, om τῶν ρη- μάτων τῆς προσευχῆς ὑποτίθεται, Ἐγὼ δὲ τολμήσας ---η -\ ’ “ ‘ 7' ...νων δεμ, νηρυυευχης υποτιυεται, Ἐγὼ δὲ τολμήσας μικρὸν ἀντιπροσθείην τοῖς γεγραμμένοις· ὅτι οὐ τὸ ,ματη νηηεινυυςυμ υυιι, γεγραμμενοις οτι οὐ τὺ πῶς δεῖ προσεύχεσθαι τὸν παρόντα σύλλογον διδά- ...η νε....ρυυευχεουαι τον παροντα σύλλογον διδά- σκεσθαι χρὴ, ἀλλʼ ὅτι δεῖ πάντως προσεύχεσθαι θ ὅπερ· -P._-. -1 ν θ ’ Α --η--..- Mn“ νυνι υιι υει παντως προσευχεσυαι σ ὅπερ οὔπω τάχα δέδεκται ἡ τῶν πολλῶν ἀκοή. Ὴμέληται -..\.- ι-. ’ ηʼ " --.υ...χω “eum; η των πολλῶν axon. Ὴμέληται γὰρ ἐν τῷ βίῳ καὶ παρεῖται τοῖς πολλοῖς τὸ ἱερὸν ,Ὗ -.,Ἢ μιν και ιιυιρειται τοις πολλοῖς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦτο καὶ ἔνθεον ἔργον, ή προσευχὴ. Περὶ τούτου ,νυν,ιιι ενυεον εργον, η προσευχὴ. Περὶ τούτου τοίνυν δοκεῖ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν, πρῶτον, ῶς ἔστι δυνα- .-.ην was. μυι nam}; εχειν, πρῶτον, ὡς ἔστι δυνα- τὸν, λόγῳ διαμαρτύρασθαι, τὸ δεῖν πάντως τῇ προσην, mm. υιυιμυιριυρασυαι, το οειν παντως τῇ προσ- ευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος · εἶθʼ ..υχη “FW mycepuv, καυως φησιν o Ἀπόστολος · εἷθʼ οὕτως ἀκοῦσαι τῆς θείας φωνῆς, τῆς ὑποτιθεμένης wth υικυυοαι της υειας φωνῆς, τῆς ὑποτιθεμένης ἡμῖν τρόπον, ὅπως χρὴ προσάγειν τῷ Κυρίῳ τῆν ημιν τροπον, οπως χρη προσάγειν τῷ Κυρίῳ τῆν δέησιν. Ὁρῶ γὰρ ὅτι πάντα μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ παρόντι aequm υρω γάρ οτι πάντα μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ παρόντι σπουδάζεται βίῳ, άλλου πρὸς ἄλλο τι τῇ ψυχῇ τευιιυυυυιςεται Ριῳ, at.on προς ᾰλλο τι τῇ ψυχῇ τε· τραμμένου τὸ δὲ τῆς εὐχῆς ἀγαθὸν διὰ σπουδῆς τοῖς Ἰηηηηςνυυ ιν υε τιης ευχης αγαυον om σπουδῆς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὐκ ἐστιν. Ἐπορθρίζει ταῖς ἐμπορίαις ὁ υινυρωποις ουκ εστιν. Ἐπορθρίζει ταῖς ἐμπορίαις ὀ κάπηλος, πρὸ τῶν ὁμοτέχνων τὸν οἰκεῖον ἐπιδεῖξαι κάπηλος, προ των ομοτεχνων τὸν οἰκεῖον ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς ὠνουμένοις φιλονεικῶν, ὡς ἂν προλάβοι τοῦ δεο τινι, ωνυυμενυις φιλονεικῶν, ως αν προλάβοι τοῦ δεο- μένου τὴν χρείαν, ὑποφθάσας τοὺς ἄλλους, καὶ τὸ οξμενου την χρείαν, ὑποφθάσας τοὺς ἄλλους, καὶ τὸ οἱ. κεῖον ἀπεμπολήσειεν. Ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ ὠνούμενος, τὸ κειον απεμπολησειεν. Ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ ὠνούμενος, τὸ μὴ διαμαρτεῖν τοῦ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐν τῷ προληφθῆμη οιαμαρτειν του πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐν τῷ προληφθῆ- ναι παρʼ ἐτέρου πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ εὑναι παρʼ ἐτέρου πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχων, οὐκ ἐπὶ τὸ εὺλ κτήριον, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ πρατήριον τρέχει. Καὶ πάντων κτηριον, αλλʼ ἐπὶ τὸ πρατήριον τρέχει. Καὶ πάντων τὴν ἴσην πρὸς τὸ κέρδος ἐχόντων ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ ἰ· σπουδαζομένων ἡ τῆς προσευχῆς ὥρα εἱς τὴν ἐμπορίαν μετατεθεῖσα. Οὕτως ὁ χειροτέχνης· οὗτῶς ὁ
nun ōe A’. Proseuchēs hēmin didaskalian ho theios hyphēgeitai i6hę̄rēēō,,ēug uiyuiuiiyuiian o yeios yphēgeitai la gos, diʼ ēs tois axiois hautou mathētais, tois en spouiē, n.,,,uis asiuis, autou mauētais, tois en spou- dę̄ tēn gnōsin tēs proseuchēs epizētousin, hopōs nē..m inōuin -iēs proseuchēs episētousin, hopōs oikeiousthai prosēkei tēn theian akoēn, dia tōn rē-.- D-..-- A ’ “ ---------n... “tum”. up yeian akoēn, om tōn rē- matōn tēs proseuchēs hypotithetai, Egō de tolmēsas ---ē -\ ’ “ ‘ 7' ...nōn dem, nēryyeuchēs ypotiyetai, Egō de tolmēsas mikron antiprostheiēn tois gegrammenois; hoti ou to ,matē nēēeinyysym yuii, gegrammenois oti ou ty pōs dei proseuchesthai ton paronta syllogon dida- ...ē ne....ryyeucheouai ton paronta syllogon dida- skesthai chrē, allʼ hoti dei pantōs proseuchesthai th hoper; -P._-. -1 n th ’ A --ē--..- Mn“ nyni uii yei pantōs proseuchesyai s hoper oupō tacha dedektai hē tōn pollōn akoē. Ēmelētai -..\.- i-. ’ ēʼ " --.y...chō “eum? ē tōn pollōn axon. Ēmelētai gar en tǭ biǭ kai pareitai tois pollois to hieron ,Hy -.,Ē min kai iiuireitai tois pollois to hieron touto kai entheon ergon, ē proseuchē. Peri toutou ,nyn,iii enyeon ergon, ē proseuchē. Peri toutou toinyn dokei moi kalōs echein, prōton, ōs esti dyna- .-.ēn was. mui nam}? echein, prōton, hōs esti dyna- ton, logǭ diamartyrasthai, to dein pantōs tę̄ prosēn, mm. uiuimuiriyrasyai, to oein pantōs tę̄ pros- euchę̄ proskarterein, kathōs phēsin ho Apostolos ; eithʼ ..ychē “FW mycepuv, kauōs phēsin o Apostolos ; heithʼ houtōs akousai tēs theias phōnēs, tēs hypotithemenēs wth uikyyoai tēs yeias phōnēs, tēs hypotithemenēs hēmin tropon, hopōs chrē prosagein tǭ Kyriǭ tēn ēmin tropon, opōs chrē prosagein tǭ Kyriǭ tēn deēsin. Horō gar hoti panta mallon en tǭ paronti aequm yrō gar oti panta mallon en tǭ paronti spoudazetai biǭ, allou pros allo ti tę̄ psychę̄ teuiiyyyuisetai Riǭ, at.on pros allo ti tę̄ psychę̄ te; trammenou to de tēs euchēs agathon dia spoudēs tois Iēēēēsnyy in ye tiēs euchēs agauon om spoudēs tois anthrōpois ouk estin. Eporthrizei tais emporiais ho uinyrōpois ouk estin. Eporthrizei tais emporiais o kapēlos, pro tōn homotechnōn ton oikeion epideixai kapēlos, pro tōn omotechnōn ton oikeion epideixai tois ōnoumenois philoneikōn, hōs an prolaboi tou deo tini, ōnyymenuis philoneikōn, ōs an prolaboi tou deo- menou tēn chreian, hypophthasas tous allous, kai to oxmenou tēn chreian, hypophthasas tous allous, kai to hoi. keion apempolēseien. Hōsautōs kai ho ōnoumenos, to keion apempolēseien. Hōsautōs kai ho ōnoumenos, to mē diamartein tou pros tēn chreian en tǭ prolēphthēmē oiamartein tou pros tēn chreian en tǭ prolēphthē- nai parʼ eterou pro ophthalmōn echōn, ouk epi to heunai parʼ eterou pro ophthalmōn echōn, ouk epi to eul ktērion, allʼ epi to pratērion trechei. Kai pantōn ktērion, allʼ epi to pratērion trechei. Kai pantōn tēn isēn pros to kerdos echontōn epithymian, kai i; spoudazomenōn hē tēs proseuchēs hōra heis tēn emporian metatetheisa. Houtōs ho cheirotechnēs; houtōs ho
Homily 1. The divine Word gives us teaching on prayer, in which he sets out for his worthy disciples, those who eagerly seek to know about prayer, how they should win the divine hearing through the words of prayer. But I, venturing a little, would add something to what is written: that the present assembly needs to be taught not how one ought to pray, but that one ought to pray at all — something the hearing of the many has perhaps not yet received. For this sacred and divine work, prayer, is neglected in life and passed over by the many. On this point, then, it seems right to me first to testify in words, as far as I can, that we must by all means persevere in prayer, as the Apostle says; and then to hear the divine voice that teaches us how we must bring our petition to the Lord. For I see that everything else is pursued with more zeal in the present life, each soul turned to one thing or another, while the good of prayer is not a matter of zeal for people. The shopkeeper is up at dawn for his business, eager to show his wares to buyers before his fellow tradesmen, so as to meet the customer’s need first, get ahead of the others, and sell his own goods. Likewise the buyer, keeping before his eyes the fear of missing what he needs because someone else has bought it first, runs not to the house of prayer but to the market. And since all have the same desire for gain, … the hour of prayer is transferred to trade. So it is with the craftsman; so with the
Rom 12:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 4:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:9–13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Opening the first homily on the Lord’s Prayer, Gregory says his hearers must first learn that they ought to pray at all, since everyone, from shopkeeper to buyer, gives the hour of prayer to business.
- Homily 1 on the Lord’s Prayer. Persevering in prayer: Rom 12:12; Col 4:2.
- The scan of this page interleaves the Greek with lines of garbled duplicate OCR (debris); these have not been removed by logged corrections and are not text of the work. Only the readable text is translated; a few garbled words near the end are marked ….
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1119 (PG 44:1120b–1120a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1119). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1121
1121PG 44:1121a–1121d
ΜʼΞί περὶ λόγους ἡσχολημένος ° οὕτως ὁ δικαζόμενος · οὕτως ό δικάζειν λαχὼν, περὶ τά ἐν χερσὶν ἕκαστος ὅλος τῇ σπουδῇ ῥέπων, ἐκλέλησται τῆς κατὰ τὴν εὐχὴν ἐργασίας, ζημίαν κρίνων πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον ἐαυτῷ, τὴν περὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἀσχολίαν. Δοκεῖ γὰρ ὁ μὲν τὴν τέχνην μετιὼν, ἀργόν τι χρῆμα καὶ ἄπρακτον εἶναι, τὴν Θείαν πρὸς τὸ προκείμενον συμμαχίανο διὸ καταλιπὼν τὴν εὐχὴν, ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τὰς ἐλπίδας τίθεται, ἀμνημονῶν τοῦ δεδωκότος τὰς χεῖρας. Ὡσαύτως καὶ ό τὸν λόγον διʼ ἐπιμελείας κατορθῶν ἐαυτῷ, ού λογίζεται τὸν δεδωκότα τὸν λόγον ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐαυτὸν εἰς τὴν φύσιν ταύτην παραγαγὼν, οὕτως ἐαυτῴ καὶ ταῖς τῶν μαθητῶν προσανέχει σπουδαῖς, οὐδὲν αὐτῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνεργείας αὐτῷ γενήσεσθαι τῶν ἀγαθῶν νομίζων, προτιμοτέραν ποιεῖται τῆς προσευχῆς τήν σπουδὴν, τὸν αὑτὸν τρόπον καὶ τά λοιπά τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἐκκρούει τὴν περὶ τὰ μείζω καὶ ούράνια τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσχολίαν, τῇ τῶν σωματικῶν τε καὶ γηΐνων φροντίδι. Διά τοῦτο πολλὴ κατά τὸν βίον ή ἁμαρτία, ἀεὶ ταῖς προσθήκαις ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον αὔξουσα, πάσαις ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις σπουδαῖς ἐμπεπλεγμένη, διότι λήθη τοῦ Θεοῦ κατακρατεί τῶν πάντων, καὶ τὸ τῆς εὐχῆς ἀγαθὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τῶν σπουδαζομένων οὐ συνεφάπτεται· τῇ ἐμπορία συνεισέρχεται ἡ πλεονεξία. Πλεονεξία δέ ἐστιν εἰδωλολατρεία. Οὕτως ὁ γεωργὸς οὑ ταῖς ἀναγκαίαις χρείαις συμμετρεῖ τὴν γεωπονίαν · ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ πρὸς τὰ πλείω τὴν σπουδὴν ἐπεκτείνων, πολλὴν δίδωσι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ τοῦ ἐπιτηδεύματος εἴσοδον, τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἐκπλατυνόμενος. Ὅθεν αἱ δυσθεράπευτοι φύονται φιλονεικίαι, περὶ τῶν τῆς γῆς ὅρων ἀντεγειρομένων. ἀλλήλοις, τῶν τῇ ὁμοίᾳ νόσῳ τῆς πλεονεξίας κεκρατημένων. Ἐντεῦθεν οἱ θυμοὶ, καὶ αἱ πρὸς τὺ κακὸν ὁρμαὶ, καὶ αἱ καταλλήλων ἐπιχειρήσεις, αἵματι καὶ φόνῳ πολλάκις καθίστανται. Ὡσαύτως αἱ περὶ τὰ δικαστήρια σπουδαὶ, ταῖς πολυτρόποις ἁμαρτίαις ὑπηρετοῦσι, μυρίας τῆς ἀδικίας συνηγορίας εὑρίσκουσαι. '0 δικαστὴς ἢ ἐκὼν πρὸς τὸ λῆμμα τὸν τοῦ δικαίου ζυγὸν ἀπέκλινεν, ἢ ἀκουσίως τῇ περιεργίᾳ τῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν συγχεόντων παρακρουσθεὶς τὴν ἀδικίαν ἐκύρωσεν. Καὶ τί ἄν τις τά καθʼ ἕκαστον λέγοι, διʼ ὧν ἡ ἁμαρτία πολυσχιδῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ ζωῇ καταμίγνυται; … αἴτιον οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ τὸ μὴ συμπαραλαμβάνεσθαι παρά τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ σύμπάθειαν πρὸς τὰ ἐν χερσὶ σπουδαζόμενα. Ἐἀν εὐχὴ τῆς σπουδῆς προηγήσηται, ἡ ἁμαρτία πάροδον κατά τῆς ψυχῆς οὺχ εὑρήσει. Τῆς γὰρ τοῦ Θεοῦ μνήμης ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ καθιδρυμένης, ἄπρακτοι μένουσιν al τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ἐπίνοιαι · πανταχοῦ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἐν τοῖς ἀμφισβητουμένοις μεσιτευούσης. Ἐπέχει καὶτὸν γεωργὸν τῆς ἁμαρτίαςή προσευχὴ. ἐν ὀλίγῳ τῆς γῆς τοὺς καρποὺς πλεονάζουσα, ὡς μηκέτι τῇ τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμίᾳ συνεισιέναι τὴν
MʼXi peri logous hēscholēmenos ° houtōs ho dikazomenos ; houtōs o dikazein lachōn, peri ta en chersin hekastos holos tę̄ spoudę̄ rhepōn, eklelēstai tēs kata tēn euchēn ergasias, zēmian krinōn pros to prokeimenon eautǭ, tēn peri ton Theon ascholian. Dokei gar ho men tēn technēn metiōn, argon ti chrēma kai aprakton einai, tēn Theian pros to prokeimenon symmachiano dio katalipōn tēn euchēn, en tais chersi tas elpidas tithetai, amnēmonōn tou dedōkotos tas cheiras. Hōsautōs kai o ton logon diʼ epimeleias katorthōn eautǭ, ou logizetai ton dedōkota ton logon allʼ hōs eauton eis tēn physin tautēn paragagōn, houtōs eautǭ kai tais tōn mathētōn prosanechei spoudais, ouden autēs tou Theou energeias autǭ genēsesthai tōn agathōn nomizōn, protimoteran poieitai tēs proseuchēs tēn spoudēn, ton hauton tropon kai ta loipa tōn epitēdeumatōn ekkrouei tēn peri ta meizō kai ourania tēs psychēs ascholian, tę̄ tōn sōmatikōn te kai gēïnōn phrontidi. Dia touto pollē kata ton bion ē hamartia, aei tais prosthēkais epi to meizon auxousa, pasais tais anthrōpinais spoudais empeplegmenē, dioti lēthē tou Theou katakratei tōn pantōn, kai to tēs euchēs agathon tois anthrōpois tōn spoudazomenōn ou synephaptetai; tę̄ emporia syneiserchetai hē pleonexia. Pleonexia de estin eidōlolatreia. Houtōs ho geōrgos hou tais anankaiais chreiais symmetrei tēn geōponian ; allʼ aei pros ta pleiō tēn spoudēn epekteinōn, pollēn didōsi tę̄ hamartią tou epitēdeumatos eisodon, tois allotriois ekplatynomenos. Hothen hai dystherapeutoi phyontai philoneikiai, peri tōn tēs gēs horōn antegeiromenōn. allēlois, tōn tę̄ homoią nosǭ tēs pleonexias kekratēmenōn. Enteuthen hoi thymoi, kai hai pros ty kakon hormai, kai hai katallēlōn epicheirēseis, haimati kai phonǭ pollakis kathistantai. Hōsautōs hai peri ta dikastēria spoudai, tais polytropois hamartiais hypēretousi, myrias tēs adikias synēgorias heuriskousai. '0 dikastēs ē ekōn pros to lēmma ton tou dikaiou zygon apeklinen, ē akousiōs tę̄ periergią tōn tēn alētheian syncheontōn parakroustheis tēn adikian ekyrōsen. Kai ti an tis ta kathʼ hekaston legoi, diʼ hōn hē hamartia polyschidōs kai polytropōs tę̄ anthrōpinę̄ zōę̄ katamignytai? … aition ouden heteron estin, ē to mē symparalambanesthai para tōn anthrōpōn tēn tou Theou sympatheian pros ta en chersi spoudazomena. Ean euchē tēs spoudēs proēgēsētai, hē hamartia parodon kata tēs psychēs ouch heurēsei. Tēs gar tou Theou mnēmēs en tę̄ kardią kathidrymenēs, apraktoi menousin al tou antikeimenou epinoiai ; pantachou tēs dikaiosynēs en tois amphisbētoumenois mesiteuousēs. Epechei kaiton geōrgon tēs hamartiasē proseuchē. en oligǭ tēs gēs tous karpous pleonazousa, hōs mēketi tę̄ tou pleionos epithymią syneisienai tēn
one busy with speeches; so with the man at law; so with the one appointed to judge. Each is wholly bent with zeal on what is in hand and has forgotten the work of prayer, judging the time spent on God a loss to his business. The one who practises a craft thinks that divine help is an idle and useless thing for what he has to do; so he abandons prayer and puts his hopes in his hands, forgetting the one who gave him hands. Likewise one who by diligence has gained skill in speaking does not think of the one who gave him speech; as though he had brought himself into this nature, he attends to himself and to the studies of his students, thinking that nothing good will come to him from God’s working, and he prefers study to prayer. In the same way all the other pursuits shut out the soul’s occupation with greater and heavenly things through care for bodily and earthly ones. That is why there is so much sin in life, always growing greater by addition and interwoven with every human pursuit: forgetfulness of God prevails over all, and people do not join the good of prayer to what they pursue. Greed comes in with trade; and greed is idolatry. So the farmer does not measure his farming by his necessary needs, but always stretching his efforts toward more, he gives sin a wide entrance into his occupation, spreading himself over what belongs to others. From this spring the quarrels that are hard to heal, as those held by the same disease of greed rise up against one another over the boundaries of land. Hence come angers, impulses to evil, and attacks on one another, often ending in blood and murder. Likewise zeal in the law courts serves sins of many kinds, finding countless ways to plead for injustice. The judge either willingly tipped the scale of justice toward gain, or unwillingly, misled by the cunning of those who confuse the truth, confirmed injustice. And why should one speak of every particular way in which sin mingles with human life, in many branches and many forms? … The cause is nothing other than that people do not take God’s help along with them in what they pursue. If prayer goes before our efforts, sin will find no way in against the soul. For when the memory of God is set firmly in the heart, the devices of the adversary remain ineffective, since justice everywhere stands between the parties in disputes. Prayer keeps the farmer too from sin, multiplying the fruits of the earth in a small space, so that
Col 3:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Craftsmen, teachers, litigants, and judges forget prayer and trust their own skill; hence greed, quarrels, and injustice multiply; if prayer came first and God were remembered, sin would find no entry.
- “Greed is idolatry”: Col 3:5.
- A word before “The cause” is unreadable in the scan (OCR debris).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Δοκεῖ; OCR debris; word unreadable): Distat γὰρ → Δοκεῖ γὰρ; 7ll; αἴτιον → … αἴτιον.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1121 (PG 44:1121a–1121d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1121). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica-1121) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1123
1123PG 44:1124a–1124d
ΗΞὲ ἁμαρτίαν. (ιύτως ὁ ὁδοιπόρος, οὕτως ὁ ἐπὶ στρατείαν ἢ γάμον στελλόμενος· οὕτως πᾶς ὁστισοῦν τῶν πρός τι τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐχόντων, εί μετʼ εὐχῆς ἕκαστον πράττοιτο, τῇ πρὸς τὸ σπουδαζόμενον εὐοδίᾳ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν άποτραπήσεται, οὐδενὸς ἐναντίου τὴν ψυχὴν πρὸς πάθος καθέλκοντος. Εἰ δὲ ἀποστὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὅλος γένοιτο τῆς σπουδῆς, ἀνάγκη πᾶσα τὸν ἔξω τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄντα ἐν τῷ ἐναντίῳ πάντως εἶναι. Χωρίζεται δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ μὴ συνάπτων ἑαυτὸν διὰ προσευχῆς τῷ Θεῷ. Οὐκοῦν τοῦτο χρὴ πρότερον ἡμᾶς διδαχθῆναι τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι δεῖ πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ μὴ ὲκκακεῖν. Ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ προσεύχεσθαι περιγίνεται τὺ μετὰ Θεοῦ εἶναι. '0 δὲ μετὰ Θεοῦ ὣν, τοῦ ἀντικειμένου κεχώρισται. Προσευχὴ σωφροσύνης ἐστὶ (pola- < κτήριον, θυμοῦ παιδαγωγία, τύφου καταστολὴ. μνη- B σικακίας καθάρσιον, φθόνου καθαίρεσις, ἀδικίας ἀναίρεσις, ἀσεβείας ἐπανόρθωσις. Προσευχὴ σωμάτων ἐστὶν ίσχὺς, οίκίας εὐθηνία, πόλεως εὐνομία, βασιλείας κράτος, πολέμου τρόπαιον, εἰρήνης ἀσφάλεια, τῶν διεστώτων συναγωγὴ, τῶν συνεστώτων διαμονή. Προσευχὴ παρθενίας ἐστὶ σφραγὶς, γάμου πίστις, ὁδοιπόροις ὅπλον, κοιμωμένων φύλαξ· ὲΥΡη· γορότων θάρσος, γεωργῶν εὐφορία, πλεόντων σωτηρία. Προσευχὴ κρινομένων συνήγορος, δεδεμένων ἄνεσις, κεκμηκότων ἀνάπαυσις, λυπουμένων 1:1ραμυθία, χαιρόντων θυμηδία, πενθούντων, παράκλησις, γαμούντων στέφανος, γενεθλίων ἑορτὴ, ἀποθνησκόντων ἐντάφιον. Προσευχὴ Θεοῦ ὁμιλία, τῶν ἀοράτων θεωρία ο τῶν ἐπιθυμούντων πληροφορία, τῶν ἀγγέλων ὁμοτιμία, τῶν καλῶν προκοπὴ, τῶν κακῶν ἀνατροπὴ, τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων διόρθωσις, τῶν παρόντων ᾰπόλαυσις, τῶν μελλόντων ὑπόστασις. Προσευχὴ τῷ μὲν Ἰωνᾷ, τὸ κῆτος οἷκον ἐποίησεν ιτὸν δὲ Ἐζεκίαν αὐτῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν επανήγαγεν τοῖς δὲ τρισὶ νέοις εἰς πνεῦμα δροσῶδες τὴν φλόγα ἔτρεψεν καὶ τοϊς Ἰσραηλίταις κατά τῶν ·’Δμαληκιτῶν ἀνέστησε τρόπαιον καὶ τὰς ἑκατὸν ὁγδοήκοντα καὶ πέντε χιλιάδας τῶν Ἀσσυρίων μιᾷ νυκτὶ τῇ ἀοράτῳ ῥομφαίᾳ, κατέστρωσεν. Καὶ μυρία πρὸς τούτοις ἔστιν εὑρεῖν ὲκ τῶν ἤδη γεγενημένοιν τὰ ὑποδείγματα, διʼ ὧν φανερὸν γίνεται, τὸ μηδὲν τῆς προσευχῆς εἶναι τῶν κατὰ τὴν ζωὴν τιμίων ἀνώτερον, Ἀλλὰ καιρὸς ἂν εἴη πρὸς αὐτὴν ἠδη τίτί προσευχὴν άσχοληθῆναι ο μᾶλλον δὲ μικρὸν ἔτι προσ· θῶμεν τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι πολλῶν καὶ παντοδαπῶν ἀγαθῶν παρὰ τῆς θείας χάριτος ἡμῖν ὑπαρξάντων, ἓν τοῦτο πρὸς ἀντίδοσιν ὧν εἰλήφαμεν ἔχομεν, τδ διὰ προσευχῆς τε καὶ εὐχαριστίας τὸν εὐεργέτην άμείη βεσθαι. Λογίζομαι τοίνυν ὃτι κᾶν πάσῃ τῇ ζωῇ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὁμιλίαν συμπαρατείνωμεν εὐχαριστοῦντες καὶ προσευχόμενοι, τοσοῦτον τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν ἀξίας ἀπολειπόμεθα, ὅσον εί μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀντιδοῦναι τῷ εὐεργέτῃ προεθυμήθημεν. Ἑν τρισὶ τμήμασι
ĒXe hamartian. (iytōs ho hodoiporos, houtōs ho epi strateian ē gamon stellomenos; houtōs pas hostisoun tōn pros ti tēn hormēn echontōn, ei metʼ euchēs hekaston prattoito, tę̄ pros to spoudazomenon euodią tou hamartanein apotrapēsetai, oudenos enantiou tēn psychēn pros pathos kathelkontos. Ei de apostas tou Theou holos genoito tēs spoudēs, anankē pasa ton exō tou Theou onta en tǭ enantiǭ pantōs einai. Chōrizetai de tou Theou, ho mē synaptōn heauton dia proseuchēs tǭ Theǭ. Oukoun touto chrē proteron hēmas didachthēnai tǭ logǭ, hoti dei pantote proseuchesthai, kai mē ekkakein. Ek gar tou proseuchesthai periginetai ty meta Theou einai. '0 de meta Theou hōn, tou antikeimenou kechōristai. Proseuchē sōphrosynēs esti (pola- < ktērion, thymou paidagōgia, typhou katastolē. mnē- B sikakias katharsion, phthonou kathairesis, adikias anairesis, asebeias epanorthōsis. Proseuchē sōmatōn estin ischys, oikias euthēnia, poleōs eunomia, basileias kratos, polemou tropaion, eirēnēs asphaleia, tōn diestōtōn synagōgē, tōn synestōtōn diamonē. Proseuchē parthenias esti sphragis, gamou pistis, hodoiporois hoplon, koimōmenōn phylax; eURē; gorotōn tharsos, geōrgōn euphoria, pleontōn sōtēria. Proseuchē krinomenōn synēgoros, dedemenōn anesis, kekmēkotōn anapausis, lypoumenōn 1:1ramythia, chairontōn thymēdia, penthountōn, paraklēsis, gamountōn stephanos, genethliōn heortē, apothnēskontōn entaphion. Proseuchē Theou homilia, tōn aoratōn theōria o tōn epithymountōn plērophoria, tōn angelōn homotimia, tōn kalōn prokopē, tōn kakōn anatropē, tōn hamartanontōn diorthōsis, tōn parontōn apolausis, tōn mellontōn hypostasis. Proseuchē tǭ men Iōną, to kētos hoikon epoiēsen iton de Ezekian autōn pylōn tou thanatou pros tēn zōēn epanēgagen tois de trisi neois eis pneuma drosōdes tēn phloga etrepsen kai toïs Israēlitais kata tōn ;’Dmalēkitōn anestēse tropaion kai tas hekaton hogdoēkonta kai pente chiliadas tōn Assyriōn mią nykti tę̄ aoratǭ rhomphaią, katestrōsen. Kai myria pros toutois estin heurein ek tōn ēdē gegenēmenoin ta hypodeigmata, diʼ hōn phaneron ginetai, to mēden tēs proseuchēs einai tōn kata tēn zōēn timiōn anōteron, Alla kairos an eiē pros autēn ēdē titi proseuchēn ascholēthēnai o mallon de mikron eti pros; thōmen tǭ logǭ, hoti pollōn kai pantodapōn agathōn para tēs theias charitos hēmin hyparxantōn, hen touto pros antidosin hōn eilēphamen echomen, td dia proseuchēs te kai eucharistias ton euergetēn ameiē besthai. Logizomai toinyn hoti kan pasę̄ tę̄ zōę̄ tēn pros ton Theon homilian symparateinōmen eucharistountes kai proseuchomenoi, tosouton tēs kata tēn antidosin axias apoleipometha, hoson ei mēde tēn archēn antidounai tǭ euergetę̄ proethymēthēmen. Hen trisi tmēmasi
sin no longer comes in with the desire for more. So it is with the traveller, with one setting out for military service or for marriage, and with everyone at all who sets out toward anything: if each thing is done with prayer, the success of what he undertakes will turn him away from sin, since nothing contrary drags the soul toward passion. But if he departs from God and is wholly given over to his pursuit, then of necessity one who is outside God is altogether in the opposite. And whoever does not join himself to God through prayer is separated from God. So we must first be taught by the word that we ought always to pray and not lose heart. For from praying comes being with God; and whoever is with God is separated from the adversary. Prayer is the guard of self-control, the training of anger, the curbing of conceit, the cleansing of rancour, the overthrow of envy, the removal of injustice, the correction of impiety. Prayer is the strength of bodies, the prosperity of a household, the good order of a city, the might of a kingdom, the trophy of war, the security of peace, the reconciliation of the estranged, the preserving of those united. Prayer is the seal of virginity, the faithfulness of marriage, a weapon for travellers, a guard for those asleep, courage for those awake, abundance for farmers, safety for sailors. Prayer is the advocate of those on trial, the release of prisoners, the rest of the weary, the consolation of the grieving, the cheer of the joyful, the comfort of mourners, the crown of those who marry, the feast of birthdays, the shroud of the dying. Prayer is converse with God, contemplation of things unseen, the fulfilment of those who desire, equality of honour with the angels, the advance of good things, the overthrow of evils, the correction of sinners, the enjoyment of things present, the substance of things to come. Prayer made the whale a house for Jonah; brought Hezekiah back to life from the very gates of death; turned the flame into a dewy breeze for the three young men; raised a trophy for the Israelites against the Amalekites; and laid low a hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians in one night with an invisible sword. And countless other examples can be found among the things that have already happened, by which it becomes plain that nothing among the precious things of life is higher than prayer. But it may be time now to turn to the prayer itself; or rather, let us add a little more to our discourse. Since many and various goods have come to us from the divine grace, we have this one thing to give in return for what we have received: to repay our benefactor through prayer and thanksgiving. I reckon, then, that even if we prolong our converse with God through our whole life, giving thanks and praying, we fall as far short of a worthy repayment as if we had never even been eager to repay our benefactor at all. Time is measured in three divisions:
Luke 18:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Jonah 2:1–10 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 38:1–8 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 3:24–27 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 17:11–13 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 19:35 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Every undertaking done with prayer is kept from sin, since prayer joins us to God; Gregory praises prayer in a long list of its benefits for every condition of life and recalls Jonah, Hezekiah, the three young men, Amalek, and Sennacherib’s army.
- “Always to pray and not lose heart”: Luke 18:1. Jonah in the whale: Jonah 2:1–10. Hezekiah: Isa 38:1–8; 2 Kgs 20:1–11. The three young men: Dan 3:49–50 LXX (the Prayer of Azariah, outside the Hebrew canon) with Dan 3:24–27. Amalek: Exod 17:11–13. The 185,000 Assyrians: 2 Kgs 19:35; Isa 37:36.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for Θεοῦ; OCR debris (Latin letters) for πλεόντων): τοῦ Bari → τοῦ Θεοῦ; mmmam» → πλεόντων.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1123 (PG 44:1124a–1124d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1123). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1125
1125PG 44:1125a–1125b
τὸ χρονικὸν μετρεῖται διάστημα, τῷ παρῳχηκότι, τῷ ἐνεστῶτι, καὶ τῷ μέλλοντι. Ἑν τοῖς τρισὶ τούτοις ή εὐεργεσία τοῦ Κυρίου καταλαμΰάνεται. Ἐὰν τὸ ἐνεστὼς λογίσῃ, ἐν αὐτῷ ζῇς ο ἐὰν τὸ μὲλλον, ἐκεῖνός σοι τῶν προσδοκωμένων ἐλπίς · ἐὰν τὸ παρελθὸν, οὐκ ἂν ἧς πρὶν ἂν παρʼ, ἐκείνου γενέσθαι. Εὐηργετήθης, αὐτὸ τὸ γενέσθαι παρʼ ἐκείνου λαβὼν.. καὶ γενόμενος εὐηργετήθης, ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶν καὶ κινούμενος, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος · αἱ τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδες τῆς αὐτῆς ἐνεργείας ἤρτηνται. Σὺ δὲ μόνον τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος εἴ κύριος. Ὥστε κᾶν διαπαντὸς εύχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ μὴ διαλίπῃς, μόγις τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἀποπληρώσῃς τὴν χάριν, οὔτε τοῦ μέλλοντος, οὔτε τοῦ παρῳχηκότος ἐπίνοιαν ἐξευρίσκων τινὰ πρὸς τὴν τῶν χρεωστουμένων ἀντίδοσιν.,Ἡμεῖς δὲ τοσοῦτον τῆς κατά δύναμιν εὐχαριστίας ἀπολειπόμενοι, οὐδὲ περὶ τὸ δυνατὸν εὐγνωμονοῦμεν, οὐ λέγω πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, ἀλλʼ οὐδέ πολλοστὸν τῆς ἡμέρας τῇ κατά Θεὸν ἀποκληροῦντες σχολῇ. Τίς μοι τὴν γῆν ὑπεστόρεσε; Τίς βάσιμον διʼ ἐπινοίας τὴν ύγράν φύσιν ἐποίησεν; Τίς ἐπηξέ μοι τὸν οὐρανὸν ὡς καμάραν; Τίς δᾳδουχεῖ μοι τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου λαμπάδα ; Τίς ἀποστέλλει πηγὰς ἐν φάραγξιν; Τίς ἡτοίμασε τοῖς ποταμοῖς τάς διόδους; Τίς μοι τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων ὑπηρεσίαν ὑπέζευξεν; Τίς με κόνιν ἄψυχονόντα, ζωῆς τε καὶ διανοίας μετέχειν ἐποίησεν; Τίς τὸν πηλὸν τοῦτον, κατʼ εἰκόνα τοῦ θείου χαρακτῆρος ἐμόρφωσεν; Τίς συγχεθεῖσαν ἐν ἐμοὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν θείαν εἰκόνα πάλιν είς τὴν ἀρχαίαν ἐπανήγαγε χάριν; Τίς ἐξοικισθέντα με τοῦ παραδείσου, καὶ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς ἔξω γενόμενον, καὶ τῷ βαράθρῳ τῆς ὑλικῆς ζωῆς συγκαλυφθὲντα, ἐπὶ τὴν πρώτην - ἕλκει μακαριότητα; Οὐκ ἐστιν ό συνιὼν, φησὶν ήΤραφή. *Η γὰρ ἂν πρὸς ταῦτα ὁρῶντες, ἄληκτον ἂν κα) ἀκατάπαυστον ἐν παντὶ τῷ τῆς ζωῆς διαστήματι, τὴν εὐχαριστίαν, ἀπεπληροῦμεν ο νυνὶ δὲ πρὸς μόνον τὸ ὑλικὸν πᾶσα σχεδὸν ἐγρήγορεν ή ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις. Πρὸς τοῦτο ή σπουδή · ἐν τούτῳ ή προθυμία περὶ ταῦτα καὶ ἡ μνήμη καὶ ή ἐλπὶς καταγίνετω· ᾶῠπνός ἐστι καὶ ἁκοίμητος πρὸς τὴν τοῦ πλείονος ἐπιθυμίαν ή ἀνθρωπίνη φύσις ἐν παντὶ πράγματι, ἐν ᾧ δυνατόν ἐστιν ἐξευρεθῆναι τὸ πλέον · εἴτε κατὰ τιμήν τε καὶ δόξαν, εἴτε κατά τὴν τῶν χρημάτων περιουσίαν, εἴτε κατά τὴν τοῦ θυμοῦ νόσον, πανταχοῦ πρὸς τὸ πλέον ὲν τούτοις ἡ φύσις βλέπει. Τῶν δὲ ἀληθινῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγαθῶν, λόγος οὐδεὶς, οὔτε· τῶν φαινομένων, οὖτεντῶν ἐπηγγελμένων. Ἀλλά καιρὸς ἂν εἴη καὶ τῶν τῆς προσευχῆς ῥημάτων κατιδεῖν, ὡς ἐστι δυνατὸν, τὴν διάνοιαν,
to chronikon metreitai diastēma, tǭ parǭchēkoti, tǭ enestōti, kai tǭ mellonti. Hen tois trisi toutois ē euergesia tou Kyriou katalamÿanetai. Ean to enestōs logisę̄, en autǭ zę̄s o ean to mellon, ekeinos soi tōn prosdokōmenōn elpis ; ean to parelthon, ouk an hēs prin an parʼ, ekeinou genesthai. Euērgetēthēs, auto to genesthai parʼ ekeinou labōn.. kai genomenos euērgetēthēs, en autǭ zōn kai kinoumenos, kathōs phēsin ho Apostolos ; hai tōn mellontōn elpides tēs autēs energeias ērtēntai. Sy de monon tou enestōtos ei kyrios. Hōste kan diapantos eucharistōn tǭ Theǭ mē dialipę̄s, mogis tou enestōtos apoplērōsę̄s tēn charin, oute tou mellontos, oute tou parǭchēkotos epinoian exeuriskōn tina pros tēn tōn chreōstoumenōn antidosin.,Hēmeis de tosouton tēs kata dynamin eucharistias apoleipomenoi, oude peri to dynaton eugnōmonoumen, ou legō pasan hēmeran, allʼ oude polloston tēs hēmeras tę̄ kata Theon apoklērountes scholę̄. Tis moi tēn gēn hypestorese? Tis basimon diʼ epinoias tēn ygran physin epoiēsen? Tis epēxe moi ton ouranon hōs kamaran? Tis dądouchei moi tēn tou hēliou lampada ? Tis apostellei pēgas en pharanxin? Tis hētoimase tois potamois tas diodous? Tis moi tēn tōn alogōn zōōn hypēresian hypezeuxen? Tis me konin apsychononta, zōēs te kai dianoias metechein epoiēsen? Tis ton pēlon touton, katʼ eikona tou theiou charaktēros emorphōsen? Tis synchetheisan en emoi dia tēs hamartias tēn theian eikona palin eis tēn archaian epanēgage charin? Tis exoikisthenta me tou paradeisou, kai tou xylou tēs zōēs exō genomenon, kai tǭ barathrǭ tēs hylikēs zōēs synkalyphthenta, epi tēn prōtēn - helkei makariotēta? Ouk estin o syniōn, phēsin ēTraphē. *Ē gar an pros tauta horōntes, alēkton an ka) akatapauston en panti tǭ tēs zōēs diastēmati, tēn eucharistian, apeplēroumen o nyni de pros monon to hylikon pasa schedon egrēgoren ē anthrōpinē physis. Pros touto ē spoudē ; en toutǭ ē prothymia peri tauta kai hē mnēmē kai ē elpis kataginetō; aupnos esti kai hakoimētos pros tēn tou pleionos epithymian ē anthrōpinē physis en panti pragmati, en hǭ dynaton estin exeurethēnai to pleon ; eite kata timēn te kai doxan, eite kata tēn tōn chrēmatōn periousian, eite kata tēn tou thymou noson, pantachou pros to pleon en toutois hē physis blepei. Tōn de alēthinōn tou Theou agathōn, logos oudeis, oute; tōn phainomenōn, outentōn epēngelmenōn. Alla kairos an eiē kai tōn tēs proseuchēs rhēmatōn katidein, hōs esti dynaton, tēn dianoian,
the past, the present, and the future; and in these three the Lord’s benefaction is found. If you consider the present, you live in him; if the future, he is the hope of what you expect; if the past, you would not have existed before being made by him. You were benefited by receiving existence itself from him; and once you came to be, you were benefited by living and moving in him, as the Apostle says; and the hopes of things to come depend on the same working. But you are master only of the present. So even if you never ceased giving thanks to God, you would barely repay the grace of the present, finding no means at all of repaying what is owed for the future or the past. Yet we, who fall so far short of the thanksgiving that is within our power, are not even grateful as far as we can be — I do not say devoting every day, but not even a small part of the day to leisure for God. Who spread out the earth beneath me? Who by his contrivance made the nature of water passable? Who fixed the heaven over me like a vault? Who carries the torch of the sun for me? Who sends springs into the ravines? Who prepared courses for the rivers? Who yoked the service of the irrational animals to me? Who made me, lifeless dust, share in life and understanding? Who formed this clay in the image of the divine character? Who brought back to its ancient grace the divine image that sin had confounded in me? Who draws me, exiled from paradise, shut out from the tree of life, and buried in the pit of material life, back to the first blessedness? “There is none who understands,” says Scripture. For surely, if we looked at these things, we would offer unceasing and endless thanksgiving through the whole span of our life; but as it is, almost the whole of human nature is awake only to what is material. To this our zeal is given; in this our eagerness; with these things our memory and our hope are occupied. Human nature is sleepless and wakeful in its desire for more in every matter where more can be found — whether in honour and glory, or in abundance of money, or in the disease of anger: everywhere in these nature looks to have more. But of the true goods of God there is no account, neither of those that are seen nor of those that are promised. But it may be time to look, as far as possible, at the meaning of the words of the prayer as well,
Acts 17:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:10 (103:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:22 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 1:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 3:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s benefits span past, present, and future, so we can never thank him enough; yet we give him no time, though he made the world for us, formed us in his image, and restores us to paradise, while we stay awake only for gain.
- “In him we live and move”: Acts 17:28. Springs in the ravines: Ps 104:10 (LXX 103:10). The heaven like a vault: Isa 40:22 (LXX). Formed from dust in the image of God: Gen 1:27; 2:7. “There is none who understands”: Ps 14:2 (LXX 13:2); Rom 3:11.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1125 (PG 44:1125a–1125b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1125). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica-1125) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1127
1127PG 44:1128a–1128d
τέρας κατανοήσεως, πλὴν ἄξιον ἐξετάσαι, τί σημαίνει τῆς βαττολογίας τὸ ῥῆμα, ὡς ἂν μαθόντες τὴν διάνοιαν, ἔξω τοῦ ἀπηγορευμένον γενοίμεθα. Δοκεῖ τοίνυν μοι σωφρονίζειν τὴν χαυνότητα τῆς διανοίας, καὶ συστέλλειν τῶν ταῖς ματαίαις ἐπιθυμίαις ἐμβαθυνόντων, καλ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ξένην ταύτην τῆς λέξεως καινοτομίαν ἐξευρηκέναι, ἐπὶ ἐλέγχῳ τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν περὶ τὰ ἀνωφελῆ τε καὶ μάταια ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις διαχεομένων. Ὀ γὰρ ἔμφρων τε καὶ συνετὸς, καὶ πρὸς τὸ χρήσιμον βλέπων λόγος, κυρίως λέγεται λόγος · ὁ δὲ ταῖς ἀνυπάρκτοις ἐπιθυμίαις διὶι τῆς ἀνυποστάτου ἡδονῆς ἐπιχεόμενος, οὐκ ἔστι λόγος, ἀλλὰ βαττολογία· ὡς ἄν τις Ἑλληνικώτερον ἑρμηνεύων είττοι τὸν νοῦν, φλυαρία, καὶ λῆρος καὶ φλήναα φος, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῆς τοιαύτης σημασίας. Τί οὖν ἡμῖν συμβουλεύει ὁ λόγος; μὴ ταύτὸν πάσχειν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῶν προσευχῶν, οἷον ἐν τῇ τῶν νηπίων διανοίᾳ συνίσταται πάθος. Ὠσπερ γὰρ οἱ ἀτελεῖς τὴν ’διάνοιαν, οὐχ ὅπως ἇν τι γένοιτο τῶν κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῶν ἐπινοοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ κατʼ ἐξουσίαν εὐκληρίας τινὰς ἐαυτοῖς ἀναπλάττουσι, θησαυροὺς καὶ βασιλείας καὶ πόλεις μεγάλας ταῖς προσηγορίαις αὐτῶν ἐπονο‹ μαζομένας ὑποτιθέμενοι, είς ἐκεῖνο εἶναι τῇ διανοίᾳ φαντάζονται, ὅπερ ἂν αὐτοῖς ὴ ματαιότης τῶν λογισμῶν ὑπογράφῃ· εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἳ καὶ νεανικώτερον τῆς ματαιότητος ταύτης ἀντιλαμβάνονται, καὶ ὑπερβάντες τὰ μέτρα τῆς φύσεως, πτηνοῖ γίνονται, ἢ κατὰ τοὺς γαστέρας λάμπουσιν, ἣ ὅρη διὰ χειρὸς φέρουσιν, ἢτὺν οὐρανὸν ἑαυτοῖς ὁδοποιοῦσιν, ἢ πρὸς μυριοστὸν διαρκοῦσιν ἔτος, νέοι ἐκ παλαιῶν γινόμενοι· ἢ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτα τοῖς νηπιωδεστέροις τίκτει πομφολυγὼδη καὶ διάκενα ἡ καρδία ποιή ματα.”Ω;περ τοίνυν ἐν τοῖς πράγμασιν ὁ μὴ ταῦτα λογιζόμενος ν διʼ ὧν ἂν γένοιτό τι ἀγαθὸν τῶν βουλευομένων, ἀλλʼ ἐμματαιάζων ταῖς ἁνυπάρκτοις ἐπιθυμίαις, ἀνόητός τις ἐστι καὶ ἄθλιος, τὸν τοῦ πρᾶξαί τι τῶν λυ σιτελούντων βουλεύσασθαι καιρδν, τοῖς ἐνυπνίοις τούτοις προσαναλίσκων · οὕτως ὁ ὲν καιρῷ προσευχῆς πρὸς τὰ συμφέροντα τῇ ψυχῇ μὴ τεταμένος, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς τῆς διανοίας κινήσεις συνδιατίθεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν ἀξιῶν, λῆρός τίς ἐστιν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ βαττολόγος, τῶν ίδίων ματαιοτήτων συνεργὸν καὶ ὑπηρέτην τὸν Θεὸν γίνεσθαι προσευχόμενος. Οίόν τι λέγω · Πρόσεισί τις διὰ προσευχῆς τῷ Θεῴ, καὶ μὴ κατανοήσας τῇ διανοίᾳ τὸ ὕψος τῆς δυνάμεως προσέρχεται, λανθάνει καθυβρίζων τὸ μέγεθος ταῖς αἰσχραῖς καὶ ταπειναῖς τῶν αἰτήσεων. Ὥσπερ ἂν εί τις τὰ ἐκ πηλοῦ σκεύη διʼ ὑπερβολὴν πενίας ἢ ἀγροικίας τίμια νομίζων, ἔπειτα βασιλεῖ προσελθὼν, πλούτους καὶ ἀξιώματα διανέμειν προαιρουμένῳ · ὁ δὲ καταλιπὼν τὰς βασιλικὰς αἰτήσεις, ἀξιοῖ τὸν τοσοῦτον τῷ ἀξιώματι, πηλὸν διαπλάσαντα ποιῆσαί τι τῶν ἐκείνῳ καταθυμίων·οὒτως καὶ ὁ ἀπαιδεύτως τῇ εὐχῇ χρώμενος, οὐ πρὸς τὸ ὒψος τοῦ διδόντος ἑαυτὸν ἐπαίρει, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ταπεινόν τε καὶ γήϊνον τῆς ίδίας ὲπιθυμίας τὴν Θείαν δύναμιν καταβῆναι ποθεῖ· καὶ τούτου χάριν τὰς ἐμπαθεῖς ὁρμὰς προτείνει τῷ τὰς καρδίας βλέποντι, οὐχ ὅπως ἂν θεραπεύσειε τὰ ἄτοπα
teras katanoēseōs, plēn axion exetasai, ti sēmainei tēs battologias to rhēma, hōs an mathontes tēn dianoian, exō tou apēgoreumenon genoimetha. Dokei toinyn moi sōphronizein tēn chaunotēta tēs dianoias, kai systellein tōn tais mataiais epithymiais embathynontōn, kal dia touto tēn xenēn tautēn tēs lexeōs kainotomian exeurēkenai, epi elenchǭ tēs anoias tōn peri ta anōphelē te kai mataia tais epithymiais diacheomenōn. O gar emphrōn te kai synetos, kai pros to chrēsimon blepōn logos, kyriōs legetai logos ; ho de tais anyparktois epithymiais diii tēs anypostatou hēdonēs epicheomenos, ouk esti logos, alla battologia; hōs an tis Hellēnikōteron hermēneuōn eittoi ton noun, phlyaria, kai lēros kai phlēnaa phos, kai ei ti allo tēs toiautēs sēmasias. Ti oun hēmin symbouleuei ho logos? mē tauton paschein en tǭ kairǭ tōn proseuchōn, hoion en tę̄ tōn nēpiōn dianoią synistatai pathos. Ōsper gar hoi ateleis tēn ’dianoian, ouch hopōs han ti genoito tōn kata gnōmēn autōn epinoousin, alla katʼ exousian euklērias tinas eautois anaplattousi, thēsaurous kai basileias kai poleis megalas tais prosēgoriais autōn epono‹ mazomenas hypotithemenoi, eis ekeino einai tę̄ dianoią phantazontai, hoper an autois ē mataiotēs tōn logismōn hypographę̄; eisi de tines hoi kai neanikōteron tēs mataiotētos tautēs antilambanontai, kai hyperbantes ta metra tēs physeōs, ptēnoi ginontai, ē kata tous gasteras lampousin, hē horē dia cheiros pherousin, ētyn ouranon heautois hodopoiousin, ē pros myrioston diarkousin etos, neoi ek palaiōn ginomenoi; ē hosa alla toiauta tois nēpiōdesterois tiktei pompholygōdē kai diakena hē kardia poiē mata.”Ō?per toinyn en tois pragmasin ho mē tauta logizomenos n diʼ hōn an genoito ti agathon tōn bouleuomenōn, allʼ emmataiazōn tais hanyparktois epithymiais, anoētos tis esti kai athlios, ton tou praxai ti tōn ly sitelountōn bouleusasthai kairdn, tois enypniois toutois prosanaliskōn ; houtōs ho en kairǭ proseuchēs pros ta sympheronta tę̄ psychę̄ mē tetamenos, alla pros tas empatheis tēs dianoias kinēseis syndiatithesthai ton Theon axiōn, lēros tis estin hōs alēthōs kai battologos, tōn idiōn mataiotētōn synergon kai hypēretēn ton Theon ginesthai proseuchomenos. Oion ti legō ; Proseisi tis dia proseuchēs tǭ Theǭ, kai mē katanoēsas tę̄ dianoią to hypsos tēs dynameōs proserchetai, lanthanei kathybrizōn to megethos tais aischrais kai tapeinais tōn aitēseōn. Hōsper an ei tis ta ek pēlou skeuē diʼ hyperbolēn penias ē agroikias timia nomizōn, epeita basilei proselthōn, ploutous kai axiōmata dianemein proairoumenǭ ; ho de katalipōn tas basilikas aitēseis, axioi ton tosouton tǭ axiōmati, pēlon diaplasanta poiēsai ti tōn ekeinǭ katathymiōn;outōs kai ho apaideutōs tę̄ euchę̄ chrōmenos, ou pros to ypsos tou didontos heauton epairei, alla pros to tapeinon te kai gēïnon tēs idias epithymias tēn Theian dynamin katabēnai pothei; kai toutou charin tas empatheis hormas proteinei tǭ tas kardias bleponti, ouch hopōs an therapeuseie ta atopa
… of a higher understanding. Yet it is worth examining what the word “babble” (battologia) means, so that, having learned its sense, we may keep clear of what is forbidden. It seems to me, then, that he is chastening the emptiness of the mind and restraining those who sink deep in vain desires, and that for this reason he devised this strange new coinage of a word, to refute the folly of those who pour themselves out in desires for useless and vain things. For the sensible and intelligent word that looks to what is useful is properly called a word (logos); but what pours itself out on nonexistent desires through insubstantial pleasure is not a word but babble — or, as one might put the sense in plainer Greek, nonsense, drivel, twaddle, and anything else of that meaning. What, then, does the word counsel us? Not to suffer, at the time of prayer, what happens in the minds of infants. People of immature mind do not consider how any of their wishes might come about; they freely fashion good fortunes for themselves, imagining treasures and kingdoms and great cities named after them, and fancy themselves to be whatever the vanity of their thoughts sketches for them. Some even take up this vanity more boldly and, going beyond the limits of nature, become winged, or shine like the stars, or carry mountains in their hands, or make themselves a road to heaven, or live to the ten-thousandth year, becoming young again from old, or whatever other bubble-like and empty creations the heart breeds in the more childish. In practical affairs, one who does not consider the means by which some good he plans might come about, but indulges in vain desires for what does not exist, is foolish and wretched, spending on these dreams the time he should spend planning something profitable. So too, one who at the time of prayer is not intent on what benefits the soul, but asks God to share the passionate movements of his mind, is truly a babbler and a talker of nonsense, praying that God may become the fellow-worker and servant of his own vanities. I mean something like this. Someone approaches God in prayer, and, not having grasped in his mind the height of the power he is approaching, he unwittingly insults its greatness with base and lowly requests. It is as if someone, who through extreme poverty or boorishness thought clay pots precious, came to a king who was ready to distribute riches and honours; and he, passing over requests fit for a king, asked one so great in dignity to mould clay and make him something to his liking. So too one who uses prayer without instruction does not raise himself to the height of the Giver, but longs for the divine power to come down to the lowly and earthly level of his own desire; and so he puts forward his passionate impulses to the one who sees hearts, not that he may heal the unseemly
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Matt 6:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ forbids “babbling” in prayer, that is, asking for vain things like a child daydreaming of kingdoms and flying; to ask God for base, passionate things is like asking a generous king to make clay pots.
- The opening continues after a gap in the scan (marked …): the quotation of Christ’s words before the Lord’s Prayer is lost. “Do not babble (μὴ βαττολογήσητε) as the gentiles do”: Matt 6:7. Gregory takes βαττολογία as a coinage contrasting with λόγος.
- “Shine like the stars”: the scan reads γαστέρας, a slip for ἀστέρας.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1127 (PG 44:1128a–1128d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1127). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1129
1129PG 44:1129a–1129d
τῆς διανοίας κινήματα · ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν χείρω γένοιτο, είς ἔργον τῆς πονηρᾶς ὁρμῆς διὰ τῆς συνεργίας τοῦ Θεοῦ προσελθούσης. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ 0 δεῖνα λυπεῖ, καί μοι διάκειται δυσμενῶς ἡ καρδία, Πάταξον αὑτὸν, τῷ Θεῷ λέγει, μόνον οὐκ ἐκεῖνο βοῶν, ὅτι Τὸ ἐμὸν πάθος ἐν σοὶ γενέσθω, ἡ ἐμοῦ κακία ἐπὶ σὲ διαβἡτω. Ὠς γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις μάχαις οὐκ ἔστι συ μμαχῆσαί τινα τῷ ἐνὶ μέρει, μὴ συμπαροξυνθέντα τῷ ὀργιζομένῳ κατά τοῦ προσπαλαίοντοςο οὕτω δῆλον ὅτι ὁ κατά τοῦ ἐχθροῦ τὸν Θεὸν κινῶν, συνοργισθῆναι παρακαλεῖ, καὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ κοινωνὸν γενέσθαι. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ είς πάθος πεσεῖν τὸ Θεῖον, καὶ κατά ἄνθρωπον διατεθῆναι, καὶ εἰς θηριώδη ἀπήνειαν ἐκ τῆς ἀγαθῆς φύσεως μεταποιηθῆναι. Οὕτως 0 δοξνμανῶν· οὕτως 0 ἐν ὑπερηφανία τὸ πλέον ἔχειν ἐπιθυμῶν · 0 ἐν τῇ διαδικασίᾳ πρὸς τὴν νίκην σπεύδων · 0 ἐν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσι πρὸς τὸν στέφανον ἐπειγόμενος ο 0 ὲν θεάτροις τῆς εὐφημίας ἀντιποιού μενος ο ’πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ὁ πρὸς τὸ λυσσῶδες τῆς νεότητος πάθος ἐκτετηκώς. Πάντες οὗτοι ούχ ὅπως ἂν ἐξω τοῦ ἐπικρατοῦντος ἀρῥωστήματος γένοιντο, προσάγουσι Θεῷ τὰς δεήσεις, ἀλλʼ ὅπως ἂν είς πέρας αὐτοῖς ή νόσος ἔλθοι ’ καὶ τὸ διαμαρτεῖν τούτων ἀντὶ συμφορᾶς ἕκαστος κρίνοντες, βαττολογοῦσιν ὅντως, συνεργὸν τῆς κατά τὸν νοῦν ἀρρωστίας γενέσθαι τὸν Θεὸν ἱκετεύοντες ° κα) τὸ πάντων χαλεπώτατον, ὅτι πρὸς τὰς ἐναντίας ὁρμὰς κινεῖσθαι τὸ Θεῖον αὐτοῖς ’ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, εἰς ἀγριότητα καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν μερίζοντες τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἐνέργειαν. Ὃν γὰρ ἱτλεων καὶ πρᾶον ἐπιζητοῦσιν ἑαυτοῖς εἶναι, τοῦτον πικρόν τε καὶ ἀπηνῆ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτῶν ἐπιδειχθῆναι παρακαλοῦσιν, Ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας τῶν βαττολογούντωνί εί γὰρ ἐκείνοις ἀπηνὴς ὁ Θεὸς, ούδέ σοι πάντως ἥμερος. Ei δὲ ἐπὶ σοῦ πρὸς ἔλεον ῥέπει, κατά γε τὴν σὴν ἐλπίδα, πῶς ἂν μεταβάλοιτο πρὸς τούναντίον εἰς πικρίαν μεθαρμὸζων τὸν ἐλεον; Ἀλλά πρὸ χειρὸς τῶν ἐριστικῶν ὴ πρὸς τὺ τοιοῦτον ἀντίθεσις. Εὐθὺς γὰρ είς συνηγορίαν τῆς ἐαυτῶν πικρίας τὰς ἐκ τῆς προφητείας φωνὰς παρατίθενται · τὸν Δαβὶδ ἐκλιπεῖν τοὺς ἁμαρτωλοὺς ποθοῦντα, καὶ αἰσχύνην καὶ ἐντροπὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατευχόμενον· τὸν Ἱερεμίαν ἰδεῖν τὴν παρά Θεῷ ἐκδίκησιν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐπιθυμοῦντα· τὸν Ὠσηέ μήτραν ἀτεκνοῦσαν, καὶ μαστοὺς ξηροὺς δοθῆναι τοῖς ἐχθροῖς δεόμενον. Καὶ πολλά τοιαῦτα σποράδην κείμενα ταῖς ἁγίαις Γραφαῖς ἀναλέγονται, συνιστάμενοι τὸ δεῖν τῶν ἐναντίων κατεύχεσθαι, καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν πικρίας συνεργὸν γενέσθαι τοῦ Θεοῦ τὴν ἀγαθότητα. Ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς ὡς ἂν ἐκ παρόδου τοὺς ἐκ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀφορμῆς πρὸς τὸ ἐναντίον ὁδηγουμένους παύσαιμεν βαττολογοῦντας, τοῦτο περὶ ἐκάστου τῶν μνημονευθέντων παραθησόμεθα.
tēs dianoias kinēmata ; allʼ hopōs an cheirō genoito, eis ergon tēs ponēras hormēs dia tēs synergias tou Theou proselthousēs. Epeidē gar 0 deina lypei, kai moi diakeitai dysmenōs hē kardia, Pataxon hauton, tǭ Theǭ legei, monon ouk ekeino boōn, hoti To emon pathos en soi genesthō, hē emou kakia epi se diabētō. Ōs gar en tais anthrōpinais machais ouk esti sy mmachēsai tina tǭ eni merei, mē symparoxynthenta tǭ orgizomenǭ kata tou prospalaiontoso houtō dēlon hoti ho kata tou echthrou ton Theon kinōn, synorgisthēnai parakalei, kai tou thymou koinōnon genesthai. Touto de esti to eis pathos pesein to Theion, kai kata anthrōpon diatethēnai, kai eis thēriōdē apēneian ek tēs agathēs physeōs metapoiēthēnai. Houtōs 0 doxnmanōn; houtōs 0 en hyperēphania to pleon echein epithymōn ; 0 en tę̄ diadikasią pros tēn nikēn speudōn ; 0 en tois gymnikois agōsi pros ton stephanon epeigomenos o 0 en theatrois tēs euphēmias antipoiou menos o ’pollakis de kai ho pros to lyssōdes tēs neotētos pathos ektetēkōs. Pantes houtoi ouch hopōs an exō tou epikratountos arrhōstēmatos genointo, prosagousi Theǭ tas deēseis, allʼ hopōs an eis peras autois ē nosos elthoi ’ kai to diamartein toutōn anti symphoras hekastos krinontes, battologousin hontōs, synergon tēs kata ton noun arrōstias genesthai ton Theon hiketeuontes ° ka) to pantōn chalepōtaton, hoti pros tas enantias hormas kineisthai to Theion autois ’ epithymousin, eis agriotēta kai philanthrōpian merizontes tou Theou tēn energeian. Hon gar hitleōn kai praon epizētousin heautois einai, touton pikron te kai apēnē tois echthrois autōn epideichthēnai parakalousin, Ō tēs anoias tōn battologountōni ei gar ekeinois apēnēs ho Theos, oude soi pantōs hēmeros. Ei de epi sou pros eleon rhepei, kata ge tēn sēn elpida, pōs an metabaloito pros tounantion eis pikrian metharmozōn ton eleon? Alla pro cheiros tōn eristikōn ē pros ty toiouton antithesis. Euthys gar eis synēgorian tēs eautōn pikrias tas ek tēs prophēteias phōnas paratithentai ; ton Dabid eklipein tous hamartōlous pothounta, kai aischynēn kai entropēn tōn echthrōn kateuchomenon; ton Hieremian idein tēn para Theǭ ekdikēsin ek tōn enantiōn epithymounta; ton Ōsēe mētran ateknousan, kai mastous xērous dothēnai tois echthrois deomenon. Kai polla toiauta sporadēn keimena tais hagiais Graphais analegontai, synistamenoi to dein tōn enantiōn kateuchesthai, kai tēs heautōn pikrias synergon genesthai tou Theou tēn agathotēta. Allʼ hēmeis hōs an ek parodou tous ek tēs toiautēs aphormēs pros to enantion hodēgoumenous pausaimen battologountas, touto peri ekastou tōn mnēmoneuthentōn parathēsometha.
movements of his mind, but that they may become worse, as the evil impulse comes to action through God’s cooperation. “Since so-and-so grieves me and my heart is ill-disposed toward him, strike him,” he says to God — all but crying out, “Let my passion come to be in you; let my wickedness pass over to you.” For as in human battles one cannot fight on one side without sharing the anger of the one who is enraged against his opponent, so it is plain that whoever moves God against his enemy is asking him to share his anger and become a partner in his rage. That is to make the Divine fall into passion, take on human feelings, and be changed from its good nature into the harshness of a beast. So it is with the man mad for glory; so with one who in his arrogance wants to have more; one who in a lawsuit is eager for victory; one who in the athletic games strives for the crown; one who claims the acclaim of the theatres; and often one consumed by the raging passion of youth. All these bring their petitions to God, not that they may be rid of the sickness that rules them, but that the disease may be brought to completion for them; and each, judging it a misfortune to fail in these things, truly babbles, begging God to become a fellow-worker in his sickness of mind. And worst of all, they want the Divine to be moved by opposite impulses for them, dividing God’s activity between savagery and love of humankind: the one they seek to be gracious and gentle toward themselves, they ask to show himself bitter and harsh toward their enemies. What folly in those who babble! If God is harsh toward them, he will certainly not be gentle toward you; and if he inclines to mercy toward you, as you hope, how could he change to the opposite and turn his mercy into bitterness? But the contentious have their objection to this ready at hand. At once they cite the words of the prophets in defence of their bitterness: David longing for sinners to fail, and praying for shame and confusion upon his enemies; Jeremiah wishing to see God’s vengeance on his opponents; Hosea asking that a childless womb and dry breasts be given to the enemies. And they gather many such things scattered through the holy Scriptures, arguing that one should pray against one’s opponents and that God’s goodness should become a fellow-worker in one’s own bitterness. But so that we may stop in passing the babbling of those who are led to the opposite by such a pretext, we shall set out the following about each of those mentioned.
Ps 104:35 (103:35 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 35:4 (34:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 11:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 20:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Hos 9:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To pray for harm to an enemy is to ask God to share our anger and become cruel; such prayers, like prayers for glory or victory, are “babbling”; Gregory turns to the objection that prophets prayed against their enemies.
- Sinners to fail: Ps 104:35. Shame and confusion on enemies: Ps 35:4, 26; 40:14; 70:2. Jeremiah: Jer 11:20; 20:12. Hosea: Hos 9:14.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1129 (PG 44:1129a–1129d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1129). (abbreviation not yet checked)
BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica-1129) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1131
1131PG 44:1132a–1132d
Οὐδεὶς τῶν ἀληθῶς ἁγίων, τῶν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι θεοφορουμένων, ὧν αἱ ῥήσεις κατὰ θείαν οἰκονομίαν εἰς νουθεσίαν τῶν ἐφεξῆς ἀνεγράφησαν, ἐπί τινι κακῷ τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχων ἐπιδειχθήσεται ’ ἀλλὰ πᾶς αὐτοῖς ό σκοπὸς τῶν λόγων, πρὸς διόρθωσιν τῆς ἐμπολιτευομένης τῇ φύσει κακίας βλέπει. ’Ὠσπερ τοίνυν 6 εὐχόμενος μὴέῒναι νοσοῦντας, μὴ εἶναι πτωχεύοντας, ού τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀναίρεσιν, ἀλλὰ τῆς νόσου καὶ τῆς πτωχείας ἀφανισμὸν ἐπιθυμεῖ γενέσθαι· οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἕκαστος, τὸ τῇ φύσει ἐχθρὸν καὶ πολέμιον είς ἀφανισμὸν ἐλθεῖν ’διῖ εὐχῆς ἔχοντες, ὑπόνοιαν τοῖς ἀπαιδευτοτέροις παρέχουσιν, ὡς κατὰ ἀνθρώπων πικραινόμενοί τε καὶ χαλεπαίνοντες. Ὀ τε γὰρ Ψαλμῳδδς εἰπὼν, ὅτι Ἐκλίποιεγ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ τῆς τῆς καὶ ἄνομοι, ὥστε μὴ ὑπάρχειν αὐτούςʼ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκλείπειν καὶ ἀνομίαν εὖχεται. Ού γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπων πολέμιος, ἀλλʼ ἡ κατὰ κακίαν τῆς προαιρέσεως κίνησις είς ἐχθροῦ τάξιν τὸ τῇ φάσει συνημμένον κατέστησεν. Τὸ κακὸν τοίνυν ἐκλεί πειν εὔχεται, 6 δέ ἄνθρωπος κακὸν οὐκ ἐστιν · πῶς γὰρ ἂν εἴη κακὸν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ τὸ ὁμοίωμας Οὕτως κᾶν αἰσχύνην καὶ ἐντροπὴν τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατεύχηται, δείκνυσί σοι τὸ στῖφος τῶν ἐναντίων, τῶν ἐκ τοῦ ἀοράτου ἐχθροῦ τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ προσπολεμούντων ζωῇ. Περὶ ὧν καὶ 6 Παῦλος γυμνότερον διεξέρχεται, τὴν πάλην λέγων εἶναι ἡμῖν πρὸς τὰς. ἀρχὰς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας καὶτοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις. Τὰς δαιμονιώδεις ἐπιβουλὰς, διʼ ὧν ἐπάγεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ πονηρὰ πρὸς ἁμαρτίαν συμπτιὶν ματα, συντυχίαι … ἐπιθυμιῶν ἀφορμαὶ. φθόνου καὶ μίσους καὶ ὑπερηφανίας, καὶ τῶν τοιούο των κακῶν ὑπόθεσις· ταῦτα ὁρῶν 6 μέγας Προφήτης τὴν ἑκάστου ψυχὴν διʼ ἐπιβουλῆς περιτρέχοντα, εἰς αἰσχύνην ἐλθεῖν εὔχεται, 6 κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τούτων εὐχόμενος. Τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ … διασωθῆναι. Κατὰ φύσιν γὰρ ἐπάγεται τῷ ἡττηθέντι κατὰ τὴν πάλην τὸ ἐπαισχυνθῇναι τῷ πτώματι αὐτοῦ, ὠς καὶτῷ νικῶντι τὸ ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ ἀγάλλεσθαι. Καὶ ὅτι ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, δηλοῖ τῆς εὐχῆς τὸ εἶδος. Αίσχυνθήτωσαν γὰρ. φησὶ, καὶ ἐντραπήτωσαν ot ζητοῦντές μου τὴν ψυχήν. Οὐ γὰρ κατεύχεται τῶν είς χρημάτων ζημίαν ἐπιβουλευόντων, ἢ περὶ γῆς ὅρων διαμφισῦηο τούντων, ἢ τῶν κατὰ τοῦ σώματος αὑτοῦ κακίαν ἐπι· ί) τινα ο ἀλλὰ τῶν ψυχὴν ἐπιβουλευόντων. Τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἐπιβουλὴ τίς ἄλλη, εί μὴ Θεοῦ ἀλλο· τρίωσις; Ἀλλοτριοῦται δὲ ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἀνθρωπίνη ψυχὴ οὐκ ἄλλως, ἢ διὰ τῆς ἐμπαθῶς διαθέσεως. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀπαθὲς τὸ Θεΐον πάντοτε, ὁ ἀεὶ ἐν πάθει γινόμενθς. τῆς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον συναφείας ἀποσχοινίξεται. Ὠς ἂν οὖν μὴ τοῦτο πάθοι, αἰσχύνην τῶν ἁντιπαλαιόντιινυ εὔχεται. Τοῦτο δέ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐστὶν ἢ ἐαυτῷ νίκην κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐπεύξασθαι· οί δὲ πολέμιοι τὰ πάθη εἰσίν. Οὕτως 6 τῆς θεοσεβείας ἔχων, είᾶυλομανοῠντοςτῆνικαῦτα τοῦ βασιλέως, καί τῶν ὑποχειρίων αὐτῷ συνδιατραφέντων, οὒκ ίδιόν τε ι θεραπεύει πάθος,Ἦάλλὰ περὶ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν ἀνθρώπων
Oudeis tōn alēthōs hagiōn, tōn tǭ hagiǭ Pneumati theophoroumenōn, hōn hai rhēseis kata theian oikonomian eis nouthesian tōn ephexēs anegraphēsan, epi tini kakǭ tēn spoudēn echōn epideichthēsetai ’ alla pas autois o skopos tōn logōn, pros diorthōsin tēs empoliteuomenēs tę̄ physei kakias blepei. ’Ōsper toinyn 6 euchomenos mēeïnai nosountas, mē einai ptōcheuontas, ou tōn anthrōpōn anairesin, alla tēs nosou kai tēs ptōcheias aphanismon epithymei genesthai; houtō kai tōn hagiōn hekastos, to tę̄ physei echthron kai polemion eis aphanismon elthein ’dii euchēs echontes, hyponoian tois apaideutoterois parechousin, hōs kata anthrōpōn pikrainomenoi te kai chalepainontes. O te gar Psalmǭdds eipōn, hoti Eklipoieg hamartōloi apo tēs tēs kai anomoi, hōste mē hyparchein autousʼ tēn hamartian ekleipein kai anomian euchetai. Ou gar anthrōpos anthrōpōn polemios, allʼ hē kata kakian tēs proaireseōs kinēsis eis echthrou taxin to tę̄ phasei synēmmenon katestēsen. To kakon toinyn eklei pein euchetai, 6 de anthrōpos kakon ouk estin ; pōs gar an eiē kakon tou agathou to homoiōmas Houtōs kan aischynēn kai entropēn tōn echthrōn kateuchētai, deiknysi soi to stiphos tōn enantiōn, tōn ek tou aoratou echthrou tę̄ anthrōpinę̄ prospolemountōn zōę̄. Peri hōn kai 6 Paulos gymnoteron diexerchetai, tēn palēn legōn einai hēmin pros tas. archas, pros tas exousias kaitous kosmokratoras tou kosmou toutou, pros ta pneumatika tēs ponērias en tois epouraniois. Tas daimoniōdeis epiboulas, diʼ hōn epagetai tois anthrōpois ta ponēra pros hamartian symptiin mata, syntychiai … epithymiōn aphormai. phthonou kai misous kai hyperēphanias, kai tōn toiouo tōn kakōn hypothesis; tauta horōn 6 megas Prophētēs tēn hekastou psychēn diʼ epiboulēs peritrechonta, eis aischynēn elthein euchetai, 6 kata tōn echthrōn toutōn euchomenos. Touto de esti to … diasōthēnai. Kata physin gar epagetai tǭ hēttēthenti kata tēn palēn to epaischynthę̄nai tǭ ptōmati autou, ōs kaitǭ nikōnti to epi tę̄ nikę̄ agallesthai. Kai hoti tauta houtōs echei, dēloi tēs euchēs to eidos. Aischynthētōsan gar. phēsi, kai entrapētōsan ot zētountes mou tēn psychēn. Ou gar kateuchetai tōn eis chrēmatōn zēmian epibouleuontōn, ē peri gēs horōn diamphisyēo tountōn, ē tōn kata tou sōmatos hautou kakian epi; i) tina o alla tōn psychēn epibouleuontōn. Tēs de psychēs epiboulē tis allē, ei mē Theou allo; triōsis? Allotrioutai de apo Theou anthrōpinē psychē ouk allōs, ē dia tēs empathōs diatheseōs. Epei oun apathes to Theïon pantote, ho aei en pathei ginomenths. tēs pros to theion synapheias aposchoinixetai. Ōs an oun mē touto pathoi, aischynēn tōn hantipalaiontiiny euchetai. Touto de ouden allo estin ē eautǭ nikēn kata tōn polemiōn epeuxasthai; oi de polemioi ta pathē eisin. Houtōs 6 tēs theosebeias echōn, eiaulomanountostēnikauta tou basileōs, kai tōn hypocheiriōn autǭ syndiatraphentōn, ouk idion te i therapeuei pathos,Ēalla peri tou koinou tōn anthrōpōn
None of the truly holy, who were moved by the Holy Spirit and whose sayings were written down by divine ordering for the admonition of later generations, will be shown to have been eager for any evil; the whole aim of their words looks to correcting the vice that dwells in our nature. One who prays that there may be no sick and no poor desires not the destruction of the people but the abolition of disease and poverty. So too each of the saints, praying that what is hostile and inimical to nature may be destroyed, gives the less instructed the impression that they are embittered and angry against human beings. When the Psalmist says, “Let sinners and the lawless fail from the earth, so that they are no more,” he prays that sin and lawlessness may fail. For a human being is not the enemy of human beings; it is the movement of the will toward vice that has set what is joined by nature in the rank of an enemy. So he prays that evil may fail; but a human being is not evil — for how could the likeness of the good be evil? So too, even if he prays for shame and confusion upon his enemies, he is showing you the host of opponents, those of the invisible enemy who make war on human life. Paul speaks of them more plainly when he says that our wrestling is against the principalities, against the authorities and the world-rulers of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Seeing the demonic schemes by which evil occasions for sin are brought upon people — chance encounters, occasions of … desires, the ground of envy and hatred and arrogance and such evils — seeing these running round every soul with their plots, the great Prophet, praying against these enemies, prays that they may come to shame. This means that the soul … is saved. For by nature shame at his fall follows the one defeated in wrestling, as exultation at the victory follows the victor. That this is so is shown by the form of the prayer: “Let them be ashamed and confounded,” he says, “who seek my soul.” He does not pray against those who plot the loss of his money, or dispute over the boundaries of land, or plot some harm against his body, but against those who plot against the soul. And what other plot against the soul is there than estrangement from God? The human soul is estranged from God in no other way than through a passionate disposition. Since the Divine is always free from passion, whoever is always in passion is cut off from union with the Divine. So that he may not suffer this, he prays for shame upon those who wrestle against him; and this is nothing other than praying for victory for himself over his enemies; and the enemies are the passions. So too the one who had zeal for godliness, when the king of that time was mad for idols and those under him had been brought up with him in it, is not healing a passion of his own, but is concerned for the common passion of humankind
Ps 104:35 (103:35 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 35:4 (34:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:14 (39:15 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Hos 9:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saints who seem to curse their enemies are praying against sin, not people: the Psalmist wants sin to fail, and the enemies he wishes put to shame are the demons and passions that war against the soul.
- “Let sinners and the lawless fail …”: Ps 104:35 (LXX 103:35). Wrestling against principalities: Eph 6:12. “Let them be ashamed … who seek my soul”: Ps 35:4 (LXX 34:4); 40:14; 70:2.
- Several words are unreadable in the scan (OCR debris, marked …). The prophet who “had zeal for godliness” under an idolatrous king is probably Hosea (Hos 9:14), cited on the previous page.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for ἐστὶν ἢ; OCR debris (Latin letters); word unreadable; OCR debris; word unreadable): adripi] → …; scr-rimi} → ἐστὶν ἢ; flutat-68mg; → ….
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1131 (PG 44:1132a–1132d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1131). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1133
1133PG 44:1133a–1133d
προσάγει τὴν δέησιν, τῇ κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβησάντονίί ὁρμῇ, ἅπαν σωφρονισθῆναι ἀξιῶν τὸ ἀνθρώπινον. Ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ὁ προφήτης, ὃς καὶ πολυγονοῦσαν τότε τὴν κακίαν ἐν τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις ὁρῶν. ἀτεκνίᾳ δικαίως καταδικάζει, καὶτὰς πικρὰς θηλὰς τῆς ἀμαρτίας ξηρανθῆναι βούλεται, ὡς ἂν μήτε τίκτοιτο τοῖς *ἀνθρώποις τὸ κακὸν, μήτε τρέφοιτο. Διὰ τοῦτο προφήτης, Δὸς αὐτοῖς, φησι, Κύριε, μήτραν ἀτεκνοῦσαν, καί μαστοὺς ξηροὺς. Καὶ εἴ τις ἄλλος ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις εὑρεθείη τοιοῦτος λόγος, θυμοῦ τινα κατηγορίαν κα) σημασίαν ἔχων, πρὸς τὴν τοιαύτην πάντως ' διάνοιαν βλέπει, ἢ ἐξορίζοι τὸ κακὸν, οὐκ ἐπιτρίβοι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Θεὸς θάνατον οὐκ ἐποίησεν. Ἀκούεις τῆς ἀποφάσεως ; Πῶς οῦν εἰς τὸν κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων αὐτοῦ ἑάρᾴκοοῖετν ’ἔμελλε τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν τῆς τοῦ. θανάτου ἐνεργείας ἀλλότριον ; Οὐ τέρπεται ἐπʼ ἀπωλείᾳ ζώντων. Ἀλλά βαττολογῶν, καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἐχθρῶν τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν παρακινῶν, ἐπιτερφθῆναι ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις αὐτὸν συμφοραῖς ἐγκελεύεται. Ἀλλʼ ἠδη τινὲς, φησὶ, καί ἀρχῶν καὶ τιμῶνκκαὶ πλούτου ἠξιώθησαν, εὐχῇ πρὸς τοῦτο χρησάμενοι, καὶ θεοφιλεῖς εἶναι διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης εύκληρίας ὑπενοήθησαν. Πῶς οῦν ἀπείργεις ἡμᾶς, εἴποι τις ἂν, περί τῶν τοιούτων προσάγειν τῷ Θεῷ τὰς δεήσεις; ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πάντα θείας ἐξῆφθαι βουλῆς, καὶ ἄνωθεν οἰκονομεῖσθαι τὸν τῇδε βίον, παντί δῆλόν ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις ἀντείποι τῷ λόγῳ. Τῶν δὲ τοιούτων τῆς εὐχῆς κατορθωμάτων ἄλλας αἰτίας ἐμάθομεν, οὐχ ὡς ἀγαθὰ πάντως τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα τοῖς αἰτοῦσι νέμοντος ο ἀλλʼ ὡς ἂν διὰ τούτων βεβαιωθῇ τοῖς ἐπισπολαιοτέροις ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν πίστις, καὶ κατʼ ὀλίγον ἐν ταῖς μικροτέραις τῶν αἰτήσεων, τὸ ἐπακούειν τὸν Θεὸν τῶν ἱκεσιῶν τῇ πείρᾳ μανθάνοντες, ἀνέλθοιμέν ' ποτε πρὸς τὴν τῶν ὑψηλῶν τε καὶ θεοπρεπῶν δωρημάτων ἐπιθυμίαν. ·Καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων τέκνων ὁρῶμεν · ἃ τέως μὲν τῇ μητρῷα θηλῇ προσφύεται, ὅσον χωρεί ἡ φύσις, τοσοῦτον παρὰ τῆς γεννησαμένης ἐπιζητοῦντα· εἰ δὲ ύπανδρυνθείη τὸ νήπιον, καί τινα προσλάβοι τοῦ φθέγγεσθαι δύναμιν, καταφρονεῖ μὲν τῆς θηλῆς, ζητεῖ δέ τι τοιοῦτον, ἣ προκόμιον, ἢ ἱμάτιον, ἦ τινα τοιαῦτα, οἷς ὁ τῶν νηπίῳι ὀφθαλμὸς ἐπιτέρπεται ° ἐπειδὰν δὲʼ εἰς ἡλικίαν ἔλθῃ, καὶ συναυξηθῇ τῷ σώματι ή διάνοια, τότε πάσας τὰς παιδικὰς ἐπιθυμίας καταλιπὼν, τά τῷ τελείῳ βλέποντα βίῳ παρὰ τῶν γονέων αἰτήσεται· οὕτω καί ὁ Θεὸς ἐθίζων τὸν ἄνθρωπον διὰ πάντων πρὸς αὐτὸν βλέπειν, διὰ τοῦτο πολλάκις οὐδὲ τῶν μικροτέρων αἰτήσεων ἀνήκοος γίνεται, ὡς ἂν ἐπί τῇ τῶν ὑψηλοο τέρων ἐπιθυμίᾳ διὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς μικροῖς εὐεργεσίας τὸν τετυχηκότα τῆς χάριτος προσκαλέσαιτο. Καὶ σὺ τοίνυν, εἰ ὁ δεῖνα γέγονε θεία προνοίᾳ γνώριμός τε καὶ περίβλεπτος ἐξ ἀφανεστέρων, ἢ ἄλλο τι τῶν κατὰ τὸν Βίον τοῦτον ἐπιζητουμένων ἐκτήσατο, ἀρχὴν
prosagei tēn deēsin, tę̄ kata tōn asebēsantonii hormę̄, hapan sōphronisthēnai axiōn to anthrōpinon. Hōsautōs de kai ho prophētēs, hos kai polygonousan tote tēn kakian en tois Israēlitais horōn. ateknią dikaiōs katadikazei, kaitas pikras thēlas tēs amartias xēranthēnai bouletai, hōs an mēte tiktoito tois *anthrōpois to kakon, mēte trephoito. Dia touto prophētēs, Dos autois, phēsi, Kyrie, mētran ateknousan, kai mastous xērous. Kai ei tis allos en tois hagiois heuretheiē toioutos logos, thymou tina katēgorian ka) sēmasian echōn, pros tēn toiautēn pantōs ' dianoian blepei, ē exorizoi to kakon, ouk epitriboi ton anthrōpon. Theos thanaton ouk epoiēsen. Akoueis tēs apophaseōs ? Pōs oun eis ton kata tōn idiōn autou hearąkooietn ’emelle ton Theon, ton tēs tou. thanatou energeias allotrion ? Ou terpetai epʼ apōleią zōntōn. Alla battologōn, kai kata tōn idiōn echthrōn tēn tou Theou philanthrōpian parakinōn, epiterphthēnai tais anthrōpinais auton symphorais enkeleuetai. Allʼ ēdē tines, phēsi, kai archōn kai timōnkkai ploutou ēxiōthēsan, euchę̄ pros touto chrēsamenoi, kai theophileis einai dia tēs toiautēs euklērias hypenoēthēsan. Pōs oun apeirgeis hēmas, eipoi tis an, peri tōn toioutōn prosagein tǭ Theǭ tas deēseis? alla to men panta theias exēphthai boulēs, kai anōthen oikonomeisthai ton tę̄de bion, panti dēlon esti, kai ouk an tis anteipoi tǭ logǭ. Tōn de toioutōn tēs euchēs katorthōmatōn allas aitias emathomen, ouch hōs agatha pantōs tou Theou tauta tois aitousi nemontos o allʼ hōs an dia toutōn bebaiōthę̄ tois epispolaioterois hē pros ton Theon pistis, kai katʼ oligon en tais mikroterais tōn aitēseōn, to epakouein ton Theon tōn hikesiōn tę̄ peirą manthanontes, anelthoimen ' pote pros tēn tōn hypsēlōn te kai theoprepōn dōrēmatōn epithymian. ;Kathaper epi tōn hēmeterōn teknōn horōmen ; ha teōs men tę̄ mētrǭa thēlę̄ prosphyetai, hoson chōrei hē physis, tosouton para tēs gennēsamenēs epizētounta; ei de ypandryntheiē to nēpion, kai tina proslaboi tou phthengesthai dynamin, kataphronei men tēs thēlēs, zētei de ti toiouton, hē prokomion, ē himation, ē tina toiauta, hois ho tōn nēpiǭi ophthalmos epiterpetai ° epeidan deʼ eis hēlikian elthę̄, kai synauxēthę̄ tǭ sōmati ē dianoia, tote pasas tas paidikas epithymias katalipōn, ta tǭ teleiǭ bleponta biǭ para tōn goneōn aitēsetai; houtō kai ho Theos ethizōn ton anthrōpon dia pantōn pros auton blepein, dia touto pollakis oude tōn mikroterōn aitēseōn anēkoos ginetai, hōs an epi tę̄ tōn hypsēloo terōn epithymią dia tēs en tois mikrois euergesias ton tetychēkota tēs charitos proskalesaito. Kai sy toinyn, ei ho deina gegone theia pronoią gnōrimos te kai peribleptos ex aphanesterōn, ē allo ti tōn kata ton Bion touton epizētoumenōn ektēsato, archēn
brings his petition, asking, by his zeal against those who acted impiously, that all humanity may be brought to its senses. Likewise the prophet, seeing vice then multiplying among the Israelites, justly condemns it to childlessness and wants the bitter breasts of sin to dry up, so that evil may be neither born among people nor nourished. That is why the prophet says, “Give them, Lord, a childless womb and dry breasts.” And if any other saying of this kind is found among the saints, carrying some accusation and sign of anger, it certainly looks to this meaning: that it should banish evil, not crush the human being. “God did not make death.” Do you hear the declaration? How, then, could anyone move God, who has no part in the work of death, against his own creatures? “He does not delight in the destruction of the living.” But the babbler, stirring up God’s love for humankind against his own enemies, bids him delight in human misfortunes. “But some,” someone says, “have already been granted offices and honours and wealth by using prayer for this purpose, and through such good fortune were thought to be dear to God. How, then, can you keep us from bringing our petitions to God about such things?” That everything depends on the divine will and that life here is ordered from above is plain to all, and no one would contradict the statement. But we have learned other reasons for such successes of prayer. God does not grant these things to those who ask as though they were goods in themselves; he grants them so that the faith of the more superficial in God may be strengthened by them, and so that we, learning by experience in our smaller requests that God hears our petitions, may at some time rise to the desire for the lofty gifts that befit God. We see this with our own children. While they cling to their mother’s breast, they seek from the one who bore them only as much as nature can hold. But when the infant grows bigger and gains some power of speech, he despises the breast and asks for something like a cake, or a garment, or such things as delight a child’s eye. And when he comes of age and his mind grows along with his body, he leaves all childish desires behind and asks his parents for what concerns the perfect life. So too God, accustoming the human being to look to him in everything, often does not refuse to hear even the smaller requests, so that by kindness in small things he may draw the one who has received the grace to desire loftier things. You too, then, if so-and-so has by divine providence become known and conspicuous after obscurity, or has obtained something else that is sought after in this life — office
Hos 9:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophets’ curses are aimed at sin, not at people, for God did not make death; if God sometimes grants worldly requests, it is to strengthen weak faith and lead us, like children growing up, to ask for higher things.
- “Give them a childless womb and dry breasts”: Hos 9:14. “God did not make death, and he does not delight in the destruction of the living”: Wis 1:13 (an extrabiblical book).
- A garbled word (“against his own creatures,” rendered by sense) is unreadable in the scan.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (Latin letters) for ἀτεκνοῦσαν; OCR debris (Latin letters) for ἐκτήσατο): dte:meσαν → ἀτεκνοῦσαν; em σατο → ἐκτήσατο.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:13 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1133 (PG 44:1133a–1133d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1133). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1135
1135PG 44:1136a–1136d
ἢ πλοῦτον, ’ἢ περιφάνειαν, νόει τὸν σκοπὸν, ὅτι σοι ἀπόδειξις τῆς μεγάλης δυνάμεως τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡ περὶ ταῦτα φιλανθρωπία γίνεται, ἵνα διά τοῦ τυχεῖν τῶν παιδικῶν ἀθυρμάτων, περὶ τῶν μειζόνων καὶ τελειοτέρων προσαγάγῃς τῷ Πατρὶ τὰς αἰτήσεις. Ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν ὅσα είς ψυχὴν φέρει τὸ κέρδος. Καὶ γὰρ ἂν εἴη τῶν ἀλογωτάτων, προσελθόντα τῷ Θεῷ-ζητεῖν παρά τοῦ ἀϊδίου τά πρόσκαιρα, παρὰ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου τὰ ἐπίγεια, παρά τοῦ Ὑψίστου τὰ χαμαίζηλα, παρά τοῦ βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν δωρουμένου τὴν γηῒνην ταύτην καὶ ταπεινὴν εὐκληρίαν, παρὰ τοῦ ἀναφαίρετα χαριζομένου, τὴν ἐν ὀλίγῳ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων χρῆσιν, ῶν ἀναγκαία μὲν ή ἀφαίρεσις, πρόσκαιρος δὲ ἡ ἀπόλαυσις, ἐπικίνδυνος δὲ ἡ οίκοο νομία ο καλῶς δὲ παρίστησι τῇ προσθήκῃ τὸ ἄτοπον, εἰπὼν, Ὠσπερ ol ἐθνικοί. Τὸ γὰρ περὶ τά φαινόο μενα τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχειν ῐδιόν ἐστι τῶν μηδεμίαν τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος ἑαυτοῖς ὑποτιθεμένων ἐλπίδα, μὴ κρίσεως φόῦον, μὴ γεέννης ἀπειλὴν, μὴ ἀγαθῶν προσδοκίαν, μὴ ἄλλο τι τῶν κατά τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἐλπιζομένων, οἳ βοσκημάτων δίκην πρὸς τὸν παρόντα ὁρῶντες βίον, ὅπερ ἂν λαιμῷ καὶ κοιλίᾳ καὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς τοῦ σὼμῖιτος ἡδυπαθείαις χαρίζωνται, τοῦτο ὲν ἀγαθῶν κρίνουσι μοίρᾳ, ἢ τὸ πρωτεῦσαί τινων, καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ τοὺς λοιποὺς νομισθῆναι, ῆ πολε λοίς ἐπικαθευδῆσαι ταλάντοις, ἢ εί τι ἄλλο τῆς βιοτικῆς ἀπάτης ἐστίν· οἷς εῐ τις ἂν λέγῃ περὶ τῆς μελλούσης ἐλπίδος, λῆρος ἄντικρυς εἶναι δοκεῖ, παράδεισον καὶ βασιλείαν, καὶ οὐρανῶν διαγωγὴν, καὶ ’τὰ τοιαῦτα διεξερχόμενος. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ῐδιόν ἐστι τῶν μὴ ἐχόντων ἐλπίδα ’τὸ προστετηκέναι τῇ παρούσῃ ζωῇ, καλῶς τά περιττά καὶ μάταια τῆς ἐπιθυμίας, ἃ διʼ εὐχῆς οἴονται κατορθοῦν ἑαυτοῖς oi φιλο ήδονοι, τῶν ἐθνικῶν δʼλόγος εἶναί φησι,τῶν νομιζόντων ἐκ τοῦ προσλιπαρεῖν περὶ τῶν ἀτόπων συνεργὸν ἐπὶ τά μὴ δέοντα τὸ Θεῖον ἕξειν. Δοκοῦσι γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι ἐν τῇ πολυλογίᾳ αὐτῶν εἰσακουσθὴσονται. Ἀʼλλά ταῦτα μὲν ἃ δεῖ γινώσκειν, διʼ ὧν ἐξητάσαμεν, ἐδιδάχθημεν. Οἴαν δὲ προσήκει τῷ Θεῷ προσάγειν τὴν δέησιν, ἐν τοῖς ἐφεξῆς ἀκουσόμεθα, χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ήμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ᾧ ή δόξα xui. τὸ κράτος, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. ΛΟΓΟΣ B'. Πάτερ ἡμῶν ό ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. Ὅτε προσῆγεν ὁ μέγας Μωῦσῆς τῇ κατά τὸ ὅρος μυσταγωγίᾳ τὸν Ἰσραηλίτην λαὸν, οὐ πρότερον αὗτοὺς τῆς ’θεοφανείας ἠξίωσεν, πρὶν ἁγνείᾳ τε καὶ περιρῤαντισμῷ νομοθετῆσαι τῷ λαῷ τὸ καθάρσιον· καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως ἐθάρσησαν τῆς θείας δυνάμεως τὴν ἐμφάνειαν, ἀλλά πρὸς πᾶν κατεπλάγησαν τὸ φαινόμενον, τὸ πῦρ, τὸν γνόφον, τὸν καπνὸν, τὰς σάλπιγ. (at; ' καὶ πρὸς τούτους πάλιν ἀποστραφεὶς, ἠξίουν τὴν νομοθέτην αὐτοῖς μεσίτην γενέσθαι τοῦ θείου βουλήματος,
ē plouton, ’ē periphaneian, noei ton skopon, hoti soi apodeixis tēs megalēs dynameōs tou Theou hē peri tauta philanthrōpia ginetai, hina dia tou tychein tōn paidikōn athyrmatōn, peri tōn meizonōn kai teleioterōn prosagagę̄s tǭ Patri tas aitēseis. Tauta de estin hosa eis psychēn pherei to kerdos. Kai gar an eiē tōn alogōtatōn, proselthonta tǭ Theǭ-zētein para tou aïdiou ta proskaira, para tou epouraniou ta epigeia, para tou Hypsistou ta chamaizēla, para tou basileian ouranōn dōroumenou tēn gēïnēn tautēn kai tapeinēn euklērian, para tou anaphaireta charizomenou, tēn en oligǭ tōn allotriōn chrēsin, ōn anankaia men ē aphairesis, proskairos de hē apolausis, epikindynos de hē oikoo nomia o kalōs de paristēsi tę̄ prosthēkę̄ to atopon, eipōn, Ōsper ol ethnikoi. To gar peri ta phainoo mena tēn spoudēn echein idion esti tōn mēdemian tou mellontos aiōnos heautois hypotithemenōn elpida, mē kriseōs phouon, mē geennēs apeilēn, mē agathōn prosdokian, mē allo ti tōn kata tēn anastasin elpizomenōn, hoi boskēmatōn dikēn pros ton paronta horōntes bion, hoper an laimǭ kai koilią kai tais loipais tou sōmiitos hēdypatheiais charizōntai, touto en agathōn krinousi moirą, ē to prōteusai tinōn, kai to hyper tous loipous nomisthēnai, ē pole lois epikatheudēsai talantois, ē ei ti allo tēs biotikēs apatēs estin; hois ei tis an legę̄ peri tēs mellousēs elpidos, lēros antikrys einai dokei, paradeison kai basileian, kai ouranōn diagōgēn, kai ’ta toiauta diexerchomenos. Epeidē toinyn idion esti tōn mē echontōn elpida ’to prostetēkenai tę̄ parousę̄ zōę̄, kalōs ta peritta kai mataia tēs epithymias, ha diʼ euchēs oiontai katorthoun heautois oi philo ēdonoi, tōn ethnikōn dʼlogos einai phēsi,tōn nomizontōn ek tou prosliparein peri tōn atopōn synergon epi ta mē deonta to Theion hexein. Dokousi gar, phēsin, hoti en tę̄ polylogią autōn eisakousthēsontai. Aʼlla tauta men ha dei ginōskein, diʼ hōn exētasamen, edidachthēmen. Oian de prosēkei tǭ Theǭ prosagein tēn deēsin, en tois ephexēs akousometha, chariti tou Kyriou ēmōn Iēsou Christou, hǭ ē doxa xui. to kratos, eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn. Amēn. LOGOS B'. Pater hēmōn o en tois ouranois. Hote prosēgen ho megas Mōysēs tę̄ kata to horos mystagōgią ton Israēlitēn laon, ou proteron hautous tēs ’theophaneias ēxiōsen, prin hagneią te kai perirrantismǭ nomothetēsai tǭ laǭ to katharsion; kai oude houtōs etharsēsan tēs theias dynameōs tēn emphaneian, alla pros pan kateplagēsan to phainomenon, to pyr, ton gnophon, ton kapnon, tas salpig. (at? ' kai pros toutous palin apostrapheis, ēxioun tēn nomothetēn autois mesitēn genesthai tou theiou boulēmatos,
or wealth or distinction — understand the purpose: God’s kindness in these matters becomes for you a proof of his great power, so that, having obtained childish toys, you may bring your requests to the Father for greater and more perfect things. These are the things that bring gain to the soul. For it would be utterly unreasonable to come to God and seek from the Eternal what is temporary, from the Heavenly what is earthly, from the Most High what is lowly, from the One who gives the kingdom of heaven this earthly and lowly good fortune, from the One who grants what cannot be taken away the brief use of things that belong to others, whose loss is inevitable, whose enjoyment is brief, and whose management is dangerous. He shows the absurdity well by adding, “as the gentiles do.” For zeal for visible things is the mark of those who set before themselves no hope of the age to come — no fear of judgment, no threat of Gehenna, no expectation of good things, nor anything else hoped for in the resurrection. Looking like cattle to the present life, they judge as good whatever they can grant to throat and belly and the other bodily pleasures, or being first over some and thought above the rest, or sleeping on many talents of gold, or whatever else belongs to the deceit of life. If anyone speaks to them of the hope to come, going through paradise and the kingdom and the life of heaven and such things, he seems to them to talk plain nonsense. Since, then, clinging to the present life is the mark of those who have no hope, the Word rightly says that the superfluous and vain things of desire, which lovers of pleasure think they can secure for themselves by prayer, belong to the gentiles, who think that by persisting in unseemly requests they will have the Divine as their fellow-worker in what they should not have. “For they think,” he says, “that they will be heard for their many words.” What we needed to know we have learned from what we have examined. What kind of petition we ought to bring to God we shall hear in what follows, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen. Homily 2. “Our Father who art in heaven.” When the great Moses brought the people of Israel to the initiation on the mountain, he did not count them worthy of the theophany until he had laid down for the people purification by chastity and sprinkling. Even so they did not dare to face the manifestation of the divine power, but were terrified by everything that appeared — the fire, the darkness, the smoke, the trumpets — and turning back from these, they asked the lawgiver to become their mediator of the divine will,
Matt 6:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 19:10–19 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:18–19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Worldly gifts are toys to lead us to ask the Father for greater things; to ask God only for earthly goods is to pray “like the gentiles,” who have no hope beyond this life. Homily 2 begins: Moses could not bring the people near to God at Sinai.
- “As the gentiles … for they think they will be heard for their many words”: Matt 6:7.
- Homily 2 on the Lord’s Prayer begins here: “Our Father who art in heaven” (Matt 6:9). Sinai: Exod 19:10–19; 20:18–19.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1135 (PG 44:1136a–1136d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1135). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.
Chapter 1137
1137PG 44:1137a–1137b
ὡς οὑχ ίκανῆς ούσης τῆς δυνάμεως αὑτῶν προσεγγίσαι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ θείαν ἐμφάνειαν δέξασθαι. ’0 δὲ ἡμέτερος νομοθέτης, καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς, προσάγειν ἡμᾶς τῇ θείᾳ χάριτι μέλλων, οὐχὶ Σίναιον ἡμῖν ὅρος τῷ λόγῳ παραδείκνυσι γνόφῳ κεκαλυμμένον, καὶ πυρὶ καπνιζόμενον, οὑδὲ σαλπίγγων φωνὰς, ἄσημόν τι καὶ καταπληκτικὸν ἀπηχούσας, οὐδὲ τριημέροις ἁγνείαις, καὶ ὕδατι ῥύπον ὲκ·πλύνοντι τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκκαθάρας, οὑδὲ πᾶσαν. τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὲν τῇ ὑπωρείᾳ καταλιπὼν, ένὶ μόνῳ τὴν ἄνοδον ἐπὶ τὴν κορυφὴν τοῦ ὅρους χαρίζεται, τὴν κεκαλυμμένην τῷ γνόφῳ τῷ τὴν δόξαν Θεοῦ περικρύπτοντι ° ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν ἀντὶ τοῦ ὅρους αὑτὸν ἀνάγει τὸν οὐρανὸν, βατὸν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς καταστήσας· ἔπειτα δὲ οὑ θεατὰς μόνον τῆς θείας δυνάμεως, ἀλλά καὶ κοινωνοὺς άπεργάζεται, καὶ είς συγγένειαν τρόπον τινά τῆς ὑπερκειμέ- · νητ φύσεως τοὺς προσιόντας άγει · οὐδὲ γνόφῳ κατακρύπτει τὴν ὑπερέχουσαν δόξαν, ὡς δυσθεώρητον τοῖς άναζητοῢσιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τῷ τηλαυγεῖ φωτὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας τὸν γνόφον καταφωτίσας, ἐπὶ λαμπρᾶς αἰθρίας τοῖς καθαροῖς τὴν καρδίαν, τὴν ἄφραστον δόξαν καθορᾶσθαι ἐποίησενθ ὕδωρ δὲ περιῤῥαίνειν, οὑκ ἐξ ἀλλοτρίων ναμάτων, ἀλλὰ τδ ὲν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀναόρύον χαρίζεται, εἴτε τὰς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τις λέγει πηγάς, εἴτε τὴν καθαρὰν τῆς καρδίας συνείδησιν, μηδεμίαν ίλὺν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐννόμου τῶν γαμετῶν ὁμιλίας, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ πάσης ὑλικῆς τε καὶ ὲμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως νομοθετήσας, οὕτω προσάγει διὰ τῆς προσευχῆς τῷ Θεῷ. Αὕτη γὰρ τῶν ῥημάτων δύναμις, διʼ ὧν οὐχὶ φωνάς τινας ὲν συλλαβαῖς ὲκςρωνουμένας μανθάνομεν διὰ τοῦ λόγου, ἀλλʼ ἐπίνοιαν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἀναβάσεως δι ὑψηλῆς πολιτείας κατωρθωμένην.
hōs houch ikanēs ousēs tēs dynameōs hautōn prosengisai tǭ Theǭ, kai theian emphaneian dexasthai. ’0 de hēmeteros nomothetēs, kai Kyrios hēmōn Iēsous Christos, prosagein hēmas tę̄ theią chariti mellōn, ouchi Sinaion hēmin horos tǭ logǭ paradeiknysi gnophǭ kekalymmenon, kai pyri kapnizomenon, houde salpingōn phōnas, asēmon ti kai kataplēktikon apēchousas, oude triēmerois hagneiais, kai hydati rhypon ek;plynonti tēn psychēn ekkatharas, houde pasan. tēn ekklēsian en tę̄ hypōreią katalipōn, eni monǭ tēn anodon epi tēn koryphēn tou horous charizetai, tēn kekalymmenēn tǭ gnophǭ tǭ tēn doxan Theou perikryptonti ° alla prōton men anti tou horous hauton anagei ton ouranon, baton tois anthrōpois auton dia tēs aretēs katastēsas; epeita de hou theatas monon tēs theias dynameōs, alla kai koinōnous apergazetai, kai eis syngeneian tropon tina tēs hyperkeime- ; nēt physeōs tous prosiontas agei ; oude gnophǭ katakryptei tēn hyperechousan doxan, hōs dystheōrēton tois anazētoÿsin einai, alla tǭ tēlaugei phōti tēs didaskalias ton gnophon kataphōtisas, epi lampras aithrias tois katharois tēn kardian, tēn aphraston doxan kathorasthai epoiēsenth hydōr de perirrhainein, houk ex allotriōn namatōn, alla td en hēmin autois anaoryon charizetai, eite tas tōn ophthalmōn tis legei pēgas, eite tēn katharan tēs kardias syneidēsin, mēdemian ilyn apo tēs ennomou tōn gametōn homilias, allʼ apo pasēs hylikēs te kai empathous diatheseōs nomothetēsas, houtō prosagei dia tēs proseuchēs tǭ Theǭ. Hautē gar tōn rhēmatōn dynamis, diʼ hōn ouchi phōnas tinas en syllabais eksrōnoumenas manthanomen dia tou logou, allʼ epinoian tēs pros ton Theon anabaseōs di hypsēlēs politeias katōrthōmenēn.
since their strength was not sufficient to draw near to God and receive the divine manifestation. But our lawgiver, our Lord Jesus Christ, when he is about to bring us to the divine grace, does not show us in his word a Mount Sinai covered in darkness and smoking with fire, nor the sounds of trumpets echoing something obscure and terrifying. He does not cleanse the soul with three days of purification and with water that washes off dirt, nor leave the whole assembly at the foot of the mountain and grant to one man alone the ascent to its summit, covered by the darkness that hides the glory of God. First, instead of the mountain, he leads us up to heaven itself, having made it accessible to human beings through virtue; then he makes them not only spectators of the divine power but sharers in it, and brings those who approach into a kind of kinship with the transcendent nature. Nor does he hide the surpassing glory in darkness, so that it is hard to see for those who seek it; he lights up the darkness with the far-shining light of his teaching and makes the ineffable glory visible in clear air to the pure in heart. And he grants us water to sprinkle, not from streams outside us but from what wells up within ourselves — whether one means the springs of the eyes or the pure conscience of the heart — laying down purity not from the lawful intercourse of husband and wife but from every material and passionate disposition; and so he brings us to God through prayer. For this is the force of the words: through them the Word teaches us not certain sounds pronounced in syllables, but the thought of an ascent to God accomplished through a lofty way of life.
Exod 19:10–15 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 12:18–22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Unlike Moses at Sinai, Christ leads all believers up to heaven itself, makes them sharers in God, shows God’s glory to the pure in heart, and asks for purification not from marriage but from every passion.
- The three days of purification and the command to abstain from marital relations: Exod 19:10–15. The pure in heart see God: Matt 5:8.
- “Not from the lawful intercourse of husband and wife”: Gregory contrasts the purity Christ requires with the abstention required at Sinai (Exod 19:15); translated as written.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Gregory of Nyssa, Or. dom. 1137 (PG 44:1137a–1137b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/gregory-nyssa-oratio-dominica/1119/#p-1137). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Migne PG 44 scan text (cited by Migne column); no public-domain English or FOTC volume exists, so it was re-read against the Greek.