Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 14.6

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving may be offered to people too, especially to saints; still more should we thank Christ and intercede with him, as Stephen did.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:333

δέησιν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἔντευξιν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν οὐκ ἄτοπον καὶ ἀνθρώποις (ἁγίοις) προσενεγκεῖν· ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν δύο (λέγω δὴ ἔντευξιν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν) οὐ μόνον ἁγίοις ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ (ἄλλοις) ἀνθρώποις, τὴν δὲ δέησιν μόνον ἁγίοις, εἴ τις εὑρεθείη Παῦλος ἢ Πέτρος, ἵνα ὠφελήσωσιν ἡμᾶς, ἀξίους ποιοῦντες τοῦ τυχεῖν τῆς δεδομένης αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίας πρὸς τὸ ἁμαρτήματα ἀφιέναι· εἰ μὴ ἄρα, κἂν μὴ ἅγιός τις ᾖ, ἀδικήσωμεν δὲ αὐτὸν, δέδοται συναισθηθέντας τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἁμαρτίας τὸ δεηθῆναι καὶ τοῦ τοιούτου, ἵνʼ ἡμῖν ἠδικηκόσι συγγνώμην ἀπονείμῃ, εἰ δὲ ἀνθρώποις ἁγίοις ταῦτα προσενεκτέον, πόσῳ πλέον τῷ Χριστῷ εὐχαριστητέον, τοσαῦτα ἡμᾶς βουλήσει τοῦ πατρὸς εὐεργετήσαντι; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐντευκτέον αὐτῷ ὡς ὁ εἰπὼν Στέφανος· „κύριε, μὴ στήσῃς αὐτοῖς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ταύτην“· μιμούμενοί τε τὸν πατέρα τοῦ σεληνιαζομένου ἐροῦμεν· „δέομαι, “ „κύριε, ἐλέησον“ ἢ „τὸν υἱὸν“ ἢ ἐμὲ αὐτὸν ἢ ὃν δή ποτε.

English · Claude translation

It is not absurd to offer supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving to men also, to saints; but two of them (I mean intercession and thanksgiving) not only to saints but also to other men, while supplication only to saints, if someone like Paul or Peter should be found, so that they may benefit us by making us worthy to obtain the authority given them to forgive sins. Unless indeed, even if someone is not a saint, but we have wronged him, it is permitted, when we are conscious of our sin against him, to make supplication even to such a person, that he may grant pardon to us who have wronged him. And if these things are to be offered to holy men, how much more must we give thanks to Christ, who by the Father's will has done us such great benefits? And we must also make intercession to him, as Stephen did when he said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and imitating the father of the epileptic boy, we shall say, “I beg you,” “Lord, have mercy,” either on “my son,” or on myself, or on whoever it may be.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:333 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The references are John 20:23 (the authority to forgive sins), Acts 7:60, Luke 9:38, and Matt 17:15.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 14.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/6/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 14.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/6/).

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