On Prayer 28.3
Summary: Above all we owe God wholehearted love, Christ the price of our redemption, the Holy Spirit fruit that does not grieve him, our guardian angels their due, and the watching world a worthy performance.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:376–377
καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις πᾶσι τὸ ὑπὲρ πάντα „ποίημα“ καὶ πλάσμα ὄντες τοῦ θεοῦ ὀφείλομέν τινα διάθεσιν σῴζειν πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἀγάπην τὴν „ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας“ „καὶ ἐξ ὅλης ἰσχύος“ „καὶ ἐξ ὅλης διανοίας“· ἅτινα ἐὰν μὴ κατορθώσωμεν, ὀφειλέται μένομεν θεοῦ, ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς κύριον. καὶ τίς ἐπὶ τούτοις εὔξεται περὶ ἡμῶν; „ἐὰν“ γὰρ „ἁμαρτάνων ἁμάρτῃ ἀνὴρ εἰς ἄνδρα, καὶ προσεύξονται περὶ αὐτοῦ· ἐὰν (δὲ) εἰς κύριον ἁμάρτῃ, τίς προσεύξεται περὶ αὐτοῦ;“ ὥς φησιν ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν ὁ Ἠλεί. ἀλλὰ καὶ Χριστοῦ ὠνησαμένου ἡμᾶς τῷ ἰδίῳ αἵματι ὀφειλέται ἐσμὲν, ὥσπερ καὶ πᾶς οἰκέτης τοῦ ὠνησαμένου ἐστὶν ὀφειλέτης τοῦ τοσοῦδε δοθέντος ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ χρήματος. ἔστι τις ἡμῖν καὶ πρὸς „τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα“ ὀφειλὴ, ἀποδιδομένη, ὅτε οὐ λυποῦμεν αὐτὸ, „ἐν ᾧ“ ἐσφραγίσθημεν „εἰς ἡμέραν ἀπολυτρώσεως, “ καὶ μὴ λυποῦντες αὐτὸ φέρομεν τοὺς καρποὺς, οὓς ἀπαιτούμεθα, συνόντος αὐτοῦ ἡμῖν καὶ ζῳοποιοῦντος ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχήν. εἰ καὶ μὴ ἴσμεν δὲ ἐπιμελῶς, τίς ὁ ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ἄγγελος βλέπων „τοῦ ἐν οὐρανοῖς“ „πατρὸς“ „τὸ πρόσωπον, “ ἀλλὰ φανερόν γε ἐπισκοπήσαντι ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν γίνεται ὅτι κἀκείνῳ ὀφειλέται τινῶν ἐσμεν. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐν θεάτρῳ ἐσμὲν κόσμου καὶ ἀγγέλων καὶ ἀνθρώπων. ἰστέον ὅτι, ὥσπερ ὁ ἐν θεάτρῳ ὀφειλέτης ἐστὶ τοῦ τάδε τινὰ εἰπεῖν ἢ ποιῆσαι ἐν ὄψει τῶν θεατῶν, ἅπερ μὴ πράξας τις ὡς τὸ πᾶν ὑβρίσας θέατρον κολάζεται· οὕτως καὶ ἡμεῖς „τῷ“ ὅλῳ „κόσμῳ“ „καὶ“ τοῖς πᾶσιν „ἀγγέλοις“ τῷ τε τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένει ὀφείλομεν ταῦτα, ἃ βουληθέντες ἀπὸ τῆς σοφίας μαθησόμεθα.
English · Claude translation
And above all these, being God's “workmanship” and creation beyond all, we owe it to keep a certain disposition toward him, and love “with all the heart” “and with all the strength” “and with all the mind”; and if we do not accomplish these things, we remain debtors to God, sinning against the Lord. And who will pray for us then? For “if a man sins against a man, they will pray for him; but if he sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?”, as Eli says in the first book of Kingdoms. And since Christ has bought us with his own blood, we are debtors, as every servant is a debtor to the one who bought him for the sum paid for him. There is a debt also toward “the Holy Spirit,” paid when we do not grieve him, “by whom” we were sealed “for the day of redemption,” and, not grieving him, bear the fruits required of us, while he is with us and gives life to our soul. And even if we do not know exactly who is the angel of each of us who beholds “the face” of the “Father” “in heaven,” yet it becomes clear to each of us who considers it that we are debtors to him too for certain things. And if we are in a theater of the world and of angels and of men, we must know that, just as the one in a theater is a debtor to say or do certain things in the sight of the spectators, and if he does not do them is punished as having insulted the whole theater, so we too owe “to the” whole “world” “and” to all the “angels” and to the human race these things, which, if we are willing, we shall learn from wisdom.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Eph 2:10, Mark 12:30, 1 Sam 2:25 (1 Kgdms LXX), 1 Cor 6:20 (1 Pet 1:18–19), Eph 4:30, Matt 18:10, and 1 Cor 4:9.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 28.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/3/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 28.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/3/).
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