In the year 233, Origen received a letter from his friends, Ambrose and Tatiana, containing an urgent request that he refute the objections raised against Christianity regarding the necessity and value of prayer: ‘If, as you have requested, Ambrose and Tatiana, we are to examine the arguments of those who believe that nothing is achieved through prayer and who therefore assert that prayer is superfluous, we shall not shy away from studying, to the best of our ability, this objection as well, taking as our starting point precisely εὐχὴ in its usual and simple sense”1 Origen responded to his friends’ request by composing the treatise On Prayer.
This treatise by Origen, despite the particular interest it holds for Christian spirituality and the history of dogma, was not the subject of in-depth study until towards the end of the 20th century, when there was a remarkable increase in such studies, beginning with Wilhelm Gessel’s renowned monograph 2, which led to substantial progress in the understanding of Origen’s work On Prayer. The studies by Lorenzo Perrone 3 and the renowned scholar Francesca Cocchini 4, alongside those by Alain Le Boulluec, G. Bendinelli, G. M. Vian, M. Simonetti, A. M. Castagno, E. Prinzivalli, A. Camplani, A. Penati Bernardini, have greatly deepened our understanding of the spiritual depth of this treatise and of the tradition of the text that has come down to us.
Probably written around the years 234–235, in Caesarea of Palestine 5, the treatise On Prayer is one of the most profound works to address this subject, being the oldest treatise on prayer, alongside Tertullian’s work of the same name, De Oratione. This work is not mentioned in Jerome’s catalogue in Epistle XXXIII, but is cited in Pamphilus’s Apology for Origen 6.
In addition to the difficulties arising from the depth of its content, there are those relating to the textual tradition of the 7, which has come down to us in its entirety in a single Greek manuscript, now preserved at the Cambridge Library: Codex Cantabrigensis (formerly Holmiensis) B 8.10, dating from the 14th century, which is corrupted in very many places, forcing the editors to demonstrate their meticulousness in making conjectures, and partly in a 15th-century Parisian manuscript, Codex Colbertinus 3607, now known as Codex Parisianus 1788, held at the National Library of Paris.
The treatise On Prayer consists of three parts, preceded by an introduction.
In the prooimion (Chapters I–II), Origen highlights the difficulty of the subject: ‘I believe that one of the aspects through which our weakness is most evident is the clear, correct and proper explanation of how prayer should be performed, the reasons for which we ought to pray, the manner in which we ought to pray, the words we ought to use in prayer, the most appropriate time for prayer, and many other matters of this kind’8 The first part (chapters III–XVII) deals with prayer in general, providing a philological and biblical-hermeneutical explanation of the meanings of two Greek terms found in Holy Scripture for ‘prayer’: εὐχὴ and προσευχὴ, whilst also responding to Ambrose regarding the benefit and necessity of prayer in the spiritual life. The second part of the treatise (chapters XVIII–XXX) is an exegesis of the Lord’s Prayer, following the hermeneutical approach characteristic of Origen’s other writings, the breadth and depth of which is unrivalled amongst the Fathers of the early centuries: ‘Having spoken at length, in accordance with the grace given by God through Christ, His Anointed One, on the subject of prayer in general, a fact which those who read this book will be able to ascertain, let us now consider the prayer which the Lord has left us, endeavouring to show how perfect its power is’9 Part Three (chapters XXXI–XXXIII) comprises a series of practical pieces of advice on prayer: it should be performed facing the East; it must be accompanied by the struggle against the passions and the purification of the heart; the posture of the body; and the place of prayer.
In Chapter XIII of this treatise, Origen also offers a classification of prayer, following Saint Paul the Apostle 10, which he divides into four main categories: prayers of supplication (δέησις)11, prayers of invocation (προσευχὴ) 12, prayers of intercession (ἔντευξις) 13 and prayers of thanksgiving (ἐυχαριστία) 14: ‘And since the Apostle uses, in his First Epistle to Timothy, four terms for four things that relate to this exposition on prayer, it will be useful to quote his words and see whether, from these four terms for prayer, we can properly understand each one in its true sense. He says as follows: ‘I urge you, first of all, to make requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all people.’ In my view, a prayer of petition is an earnest prayer to obtain what one lacks. A prayer of praise is one offered to glorify God, for greater things, with a higher spiritual elevation. A prayer of intercession is a prayer to God on behalf of someone who has, in a sense, greater trust. A prayer of thanksgiving is an expression of gratitude for the blessings received from God. In other words, the one who gives thanks is overwhelmed by the magnitude of the blessing, revealing the benefactor’s goodness15”.
We see, therefore, in this passage a clear definition of the prayer of thanksgiving: ‘Εὐχαριστίαν δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ τετευχέναι ἀγαθῶν ἀπὸ θεοῦ μετ› εὐχῶν ἀνθομολόγησιν (A prayer of thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude for the good things received from God)’15 In the gifts received from God, the Giver Himself is revealed. God’s boundless love for mankind can be recognised in every gift from Him. By giving thanks for the blessings received in our lives, we share in God’s love, returning the love He has bestowed upon us: ‘And how many more could each of us list, if only each of us were to remember God’s blessings with gratitude and wish to praise Him for them? (Ὃσα δὲ καὶ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν, if, remembering with gratitude the blessings bestowed upon him, were to wish to offer praise to God for these, has he anything to recount?”16. God’s perfect gifts to mankind prompt man to respond to His love through that which, in turn, becomes man’s gift to God, namely prayer: ‘For what more precious gift could a rational being offer to God than a fragrant prayer, springing from a conscience free from the stench of sin (ποῖον γὰρ θεῷ δῶρον ἀπὸ τοῦ λογικοῦ μεῖζον ἀνα πέμπεσθαι δύναται εὐώδους λόγου εὐχῆς, offered of one’s own free will, free from the stench of sin)17 The play on words, untranslatable in its form into Romanian, used by Origen in this paragraph—τοῦ λογικοῦ… λόγου εὐχής (rational being… the word of prayer), illustrates precisely the loving relationship between God and man, made manifest in prayer, in accordance with the words of Saint Paul the Apostle, who shows that God helps man to understand how to pray and what to pray for: ‘Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words 18’ (Romans 8:26)19.
Origen, in his commentaries on the Psalms, presents a hierarchy of the types of prayer mentioned by Saint Paul the Apostle, considering the prayer of thanksgiving offered to God to be the highest form of prayer: “I would say, as it seems to me, that of all forms of supplication, the greatest is prayer, and of these, the petition; but above all, thanksgiving’20
In explaining the four terms δέησις, προσευχή, ἔντευξις and ἐυχαριστία, he uses a series of biblical examples. Of the four scriptural terms explained, for the term ‘thanksgiving’ (ἐυχαριστία), he uses a single example from Holy Scripture, namely that from the Gospel according to Matthew 11:25: ‘An example of a prayer of thanksgiving is this statement by our Lord: ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was Your good pleasure.’ When He said, ‘I glorify You’, it is the same as if He had said, ‘I thank You’”21. We see how Origen, in explaining this scriptural verse, highlights the semantic contiguity of the verbs εὐχαριστῶ (to give thanks) and ἐξομολογέομαι (to confess), even though in current theological terminology the two terms denote different actions.
Towards the end of the treatise, returning to these four terms denoting prayer, Origen gives as an example (παράδειγμα) of a prayer of thanksgiving a passage from the Old Testament, ‘We may use,’ writes Origen, ‘the text from the Second Book of Kings, where, following the promises made by Nathan, David is amazed by God’s gifts (ἐκπλαγέντος τὰς τοῦ θεοῦ δωρεὰς), giving thanks (εὐχαριστοῦντος) for them with the following words: ‘Who am I, O Lord my God, and what is my house, that you have exalted me so?… And You have even spoken of the future of Your servant’s house! Is this a human thing, O Lord, my God? And what more can David say to You? You know Your servant, O Lord, my God! ‘For Your word’s sake and according to Your own will You do this, revealing all this greatness to Your servant, so that he may glorify You, O Lord, my Master’”22.
Christ the Lord, ‘writing on the tablets of their hearts’23, pours out His goodness upon the faithful to lift them from the valleys of ignorance to spiritual heights 24, God’s goodness thus becoming the foundation of the prayer of thanksgiving: ‘Let him show himself just as grateful to God as he who has partaken of refreshing dew in the heat of the day. Likewise, let him whose prayers have been answered say: ‘Do not deliver the soul entrusted to you as prey to wild beasts’, whohas heard and suffered no harm from the bite of the asp or the basilisk, for he has trodden upon them with power from Christ and trampled upon lions and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, without being harmed in the least. Such a one ought to give thanks even more than Daniel, for he was spared from more fearsome and dangerous beasts’25 Let us also give thanks to the Lord for the good that comes in the wake of temptation, for it lifts us ever higher in our spiritual growth: ‘let us give thanks for the good that is revealed to us through temptation (καὶ εὐχαριστῶμεν ἐπὶ τοῖς φανερουμένοις ἡμῖν διὰ τῶν πειρασμῶν ἀγαθοῖς)’26
Thanksgiving, as an expression of gratitude for the blessings received from God, must also be directed towards the saints, and indeed towards people, through whom God sends all good gifts: ‘Prayer, supplication and thanksgiving may also be directed towards the saints; indeed, the latter two (supplication and thanksgiving) are addressed not only to the saints, but even to other people (δέησιν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἔντευξιν καὶ εὐχαριστίαν οὐκ ἄτο πον καὶ ἀνθρώποις <ἁγίοις> προσενεγκεῖν), whilst prayer may be addressed only to the saints, for example Saint Paul or Saint Peter, so that they may help us and make us worthy of the power granted to them to forgive sins. If, however, we have wronged someone—even if they are not a saint—then it is also granted to us, provided we have realised the wrong we have done to them, to ask them to grant us forgiveness for what we have done wrong to them. If, however, these things are to be done towards the saints, how much more must we give thanks to Christ, who, according to the Father’s will, has bestowed so many blessings upon us? (If these things are to be done for holy men, how much more ought we to give thanks to Christ, who, by the Father’s will, has bestowed so many blessings upon us?)”27.
It is not only people who give thanks to God, but also the saints: ‘Likewise, when the saints offer prayers of thanksgiving to God, they offer them through Jesus Christ (‘For the saints, therefore, give thanks to God in their own prayers through Christ Jesus, they acknowledge His grace to Him)28.
Since the spiritualisation of man is a gift of the Spirit of God, received through communion with Christ the Lord, it follows that the perfected man becomes a son of God, serving Him as is fitting and offering Him thanksgiving in Christ the Lord: ‘Our prayer is therefore addressed, in general, to God; let us glorify the Father, let us exalt the Father; let us address our petitions to the Lord just as to a Master; let us offer thanks to God the Father and the Lord, although He is not the Lord of a slave. For the Father may also be regarded as the Lord of the Son and the Lord of those who have become sons through Him. ‘Just as He is not the God of the dead, but of the living’, so He is not a Lord of ordinary servants, but of those who were first set free from fear whilst still in their youth, but who subsequently willingly entered into a service more full of gratitude than that which springs from fear. For even in souls, for those who know how to read them, there are visible traits of God’s servants and of His children (ἀλλὰ τῶν κατὰ μὲν τὰς ἀρχὰς φόβῳ διὰ τὴν νηπιό τητα ἐξευγενιζομένων μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καserving that love which is more blessed than the servitude of fear; for there are, even within the soul alone, clear marks visible to the eye of the heart, distinguishing the servants of God and His children)’29
The prayer of thanksgiving must encompass both the gifts received by all people and those received by each individual as a gift: ‘At the outset, and as an introduction to the prayer, praise must be offered to God through Christ, Who is glorified together with the Holy Spirit, Who is likewise praised. After that, each person must offer communal thanksgiving for the blessings that pertain to all people and for those that each individual has received (at the beginning and in the preface of the prayer, the words ‘God, glorified through Christ in the Holy Spirit’ must be spokenHoly Spirit, with whom we join in praise; and after this, each person’s thanksgiving—both common, <which> bring benefits to many through the thanksgiving”30).
From the above, we see that the Alexandrian writer, in his treatise On Prayer (Περὶ Εὐχῆς), emphasises the importance for the spiritual life of giving thanks (εὐχαριστία) for all God’s gifts, this being one of the most perfect forms of prayer.
- 1
Origen, On Prayer, V, 1, in Selected Writings. Part II, translated by Rev. Prof. T. Bodogae, Rev. Prof. Nicolae Neaga and Zorica Lațcu, with an introductory study and notes by Rev. Prof. Teodor Bodogae, PSB series, vol. 7, IBMBOR Publishers, Bucharest, 1982, p. 208.
- 2
Wilhelm Gessel, *The Theology of Prayer according to Origen’s De Oratione*, Munich–Paderborn–Vienna, 1975.
- 3
Lorenzo Perrone, Prayer According to Origen: The Gift of the Impossible, Morcelliana, Brescia, 2011.
- 4
The Gift and its Shadow. Studies on Origen’s Peri Euche. Proceedings of the First Conference of the Italian Research Group on ‘Origen and the Alexandrian Tradition’, edited by Francesca Cocchini (Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum, 57), Institutum Patristicum Augustinianum, Rome, 1997.
- 5
See Pierre Nautin, Origen: His Life and Work, Ed. Beauchesne, Paris, 1977, p. 385.
- 6
Pamphilus, Apology for Origen, in Pamphilus – Eusebius of Caesarea, Apology for Origen, Volume I, followed by Rufinus of Aquileia, On the Falsification of Origen’s Books, critical text, translation and notes by René Amacker and Éric Juno, series ‘Sources Chrétiennes’, no. 464, Les Éditions du Cerf, Paris, 2002.
- 7
Lorenzo Perrone, ‘Origen and Prayer: A Reading of the Perì Euchês’, in Annuaires de l’École pratique des hautes études, 1997, no. 106, p. 341.
- 8
Origen, On Prayer, II, 1, p. 201.
- 9
Origen, On Prayer, XVIII, 1, p. 237.
- 10
1 Timothy 2:9: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people (I urge you, therefore, first of all, to make requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings for all people).
- 11
Latin: obsecratio.
- 12
Latin: oratio.
- 13
Latin: postulatio.
- 14
Latin: gratiarum actio.
- 15a15b
Origen, On Prayer, XIV, 2, p. 229.
- 16
Origen, On Prayer, XIII, 3, p. 226.
- 17
Origen, On Prayer, II, 2, p. 202.
- 18
Likewise, the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
- 19
See also Lorenzo Perrone, Prayer According to Origen, p. 6.
- 20
Origen, Homily on Psalm XXVII, in P.G. XII, 1285A.
- 21
Origen, On Prayer, XIV, 5, p. 231.
- 22
Origen, On Prayer, XXXIII, 3, p. 289.
- 23
Origen, From the Commentary on the Gospel according to Matthew, I, III, in the PSB series, vol. 7, p. 21.
- 24
Ștefan Zară, ‘Christ the Saviour, the Fullness of Goodness in the Writings of Origen’, in Martyria. Journal of Orthodox Theology and Spirituality, vol. IV, no. 1, January–June 2019, p. 20.
- 25
Origen, On Prayer, XIV, 4, p. 227.
- 26
Origen, On Prayer, XXIX, 17, p. 280.
- 27
Origen, On Prayer, XIV, 6, pp. 231–232.
- 28
Origen, On Prayer, XV, 2, p. 233.
- 29
Origen, On Prayer, XVI, 1, p. 234.
- 30
Origen, On Prayer, XXXIII, 1, p. 288.