On the Lord's Prayer 4
Summary: Prayer should be quiet and modest, in private and in church, since God sees the heart and is everywhere.
Latin text · CSEL 3.1:268–269
Sit autem orantibus sermo et precatio cum disciplina quietem continens et pudorem. cogitemus nos sub conspectu Dei stare. placendum est diuinis oculis et habitu corporis et modo uocis. nam ut inpudentis est clamoribus strepere, ita contra congruit uerecundo modestis precibus orare. denique magisterio suo Dominus secrete orare nos praecepit, in abditis et semotis locis, in cubiculis ipsis, quod magis conuenit fidei, ut sciamus Deum ubique esse praesentem, audire omnes et uidere et maiestatis suae plenitudine in abdita quoque et occulta penetrare, sicut scriptum est: ego Deus adproximans et non Deus de longinquo. si absconditus fuerit homo in absconditis, ego ergo non uidebo eum? nonne caelum et terram ego inpleo? et iterum: in omni loco oculi Dei speculantur bonos et malos. et quando in unum cum fratribus conuenimus et sacrificia diuina cum Dei sacerdote celebramus, uerecundiae et disciplinae memores esse debemus, non passim uentilare preces nostras inconditis uocibus nec petitionem commendandam modeste Deo tumultuosa loquacitate iactare quia Deus non uocis sed cordis auditor est, nec admonendus est clamoribus qui cogitationes uidet probante Domino et dicente: quid cogitatis nequam in cordibus uestris? et alio loco: et scient omnes ecclesiae quia ego sum scrutator renis et cordis.
English · Claude translation
And let those who pray have speech and petition marked by discipline, keeping quietness and modesty. Let us think that we stand in the sight of God. We must please the divine eyes both by the posture of the body and by the manner of the voice. For as it is the mark of the shameless to make a din with shouting, so, on the contrary, it befits the modest to pray with restrained petitions. Indeed, the Lord in his teaching commanded us to pray in secret, in hidden and remote places, in our very bedrooms, which is more in keeping with faith, so that we may know that God is present everywhere, hears and sees all, and in the fullness of his majesty penetrates even hidden and secret places, as it is written: "I am a God at hand, and not a God far off. If a man hides himself in hiding places, shall I then not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?" And again: "In every place the eyes of God behold the good and the evil." And when we meet together with the brothers and celebrate the divine sacrifices with God's priest, we ought to be mindful of modesty and discipline, not to throw our prayers about at random with unruly voices, nor to hurl with tumultuous talkativeness a petition that should be commended to God with modesty; because God is a hearer not of the voice but of the heart. Nor need he be reminded by shouting who sees our thoughts, as the Lord proves, saying: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" And in another place: "And all the churches shall know that I am the searcher of the reins and the heart."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Jer 23:23–24, Prov 15:3, Matt 9:4, and Rev 2:23; praying in the bedroom is Matt 6:6. "God's priest" (sacerdos) is the bishop presiding at the Eucharist.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: word split.): cordi bus → cordibus.
Cite this passage
Cyprian, Dom. or. 4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/4/).
Plain text
Cyprian, Dom. or. 4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/4/).
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