Reflections on the Lord's Prayer
Who hasn’t interpreted it?! By studying this prayer you can begin your study of Christianity. This can be the end of it. She seems to be known to almost everyone. And truly this prayer is the “abbreviated Gospel.”
If there is an evil one
And today I would talk about this prayer from its end. From where the “evil one” is. He is precisely “crafty,” that is, “cunning,” “ambiguous,” “capable of deception.” Today he is strong. His power, mixed with the open Satanism of some, with drugs and debauchery of others, with godless theories, with the lust of power, and so on, allows the devil to appear in the image of a strong being. In modern consciousness, he is powerful and no longer hides. In the seemingly prosperous 19th century, Gogol saw what he expressed in a short phrase: the devil came out into the world without a mask. And today he convenes his servants for the last battle and is so dazzling in his visible successes that he is able to sway even chosen souls. To whom is this not open? Who didn't notice this? Those who have not noticed do not pray.
Initially, he is just a cunning one. He is the serpent who is “more cunning than all the beasts of the field.” His strength is born of deception. And this is easy to understand by analogy with some rich people, whose power was initially born from deception and fraud, and only then acquired villas, yachts, personal security and political influence. At first it’s just a deception.
Modern man knows more about the evil one than about the Lord
Modern man knows more about the evil one than about the Lord. This knowledge is not identified. It is simply absorbed into the bloodstream through mothers' milk and television news. Any savage of previous eras would be surprised at our everyday pride and godlessness. Born in the most brutal times, we do not feel their cruelty at all and mistakenly consider ourselves lucky on the grounds that we have a mobile phone, while Socrates, suppose, did not have one. However, even the name of Socrates is not known to many people in the era of mobile phones.
Many would never have called on the Heavenly Father for help and intercession if they had not heard at the back of their heads the hot breath of the evil one, who wants to drag the whole person into a fire that will not go out. This is why I think that familiarity with the Lord’s Prayer (life-based, not just theoretical acquaintance) is facilitated by observing the obvious and increasing presence of the devil in the world. Since there is an evil one, from whom one must ask for deliverance in prayer, then there is everything else. Since this deceiver is real, capable of destroying a person and greedily desiring this, then it means there is a Father in heaven, and His Kingdom, and everything else. So, on the contrary, a person who has become possessed, but has not lost the image of God, can come to prayer. The idea is simple: “There is an evil one. I see his tracks. I can smell his stinking breath almost everywhere. This means there must be a Father who can protect and deliver. Our Father, hallowed be Thy name...”
A little about the Father and fatherlessness
The most unusual things interfere with prayer. The most everyday and unexpected. For example, fatherlessness (without fathers who only managed to conceive, but could not stay in the family to raise, a great many people have grown up and will continue to grow up). Or the deep trauma of the soul from the fact that the father was a domestic despot. One woman asked Metropolitan Anthony: “Who is God?” He answered her: “It's very simple. He is our Father! To which the woman cried out: “Not that! Not this!” The Metropolitan was amazed by this reaction and wanted to find out. It turned out that this lady's father was really terrible. Let the details of whether he beat his mother, cheated on her, forced her to have abortions, or kept the children in panic fear remain out of the picture. The details are not important to us. The important thing is that the sacred word “father” for that woman was overgrown with such terrible associations that she could not imagine God as a father.
Metropolitan Anthony himself had the opposite experience. His father was a wise and caring man who left a deep imprint on his son's soul. For Anthony there was no problem in transferring the image of an earthly father to the thought of a heavenly Father. But it turned out that this happiness is not given to everyone.
So we easily speak out about things that are obvious to us, in full confidence that these things are obvious to all people in general. And then we discover with great surprise that what is obvious to us is doubtful for some and unacceptable for others. The matter may also concern prayer. How great is the responsibility of a father! If he is worthless or insignificant, then how can his child pray? How can you believe that you have an eternal Father in heaven, if even on earth you cannot look at a temporary father?
What are they singing in heaven?
One day I was interested in the question: will we read and sing the Lord’s Prayer in heaven (if, of course, the Lord allows us there)? I began to think. And I soon realized that almost all the requests of this prayer are for the earth and only for the earth. There is no place in heaven for these requests and words. Judge for yourself: what is the point of saying “Thy kingdom come” there and then, where and when you are already in the Kingdom? In the same way, there will be no need to ask that God’s will be equally fulfilled in Heaven and on Earth, for “God will be all in all.” What kind of “debtors” can we talk about in the Kingdom of Heaven? Who and what else will need to be released? What temptations will you need to ask for deliverance from? In a word, having gone through the entire text of the prayer, I realized that only one petition would be preserved for sure. Namely: “Hallowed be Thy name!” The whole prayer seems to be reduced to one initial call: “Our Father! Hallowed be Thy name!” And then immediately - “Amen!”
The Revelation of John the Evangelist portrays Heavenly life as a kingdom of prayer
This can and should be said to all the saved. The rest, I think, will pass away as unnecessary, as if it had been fulfilled. Thus, the umbilical cord, which is absolutely necessary in the womb, is taken away from the child forever, because after birth into the world it is no longer needed. She did her job. In a similar way, the prayer “Our Father” will end its earthly ministry and retire, reduced in length to just one doxology: “Hallowed be Thy name!”
The Revelation of John the Theologian depicts Heavenly life precisely as a kingdom of prayer. There they perform the liturgy: they sing, bow, burn incense, and so on. There is an altar with the souls of the slain martyrs under it. That is, there is a semblance of a heavenly sanctuary and worship in it. But no one reads “Our Father” there. There they sing the song of Moses, the man of God. They sing there (by the way, they constantly sing and no longer read anything) something very similar to our liturgical hymns: “Thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals from it!” - “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory...” And so on. That is, when in our churches they sing to the Mother of Christ “It is worthy to eat,” this is completely in the spirit of the Apocalypse, in the spirit of the Holy Bible. And when we sing “It is Worthy to Eat” or the Eucharistic Canon at the liturgy, this happens entirely in the spirit of the revelation that John saw. “Our Father,” I repeat, no one reads there, because this prayer is for those living on earth.
Although Maximus the Confessor has words that in the prayer “Our Father” the Entire Trinity is glorified, and not just the Father. His name is the Son. “Hallowed be Thy name” is read in this case as “Glory to Thy Son.” The glory of the Father is the Son. And vice versa: the glory of the Son is the Father. About the Spirit it is said: “Thy kingdom come,” for His kingdom is the triumph of the Spirit. If so (and it is a sin to doubt Maxim’s words), then prayer glorifies the One God in the Trinity, and then there is a place for it in eternity. But this only confirms the depth of the Gospel. And that Angel of Revelation who flies across the sky, holding the “eternal Gospel” in his hands, will confirm these words. Prayer is given to us from the Gospel. And since it is eternal, then the “Our Father” in the Gospel is also written in it forever. And we always have a reason to humble ourselves before the depth of the Word once spoken.
Bread
As for “bread,” it is best to interpret this word in the spirit of “daily food.” However, “Our Father” is the last congregational prayer before Communion. People preparing to receive the Heavenly Bread sing “give us this day our daily bread.” This is no coincidence. Since we have bread, we must also have the Eucharist. As a rule (history is proof and witness of this), where the Eucharist stops, there the lack of bodily food begins. “Daily bread” is bread that corresponds to essence. And our essence is dual. And we cannot live simply by bread, as Christ says during the temptation in the desert. We need both ordinary bread and the word of God. Both types of food are essential. The union of both is given to us in the Eucharist.
A person cannot only pray without eating. But he has no right to eat without praying
The Eucharist is impossible without ordinary wheat bread. At first it is an ordinary fruit of the earth, obtained with such difficulty by people according to the Wisdom given to them by God. But the word of God and the prayer of the Church, the breath of the Spirit and thanksgiving then make earthly things heavenly. This is the only way a person should eat. He cannot just pray without eating. This is not available to him yet. But he has no right to eat without praying. Both sides of existence are united and reconciled in the Eucharist, in the Breaking of Bread. The bread of the Eucharist becomes truly “essential,” that is, acting on both sides of our being. Otherwise, “just bread” “just feeds” our earthly and not the main part.
Royal mindset
The world wants to reduce Christianity to morality alone and completely deprive Christianity of mysticism. Mysticism is always scary and disturbing. She, if only she appears somewhere, is always ready to drag the whole person, or at least part of him, into some unknown areas, into mystery and horror. It is much easier and safer to preach a religion of morality - for the earth and from the earth. Even a word like “Kingdom” can easily be torn away from the soul of a modern person. After all, today he is a “democrat” to the core, of which he is incredibly proud. But having a King and asking for the Kingdom to come is a very special mindset that involves a willingness to serve and submit. A.F. Losev in “Dialectics of Myth” mentioned that the idea of a monarchy in general follows inevitably from Orthodox dogma. That is, the consciousness of a Christian is monarchical by definition, because he is the son of the Kingdom. With what thoughts does a person say the “Our Father” prayer who does not want to serve anyone, but wants everyone to serve him? Isn’t the old woman from the fairy tale “About the Fisherman and the Fish” an example of a completely insignificant, seemingly insignificant person, but harboring satanic pride in her soul, ready to be realized as soon as the opportunity arises? Can such a person pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God? A man who, in the mysterious depths of his heart, himself wants to be a king? And if he prays out of habit and says the prescribed words, then what is the price of these words?
Forgiveness is the secret of the Cross
In the field of morality, the Lord's Prayer is rich in only one request, in which a command is hidden. Prayer links the forgiveness of our sins (aka debts) with our forgiveness of debts and sins to our neighbors. If you don't forgive, you won't be forgiven. At the same time, it seems to go without saying that just as you have debtors, so you owe. The imperfection of the fallen world is unmistakably recorded here in brief words. We will always have debtors. We ourselves will always (within the framework of earthly reality) be indebted to both people and God. And we need to learn to forgive and forget. If we fail to do this, if we do not learn, blissful eternity will fly away from us like a dream.
We will always have debtors. We ourselves will always be in debt to both people and God
And in this seemingly purely moral issue, we are again persistently met with mysticism. Who doesn’t know how difficult and sometimes impossible it is to forgive? It may be impossible in principle to forgive a person just like that. You need to have something special in your soul and thoughts in order to forget, forgive and in every possible way displace from your consciousness negative reactions to the actions of your neighbors. And what is it? This is the mystery of the Cross of the Lord!
Today, when the Savior died on the Cross and rose from the dead, the prayer “Our Father” is convenient to read, but it was difficult and incomprehensible to read when Christ had not yet suffered and was not resurrected. But now that the Redemption has been completed, we know at what Price we were purchased. We who know the Lord must not be angry or spiteful. Rancor, vindictiveness and all deceit in everyday affairs speak only of one thing: a person does not know Christ. He is still not forgiven, because he himself does not forgive anyone. Or vice versa: He does not forgive because he himself has not experienced repentance and has not felt forgiveness. His heart did not change, his soul did not turn over. He is still a man of this world.
Those who have been forgiven usually also know how to forgive. Everyday practice here is linked with mysticism, and personal religious experience either gives rise to altered moral behavior or reveals its absence. The Lord's Prayer is the prayer of a person who feels guilty, knows his Redeemer and stands before His face.
"Lead us not into temptation"
One of the properties of the mind is to know the limits of its capabilities. The proud are stupid because they know no boundaries. Space in general is beautiful only because it has proportionate boundaries. Chaos is terrible and ugly, because it is formless. The Greeks felt this best of all. Chaos is pride. Intelligence and beauty are wise limitations. Humility is somewhere nearby. Humility knows the truth about itself and does not dream about itself. It's beautiful. Humiliation repels, but humility attracts.
It is with intelligence and intelligent beauty, and not with downtroddenness and humiliation, that humility is associated. The burden of mortal sin lies with those who connected humility in meaning with mere humiliation, and did not notice the connection between humility and intelligent self-restraint. From the mind and from faith (there is no faith at all without the mind) the request is born: “Do not lead us into temptation.” The voice of knowledge of one's weakness, the voice of humble recognition of one's vulnerability and limitations is heard in these words. Compare them with the words: “I am not afraid of anyone,” “I can do anything,” “I will never change my principles and rules,” and you will understand how far proud self-confidence is from the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God gives birth to measure. Moderation is humility.
The Spirit of God gives birth to measure. Moderation is humility
Meanwhile, the Lord’s Prayer was recited as one of the primacy of the Church, the Church of the Martyrs. Saint George, irresistible in suffering, Saints Barbara and Catherine, unbending in courage and patience, hundreds and thousands of other sufferers uttered the words from their hearts: “Do not lead us into temptation.” They recognized their weakness and thereby made room for the power of God. “When I am weak, then I am strong,” says Paul, expressing the spiritual experience of the Church of Christ. Those who are weak, but believers, are truly strong and capable of the impossible, since the Lord is with them. The proud blow like a bubble and inevitably burst, which can be traced both in the history of individuals and in the history of individual civilizations.
Father is ours, common
And we also didn’t say anything about the fact that prayer is given not to an individual, but to a community. “Our Father” is not at all the same as “My Father.” Christ had the right to speak like this in Gethsemane, both before and whenever He wanted. He is the Only Begotten of the Father. The Father has no other Sons born from the Hypostasis of the Father. But we can't pray like that. If we were not the Church of the adopted and redeemed at all, we would pray at best - “Our Creator.” God would not be our Father, but at best the Creator whom we recognize. The very cry of “Father” is already a gift to those who believe in the Only Begotten. And this faith is not given to everyone alone. Or rather, faith acquired alone, then commands us to gather together.
Revelation is not given to individuals, but to the Body of the Church
We are a community and a Church. Revelation is not given to individuals, but to the Body of the Church. We need to pray together. That’s why Christ tells us: “Pray like this”... And then – “Our Father” (and not “My”). And even being in the desert, in which, for example, Onuphrius the Great spent 63 years, one must still pray - “Our Father”, and not “My Father”, for one thing is the prayer of Christ, and another thing is the prayer of a simple person.
Our Father is one thing, and the Father of Christ is another. He is one and the same, but our relationship and Christ’s with Him are different. Therefore, after the Resurrection, the Lord said: “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.” To Christ God is Father by nature, to us by adoption.
Prayer is given to the Church, the congregation. If we used to say that you can read the Lord’s Prayer in private - in transport, or on the beach, or in front of a doctor’s office, now we are forced to admit that the best reading of it is to read it in the congregation. The word “we” forces us to recognize that we have a responsibility to come together and pray with one heart and one mouth. And it already turns out that it is more convenient to say the Jesus Prayer always and everywhere alone, in your mind or in a whisper. And the Lord's Prayer should be said in the congregation. Let one speak, and the others listen and say at the end: “Amen!” So it is said about the book of Revelation of John: “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the books and the prophecies of this.” There is only one “reader”, but there are many “listeners”.
“For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory”
Rarely is attention paid to the end of the prayer: “For Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen". In temple worship, these words are pronounced by the priest and added to them by the glorification of the Trinity, the names of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Due to this centuries-old practice, the laity are even afraid to utter the words “for Thine is the kingdom.” They are afraid to do what, as it seems to them, rightfully belongs only to the priests. But reading the Lord's Prayer in private presupposes, or at least allows, the words to be pronounced as they are given in the Gospel. With these words, a person confesses that God is able to fulfill what is asked, that Glory (instead of the current human humiliation) and the Kingdom (instead of the current rebellious multi-government) are with Him. This is especially evident in the saints. They obviously belong to another world and God's Kingdom for everyone. Through them, powers and signs, healings and intercessions are performed. And where death humiliates a person and seems to turn him into nothing, the saints continue to participate in history, live after death and demonstrate the glory of God. All church life, and prayer especially, comes to life through the example of saints and freezes, turning into heavy, incomprehensible vestments of ritual on ordinary people who have not achieved, and do not strive for, holiness.
Instead of an afterword
The Lord's Prayer has been translated into all languages, including the smallest and most endangered ones. It is impossible to pass by it, and having found it, it is impossible not to say it often in different situations: in the morning and evening, before eating or traveling, in church during a service or secretly, in the mind, on the way to work. This is inexhaustible theological food for the human mind and heart. The food is simple, like bread, but just as necessary.
This is inexhaustible theological food for the human mind and heart. Food is simple, like bread, but just as necessary
Perhaps the Mother of God read this prayer. It was undoubtedly pronounced in Eucharistic assemblies by Peter, Andrew, John, and James. It, as an indispensable and essential part of Tradition, was passed on to students and listeners by all who spread the Good News of universal human redemption throughout the world. With this prayer it is convenient to begin both a new day and learning the secrets and wisdom of Church theology. With all its obvious brevity, the density of meaning in this prayer is such that everyone, without exception, priest or bishop, if desired, will be able to say something of their own about this prayer, personally felt, personally understood by the heart on the paths of communication with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit.
The texts of “Our Father” differ from each other in different sources
From the very beginning, there were several different interpretations of the Lord's Prayer. Even in the Gospels we find prayer in two versions: a more extensive one - from Matthew and a shorter one - from Luke.
Moreover, in Matthew, the “Our Father” is part of the Sermon on the Mount, while in Luke, Jesus gives this prayer to his disciples in response to a request to “teach them to pray.” The first option is most widespread in Christianity.
Biblical scholars, meanwhile, are not sure that the final phrase of the prayer (doxology) is “For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen” was generally included in the original text, since it is absent in the oldest versions of the Gospel of Matthew, and does not appear at all in Luke.
There is a version that it began to be used only in early Christian times in liturgies. The texts in different languages also differ, since the translators apparently sought to highlight and make more significant certain aspects of the prayer.
Secret prayer
In addition to the text of the Lord’s Prayer, the Lord in the Sermon on the Mount left us a teaching on how to pray: “But when you pray, go into your room and, having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret...” (Matt. 6:6). Home prayer should be done alone. You need to be able to remain alone with God. Some spouses, starting their life together, read evening and morning prayers together. And it turns out that they deprive themselves of secret prayer, the one talked about in the Gospel. Perhaps we can sometimes read the rule together. In some monasteries there is a general rule, but it should always be supplemented by cell prayer. And if a person does not find time in his life to pray to God in secret, then he does not fulfill the commandment given to us by Christ. Home and cell prayer can be different. This may be the reading of the usual rule, it may be the reading of canons, akathists, it may be the reading of the Jesus Prayer. When we gather together to pray in the temple, we all pray together with the same words. But when we are alone, we can choose the prayer that helps us focus and remember God more. My words do not mean that we should not have a prayer rule at all and that tonight we can honor Great Compline and make one bow, and tomorrow we can make a hundred bows with the Jesus Prayer. No. We, those who do not know how to pray, still need some kind of rule. It must be chosen together with your confessor and strictly adhered to. Because only perfect, holy people can completely omit the rule. Some of them are generally silent - there is a type of prayer when a person simply remains silent before God. But we need a prayer alphabet. We need to learn to read syllables - every morning and every evening to fulfill the prayer rule that we have determined for ourselves. The following words in the Sermon on the Mount are also about how to pray: “And when you pray, do not say unnecessary things, like the pagans, for they think that in their many words they will be heard; Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:7-8). The Lord gives us an example of such a laconic prayer. This is the Lord's Prayer. The words of this prayer cannot be translated into Russian so that they immediately become understandable - they contain a very deep meaning, which is not always accessible to us, earthly, carnal people. That is why we need to reflect on this prayer in order to understand how and what the Lord commanded us to pray for.
The Catholic version of the “Our Father” differs from the Orthodox one
In the Latin translation of the Bible (Vulgate), which was made from the Greek original by Blessed Jerome, the final words of the prayer were omitted: “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.”
They were also omitted from Roman Catholic worship. This was explained by the fact that the Pope was considered the vicar of St. Peter and, as it were, the deputy of God on Earth, and all divine power was formally transferred to him.
It is interesting that members of the medieval Order of the Templars (Knights Templar) read the “Our Father” according to the canons not of the Catholic, but of the Eastern Christian (Greek Orthodox) liturgy, that is, with the preservation of the final words. It turned out that they denied the claims of the pontiffs to the divine Kingdom, power and glory. This became one of the reasons for the persecution of the Templars by the Inquisition.
