Sophia Scriptura

On the Lord's Prayer 29

Cyprian of Carthage · On the Lord's Prayer · ca. 252 · Carthage · Read in context

Summary: Christ, though sinless, prayed often and all night; how much more should sinners pray.

Latin text · CSEL 3.1:288

Nec uerbis tantum sed et factis Deus orare nos docuit ipse orans frequenter et deprecans et quid nos facere oporteret exempli sui contestatione demonstrans, sicut scriptum est: ipse autem fuit secedens in solitudines et adorans, et iterum: exiuit in montem orare et fuit pernoctans in orationem Dei. quodsi ille orabat qui sine peccato erat, quanto magis peccatores oportet orare, et si ille per totam noctem iugiter uigilans continuis precibus orabat, quanto nos magis in frequentanda oratione debemus nocte uigilare!

English · Claude translation

Not only by words but also by deeds God has taught us to pray, himself praying and entreating frequently, and showing by the testimony of his example what we ought to do, as it is written: "But he withdrew into the wilderness and prayed"; and again: "He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God." But if he who was without sin prayed, how much more ought sinners to pray! And if he prayed with continual petitions, watching constantly through the whole night, how much more ought we to watch at night in frequent prayer!

About this passage

Source
CSEL 3.1:288 · Wilhelm von Hartel, ed., S. Thasci Caecili Cypriani Opera omnia, Pars 1, CSEL 3.1 (Vienna: Gerold, 1868), 265–294 · Latin text: W. von Hartel (CSEL 3.1, 1868), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in CSEL 3.1. 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 Latin text of CSEL 3.1; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Luke 5:16 and Luke 6:12.

Cite this passage

Cyprian, Dom. or. 29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/29/).

Plain text
Cyprian, Dom. or. 29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/29/).

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