On the Lord's Prayer 35
Summary: Christians also pray at dawn for the resurrection and at sunset for Christ, the true Sun and Day, and indeed at every hour.
Latin text · CSEL 3.1:292–293
Sed nobis, fratres dilectissimi, praeter horas antiquitus obseruatas orandi nunc et spatia et sacramenta creuerunt. nam et mane orandum est, ut resurrectio Domini matutina oratione celebretur. quod olim Spiritus sanctus designabat in psalmis dicens: rex meus et Deus meus, quoniam ad te orabo, Domine, mane: et exaudies uocem meam, mane adstabo tibi et uidebo te. et iterum per prophetam loquitur Dominus: diluculo uigilabunt ad me dicentes: eamus et reuertamur ad Dominum Deum nostrum. recedente item sole ac die cessante necessario rursus orandum est. nam quia Christus sol uerus est et dies uerus, sole ac die saeculi recedente quando oramus et petimus ut super nos lux denuo ueniat, Christi precamur aduentum lucis aeternae gratiam praebiturum. Christum autem diem dictum declarat in psalmis Spiritus sanctus. lapis, inquit, quem reprobauerunt aedificantes hic factus est in caput anguli. a Domino factus est iste et est mirabilis in oculis nostris. hic est dies quem fecit Dominus: laetemur et epulemur in eum. item quod sol appellatus sit Malachin propheta testatur dicens: uobis autem qui timetis nomen Domini orietur sol iustitiae et in alis eius curatio est. quodsi in scripturis sanctis sol uerus et dies uerus est Christus, nulla hora excipitur christianis, quominus frequenter ac semper Deus debeat adorari, ut qui in Christo hoc est in sole et in die uero sumus instemus per totum diem precibus et oremus: et quando mundi lege decurrens uicibus alternis nox reuoluta succedit, nullum de nocturnis tenebris esse orantibus damnum potest, quia filiis lucis et in noctibus dies est. quando enim sine lumine est cui lumen in corde est? aut quando sol ei et dies non est cui sol et dies Christus est?
English · Claude translation
But for us, dearest brothers, besides the hours observed of old, the times and sacraments of praying have now increased. For we must pray in the morning too, so that the Lord's resurrection may be celebrated by morning prayer. This the Holy Spirit signified long ago in the psalms, saying: "My King and my God, for to you I will pray, O Lord; in the morning you will hear my voice; in the morning I will stand before you and will see you." And again the Lord speaks through the prophet: "At dawn they will watch for me, saying: 'Let us go and return to the Lord our God.'" Likewise, when the sun sets and the day ends, we must necessarily pray again. For since Christ is the true sun and the true day, when, as the sun and day of the world recede, we pray and ask that light may come upon us again, we pray for the coming of Christ, who will give us the grace of eternal light. And the Holy Spirit declares in the psalms that Christ is called the day: "The stone," he says, "which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This was done by the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and feast in it." Likewise the prophet Malachi testifies that he is called the sun, saying: "But for you who fear the name of the Lord the sun of righteousness will rise, and in his wings is healing." But if in the holy Scriptures Christ is the true sun and the true day, no hour is excepted for Christians in which God ought not to be worshipped frequently and always; so that we who are in Christ, that is, in the true sun and day, should be instant in prayer the whole day and pray; and when, by the law of the world, the night comes round in turn, succeeding by alternate change, there can be no harm from the darkness of night to those who pray, because for the sons of light there is day even in the night. For when is he without light who has light in his heart? Or when does he lack the sun and the day, whose sun and day is Christ?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ps 5:2–3 (5:3–5 Vulg.), Hos 6:1 (with 5:15), Ps 118:22–24 (117:22–24 Vulg.), and Mal 4:2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR: words run together.): Sednobis → Sed nobis; iustitiaeet → iustitiae et.
Cite this passage
Cyprian, Dom. or. 35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/35/).
Plain text
Cyprian, Dom. or. 35 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-dominica-oratione/35/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text