On Prayer 9 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: The Lord's Prayer, though brief, sums up the teaching of Scripture and fulfills every duty of prayer, because God himself taught it.

Latin text · CSEL 20:186–187

Compendiis pauculorum uerborum quot attinguntur edicta prophetarum, euangeliorum, apostolorum, sermones domini, parabolae, exempla, praecepta! quot simul expunguntur officia! dei honor in patre, fidei testimonium in nomine, oblatio obsequii in uoluntate, commemoratio spei in regno, petitio uitae in pane, exomologesis debitorum in deprecatione, sollicitudo temptationum in postulatione tutelae. quid mirum? deus solus docere potuit, quomodo se uellet orari. ab ipso igitur ordinata religio orationis et de spiritu ipsius iam tunc cum ex ore diuino ferretur, animata suo priuilegio ascendit in caelum commendans patri quae filius docuit.

English · Claude translation

In the brief compass of a few words, how many sayings of the prophets, the gospels, and the apostles are touched on, how many discourses of the Lord, parables, examples, precepts! How many duties are discharged at once! The honor of God in “Father”; the testimony of faith in the name; the offering of obedience in the will; the remembrance of hope in the kingdom; the petition for life in the bread; the confession of debts in the plea for pardon; watchfulness against temptations in the request for protection. What wonder? God alone could teach how he wished to be prayed to. The religious act of prayer, then, ordered by himself and animated by his Spirit already at the moment it came from the divine mouth, ascends by its own privilege into heaven, commending to the Father what the Son has taught.

About this passage

Source

CSEL 20:186–187 · August Reifferscheid and Georg Wissowa, eds., Quinti Septimi Florentis Tertulliani Opera, Pars 1, CSEL 20 (Prague: Tempsky; Vienna: Tempsky; Leipzig: Freytag, 1890), 180–200 · Latin text: August Reifferscheid and Georg Wissowa (CSEL 20), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in CSEL 20. 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 20; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Prayer

Cite this passage

Tertullian, Or. 9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-oratione/9/).

Plain text

Tertullian, Or. 9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-oratione/9/).