Solitude

... WHEN you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῳ); and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁷ And in praying do not heap up empty phrases (βατταλογήσητε) as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven . . . (Mat. 6:7-9)

ἐν τῷ κρυπτῳ / en to krupto: κρυπτός / kruptos : secret, hidden private; inward, inmost

βατταλογήσητε / battalogeo: babble, use many words

1. Brevity of Prayer: Relative brevity of the Lord's Prayer, Compare lengthy self-glorifying prayer of pharisee with brief monologistic plea of “justified” tax collector in Luke 18:13: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner ( Ὁ θεός͵ ἱλάσθητί μοι τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ).

2. Jesus invites notoriously impure to CALL GOD FATHER - this had been the sole privilege of saintly rabbis in Jesus’ day)

3. Jesus tells parable of widow and unjust judge “so that they would PRAY ALWAYS (πάντοτε προσεύχεσθαι - pantote proseuchesthai) and not lose heart.” (Luke 18:1)

4. St. Paul urges UNCEASING PRAYER: 1 Thes. 5:17: PRAY UNCEASINGLY (ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε - adialeiptōs proseuchesthe)

5. Christian virtue of parrhesia in speaking to God: ... in [Christ Jesus our Lord] we have boldness and confidence of access (παρρησίαν/parrhesian) through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:12)

FOR I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that	Ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, ὅτι
THE Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”	ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ᾗ παρεδίδετο ἔλαβεν ἄρτον ²⁴καὶ εὐχαριστήσας ἔκλασεν καὶ εἶπεν· τοῦτό μού ἐστιν τὸ σῶμα τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν· τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν.
²⁵IN the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”	²⁵ ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ ποτήριον μετὰ τὸ δειπνῆσαι λέγων· τοῦτο τὸ ποτήριον ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη ἐστὶν ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ αἵματι· τοῦτο ποιεῖτε, ὁσάκις ἐὰν πίνητε, εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνάμνησιν.
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.	²⁶ ὁσάκις γὰρ ἐὰν ἐσθίητε τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον καὶ τὸ ποτήριον πίνητε, τὸν θάνατον τοῦ κυρίου καταγγέλλετε ἄχρι οὗ ἔλθῃ.
²⁷WHOEVER, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. ³⁰ That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.	²⁷ Ὥστε ὃς ἂν ἐσθίῃ τὸν ἄρτον ἢ πίνῃ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ κυρίου ἀναξίως, ἔνοχος ἔσται τοῦ σώματος καὶ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ κυρίου. ²⁸ δοκιμαζέτω δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν καὶ οὕτως ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου ἐσθιέτω καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ποτηρίου πινέτω· ²⁹ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων κρίμα ἑαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει μὴ διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα. ³⁰ διὰ τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν πολλοὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ἄρρωστοι καὶ κοιμῶνται ἱκανοί.

This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2003....x.... ’ “”.