The Term «Prayer» in «Apophthegmata Patrum»: Prayers of Supplication and Prayers of Praise

«Apophthegmata Patrum» or the «Sayings of the Desert Fathers» is a unique collection of texts depicting the life of the monks of Lower Egypt among which the practice of the «Jesus Prayer» was emerged. The history of the genesis of this practice has many controversial and unresolved issues, so the study of the prayer practice of the monks of «Apophthegms» is important for understanding this genesis. The conceptual and terminological analysis of texts containing information about the prayer practice of the monks plays an essential role in this study. Continuing our review of prayer terminology in the «Apophthegmata Patrum», this paper will examine the Greek terms that designate supplication and praise prayers. These two types of prayers trace their roots back to the two main sources of Christian tradition: the ancient Greco-Roman and the Jewish tradition, which have determined the overall prayer terminology in the «Apophthegmata Patrum». The terminological analysis on this paper is based on the Greek texts of the «Apophthegms» some of which are missing in Russian translations. The main method used in the work is contextual analysis. The research has shown that in the «Apophthegms» the prayer terminology concerning prayers-requests and prayers of praise continues the tradition of early Christian word-use in general, but at the same time there is some peculiarities. We can notice that the different groups of apophthegms prefer one of the synonyms denoting the prayer-request. The terms blessing and glorification in the context of prayers to God occur less frequently in the «Apophthegms» than in the Christian literature of the first centuries and are usually associated with instructions for unceasing prayer. It can also be noted that prayers to God in the «Apophthegms» and in early monastic texts in general have greater simplicity and directness, which sometimes go beyond our usual idea of the reverent address to God necessary for prayer.

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