Ancient Christian Prayers
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This book is a collection of the most ancient prayers that Christians have used to praise God whom they have recognized in the Lord Jesus Christ. Properly so, the book begins with the prayer the Lord taught us to say: the Lord’s Prayer. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the Lord’s Prayer is the most perfect of all prayers. I will present it in its most primitive state: the Greek version we find in Matthew’s Gospel. The author of the gospel wrote it in Greek around 71 A.D. for his audience at Antioch, the capital of the Roman province of Syria, which had a mixed population of Greek-speaking Gentiles and Jews. Jerome translated the Greek into Latin around 382 A.D. and it became known then as the "Pater Noster", from the first two words. Our version of "The Lord’s Prayer", said by Catholics and Protestants alike, is attributed to an ordinance of King Henry VIII in 1541. The English translation of it came from William Tyndale’s New Testament published in 1525. We will take a good, long look at the contents of the "Our Father" in order to capture its lofty richness. Then we go to John the Evangelist, who has preserved the words of Christ at the Last Supper, which have been called "The High Priestly" prayer. I will present it in the form of a litany that could be sung in plain chant in church. Our Lord’s mother, Mary, is said by Luke to have said the "Magnificat", a beautiful collection of Old Testament themes. We think that Luke put that prayer on her lips as he was writing his gospel to show us how the Virgin was accustomed to pray. It is a model hymn of thanksgiving par excellence, sung at Vespers: "Magnificat anima mea Dominum". St. Paul’s Epistles are also a source for some beautiful prayers. They contain some hymns that Paul must have remembered from ancient Christian liturgies: "Awake, O sleeper The mystical prayers of John the Evangelist taken from his book, the Revelation, flow into the prayers of the early martyrs, filled with enthusiastic faith in the risen Christ: "Holy, Holy, Holy We recite the prayers of the bishop as he baptizes new Christians, taken from the "Apostolic Traditions", composed in Rome around the year 200 A.D.: "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, The Latin Fathers of the Church, Hilary of Poitiers and Ambrose of Milan, bring us prayers like the beautiful "Te Deum" and the "Aeterne Rerum Conditor", and the magnificent Augustine of Hippo prays to God in his "Confessions" and in his "City of God" as a son speaks with his loving father: "Sero te amavi, Pulcritudo, tam antiqua et tam nova Late have I loved you, Beauty, so ancient and yet so new; In his Confessions, Augustine prays to God as one would talk with a lover, intimately, person-to-person. Intimacy in prayer is the characteristic of the whole book, which is, in fact, one long, extended prayer to his Creator and Savior. One must read the Latin words he wrote slowly, and, perhaps, again and again to savor the tenderness as he speaks to God, especially that place where he calls the Son the Victor and the Victim, and, as victim, the Victor again. And finally, Augustine captures the heart of one’s spiritual life when he writes: "Tu excitas ut laudare delectet, You inspire us so that one takes joy in praising you Quia fecisti nos ad te Because you made us for yourself Et inquietum est cor nostrum And our heart is restless Donec requiescat in te." Until it rests in you. There is where Augustine capture’s man’s desire to praise God because God is the Good. This is the spirit of this book, "Ancient Christian Prayers". May we learn from the ancient Christians how to praise God in prayer because he is "The Good". Then may we use these prayers again and again and ask God to inspire us so that we may take joy in praising Jesus Christ, the Victor and the Victim, and, as victim, the Victor again.
Rise up from the dead
And Christ will shine on you."
Is the Lord God almighty
Who ever was, and who is, and who is to come."
The holy church
And the resurrection of the body?"
Sero te amavi."
Late have I loved you."
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About the Book
Ichthus (Fish) In the early Church the Greek word "Ichthus", which means fish, was taken as a symbol of Jesus Christ. The origin of the fish symbol seems to be that the five letters of the word Ichthus are also the first five letters of the Greek phrase: "Iesous Xristos Theou Yios Soter" Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior There is an epitaph on a stone found at Autun that dates back to the end of the second century. It is called the "Inscription by Pectorius of Autun" and it reads: "Ichthus-born, divine children of a heavenly father . . . May my mother sleep well, I beg you, Light of the dead. Ascadius, father, dear to my heart, And you, sweet mother, you, my brothers, Having the peace of the Ichthus, Remember Pectorius." (D.A.C.L., I: 3196) The earliest Christian art was mainly symbolical. Christ was represented by a fish (Ichthus) or a young shepherd while a ship symbolized the Church and an anchor, hope. The Ichthus is frequently found in the catacombs in combination with bread and wine symbolizing the Eucharist. We can learn the mentality of the early Christians by their prayers, many of which are in this book, Ancient Christian Prayers.
About the Author
Wallace S. Jungers, S.T.B., is a graduate of Woodstock College in Theology, where he studied under the renowned theologian, John Courtney Murray. He also has been awarded degrees in Philosophy, Ph. L., and in Chemistry, B.S. Mr. Jungers taught Chemistry at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia and at Loyola College in Baltimore. With this work on "Ancient Christian Prayers", he continues his research into Early Christianity, which he began with his other books: Jesus Christ in Glory (Rev. 2nd Ed.), St. Paul, St. John and St. Augustine, Reflections on Christ in Glory, Prayers of Early Christianity, Of the Holy Spirit, Resurrection, The Beautiful One, Augustine Latine, The Evidence of Christianity, The Confessions of St. Augustine, and The Passion of Jesus Christ. From the viewpoint of a modern Christian, Mr. Jungers has been explaining the New Testament to believers who are searching for a better understanding of the "vera et sincera" (true and honest) deeds of Jesus of Nazareth. Well versed in Greek and Latin, Mr. Jungers translates from the Greek text of Mr. Kurt Aland et alii (4th Ed), called UBS4. As an advocate of the modern trend of "Praying the Scriptures", Mr. Jungers brings life to these ancient documents, which form the basis of the Christian Faith. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Sue, who is the long-term principal of Mt. Carmel Academy. They have two married daughters, Jane and Jennifer, and one grandson, Kurtis.