The Prayer of Thanksgiving
Translated by James Brashler, Peter A. Dirkse and Douglas M .Parrott
This the prayer that they spoke:
"We give thanks to You! Every soul and heart is lifted up to
You, undisturbed name, honored with the name 'God' and praised with the
name 'Father', for to everyone and everything (comes) the fatherly kindness
and affection and love, and any teaching there may be that is sweet and
plain, giving us mind, speech, (and) knowledge: mind, so that we may understand
You, speech, so that we may expound You, knowledge, so that we may know
You. We rejoice, having been illuminated by Your knowledge. We rejoice
because You have shown us Yourself. We rejoice because while we were in
(the) body, You have made us divine through Your knowledge.
"The thanksgiving of the man who attains to You is one thing:
that we know You. We have known You, intellectual light. Life of life,
we have known You. Womb of every creature, we have known You. Womb pregnant
with the nature of the Father, we have known You. Eternal permanence of
the begetting Father, thus have we worshiped Your goodness. There is one
petition that we ask: we would be preserved in knowledge. And there is
one protection that we desire: that we not stumble in this kind of life."
When they had said these things in the prayer, they embraced
each other and they went to eat their holy food, which has no blood in
it.
Scribal Note
I have copied this one discourse of his. Indeed, very many
have come to me. I have not copied them because I thought that they had
come to you (pl.). Also, I hesitate to copy these for you because, perhaps
they have (already) come to you, and the matter may burden you. Since the
discourses of that one, which have come to me, are numerous ...
.
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