A Prayer for Cleansing
The prayers of the first Christians are packed with wisdom! There's so much to uncover and learn from the prayers of Christians in the first few centuries following the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus! They lived in a cultural era where being true to their Christian faith presented many challenges. Their resilience and their prayers are truly inspiring. Their example and prayers serve as a compelling reminder of how to move through challenging moments with elegance and strength.
The following prayer is from Origen. It's a prayer hungering for deeper fellowship with Christ—whatever the cost. You'll discover below a short overview of his work in the church, his original prayer, and my adaption of his prayer
Origen’s Life and Contributions
Origen lived between the years of 185 a.d. in Alexandria, Egypt, and died in 254 a.d. in Lebanon. He was the teenager who desired to die for Christ when his father suffered a martyr’s death due to his faith in Christ. He was the defender of the faith who kept seven secretaries busy recording what would become thousands of works. He longed for such a close relationship with Christ that he fasted every Wednesday and Friday. He was a brilliant scholar whose active mind speculated about ideas that the church later viewed as unorthodox, causing the church to excommunicate him and brand him a heretic. While he made mistakes, Gregory of Nazianzus, the great church father of the next century, said of Origen that he was the stone that sharpened us all.1
While recognizing his significant errors within orthodoxy — ideas and beliefs do matter, after all — I find Origen a source of encouragement. A criterion for longing for Jesus is not perfection. One doesn't have to be flawless to desire Jesus. One may wander, yet still yearn for Jesus.
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A Prayer of Origen
Jesus, my feet are dirty. Come even as a slave to me, pour water into your bowl, come and wash my feet. In asking such a thing I know I am overbold, but I dread what was threatened when you said to me, “If I do not wash your feet I have no fellowship with you.” Wash my feet then, because I long for your companionship.
A Blessing for Your Sunday
May you be given the brilliant gift of a fellowship today where you feel free to pray, “Jesus, my feet are dirty. Come, wash my feet. I long for you.”
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https://news.nd.edu/news/sharpening-father-heintz/#:~:text=He%20was%20described%20by%20Saint%20Gregory%20of,us%20all.%20Origen%20has%20undeniably%20sharpened%20Rev.