Thanksgiving Address to Origen · §19 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

Farewell prayer: send us off under God's care

Gregory asks Origen to pray for him and to commit him to the care of God, who led him there.

But you, my dear friend, rise and pray, and now send us on our way. As you saved us while we were with you by your sacred teachings, save us by your prayers once we have gone away. Hand us over and commit us; or rather, hand us over to the God who led us to you. Give him thanks for what he has already done for us, and ask him to lead us by the hand in what is to come as well: to stand over us always, to whisper his commands to our minds, and to instill in us his divine fear, which will be the best of tutors. For once we have gone away, it will not be in the freedom we had with you that we obey him. Ask him also that some comfort may come to us from him for our parting from you: that he send a good escort, an angel to travel with us. And ask, too, that he turn us back and bring us to you again. This above all, and this alone, will comfort us.

Greek

Σὺ δὲ ἀναστάς, ὦ φίλη κεφαλή, καὶ εὐξάμενος, ἤδη πέμπε ἡμᾶς, σώσας μὲν παρόντας τοῖς ἱεροῖς σου μαθήμασι, σῴζων δὲ ταῖς εὐχαῖς καὶ ἀποδημήσαντας· καὶ δὴ παραδίδου καὶ παρατίθεσο, μᾶλλον δὲ παραδίδου τῷ ἀγαγόντι ἡμᾶς πρὸς σὲ Θεῷ· εὐχαριστῶν μὲν ἐπὶ τοῖς φθάνουσιν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· παρακαλῶν δὲ χειραγωγεῖν καὶ ἐν τοῖς μέλλουσι, διὰ παντὸς ἐφεστῶτα, ὑπηχοῦντα τῷ νῷ ἡμῶν τὰ αὐτοῦ προστάγματα, ἐμβάλλοντα ἡμῖν τὸν θεῖον φόβον αὐτοῦ παιδαγωγὸν ἄριστον ἐσόμενον. οὐ γὰρ ἐν τῇ μετὰ σοῦ ἐλευθερίᾳ, καὶ ἀπελθόντες ὑπακουσόμεθα αὐτῷ. παρακάλεσον καὶ παραμυθίαν τινὰ ἡμῖν γενέσθαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀπολείψεώς σου· πομπὸν ἀγαθὸν ἐξαποστεῖλαι, συνοδοιπόρον ἄγγελον. αἴτησον δέ, καὶ ἵνα ἐπιστρέψας ἡμᾶς, ἀγάγῃ πρὸς σὲ πάλιν. καὶ τοῦτό γε μάλιστα πάντων, μόνον ἡμᾶς παραμυθήσεται.

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About this text

Gregory's farewell speech to his teacher Origen: how a pagan boy bound for law school in Berytus was led to Caesarea, how Origen taught him logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture, and his grief at leaving. A fresh English translation of the whole address.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this address to his teacher Origen. The speech is an expression of thanks and praise, though Gregory feels inadequate to the task of honoring his teacher.

The occasion is Gregory's farewell to Origen's school at Caesarea. He begins by explaining that he has neither spoken nor written for eight years, and has only listened to philosophers who value accurate investigation over polished speech. He then tells how a guardian angel led him, a pagan boy bound for law studies in Berytus, to Origen, and how Origen trained him in logic, natural science, ethics and the reading of Scripture. He ends by lamenting his departure and asking Origen to pray for him.

A reader will meet Gregory himself as the speaker, and Origen as the subject of the speech. Origen is described as a man who appears human, but to those who can perceive the greatness of his character and habits, seems endowed with greater and nearly divine ornaments.

The opening section (to the point where Gregory turns to his subject) was translated from the Latin column of the Opera omnia print (Paris, 1622). Everything after it, to the closing prayer, was translated from that print's Greek column, read from the page images; the facing Latin was used to settle damaged or abbreviated words. Where the print is hard to construe, a few readings follow Koetschau's edition (1894); each one is named in the translator notes. The older Ante-Nicene Fathers English was used only as a sense check for the opening section.

Printed text used

Translated from Opera omnia, Greek and Latin (Paris: Sonnius, Morel and Cramoisy, 1622), page images (Greek and Latin · Whole address: Latin column for section 1, Greek column for sections 2.1-19)
Translated from Latin of the opening section (Latin · Section 1)
Also checked DjVu text of the same print (Latin and Greek (machine-read text) · Opening)

Where the prints differ

Section 1 — Translated from the Latin column; the Greek of this opening was not used. Long-s and column joins expanded (ductu; nec aut scripsi; historiamve; arte nostra); the editor's argument and notes left out.
Sections 5.1, 5.3 and 6.2 — Abbreviated words read from the page images and the facing Latin: 'father' (πατρός), 'toward our sister' (πρὸς τὴν ἀδελφήν), 'through the whole of this life' (διὰ παντός), 'handing over his charge' (τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδιδούς), 'with difficulty' (δυσχερῶς).
Section 6.3 — The print's doubtful participle (βλέψαν) is rendered with Koetschau's reading βλάψαν ('without doing it any harm').
Sections 7.2 and 8 — The print runs one sentence across the break; it is translated once, at the start of section 8, where Koetschau begins chapter 8.

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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