His Beatitude Sviatoslav about the Lord’s prayer: This is a real school of Christian prayer

At the beginning of the video catechesis, His Beatitude Sviatoslav noted that when the apostles saw Jesus Christ praying, they asked Him, "Teacher, teach us to pray." And then, in response to their request, Christ invited them to the first-ever school of Christian prayer. Because this prayer of the apostles was taught by the Lord Himself, it is also called the Lord's Prayer.

"The Holy Fathers of the Church said that the Lord's Prayer is the heart of all Scripture. Therefore, before you learn the Holy Scriptures, you need to study the Lord's Prayer," said the Head of the Church.

He also added that this prayer has an interesting structure, a certain rhythm. It begins with an appeal to Heavenly Father. "It immediately becomes clear to whom we are praying," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav. "Then there are seven requests, pleas, and in each of them we ask for something - each time for something different, for something that is important for each of us at the moment," said the Head of the Church, inviting everyone to plunge into the rhythm, meaning, and spirit of the Lord's Prayer.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav devoted the main part of the program to the explanation of the first two words of the Lord's Prayer. According to him, addressing God as "Father," we talk to Him like children to their dearest person, to their own father. Everyone who receives the Sacrament of Baptism becomes a son or daughter of God," explained the Head of the UGCC.

The Primate also added that to be sons and daughters of God means to have certain rights, certain power, certain opportunities. And we become Lord’s children because God pours His Spirit into our hearts.

Continuing, His Beatitude Sviatoslav told a story: “I once witnessed such an event. A little boy got lost in a store in Jerusalem. And when he saw that he was left alone in this commotion, he began to cry out in biblical words: ‘Abba, abba, effatha!’ which means, ‘Daddy, Daddy, open up to me! Where are you?’"

According to the Head of the Church, if we learn to cry out to God like this Jewish boy and like a child who seeks salvation in the midst of his own loss in the world, then we will begin to pray well.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav also emphasized that the word "Our" indicates that Heavenly Father is not someone’s private property. "We cannot privatize our God to ourselves, even when we truly believe in Him. He is the Father of all men: rich and poor, powerful and weak - because we are God’s children of God, as a community, as a Church, as sons and daughters of one Heavenly Father," explained the bishop.

We remind you that the video project of "Zhyve Television" "His Beatitude Sviatoslav: #clearly_about_complicated" started on May 16, 2020.  In short videos, the Head of the UGCC explains important Christian truths in an accessible way. The next series will be devoted to the explanation of the Lord’s prayer. You can watch the new issues of the catechesis on the Zhyve TV channel on YouTube or its page on Facebook every Saturday at 9 p.m.

The UGCC Department for Information