popular and loved in the Orthodox church prayer "Heavenly King, Comforter ..." traditionally refers to the Holy Spirit - the third person of the Trinity, according to the Orthodox trinitologii.Mostly common in Church Slavonic translation, which is reflected on the specifics of vocalizations - the correct reading, and pronunciation of text.The prayer "Heavenly King" with the emphasis given in any Orthodox prayers.
Origin
history of this prayer has a thousand years.Maybe a little more.In any case, it is not known liturgical statute of IX century Constantinople, which allows a high degree of confidence attributed during her appearance at the end of IX-X centuries.
modern use
Currently, the most commonly used as an invocation - prayer before God calling group or personal prayer.In common parlance it is called Orthodox "the beginning of the ordinary", which includes, in addition to the aforesaid, even so-called Trisagion, a prayer to the Holy Trinity and the "Our Father."
in worship as the verses used at Vespers, dedicated to the Day of Pentecost and the Holy Trinity.Probably, because of temple worship prayer "Heavenly King" was moved to the tradition of prayer in secret and home practice.
authorship and origins of this prayer is unfortunately unknown.It could equally well be the creation of a hermit-monk-emperor hymnography or adaptation of "heretical" prayer, the first born, for example, in the iconoclastic circles.Such precedents Orthodox hymnography not uncommon.
Orthodox interpretation
«Heavenly King" - prayer, the text of which is filled with dogmatic sense for Orthodox consciousness.As already noted, the appeal is addressed to the Holy Spirit.It is important to bear in mind that the Orthodox faith, being monotheistic, recognizes the three persons of the One God.Each incarnation is allowed to apply separately, as a separate entity.At the same postulated their essential unity.
Heavenly King - the title of which is vested Almighty.Extrapolation of God earthly political regalia dates back to Judaism, where God is called Yahweh lord, seated on the cherubim, on the throne (see. Ps. 79: 2).Another source, reinforcing similar titles of - the Roman Empire, in which Caesar concentrates full power and authority.Accordingly, the scope of the divine kingdom is likened to God-Emperor headed.This can be seen also on samples of iconography, where Christ is depicted seated on a throne in royal garb.And by virtue of the essential unity, royal dignity given to all persons of the Trinity.
Then God called the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, omnipresent and all fulfilling.The latter definition is just filling a space in the universe, not the fulfillment of all human desires.
Treasury of blessings and Giver of life - concluding adjectives and titles.This is followed by a request for the descent: "Come and abide in us."Otherwise it can be translated as "dwelt among us."This is a key phrase in the entire prayer.The semantics of it lies in the prophecy of Joel about the outpouring of the Spirit and his prophetic gifts (see. Ioil.2: 28-30).According to Orthodox doctrine, the prophecy is fulfilled on the fiftieth day after Christ's ascension.Narrating about these events, the book of Acts says that Christ "... being exalted to the right hand of God and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, poured out ..." (Acts 2: 33).Thus, the prayer "Heavenly King", as the liturgy of Pentecost, is not just a petition for clemency of the Holy Spirit, but the outpouring of His presence, and the charismatic anointing message mysteriological gift.New Testament tradition to this anointing Spirit of John the Baptist are the prophecies of the Messiah who will baptize his disciples "with the Holy Spirit" (Matt. 3:11).Also, it is treated the words attributed to Jesus: "... pray the Father, and give you ... the Spirit of truth" (John 14: 16-17).
theology and practical value of prayer "Heavenly King»
In light of this pneumatological anointing prayer "Heavenly King" is used at the beginning of every group worship and rites, as well as personal prayer, to make the heave offerings of prayer inspired,filled with the presence and action of the Spirit.
final words are a prayer request for the purification and salvation.It's pretty standard for the Orthodox hymnography elements.
Alternative pneumatology
«Heavenly King" - a prayer, and the semantics of the text which refer to the Holy Spirit - the face of the Christian God the Trinity.However, it must be remembered that the concept of the Holy Spirit came to Christianity from Judaism, where the Holy Spirit is seen more as a attribute of God, the personification of His actions and manifestations of divine power.Spirit is, according to the beliefs of the prophets and patriarchs of the Tanakh, impersonal force or power of the Most High, and if personified, the most highly conditional - as an artistic device.Although there were exceptions, most of all, the early Christians of orthodox orientation imagined the Holy Spirit in a similar way.This we can say on the basis of the first writings of the Church Fathers and theologians of the ante-Nicene period.This early tradition of orthodoxy as opposed to innovation Catholicism retained Arian church.Even in a Catholic environment after I Ecumenical Cathedral of the doctrine of the person of the Holy Spirit had a lot of enemies, as evidenced by the forced diplomatic silence on the subject of St. Basil the Great - Cappadocian theologian who in alliance with the saints.Gregory the Theologian and holy.Gregory of Nyssa has created despite the early patristic subordinationism modern orthodox Catholic doctrine of the Trinity and the equality of its people.
Holy Spirit as the Wisdom of God
Of course, these two schools of early Christianity is not exhaustive.Even before the birth of Christianity in a Jewish environment, the Holy Spirit (Heb. Ruach Ha Kadosh - by the way, feminine) was identified with the divine wisdom (Heb. Funny).References to this are contained in the text of the Old Testament, where the Spirit has repeatedly called the Spirit of Wisdom, for example, "shall rest upon him the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom ..." (Isa. 11: 2).Therefore, the Spirit is personified Wisdom, can represent some Jews and adherents of the Christian communities of the Gnostic sense as a female incarnation of God.Confirmation of this can be found, for example, in the Gnostic Gospel of Philip, where the Spirit is called a virgin.
The Greek word "pneuma" ("spirit") - neuter and construed in favor of the preferred tradition.
Gnostic undertones
Funny Wisdom-Sophia, she is the Holy Spirit - one of the most important characters in Gnostic mythology.Summarizing the conflicting information about it can be noted that due to an error of Sofia appeared the visible material world - the world of evil.Thanks Sophia same occurs and rescue fallen humanity from the bondage of matter.Hints of the original Gnostic-Sophiological rumors of early Christianity can be found even in the canonical text of the New Testament: "Sofia is justified by all her creatures" (Luk.7: 35).
Taking all this into consideration, prayer Heavenly King appears as the prayer of the Queen of Heaven.Mother of God, that is, the Virgin Mary, with no place in the soteriology or on a celestial throne.This Gospel of Philip says: "Some said that Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.They were wrong ... When a woman has suffered from a woman? "(Heb. Phil. 17).
Trying Gnostic interpretation
Prayer to the Holy Spirit "Heavenly King", subjected to rethink the Gnostic, allows us to interpret it as a vocation Wisdom - female divine incarnation or emanation.Sofia is the Spirit of truth, as stores and reports dedicated to the mystery of his true good God contrary to the material world and the deceitfulness of his evil god-demiurge.Therefore, it is also a treasure trove of benefits.Last epithet in the context of all the Gnostic speculations on the heavenly treasures is much more complicated than might appear at first glance.But this is beyond the scope of this article.Wisdom is the giver of life, because it is thanks to her matter makes possible the existence of life, according to the Tanach - God created the world through Sofia (see. Prit.8: 22).Cleansing from all filthiness of this perspective is the purification from the contamination of matter - the spiritual ignorance, delusion and passion.Salvation is understood as liberation from the power of the material cosmos and its rulers, followed by a return to the fullness of the divine - pleroma.In this scenario, "Heavenly King" directed not to God.Rather, it is the prayer of the heavenly patron - incarnation of the divine feminine and wisdom.
Conclusion Of course, such an interpretation is somewhat arbitrary, especially given the lack of real evidence to suggest Gnostic sources of the invocation.However, the prayer "Heavenly King" is broader roots of their faith, and because of its versatility allows you to adapt yourself to different theological systems, as previously pagan hymns adapted to the needs of Christian and Jewish.
