Why do we pray to individual persons in the Godhead?

[Evan]

Dear friends,

One of the theological issues I'm struggling to wrap my brain around as a catechumen is how it makes sense to pray to the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit as distinct persons, when (as I understand it) every act of God is, strictly speaking, an act of the tri-hypostatic divinity. Thus, the Father is the Source, the Son the Agent, the Spirit the Perfecter of all divine activity. If the Father always acts towards creation by means of His Son, in His Spirit, and there is no action in which the Spirit, but not the Son has a part, or in which the Son, but not the Spirit has a part, or that does not have as its Source the Father... how can we pray thus to the Holy Spirit:

O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere present and fillest all things, Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and dwell in us, and cleanse us of all impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Does such a prayer not "isolate" the Spirit? I am not for a moment suggesting that the Spirit is not a unique person-- the Spirit is an "I am" Who is distinct from both the Father and the Son. But as I understand it, neither is there any activity of the Spirit in which the Father and the Son do not play a part.

Perhaps there's a basic problem with my understanding of the Trinity-- I do hope I'm not lapsing into modalism without knowing it, as I've been told Latin converts have that problem. At any rate, it's sure confusing me at the moment. Hoping for some clarity.

In Christ,
Evan

[Herman Blaydoe]

One God but three Persons. Each Person is unique and deserving of recognition. We are told to pray in Christ's Name uniquely. He prayed specifically to the Father, so why should we treat the Holy Spirit differently than the rest of the Trinity?

[Aidan Kimel]

Prayer to the Father, I think, is the easiest aspect of your question to address. The primitive structure of Christian prayer--to the Father through and with the Son in the Holy Spirit. Prayer is an event that happens in the divine life of God. By baptism we have been united to Jesus the eternal Son and are now given the privilege to share in his communication with his Father in the power of the Spirit. And so in boldness we cry out, "Abba, Father!" We do not stand outside God, as if he were only Creator; we stand in God and share in the rhythm and movement of the Trinitarian life.

[Ben Johnson]

I don't think I have ever seen one pray just to one of the Persons. I usally hear, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spriit" together. I once heard that on account of heresies the Western and Eastern Church had to deal with, when stating the Trinity, the Western Church started with the unity and worked toward the the Persons, while the Eastern Church started with the Persons and worked toward the Unity. Perhaps it is the Eastern emphasis on the Persons you are thinking about?

[Herman Blaydoe]

I don't think I have ever seen one pray just to one of the Persons. I usally hear, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spriit" together. I once heard that on account of heresies the Western and Eastern Church had to deal with, when stating the Trinity, the Western Church started with the unity and worked toward the the Persons, while the Eastern Church started with the Persons and worked toward the Unity. Perhaps it is the Eastern emphasis on the Persons you are thinking about?

The prayer from the Trisagion "O Heavenly King..." is generally understood to be primarily addressed to the Holy Spirit. Therefore from the period from Pascha to Pentecost, it is omitted from the daily prayers because we are in a period of waiting for "the one who comes after", the Holy Spirit who will come at Pentecost.

"The Lord's Prayer" starts "Our Father...", and many prayers are addressed simply to our Lord Jesus, like the Prayer of Jesus: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner". We do it all the time.

[Evan]

Prayer to the Father, I think, is the easiest aspect of your question to address. The primitive structure of Christian prayer--to the Father through and with the Son in the Holy Spirit. Prayer is an event that happens in the divine life of God. By baptism we have been united to Jesus the eternal Son and are now given the privilege to share in his communication with his Father in the power of the Spirit. And so in boldness we cry out, "Abba, Father!" We do not stand outside God, as if he were only Creator; we stand in God and share in the rhythm and movement of the Trinitarian life.

Yes, that's pretty much why I offered the prayer to the Holy Spirit by way of illustrating my confusion. Of course, the one God is, strictly speaking, God the Father-- Who acts through His Son, in His Spirit. All persons are equally God, and thus there are three distinct persons, but the source is the Father. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Father, the Word is the Word of the Father. I can completely understand addresing the Father, because He is the source of all divine activity

I guess I'm asking, why do we "single" out the Word and the Spirit? Surely, they do not act alone. Then again, the Father does not act alone, but only through the Word, in the Spirit.

You know what? Maybe I've just had a long couple of days.

O Lord, enlighten my darkness.

In Christ,
Evan

[Father David Moser]

Each of the persons of the Trinity relate to us in particular and unique ways, eg. Father as provider, Son as redeemer and savior, Holy Spirit as sanctifier (try to look past the similarity to the protestant PC formulation as it is purely coincidental). Thus we address prayers regarding God's provision for us to the Father, prayers regarding our salvation to the Son and prayers regarding leaving behind sin and embracing the virtues to the Holy Spirit. None of the persons of the Trinity act alone - and yet all act within us in particular ways. The clearest example to me of this are the prayers to the Holy Spirit which are prayers of confession (not all prayers addressed to the Holy Spirit are confessional, and yet most confessional prayers are addressed to the Holy Spirit.) The fathers teach that the Holy Spirit is manifested in that inner "voice" that we call our conscience which convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance and hence prayers of particular confession seem to be most often addressed to the Holy Spirit.

Fr David Moser

[Evan]

Each of the persons of the Trinity relate to us in particular and unique ways, eg. Father as provider, Son as redeemer and savior, Holy Spirit as sanctifier (try to look past the similarity to the protestant PC formulation as it is purely coincidental). Thus we address prayers regarding God's provision for us to the Father, prayers regarding our salvation to the Son and prayers regarding leaving behind sin and embracing the virtues to the Holy Spirit. None of the persons of the Trinity act alone - and yet all act within us in particular ways. The clearest example to me of this are the prayers to the Holy Spirit which are prayers of confession (not all prayers addressed to the Holy Spirit are confessional, and yet most confessional prayers are addressed to the Holy Spirit.) The fathers teach that the Holy Spirit is manifested in that inner "voice" that we call our conscience which convicts us of sin and leads us to repentance and hence prayers of particular confession seem to be most often addressed to the Holy Spirit.

Fr David Moser



Thank you Father, this is most helpful.

I do have a couple of remaining questions, however. Many of the prayers in the liturgy, and also in the Jordanville Prayer Book which I now own, generically refer to "Lord" or "God." To whom are these addressed? To the Father, or to the three persons, all at once, all being God (although the divinity of the Son and the Spirit is that of the Father)? Of course, we cannot know the Father except through the Son, in the Spirit.

Also: among the prayers in the Jordanville Prayer Brook is one which is addressed to the Holy Spirit, and refers to Him as "Heavenly King," "Creator" and "Master." It asks the Spirit to "have mercy" and "forgive" us. Given what you've said about the way in which the three persons relate to us, these terms call to my mind the Son, enthroned in majesty, through Whom all things were made, and to Whom all judgment has been given. Perhaps you could shed some light upon this?

In Christ,
Evan

[Father David Moser]

I think that it is best not to "pick apart" the Trinity too much. So all prayers addressed to the Holy Trinity, whether couched in words emphasizing one or the other persons of the Trinity or to the generic "God" or "Lord" should all be considered prayers to the "Holy Consubstantial and Undivided Trinity". The prayer about which you ask (O Heavenly King - "Tsariu Nebesnii") simply reiterates this, that this prayer to the Holy Spirit as "the comforter and spirit of truth" also invokes images of the Father and the Son. You cannot separate them.

Fr David Moser

[Grace Singh]

it would perhaps be best to understand that when you pray to one member of the Trinity, you also address all three. personally, the forms of prayer i hear most often are directed to the Father, and to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Scripturally the earliest Christians pray to the Father primarily, but there are also cases where the Lord Christ is addressed in prayer (Acts 7:59).


Of course, the one God is, strictly speaking, God the Father-- Who acts through His Son, in His Spirit. All persons are equally God, and thus there are three distinct persons, but the source is the Father. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of the Father, the Word is the Word of the Father. I can completely understand addresing the Father, because He is the source of all divine activity.

if you feel most comfortable praying to the Father through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, there is nothing wrong with that at all. know that when you pray to the Father you also appreciate the divinity of Son and Spirit, with whom the Father is One.

Fatehr David Moser is right, you can not seperate them. we know that all three are God, eternal, co-equal, and One.