This thread on prayer is interesting and raises a question I've been
puzzling over lately. There seems to have been a great occupation with
the theme of prayer early on in the Church: Tertullian, Origen, and
Cyprian (to name just a few) all wrote treatises dealing with prayer,
particularly the Lord's Prayer, which they exegete catachetically for
initiates to the faith. But later writers seem to approach the topic
differently. Not that they don't deal with it, for of course they do.
But to my knowledge you don't find another De Oratione being written
before 1000. I may be wrong here, but none come to mind.
Also, with the possible exception of Origen, these early writers tend not
to talk about prayer in terms of contemplation, as say Gregory the Great
does. The emphasis seems to be entirely catechetical.
Scott
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