Prayers and Vows

Prayers are those by which we offer or vow something to God. The Greeks call this euche, that is, a vow. For where we read in Greek, tas euchas mou to kyrio apodoso, we read in Latin, “I will pay my vows to the Lord,” which, by the exact force of the words, could be put this way: “I will pay my prayers to the Lord.” And this, which we find in Ecclesiastes, “If you vow a vow to the Lord, do not delay to pay it,” is written in the same way in Greek: ean euxe euchen to kyrio, that is, “If you pray a prayer to the Lord, do not delay to pay it.” [a]

Each one of us fulfills this in the following way. We pray when we renounce this world and promise that, being dead to all worldly business and the life of this world, we will serve the Lord with full purpose of heart. We pray when we promise that, despising worldly honors and scorning earthly riches, we will hold fast to the Lord in all sorrow of heart and humility of spirit. We pray when we promise that we will always keep the most perfect purity of body and steady patience, or when we vow that we will tear out completely from our heart the roots of anger, or of the sorrow that brings death. And if we grow slack with laziness, go back to our former sins, and fail to do this, we will be guilty in respect of our prayers and vows, and these words will apply to us: “It is better not to vow than to vow and not to pay.” Following the Greek, this can be rendered: “It is better for you not to pray than to pray and not to pay.”