The Flowering of the Lord’s Prayer Tradition

Abstract

Some churches during the fourth century slowly surrounded the LP with a comfortable, yet firm, desire to be cautious with their precious pearl, which is to say that they sought to keep the LP from outsiders and to expand its importance throughout the life of the church. A furtive attitude toward the prayer may have already existed for some time in places like Tertullian’s and Cyprian’s Carthage in North Africa, as has been shown earlier. However, by the end of the fourth century, some notable authors developed what some scholars have called a discipline of the secret (disciplina arcani). The fourth century came to an end with some strong bishops, such as Ambrose of Milan, promoting a definite secrecy with regard to the LP. This teaching held that, along with other sacred mysteries of the church, like the Eucharist and the Creed, the LP was to be known by Christians alone and hidden from non-Christian outsiders, even those seeking to be baptized. The pearl of great price in any case was to be carefully handled and reverently cherished.