Prayer Exhortation To Martyrdom

Composed c. 233, the treatise on prayer is not merely a treatise, but a prayer itself. The Exhortation was composed c. 235 to provide solace for Origen's great friend and patron, Ambrose, and the presbyter, Protoctetus, both of whom had been imprisoned. +

Here are the important and influential writings of a Christian mystic and early father of the Church. Origen (c. 185-254) was born in Alexandria and lived through the turbulent years during the collapse of the Roman Empire.

In the light of Jesus’s ministry as a whole, his agonized prayer (Gethsemane) is troublesome. He failed to meet the standards of dying “like a man.” How did the first centuries of Christians come to terms with this embarrassing story?