Prayer of the Apostle Paul

Nag Hammadi · 150-300 C.E.

The Prayer of Paul the Apostle is an esoteric prayer. The English text is the public-domain translation from the Coptic by Samuel Zinner, edited by Mark M. Mattison.

The Petition for Union

1[...] [your] light, grant me your [mercy].
My redeemer, redeem me, for [I am] yours, the one who came forth from you.
You are [my] mind; give birth to me. You are my house of treasures; open for me.
You [are] my fullness; embrace me. You are repose; grant me [the] ungraspable perfection.

The Petition for Authority

2I pray to you, the one who is and was, in the name [that is] exalted above every name, through Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of Lords, King of the worlds.
Grant me your gifts, which you regret not, through the Son of Man, the Spirit, the Paraclete [of truth].
Grant me authority [when I] petition you, grant me bodily healing when I petition you through the evangelist,
[and] redeem my eternal soul of light, and my spirit; and the firstborn of the Fullness of grace, to my mind reveal him.

The Petition for Gnosis

3Grant what the eye of angels has not [seen], and what the ear of archons has not heard, and what has not entered the human mind,
which became angelic, and according to the image of the god of the soul, when it was fashioned in the beginning, because I have faith and hope.
And set upon me your beloved, elect, blessed Majesty, you who are the First-born, the First-begotten, and the [wonderful] mystery of your house.
[For] yours is the power [and] the glory and the praise and the greatness, forever and ever. [Amen]. Prayer of Paul, [the] Apostle In Peace. Christ is holy.

Glossary