O Heavenly King dwell within us

Abstract

According to the Coptic tradition, believers pray daily the Third Hour (according to the Hebrew tradition) which corresponds to Nine O’clock AM, reflecting on the event of the Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, 10 days after the ascension of Lord Jesus. The Gospel of the third hour states clearly the promise of Lord Jesus to send the Holy Spirit, from the Father, upon the disciples. And that He will teach them and remind them of all which He had said to them. As is the case with all other hourly prayers, the gospel is followed by the litanies, again which reflect on the same event. The fourth litany reads: ‘O Heavenly King the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who is everywhere and fills everybody, come and dwell within us, you the Righteous One and save our souls’. This prayer is shared by many churches, including the Greek, Syrian, and Maronite churches. The Arabic of the word dwell ‘حل’ may give an inaccurate impression, of calling upon the Holy Spirit to descend upon the believers. We hereby discuss the Coptic and Greek linguistic evidence for the accurate meaning of the word. We conclude that the accurate meaning is ‘abide within us’ or ‘stay with us’, since the believer declares in the first and second litanies of the third hour, the presence of the Holy Spirit within his/her heart and asks for His renewal, with the Arabic request adjusted accordingly to ‘اسكن فينا، امكث فينا، أقم فينا’.