After this manner therefore pray: Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.
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Theophylact of Ochrid
AD 1107
A vow is different from a prayer (Bl. Theophylact here draws attention to the similarity, yet difference, between the Greek words for "vow" and "prayer," euche and pros-euche). A vow is a promise made to God, as, for example, when one vows to abstain from wine, etc. But prayer is a petitioning for good things. By saying "Father," the Lord shows you of what good things you have been deemed worthy, having become a son of God. By saying "in the heavens" He has revealed to you your fatherland and your paternal home. For if you desire to have God as your Father, then look toward heaven and not toward earth. And you must not say, "My Father," but "Our Father," regarding all men as brothers of one and the same Father.
This means, Make us holy, so that Thou mightest be glorified through us. For just as God is blasphemed through me, so also is He hallowed through me, that is, He is glorified as the Holy One.
