34. The Prayer of Thanksgiving
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I he hermetic Prayer of Thanksgiving is preserved in three ver-
- sions: the Coptic version from the Nag Hammadi library, a
JL. Greek version from Papyrus Mimaut, and a Latin version from
the Latin tractate Asclepius. It was probably originally composed in Greek.
The Coptic version appears immediately after the Discourse on the Eighth
and Ninth in Nag Hammadi Codex VI, in a fine state of preservation. The in-
troduction to the Prayer of Thanksgiving implies that it was spoken by the
teacher and the student of the preceding discourse. In the prayer the wor-
shipers give thanks for having been made divine through knowledge and for
having received the enlightenment that comes from hermetic knowledge and
understanding: "If the instruction is sweet and simple, it grants us mind,
word, and knowledge: mind, that we may understand you; word, that we
may interpret you; knowledge, that we may know you." The prayer closes with
a petition that the knowledge and the life of knowledge continue on and on.
After the prayer, the text reports that those who prayed together embraced
(with a kiss?) and shared a vegetarian meal.
