Abstract
In the fourth prayer of the Our Father, there are two points of interest for early Christian writers. The first of those is the meaning of the word 'bread' in this prayer.
The second one is the sense of the Greek term epioúsion, used only here in the whole of the ancient Greek literature. The paper follows the traditions of the explanation of these two terms throughout the Patristic era, starting from Tertullian and Origen, proceeding through the mystagogical catecheses of Cyril of Jerusalem and Ambrose as well as the Antiochene authors, such as John Chrysostom and Theodor of Mopsuestia, and finishing with the full development of early Christian ideas in Augustine and Maxim the Confessor.
The Patristic lines of thought have enriched Christian reflection upon the prayer throughout the Middle Ages to the present times and represent a must-read for anyone who is seriously interested in what he or she prays in the Our Father, which Christ gave to his disciples.