Prayers  ·  The Our Father

Marble Vault

The Our Father

A traditional Catholic prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

In Latin

Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie, et dimitte nobis debita nostra sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo. Amen.

Where it comes from

God the Father leans out of a crowd of cherubim, and far below Him, on the bare ground, the Christ Child lies on the hem of Our Lady's cloak while Saint Joseph sits and watches. The prayer crosses that whole height in its first two words. Christ taught it twice: in the Sermon on the Mount, as Saint Matthew gives it below, and when His disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, as Saint Luke gives it (Luke 11:2–4). The two versions differ in small details, and the Father does not. He is that far, and He is ours, and each time we say the first word the distance closes.

Herbert Thurston, “Lord's Prayer”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9 (1910): newadvent.org

⁹Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ¹¹Give us this day our supersubstantial bread. ¹²And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. ¹³And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Matthew 6:9–13, Douay-Rheims (Challoner)

More in painting

The traditional prayers  ·  The Rosary