Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Our Father (The Lord's 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. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.Amen.

Note:
See Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. The Catholic version prayed in the traditional liturgy does not include the concluding Doxology said by Protestants and which is not found in Scripture: "For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, amen." This doxology, though, or at least variations of it, are found as early as the first century, for example, in the Didache. The doxology is used by priests in the new rite of the Mass.

Also, some Catholics strike their breast at the words "forgive us our trespasses" (striking the breast is the classic sign of repentance, made formally during the Confiteor, the Nobis Quoque Peccatoribus, the Agnus Dei, and the Domine, Non Sum Dignus at the Mass, and informally any time to express regret.)

The English line "lead us not into temptation" is actually a bad translation, as God does not and would not actively "lead us" into temptation, a notion that would make Him the Author of evil. Though the Pater has been prayed this way in English for hundreds of years and there is no need to change it now, one must keep in mind that a more literal translation would be "allow us not to succumb to temptation." James 1:13-14: "Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God. For God is not a tempter of evils: and He tempteth no man. But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured."

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