Lords Prayer

The Lord's Prayer (sometimes known by its first two Latin words as the Pater Noster, or the English equivalent Our Father) is probably the most well-known prayer in the Christian religion. The Lord's Prayer is excerpted from Chapter 11, verses 2-4, of the Gospel of St. Luke in the New Testament. (The same prayer also appears in Matthew 6:9-13).

It is called the "Lord's Prayer" because it was a prayer given by Jesus Christ (ie. the "Lord") as response to a request from the Apostles for guidance on how to pray. Most Christian theologians point out that Jesus Christ would have never used this prayer himself, for it specifically asks for forgiveness of sins, and in most schools of Christian thought, Christ was incapable of sin. The Gospel according to St Matthew recounts a very similar set of guidelines given during the Sermon on the Mount.

Although numerous variations exist, this version, from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, is a fairly well known example:

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.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

When the Lord's Prayer is recited in the Roman Catholic mass (Novus Ordo), an additional section, recited by the Priest alone, is inserted before the final doxology ("For thine is the kingdom", etc.):

All.

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.

Priest.

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil,

and grant us peace in our day.

In your mercy keep us free from sin

and protect us from all anxiety

as we wait in joyful hope

for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

All.

For the kingdom,

the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Catholics, when reciting the Lord's prayer, omit the doxology, since in the Mass it is separated from the rest of the prayer by the additional section.

The doxology was probably not present in the original version of the prayer, but rather was added to the Gospel's as a result of its use in the liturgy of the early church.

The language Jesus spoke was Aramaic; Here is a version of the Pater Noster in Aramaic:

Abwoon d'bwashmaya,

Nethqadash shmakh,

Teytey malkuthakh.

Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d'bwashmaya aph b'arha.

Hawvlan lachma d'sunqanan yaomana.

Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn)

aykana daph khnan shbwoqan l'khayyabayn.

Wela tahlan l'nesyuna.

Ela patzan min bisha.

Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l'ahlam almin.

Amen.

A refugee from Romania, now living in California, started the project of collection the Lord's Prayer in as many different languages as possible. The outside link to his site for the full version in Aramaic is: http://www.christusrex.com/www1/pater/JPN-aramaic.html

Gothic bishop Ulfilas wrote down the "Atta Unsar" or "Lord's Prayer" in circa 350 AD. Here is one version :

Atta unsar thu in himinam,

weihnai namo thein,

quimai thiudinassus theins,

wairthai wilja theins,

swe in himina jah ana airthai.

hlaif unsarana thana sinteinan gib uns himma daga,

jah aflet uns thatei skulans sijaima,

swaswe jah weis afletam thaim skulam unsaraim,

jah ni briggais uns in fraistubnjai,

ak lausei uns af thamma ubilin;

unte theina ist thiudangardi

jah mahts jah wulthus in aiwins.

Amen.

/Talk