The Lord’s prayer: “Our Father" 59 GRECO, El The Agony in the Garden c Oil on canvas, 104 x 117 cm Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio

Compendium of the Catechism 578. What is the origin of the Our Father? Jesus taught us this Christian prayer for which there is no substitute, the Our Father, on the day on which one of his disciples saw him praying and asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). The Church’s liturgical tradition has always used the text of Saint Matthew (6:9-13).

Introduction One day, after Jesus had finished praying to his heavenly Father, one of his disciples said:  " Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples " (Luke 11:1) It was then that he taught them the Our Father (Cf. Matthew 6:9-13). The Our Father should be our favourite prayer because God himself taught it to us. BELLINI, Giovanni Agony in the Garden (detail) c Tempera on wood National Gallery, London

Main ideas

1. The Our Father the most important prayer The most important prayer of Christians is the Our Father, the prayer the apostles learned from Jesus’ lips. Tertullian said that “the Lord’s prayer is truly the summary of the whole Gospel”. No doubt it is the most perfect, it being the prayer par excellence of the Church. GOODALL, Frederick ( ) Already He knew God As His Father Oil on canvas x 91.4 cm Private collection

2. Jesus Christ taught us the Our Father Jesus Christ taught us the words with which we have to address our heavenly Father. The Our Father is the prayer most pleasing to God. We should recite it with attention and devotion, conscious of what we say, so that our heart identifies with the words we pronounce. Doing so will help us to know the meaning of the words. RODRIGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELASQUEZ, Diego Supper at Emmaus 1620 Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, USA

3. The contents of the Our Father The Our Father includes an initial invocation and seven petitions :  Initial invocation: Our Father who art in heaven.  1st petition: Hallowed be thy name.  2nd petition: Thy kingdom come.  3rd petition: Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  4th petition: Give us this day our daily bread.  5th petition: Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.  6th petition: Lead us not into temptation.  7th petition: Deliver us from evil. To confirm our petitions we add Amen. WEST COPE, Charles Florence Cope Saying Grace at Dinnertime Private Collection

4. To pray the Our Father with devotion Since the Our Father is so beautiful and so pleasing to God, logically we should try to say it with special attention. We cannot recite it like a machine pronouncing the words with our lips while our mind and heart are elsewhere; we have to recite it with attention and devotion. WOOD, Christopher Breton Woman at Prayer Southampton City Art Gallery Hampshire, UK

Resolutions for Christian life

Resolutions to move forward Review – get to know very well – the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Pray with attention and devotion all vocal prayers, especially the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Meditate once in a while the Our Father and the Hail Mary to better understand what we pray.