The Our Father, also called the Lord’s Prayer, is the prayer Jesus himself taught his disciples. Catholics pray it at every Mass, in every decade of the Rosary and at the start of countless other devotions. Here are the full words as the Catholic Church prays them in English:
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.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls it “the summary of the whole gospel,” quoting the early Christian writer Tertullian (CCC 2761). Below you will find the Latin text, the Bible passages it comes from, the meaning of each of its seven petitions, and answers to questions such as why Catholics usually stop at “deliver us from evil.”
Where the Our Father is in the Bible
The prayer appears twice in the Gospels:
- Matthew 6:9–13, in the Sermon on the Mount. This longer version has seven petitions and is the one the Church uses in the liturgy (CCC 2759).
- Luke 11:2–4, where a disciple asks, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus answers with a shorter version of five petitions.
The Douay-Rheims Bible translates St. Matthew’s Greek word for “daily” (epiousios) as “supersubstantial bread.” It is a rare word that the Church has always read on several levels: the food we need today, and the Bread of Life given in the Eucharist (CCC 2837).
The Our Father in Latin (Pater Noster)
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.
The Latin opening words, Pater noster, give the prayer its traditional name. Rosary beads were once called “paternosters” for the same reason.
The seven petitions and what they mean
After the opening address, the prayer makes seven requests. The Catechism explains that the first three are about God’s glory and the last four bring our own needs to him (CCC 2803, 2857).
| Line | Petition | What we are asking |
|---|---|---|
| Our Father, who art in heaven | The address | We speak to God as his children, together with all our brothers and sisters (“our,” not “my”). “Heaven” is not a distant place but God’s majesty and his presence. |
| Hallowed be thy name | 1 | That God’s name be known and honored as holy, beginning in our own lives. |
| Thy kingdom come | 2 | That Christ’s reign grow in hearts now and come in fullness at his return. |
| Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven | 3 | That we, and the whole world, do what God wants as perfectly as the angels and saints do. |
| Give us this day our daily bread | 4 | Everything we need to live today, and above all the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. |
| Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us | 5 | God’s mercy for our sins. We ask him to measure it by our own forgiveness of others, a bold request that should make us forgive. |
| Lead us not into temptation | 6 | That God not let us take the road that leads to sin, and that he give us strength when we are tested. God tempts no one (James 1:13). |
| But deliver us from evil | 7 | Rescue from Satan, “the evil one,” and from every evil, past, present and future. |
Amen means “so be it.” St. Cyril of Jerusalem taught that by saying it we ratify everything the prayer contains (CCC 2856).
Why Catholics end with “deliver us from evil”
Many Protestant Christians add, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.” Catholics usually do not, for a simple reason. These words, called a doxology, are not found in the oldest manuscripts of St. Matthew’s Gospel, and the Latin Vulgate does not contain them.
The words are ancient, though. The Catechism notes that an early Christian text, the Didache, already ends the prayer with a doxology (CCC 2760). Catholics do pray it at Mass. After the Our Father, the priest continues with a short prayer for deliverance and peace, and then the whole congregation responds with the doxology, “For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, now and for ever” (CCC 2855). The two traditions are closer than they appear.
When Catholics pray the Our Father
- At Mass. After the Eucharistic Prayer and before Communion, the whole assembly prays it together, standing.
- In the Rosary. One Our Father begins each decade. See today’s Rosary mysteries.
- In the Liturgy of the Hours. It is prayed at Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer every day.
- At Baptism. The family prays it together near the end of the rite, and adults preparing for Baptism are formally presented with it during Lent as the prayer of God’s children.
- Morning and night. It belongs in every simple daily routine. See our Catholic prayers guide for a short daily pattern.
How to pray the Our Father well
The Our Father is short, so the danger is saying it too quickly. A few ways to pray it with attention:
- Pause after “Our Father.” Remember whom you are speaking to and that you are his child.
- Pray it one petition at a time. Stop after each line and let it apply to your day. Whose name are you honoring? Where is God’s will hard for you today?
- Name someone at “as we forgive.” Think of one person you need to forgive and ask for the grace to do it.
- Pray it slowly as a meditation. Take five minutes over a single Our Father, dwelling on each phrase. St. Teresa of Ávila built a whole book on prayer, The Way of Perfection, around its petitions.
Frequently asked questions
Is it “trespasses” or “debts”?
St. Matthew’s Greek speaks of “debts,” and Douay-Rheims follows it (“forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors”). St. Luke says “sins.” English-speaking Catholics, like Anglicans, have long prayed “trespasses.” All three express the same request for forgiveness.
Did the Pope change the words of the Our Father?
Not in English. In recent years the French-language Missal (2017) and the Italian Missal (in use from 2020–2021) adopted new wording for “lead us not into temptation,” closer to “do not let us fall into temptation,” and Pope Francis supported the Italian change. The English Mass text did not change.
What is the difference between the Our Father and the Lord’s Prayer?
None. “Our Father” comes from its first words; “Lord’s Prayer” means the prayer given by the Lord (CCC 2765).
Do Catholics and Protestants pray the same Our Father?
The core prayer is the same. The main difference is the doxology at the end, explained above, and small differences of wording such as “who art” or “which art.”
More Catholic prayers
- Catholic prayers: the basic prayers every Catholic should know
- The Hail Mary prayer
- The Apostles’ Creed
- The Act of Contrition
- The mysteries of the Rosary
Texts and sources
- English text: A Catechism of Christian Doctrine, No. 3 (Baltimore Catechism, ed. Kinkead, 1891), “The Lord’s Prayer,” public domain (Project Gutenberg).
- Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:1–4; James 1:13, Douay-Rheims Bible.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2759–2760, 2761, 2765, 2803, 2837, 2855–2856, 2857.