The Lord’s Prayer is the quintessential Christian prayer, very simple but also powerful, as it encapsulates many of the fundamental truths of the Christian faith.
The Lord’s Prayer is the only prayer taught directly by Jesus to his disciples, as handed down to us in Matthew’s Gospel: “Therefore you pray thus, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your 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” (Mt 6:9-13).
In 2017, Pope Francis made changes to the text of the Lord’s Prayer, replacing the phrases “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them” with “forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive them,” and “lead us not into temptation” with “do not give in to temptation.” The change to the text has drawn some criticism from the faithful and scholars, but it should be remembered that the Lord’s Prayer has never been unchanging throughout Church history. What matters, however, is not so much the exact word that is used in the prayer, but the deeper meaning it expresses, helping us to draw closer to God and enter into communion with Him.
Prima Bottega pays tribute to the Lord’s Prayer with the Prayer chest, the only one that features the text on a band illuminated by hand-applied gold leaf, capable of discreetly and elegantly enhancing the words of Christian devotion.
