1

In my local community's Bible study last night I was surprised that the RSV's rendition of the Lord's Prayer did not include the phrase usually rendered as "for thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, for ever, Amen." Instead, the RSV indicates that only "some" early manuscripts include this part of the prayer. So the prayer in the RSV of Matt. 6 reads:

"9 Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
    On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread;[a]
12 And forgive us our debts,
    As we also have forgiven our debtors;
13 And lead us not into temptation,
    But deliver us from evil.[b]"

The footnote [b] reads: Or the evil one. Other authorities, some ancient, add, in some form, For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Here is a link that shows how various translators handle Matthew 6:13. Click on the specific translation to see any added footnotes.

I am wondering which if any churches have updated their liturgical tradition based on modern textual criticism of this text. Or, more practically, which churches no longer include the phrase about God's Kingdom, Power and Glory in the Lord's prayer? (Answers from any tradition welcome, as well as survey answers if available.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Matthew%206:13

Improve this question
2
  • The Catholic Church traditionally omitted this sentence. The new mass introduced in 1969 added it in (but, if I remember correctly, it retained another prayer between the traditional one and the addition, so the result could be described as partially Protestant).
    – Andreas Blass
    Feb 9 at 22:02
  • Note that the Lord's Prayer has two sources: Mt 6:9–13 and Lk 11:2–4, and the Lucan form makes no mention of this last verse, as well.
    – Wtrmute
    Feb 10 at 0:04

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
2

In the Lord's Prayer, do some Churches Omit "Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory," as a later addition?

For Roman Catholics the traditional Mass omits the phrasing. In the Mass of Pope Paul VI the phrase is equally not said as immediately part of the Our Father.

The liturgy of the Mass, known as the Tridentine Mass does not have the extended phrase ”For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.” The Order of the Mass (The Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite)

In the Mass of Pope Paul VI the extended doxology is not said at Mass. See: The Order of Mass The extended part is in the New Mass, but a prayer (Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ) comes between the two thus not making it part of the Our Father properly speaking.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has the following to say about the Our Father:

II. The Lord's Prayer

2765 The traditional expression "the Lord's Prayer" - oratio Dominica - means that the prayer to our Father is taught and given to us by the Lord Jesus. the prayer that comes to us from Jesus is truly unique: it is "of the Lord." On the one hand, in the words of this prayer the only Son gives us the words the Father gave him:13 he is the master of our prayer. On the other, as Word incarnate, he knows in his human heart the needs of his human brothers and sisters and reveals them to us: he is the model of our prayer.

2766 But Jesus does not give us a formula to repeat mechanically.14 As in every vocal prayer, it is through the Word of God that the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God to pray to their Father. Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer; at the same time he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us "spirit and life."15 Even more, the proof and possibility of our filial prayer is that the Father "sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'"16 Since our prayer sets forth our desires before God, it is again the Father, "he who searches the hearts of men," who "knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."17 The prayer to Our Father is inserted into the mysterious mission of the Son and of the Spirit.

The extended phrase is said at New Mass but not part of the Our Father. Also Catholic may say the extended version as their own form of piety, but it is not an obligation.

Improve this answer
2
  • Huh. I've been taught by priests more than once that the doxology and the extended phrase are both part of the paternoster... I'll need to look further into this.
    – Wtrmute
    Feb 9 at 23:52
  • The prayer "Deliver us ..." that you quotes is a modified translation of the prayer "Libera nos ..." that is said immediately after the Our Father in the traditional mass.
    – Andreas Blass
    Feb 11 at 4:18

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .