THE LORD'S PRAYER: Ancient and Modern Orthodox Commentary

The Lord's Prayer is of course the most universal prayer of Christendom, the prayer which our Lord Himself gave directly to his followers, and which is recited collectively by all the faithful as an essential and central part of the Divine Liturgy, and privately in the course of nearly every rule of prayer. This familiarity, however, is in a way almost a danger; too often Christians recite the "Our Father" mechanically, and some perhaps pass their entire lives without once reflecting on these words they have repeated hundreds of times.

To encourage reflection on the Lord's Prayer, we here present a some classic patristic commentaries (and eventually some more modern comments rooted in the Orthodox tradition). This page will grow; please send any suggestions to Fr. Christopher Calin.

NOTE: We have deliberately included a variety of opinions in these pages. Views of modern writers are those of the authors alone and should not be taken as official views of the Orthodox Church or of the Order of St. John.

• St. John Chrysostom: Homily 19: On the Lord's Prayer. Prevost translation, 1851. --- St Pachomius Library
• St. Cyprian of Carthage: Treatise on the Lord's Prayer. Wallis translation, 1886. --- St Pachomius Library
• St. John Cassian: The First Conference of Abba Isaac, Concerning Prayer: Chapters 18-24 of this remarkable ancient treatise deal with the Lord's Prayer. Gibson translation, 1894. --- CCEL
• The Message of the Lord's Prayer, by Igor Sikorsky (inventor of the helicopter): Sikorsky was a Russian emigré, a brilliant scientist, and a devout Orthodox Christian, albeit of somewhat liberal views on certain theological issues. (He is also remembered by the Orthodox Church in America for having sponsored the immigration to the United States of the great monastic and future archbishop John (Shahovskoy).) Sikorsky's meditation on the Lord's Prayer contains statements with which not every Orthodox Christian may agree, but it is well worth reading, and provides a remarkable glimpse of a brilliant lay thinker wrestling with deep questions from a viewpoint informed by the Orthodox millieu. --- Sikorsky Archives
• Two Commentaries on the Lord's Prayer, by Abp. Lazar Puhalo: Interesting remarks by a sometimes controversial modern ecclesiastical figure. --- New Ostrog

• The Lord's Prayer in Various Languages:
  • The Lord's Prayer in Greek and English: Scroll past the huge icon. --- Annunciation GOC, Lanc. PA
  • Oratio Dominica: the Lord's Prayer in Latin. --- Treasury of Latin Prayers
  • The Lord's Prayer in Syriac With links to an audio recording. --- Bar Ebroyo Library
  • The Lord's Prayer in the Germanic Languages: English, German, Old Norse, "Pennsylvania Dutch", and many others. Compiled by Prof. Catherine N. Ball. --- Georgetown
  • The Lord's Prayer in Various Languages:  Many and numerous Languages --- Christus Rex