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Pater noster
Classical Latin
Church Latin
English
Latin
Manuscript

Pater noster qvi es in caelis
Pater noster quī es in cælīs,
Our Father, who art in Heaven,
sanctificetvr nomen tvvm
sanctificētur nōmen tuum.
hallowed be Thy Name.
Adveniat regnvm tvvm
Adveniat regnum tuum.
Thy Kingdom come,
Fiat volvntas tva
Fīat voluntās tua
Thy Will be done,
sicvt in caelo et in terra
sīcut in cælō et in terrā.
on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
Panem nostrvm cotidianvm da nobis hodie
Pānem nostrum cotīdiānum dā nōbīs hodiē.
Give us this day our daily bread,
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra
Et dīmitte nōbīs dēbita nostra
and forgive us our trespasses,
sicvt et nos dimittimvs debitoribvs nostris
sīcut et nōs dīmittimus dēbitōribus nostrīs.
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
Et nē nōs indūcās in tentātiōnem
And lead us not into temptation,
sed libera nos a malo
sed līberā nōs ā malō.
but deliver us from evil.



Qvia tvvm est regnvm et potentia
Quia tuum est regnum, et potentia,
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
et gloria in saecvla saecvlorvm
et glōria in sæcula sæculōrum.
and the glory, for ever and ever.



Amen
Āmēn.
Amen.

Commentary
Our Father, also called Lord’s Prayer, is the best known Christian prayer. According to the New Testament, Jesus Christ gave it as an answer to the apostles as they asked how to pray. It appears in the gospels of Luke and Matthew. The final doxology must be an old addition; it is lacking in many manuscripts of the Bible, and Catholics usually do not use it in their personal prayer.

The text is the traditional Latin version, composed after the Vulgate. Facing it is is the traditional English version from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, still used by the Catholic Church - with the final doxology not included, but used afterwards as a liturgical element during the mass. This must have been the version familiar to Tolkien.

Note that the two languages do not put the fifth request in the same words: the Latin text follows the gospel of Matthew and literally reads “Remit us our debts, as we also remit to our debtors”. On the other hand, the English version rather follows the gospel of Luke and refers to trespasses rather than debts.

We have supplemented the text with macrons to mark etymologically long vowels.

The text’s transcription emulates the capitalis rustica, a style of the Latin alphabet that was in use in the imperial Rome and Late Antiquity for writing on papyrus or parchment with a reed pen. We made use of Hasan Guven’s typeface Vatican Rough Letters.

References
Olteanu, Michael. Convent of Pater Noster: The Lord’s Prayer in 1817 languages and dialects. Christus Rex et Redemptor Mundi, 1995-2014. 🌍 Internet Archive.
Rosary Prayers in Different Languages. 🌍 Mary’s Rosaries.

The works of John Ronald Reuel and Christopher Tolkien are under the copyright of their authors and/or rights holders, including their publishers and the Tolkien Estate.
Quotations from other authors, editors and translators mentioned in the bibliography are under the copyright of their publishers, except for those whose copyright term has ended.
Last update of the site: September 22nd 2019. Contact us: