Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 514 – Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 514 - Part I. What position does the Our Father hold among prayers?

(Youcat answer) The Our Father is “the most perfect prayer” (St. Thomas Aquinas) and the “summary of the whole Gospel” (Tertullian).

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2761) The Lord's Prayer "is truly the summary of the whole gospel" (Tertullian, De orat. 1: PL 1, 1155). "Since the Lord… after handing over the practice of prayer, said elsewhere, 'Ask and you will receive,' and since everyone has petitions which are peculiar to his circumstances, the regular and appropriate prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is said first, as the foundation of further desires" (Tertullian, De orat. 10: PL 1, 1165; cf. Lk 11:9).

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) The Our Father is more than a prayer - it is a path that leads directly into the heart of our Father. The early Christians recited this original prayer of the Church, which is entrusted to every Christian at Baptism, three times a day. We, too, should not let a day pass without trying to recite the Lord’s Prayer with our lips, to take it to heart, and to make it come true in our lives.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2762) After showing how the psalms are the principal food of Christian prayer and flow together in the petitions of the Our Father, St. Augustine concludes: Run through all the words of the holy prayers [in Scripture], and I do not think that you will find anything in them that is not contained and included in the Lord's Prayer (St. Augustine, Ep. 130, 12, 22: PL 33, 503).  

(This question: What position does the Our Father hold among prayers? is continued)