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

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

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

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2769) In Baptism and Confirmation, the handing on (traditio) of the Lord's Prayer signifies new birth into the divine life. Since Christian prayer is our speaking to God with the very word of God, those who are "born anew"… through the living and abiding word of God" (1 Pet 1:23) learn to invoke their Father by the one Word he always hears. They can henceforth do so, for the seal of the Holy Spirit's anointing is indelibly placed on their hearts, ears, lips, indeed their whole filial being. This is why most of the patristic commentaries on the Our Father are addressed to catechumens and neophytes. When the Church prays the Lord's Prayer, it is always the people made up of the "new-born" who pray and obtain mercy (Cf. 1 Pet 2:1-10).     

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 2770) In the Eucharistic liturgy the Lord's Prayer appears as the prayer of the whole Church and there reveals its full meaning and efficacy. Placed between the anaphora (the Eucharistic prayer) and the communion, the Lord's Prayer sums up on the one hand all the petitions and intercessions expressed in the movement of the epiclesis and, on the other, knocks at the door of the Banquet of the kingdom which sacramental communion anticipates.

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