The Prayer of the Church
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Simplified
In the Early Church (2767)
This indivisible gift (of Jesus' words and the Spirit himself) was received by the Church from the beginning. The early Church said The Lord's Prayer three times a day (in place of the Jewish "Eighteen Benedictions").
In the Liturgy (2768-2769)
The Lord's Prayer is rooted in liturgical prayer. It is recited at the major hours and in the three initiation sacraments. "Jesus did not say ‘my Father' who art in heaven, but ‘our' Father, thus offering petitions for the Church" (St. John Chrysostom).
The Lord's Prayer shows the new birth in Baptism and Confirmation. Those "born anew" learn to invoke God as Father (which they can do because they are indelibly sealed by the Spirit). Most patristic commentaries on this prayer are addressed to catechumens and neophytes.
At Mass, the Lord's Prayer comes between the Eucharistic Prayer and Communion summing up all petitions and knocking at the door of the Messianic banquet (anticipated in Eucharist).
At Eucharist (2770-2771)
The Lord's Prayer is the prayer of the "end time," which began at Pentecost and will be fulfilled when the Lord returns. Quite different from the Old Testament, the petitions of the Our Father are based on the salvation already accomplished in Christ.
The Seven Groanings (2772)
The seven petitions express the groanings of the present age (which is a time of patience and expectation) during which "it does not yet appear what we shall be" (1 Jn 3:2). The Eucharist and the Lord's Prayer both await the Lord "until he comes" (1 Cor 11:26).
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