The Lord’s Prayer 2

Longfellow’s first sonnet in the Divina Commedia series begins, “Oft have I seen at some cathedral door / A laborer, pausing in the dust and heat, / Lay down his burden, and with reverent feet / Enter, and cross himself, and on the floor / Kneel to repeat his paternoster o’er…” MATTHEW 6:9-13 contains Jesus’ model prayer, almost universally recognized as “The Lord’s Prayer,” which begins with an address to “Our Father…” The words “Our Father” are “Pater Noster” in Latin. The Lord’s Prayer is referred to by some as the “paternoster.”