The Lords Prayer

I had to learn poetry off by heart at school, and I don't think it has made me a poet...in the same way I don't think that learning the Lord's Prayer off by heart would make the person learning it a Christian. It is part of our Western culture and heritage in the same way as poetry is also part of culture and heritage.
(I would not be against people learning the main prayers of other faith traditions either, although I am a Christian, because I think that it is only by learning about faiths that a person has the tools to make an informed decision about whether they wish to follow a faith or whether they think that all faith is bunkum.)
I have sat with very elderly people towards the end of their lives and it seems to me that even if they cannot remember who they are, when I say the Lords Prayer with them all the words come back and in the right order and we say the prayer together and it has a calming effect on them. It is the same with The Lord's My Shepherd sung to the tune Crimond - elderly and apparently completely demented people will join in. I wonder what common things people will remember in a 100 years time, to be able to share at the end of their lives in the same way?

I can still recite it - but that's from Sunday School, not school. I honestly believe religion should play no part in a state school education whatsoever though...and that's all religions.

yes, I presently attend a CofE,, lots of comfort there, and meeting other women (and a few men) in my age group,
the Serenity Prayer... that`s a good one...

thanks for this thread/post.

Many things pass, we are a more secular society now.

Yes, I can recite them all. I'm not thrilled about the idea of Assemblies at school with Christian prayers being said - my GC's school is very multicultural and I'd say there would be many religions represented ( or none).

Lord's Prayer in English and Welsh.
Welsh National Anthem (though not English).
Tables up to 12x (thankfully not in Welsh).

Can still recite them all even though I haven't been to chapel or church in years!.

Funny how things stick....

I have to try very hard not to revert to the version learned as a child when at church and so do the majority of the congregation.

I know words/music of hymns more than modern songs. Also the old version or school version of The Lord's Prayer.

I love hymns. I can sing loads, and do. Out of tune, but hey. I enjoy it.

I say it often, in my head, but I usually get muddled about which bit goes where. I have to sort it out and start again and I can practically hear God sighing.

Just tested myself, pleased to say yes I can still recite it.

I always like to use the traditional version of the Lord's Prayer. Somehow it flows much better than the modern one (as do a lot of the prayers in the Book of Common Prayer).

I was at a meeting with various people, including clergy, when the new one was used and it was obvious that I wasn't saying that one. I commented that I didn't think the old version was broken, so why did it need fixing? The archdeacon said that he hadn't thought of it like that but that he used one version in the morning and the other in the evening!

Without assemblies, children are missing out on learning prayers and hymns as well as bible stories - they're part of our culture. And there's room for other religious and non-religious customs to be shared at that time, too.

Those of you who remember the version from childhood might get caught out if you attend a service in church today, as the Lord’s Prayer has more recent versions than those we said way back in the fifties and sixties.
At the very least, today we say “ those who trespass “ rather than “them that trespass” and it might be “sin against” rather than trespass and of course “Who art”, rather than “Which art” in heaven. Or simply, Our Father in heaven. In that version, it is Your instead of Thy.
Before anyone complains about tinkering with the Lord’s Prayer, it is of course a translation!

As for Assemblies in schools, many schools do not have a hall big enough for whole school assemblies. Assembly must be collective worship rather than being too specific, given that one cannot assume Christian commitment.
My grandchildren all went to a Church of England primary schools, so have learnt the Lord’s Prayer , some hymns and Bible stories and I am glad they have.

Yes I can recite it having said it every day at school but never do. My 3 daughters would probably get through it but DGSs wouldn’t have a clue.
No need if you are not a believer and these days more people decide for themselves.

We learnt to recite it when young and I can still do it. Also the ten commandments.

I say The Lords Prayer every morning and night.

Pantglas my school in Wales it was also - the Ten Commandments, the tables, Welsh Anthem, Calon Lan and
at the end of the school day the first two verses of
‘Now The Day is Over.

We recited it , and several others every morning and it is part of my morning and evening still . As has been said it can be calming and comforting , some of my Grandchildren can recite it but do not seem to understand the meaning ... sigh
When we were with OH as he slipped away , only one of our daughters could join in the prayers , sad for me and they say it was sad for them

When I was a little girl I thought Trespassers was a place as God was going to deliver us from there!

I say it every night before I go to sleep. Always have.

penteglast what is it about the welsh national anthem I live as far away as possible from Wales but we learnt the anthem in Welsh also the Lords prayer and all the tables
I can still go through them all but a bit rusty on the anthem

That's very strange, Hildagard. It's been years since I've even thought about the Lord's Prayer but I had the boys here the other day and ended up reciting it for them.

Knew all the words as well.

We said it every day at school, and I can still recite it with no difficulty. Ours was the older version with ‘which art in heaven’, ‘thy name’ and ‘trespasses’., not ‘debts’. I don’t recognise updated versions. They don’t have the same lovely ,rhythm.

Naturally these days assemblies have to be multicultural. I wish ours had been more so. They were very narrow, when I come to think of it. I loved them, though.

Yes, we both can say, not just recite, the Lord's Prayer.
It can have a calming effect if/when I am troubled, and during a Sunday service, if it is not included, I definitely feel something's missing.
I didn't know that school assemblies were no longer compulsory. Lots of the old school hymns, I know off by heart

Lord’s Prayer, 1-12 x tables and Welsh national anthem were all learned in primary school by age of eight - and just ran through them all out loud, with my husband giving me funny looks! He thinks GN is mad......just mad!

I know what you mean. We had regular assemblies when I went to school and learnt the Lords Prayer in infant school. I can say it without thinking what comes next I know it so well.

It seems most schools do not say prayers regularly as they used to, probably because they are so much more multicultural now. My granddaughters school has several religions not just Christian.

I go to church regularly and my faith is important to me. One daughter goes to church on special occasions with me and the other not at all. As adults they must make their own choices.