I.
The Lord’s Prayer or “Our Father” (Latin: Pater noster; German: Vater unser) has always enjoyed a unique pride of place because, as we say in the liturgy, it is the prayer our Lord has taught us. Where other portions of the service come from the lips of angels, this prayer comes from the lips of Jesus himself (Mt 6:9-13; Lk 11:2-4). As such, it is the most sublime of all prayers a Christian will ever utter and we are truly blessed and privileged to speak it.
Though one could reasonably interpret Acts 2:42, “they devoted themselves to the Apostle’s doctrine… and to the prayers” as the earliest reference to church’s use of the Lord’s Prayer, the first explicit reference to it can be found in the Didache of the late first century. Here the full text is provided with the concluding doxology and the instruction that it ought to be prayed three times a day. Though absent from the Apostolic Tradition of the third century, the Lord’s Prayer was the subject of teaching and preaching throughout this time period, especially in association with the celebration of the Supper. By the fourth century, the Lord’s Prayer was included in nearly every major eucharistic rite.
The primary points of variation as regards the use of the Lord’s Prayer in the Divine Service is, on the one hand, the inclusion or exclusion of the concluding doxology, and, on the other hand, the location of the Lord’s Prayer before or after the Verba.
As regards the use of the concluding doxology (“for thine is the kingdom, etc…”), this practice is present in the Didache and is taken up by the churches of the East, but not in the West even up till the time of Luther. Luther does not include the doxology in either his German or Latin mass, nor does it appear in his Small Catechism, though it does appear in his German translation of Matthew 6. After Luther, some church orders opted to include the doxology, while others omitted it. Within the history of the Missouri Synod, this divergence can be seen when comparing the church agendas of Wilhelm Loehe and C. F. W. Walther. Loehe omits the doxology, while Walther includes it as the sung response of the congregation. In Lutheran Service Book the doxology is maintained throughout, with setting three tipping a hat to Walther’s agenda and a responsive chanting of the Lord’s Prayer.
As regards the location of the Lord’s Prayer in relation to the Verba, again, variation abounds. The origin of this variation among the Lutherans can be found in Luther himself. In his Latin mass Luther places the Lord’s Prayer after the Verba, however, in his German mass Luther places a paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer before the Verba. When the committee that prepared the Common Service sought to find the “common consensus” of the pure Lutheran liturgies, what they discovered is that there is no consensus. To resolve the conundrum, they opted to give greater weight to the authority of particular influential church orders which tipped the scales in favor of placing the Lord’s Prayer prior to the Verba. In Lutheran Service Book this ordering is reflected in settings three, four, and five, while the opposite ordering is reflected as an option in settings one and two.
While a full explanation of the Lord’s Prayer is an incredibly fruitful exercise, especially from Luther’s Small Catechism, what might be more fitting for our present purposes would be to consider how the Lord’s Prayer complements the Service of the Sacrament. When we hold these two things together, what we find is that each petition of the Lord’s Prayer finds its fulfillment and home in the reception of the Lord’s Supper. God’s name is hallowed among us by our proclamation of his death until he comes again and our reception of his sanctifying gifts according to his word. God’s kingdom comes when he sends his Holy Spirit who causes us to believe these words, “given and shed for you” and “for the forgiveness of your sins.” God’s will is done by breaking and hindering the work of our sinful flesh, the world, and the devil through the most holy flesh and blood of his Son. Through the same he provides pasture and sustenance by which our faith is strengthened and we are equipped to do daily battle against our sin, the devil, and temptation. The result is such that as soon as we finish praying the Lord’s Prayer, God fulfills our every request in giving us the flesh and blood of his Son.
II.
The use of the Words of Our Lord (Latin: Verba Domini) for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper follows the dominical mandate of Christ as recorded for us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul. One cannot conceive of the Supper without the very words of Jesus (Latin: ipsissima verba) being spoken; they are a constitutive element. These words are spoken in the Divine Service as no mere record or testimony of history but as the very words of our Lord who is present, who speaks, and who consecrates through these words. Because they are the words of the Lord they are effective words (Latin: verbum efficax) which create the reality they indicate. When Christ declares “this is my body, for you” it is so. When Christ declares, “this is my blood, for you” it is so. To this proclamation, the congregation rightly replies, “Amen!” because “these words require all hearts to believe” (SC VI.9-10). Likewise, it is most fitting for the congregation to bow their heads at the very words of Christ in recognition that Christ is speaking and consecrating the elements in their midst.
While the very words of Jesus have remained largely unchanged throughout the history of the Divine Service, the space around them has varied considerably. The earliest liturgies of the church were very modest and condensed in their formulation of the Verba, however, over time the Verba were subjected to much embellishment and poetic license especially in the Roman Canon of the Mass. For example, compare:
“...on the day before he suffered, took bread in his holy and reverend hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, gave thanks to you, blessed, broke, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat from this, all of you; for this is my body.’ Likewise after supper, taking this glorious cup in his holy and reverend hands, again he gave thanks to you, blessed and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and drink from it, all of you; for this is the cup of my blood, of the new and eternal covenant, the mystery of faith, which will be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you do this, you will do it for my remembrance.”
And:
“Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.’ In the same way also he took the cup after supper, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying: ‘Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’”
The former is from the Roman Canon of the Mass and the latter, based on Luther’s reforms, is the text from Lutheran Service Book. In comparison, the first thing that we notice is the removal of all the superfluous embellishments that can be found in the Roman Canon, pious though they may be. Second, we also note that the second person address to the Father is removed such that the Verba are no longer a prayer to the Father, but a proclamation to the people and consecration of the elements. Third, the gospel character of the sacrament as being “for you” is highlighted twice over by Luther such that there can be no doubt that Christ’s Body and Blood are both given for you.
Luther’s reform to the Verba transcends the mere text of the Verba and includes the chant setting of the Verba as well. The chant tone that Luther crafted for the Verba mirrored the chant tone usually reserved for the annual reading of the Passion narrative on Palm Sunday. The musical effect of this was to make the annual singing of the Passion narrative a weekly affair. It placed the cross of Christ in the ears of the congregation while the elements were before their eyes. The chant style is most discernible in that the very words of Jesus are spoken at a lower pitch than the rest of the narrative which is considerably higher and varies more. Though this connection is lost on us in the modern day, Luther’s chant tone is maintained beautifully in Lutheran Service Book setting three.
Regardless of whether the Verba are sung or spoken, the chief thing is that they be heard loudly, clearly, and in a language that is spoken by the congregation so that the congregation is freed to hear and believe the words of Christ and receive his benefits in faith.
III.
The Pax Domini or “Peace of the Lord” finds its biblical seat in the proclamation of Christ to his apostles in the upper room (John 20:19). At this point the Lord has been betrayed, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, and here he comes to the very people who betrayed him and abandoned him, who were directly responsible for his death, and the first word out of his mouth is, “Peace be with you!” And in case there was any doubt, Jesus declares it a second time, “Peace be with you!” This word of peace is a word of wholeness and wellness, a word of release and forgiveness. With this word Jesus declares that has not come in wrath and condemnation, but in grace and peace.
In the Divine Service, these words function much the same way as they did in the upper room. In the sacrament of the altar the crucified and resurrected Christ comes to the very sinners who are responsible for his death, who deserve his incomprehensible wrath, the fires of hell, and eternal damnation, and yet he declares peace. “The peace of the Lord be with you always!” The ceremonial act that attends these words typically is the elevation and presentation of the host and chalice. This signifies that Christ is present with his peace in the very elements being presented. Through these, the bread and wine, Christ’s peace is indeed with us always. Therefore, the proper response of the congregation is the word of faith, “Amen!”
Historically, the Pax Domini was attended by another ceremonial act, namely, the exchange of the kiss of peace. This kiss and greeting of peace was shared by all the congregation members as a sign of reconciliation and peace. Already by the time of the Reformation of the 16th century this practice had fallen out of usage entirely among the laypeople. The liturgical movement of the 20th century attempted to revive the exchange of peace along with a host of other ancient practices. The traditional “kiss” was exchanged for a handshake or simply a wave with the greeting, “Peace be with you!” and the response, “And also with you!” This push of the liturgical movement is sadly reflected in settings one and two of Lutheran Service Book. It is lamentable because the exchange of peace as it stands today has almost entirely lost its character as a means of reconciliation. More often than not it devolves into a social time, or even a time for gossipping and idle chatter. In addition to scarcely being a godly affair, it is also highly disruptive to the natural flow of the service. Lutheran Service Book attempts to redeem the exchange of peace with the rubric, “the people may greet one another in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘Peace be with you,’ as a sign of reconciliation and of the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” however, one can scarcely say it has succeeded. This is no fault of the hymnal, but simply an example of the best laid plans of Lutheran mice and men.
Rev. Philip D. Bartelt
Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd
The Eve of the Purification of Mary and Presentation of Our Lord, 2025
