knowledge of their holy religion that they may practice it more
faithfully.

Rev. Thomas L. Kinkead
June 21, 1891,
Feast of St. Aloysius

An
Explanation
Of The
Baltimore Catechism
of Christian Doctrine

Basic Catholic Prayers

THE LORD'S PRAYER

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Amen.

This is the most beautiful and best of all prayers, because Our Lord
Himself made it. (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). One day when He was praying and
explaining to His Apostles the great advantages of prayer, one of them
said to Him: "Lord, teach us to pray." Then Jesus taught them this
prayer. It contains everything we need or could ask for. We cannot see
its full meaning at once. The more we think over it, the more clearly we
understand it. We could write whole pages on almost every word, and
still not say all that could be said about this prayer. It is called
"the Lord's," because He made it, and sometimes the "Our Father," from
the first words.

We say "Our," to show that we are all brethren, and that God is the
Father of us all, and therefore we pray not for ourselves alone but for
all God's children.

We say "Father," because God really is our Father. We do not mean here
by Father the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, but the Blessed
Trinity itself--one God. What does a father do for his children? He
gives them their natural existence, provides them with food and
clothing, teaches, protects, and loves them, shares with them all that
he has, and when he dies leaves them his possessions. Now, in all these
ways, and in a much truer sense, God is our Father. He created us and
gives us all that is necessary to sustain life. He gives light, heat,
and air, without any one of which we could not live. He provides for us
also food and clothing, and long before we need or even think of these
things God is thinking of them. Did you ever reflect upon just how much
time and trouble it costs to produce for you even one potato, of which
you think so little? About two years before you need that potato, God
puts it into the mind of the farmer to save the seed that he may plant
it the following year. In the proper season he prepares the ground with
great care and plants the