Why does the Catholic "Our Father" have a different ending than the Protestant one?
I have been approached many times regarding this question. It’s not uncommon for this question to be asked in an RCIA class. Specifically, why do Catholics end the Lord’s Prayer with "deliver us from evil," while Protestants will continue with "for thine is the kingdom," etc.
The Lord’s Prayer that we recite are the words recorded in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 6:9-13 and a similar version in Luke 11:2-4), as taught to the apostles by Jesus, that ends with "deliver us from evil." This has been the Catholic version of the prayer. All the official "Catholic" texts of the Bible down through the centuries — including the Vulgate, the Douay-Rheims, the Confraternity Edition, and the New American Bible — have never added the additional verse. Catholic and Protestant commentators are in general agreement that it was never a part of the original text.
So how did the additional text evolve?
In the early Church, the Christians living in the eastern half of the Roman Empire added the doxology "for thine is the kingdom..." to the Gospel text of the Our Father when reciting the prayer at Mass. A doxology is a short hymn-like verse that exalts the glory of God. St. Paul uses doxologies several times in his writings to the various churches. For example, in Romans (16:27) he writes: “To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever. Amen.” There is also evidence found about doxologies in the "Didache", a first-century manual of morals, worship, and doctrine of the Church attributed to the teachings of the Twelve Apostles.
The doxology found its way into the standard Protestant version of the Lord’s Prayer during the 16th-century Reformation in England under Queen Elizabeth I. It has remained a part of the Protestant version ever since.
The irony of this addendum to the Lord’s Prayer is that sometimes Catholics are accused of not being "literally" faithful to Sacred Scripture and that Catholics depend too much on tradition. In this case, the Catholic Church has been faithful to the Gospel text of the Our Father, while Protestant Churches have added something of a tradition to the word of Jesus. Explaining it another way, Protestants have incorporated a little bit of the Catholic Mass prayer into their version of the Our Father.
Whenever in mixed company and praying the Lord’s Prayer, let the Holy Spirit guide you. If others continue praying the short doxology at the end, pray it with them. I am sure our Father would not mind a bit.
March 3, 2023