Catholics typically end the Lord's Prayer with "deliver us from evil" because this reflects the text of the oldest available Greek manuscripts. The concluding doxology, "For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever," is not found in these primary sources. Instead, the Church views it as a later liturgical addition that developed from early Christian prayer practices rather than as part of the original words recorded by the evangelists.
The textual evidence
The core of this practice lies in biblical scholarship. The Lord's Prayer appears in two places in the New Testament: Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. When scholars examine the earliest surviving copies of these Gospels, a clear pattern emerges. The major 4th-century manuscripts, including the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, do not include the doxology at the end of Matthew's version. Similarly, the ancient copies of Luke's Gospel consistently lack this phrase.
Because the Catholic Church places high value on the historical integrity of the earliest textual witnesses, it adheres to the shorter form. The consensus among critical scholars is that the doxology is a secondary interpolation, likely added by scribes or early communities to align the prayer with standard Jewish and early Christian concluding formulas.
Origins of the doxology
The absence of the phrase from the Gospel text does not make it theologically invalid. The language is deeply rooted in Old Testament worship. For example, 1 Chronicles 29:11-12 contains a similar declaration of God's sovereignty: "Yours, Lord, are greatness and might, majesty, victory and splendor."
Early Christian communities adopted the custom of closing prayers with a doxology. The Didache, an early manual of church order from around the late first or early second century, instructs believers to pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day, concluding with "for yours is the power and the glory forever." This practice became standard in the Eastern Church, where the doxology was often recited continuously with the prayer itself.
Western liturgical development
In the Latin West, a different trajectory emerged. When St. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin to create the Vulgate in the late 4th century, he followed the Greek manuscripts he had access to, which excluded the doxology from the narrative of Matthew. Consequently, the standard Latin text of the prayer ended with the petition for deliverance.
This textual decision influenced private devotion and personal prayer for centuries. While the doxology was used in liturgical services in the East, Western Christians generally recited the prayer as it appeared in their Bibles. This distinction remained significant even as liturgical practices evolved over the medieval period.
Current Catholic practice
Today, the Roman Rite maintains this distinction based on context. In the Eucharistic Prayer, which is the central act of worship at Mass, the doxology is included. It appears in the dialogue between the priest and the congregation, serving as a proclamation of God's glory.
However, in the Liturgy of the Hours, private prayer, and the recitation of the Rosary, the prayer typically ends with "deliver us from evil." This is not a rejection of the doxology's value but a commitment to the biblical text. The Church teaches that both forms are pious, but the shorter form is preferred in contexts where the prayer is recited as a scriptural text rather than a liturgical acclamation.
Comparison with other traditions
Protestant and Orthodox traditions often include the doxology routinely. This difference stems from their reliance on different manuscript traditions or liturgical customs. In the Orthodox Church, the doxology is an integral part of the prayer's recitation. In many Protestant denominations, the inclusion is based on the tradition of the King James Version and later English translations, which often include the phrase with a note indicating its textual status.
For Catholics, the omission is a matter of textual fidelity. It highlights a broader approach to prayer that distinguishes between the words of Scripture and liturgical expansions. This approach ensures that when the faithful pray the Lord's Prayer in private, they are using the form most closely associated with the earliest witnesses to the Gospel narrative.