What is "the lord's prayer"

Lord \Lord\, n. [OE. lord, laverd, loverd, AS. hl[=a]ford, for hl[=a]fweard, i. e., bread keeper; hl[=a]f bread, loaf + weardian to look after, to take care of, to ward. See Loaf, and Ward to guard, and cf. Laird, Lady.]

1. One who has power and authority; a master; a ruler; a governor; a prince; a proprietor, as of a manor.

   But now I was the lord Of this fair mansion.
   --Shak.

   Man over men He made not lord.
   --Milton.

2. A titled nobleman., whether a peer of the realm or not; a bishop, as a member of the House of Lords; by courtesy; the son of a duke or marquis, or the eldest son of an earl; in a restricted sense, a baron, as opposed to noblemen of higher rank. [Eng.]

3. A title bestowed on the persons above named; and also, for honor, on certain official persons; as, lord advocate, lord chamberlain, lord chancellor, lord chief justice, etc. [Eng.]

4. A husband. ``My lord being old also.''
   --Gen. xviii. 12.

   Thou worthy lord Of that unworthy wife that greeteth thee.
   --Shak.

5. (Feudal Law) One of whom a fee or estate is held; the male owner of feudal land; as, the lord of the soil; the lord of the manor.

6. The Supreme Being; Jehovah.

   Note: When Lord, in the Old Testament, is printed in small capitals, it is usually equivalent to Jehovah, and might, with more propriety, be so rendered.

7. (Christianity) The Savior; Jesus Christ. House of Lords, one of the constituent parts of the British Parliament, consisting of the lords spiritual and temporal. Lord high chancellor, Lord high constable, etc. See Chancellor, Constable, etc. Lord justice clerk, the second in rank of the two highest judges of the Supreme Court of Scotland. Lord justice general, or Lord president, the highest in rank of the judges of the Supreme Court of Scotland. Lord keeper, an ancient officer of the English crown, who had the custody of the king's great seal, with authority to affix it to public documents. The office is now merged in that of the chancellor. Lord lieutenant, a representative of British royalty: the lord lieutenant of Ireland being the representative of royalty there, and exercising supreme administrative authority; the lord lieutenant of a county being a deputy to manage its military concerns, and also to nominate to the chancellor the justices of the peace for that county. Lord of misrule, the master of the revels at Christmas in a nobleman's or other great house. --Eng. Cyc. Lords spiritual, the archbishops and bishops who have seats in the House of Lords. Lords temporal, the peers of England; also, sixteen representative peers of Scotland, and twenty-eight representatives of the Irish peerage. Our lord, Jesus Christ; the Savior. The Lord's Day, Sunday; the Christian Sabbath, on which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. The Lord's Prayer, (Christianity) the prayer which Jesus taught his disciples, also called the Our Father. --Matt. vi. 9-13. The Lord's Supper.

   1. The paschal supper partaken of by Jesus the night before his crucifixion.

   2. The sacrament of the eucharist; the holy communion. The Lord's Table.

      1. The altar or table from which the sacrament is dispensed.

      2. The sacrament itself.

"The Lord's Prayer" is a musical setting of the Lord's Prayer written by Albert Hay Malotte in 1935 and recorded by numerous the Gross singers and groups including John Charles Thomas, Perry Como, Doris Day, Gracie Fields, Andrea Bocelli, Mahalia Jackson, Mario Lanza, Elvis Presley, Ronnie Milsap, The Staple Singers, Jackie Evancho, Il Divo and Susan Boyle. The song's melody is very similar to that of Schubert's " Ave Maria" (a recording of which was issued as the B-side of Como's version).

"The Lord's Prayer" is a rock setting of the Lord's Prayer with music by Arnold Strals recorded in 1973 by the Australian nun Sister Janet Mead. Mead was known for pioneering the use of contemporary rock music in celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass and for her weekly radio programs. This recording could be considered one of the links in the development of what would become known as contemporary Christian music.

The recording was produced by Martin Erdman and originally released by Festival Records in Australia. After reaching number three on the charts in Australia, it went on to become an international smash, selling nearly three million copies worldwide and making the upper reaches of the pop charts in territories as diverse as Canada, Japan, Brazil, Germany, and the United States.

In the United States, "The Lord's Prayer", picked up for American distribution by A&M Records (catalog number 1491, b/w "Brother Sun and Sister Moon"). It was certified gold for sales of one million copies. The single entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 23 February 1974, charted for thirteen weeks and reached a peak of number four during Holy Week in April. The record also reached number two on the Adult Contemporary singles chart. It made Sister Janet the first Roman Catholic nun to have a hit record in the United States since Jeanine Deckers, the Singing Nun, hit #1 with " Dominique" in late 1963. It also became the only song to hit the Top 10, whose entire lyrical content originated from the words of the Bible. More specifically, it is the only Top 10 hit whose lyrics were attributed to Jesus Christ.

Mead was nominated for a Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance (although she lost to Elvis Presley's How Great Thou Art) and also became the first Australian artist to sell one million U.S. copies of a record produced in Australia. She donated all of her royalties from the recording's massive international sales to charity, and her record label used their share of the proceeds to build a new state-of-the-art recording studio.

Sister Janet re-recorded "The Lord's Prayer" in 1999 for her comeback album, A Time to Sing.