A new book from Magnificat is accompanying readers as they take steps on a journey to deepen their understanding of and devotion to the primordial Christian prayer: The Our Father. Titled Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope, this book takes readers on a personal retreat to explore in-depth the meaning behind this important prayer and to glean insights that coincide with this Jubilee Year, themed Pilgrims of Hope.”
Organized in a retreat style, each chapter of Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope begins with a passage from the scriptures, followed by an essay that explores its relationship to the Our Father.
Along the way, Dominican Fathers Andrew Hofer and Philip Nolan probe the depths of the seven simple petitions that Jesus offers as the basis for relating to the Father and his people.
Bound in hardcover, with the high-quality materials we’ve come to expect from Magnificat, this 144-page book features 10 chapters, with each illuminated by religious art drawn from the rich history of Christendom. Magnificat selected each full-color artwork to illuminate the subject of its corresponding chapter and aid in the meditations of readers.
Readers will also benefit from the perspectives of authors Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., and Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P., Dominican friars deeply devoted to praying the Our Father. The two were kind enough to talk with Aleteia about Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope, the importance of the Our Father prayer, and how it fits into the Jubilee Year.
Aleteia: As Dominican priests, what influence has the Lord’s Prayer had on your ministry?
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.: The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer, the prayer that Jesus taught us. I want my life to be conformed to that prayer; I want to be a leader of that prayer and a preacher of that prayer for others. Within the liturgy each day, I am obliged to pray the Our Father at Morning Prayer, Holy Mass, and Evening Prayer. According to our Order’s constitutions, Dominican friars should recite daily five decades of the rosary — and praying more decades is not a bad thing!
I have given week-long retreats on the Our Father, and I sometimes return to focus on it in shorter times of preaching. I was struck, earlier in 2025 when preaching a conference to priests, that “Give us this day our daily bread” is a prayer, in part, about priestly ministry. Our daily bread is most especially Christ, who comes to us in the Eucharist. We cannot receive that daily bread without priestly ministry.
As a Dominican priest, it was a blessing for me to work with another Dominican priest, Father Philip, on Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope in preparation for this present Jubilee Year. Several Dominican priests in our Province helped us in sharing ideas and proofreading, and Father Sebastian White, editor-in-chief of Magnificat, edited our book.
As a Dominican, I’m a friar, which is an English rendering of “brother” in our religious life. It’s wonderful for me to see the fraternal communion involved in working on the prayer that begins “Our Father” — not “My Father.” Also, Dominican priests are dedicated to the preaching of the Gospel and the salvation of souls. Fr. Philip and I wrote this book for our readers, as together we are joined in praying the Lord’s Prayer.
Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P.: The influence of the Our Father runs through every moment of our lives as Dominican priests. We live under the gaze of the heavenly Father, and every aspect of our lives falls under his care.
Consider a recent day I had in the parish where I work: As morning prayer approached its conclusion, I stood in our house chapel praying the Our Father with my Dominican brothers. Later that afternoon, as I stood in the snow on a hillside cemetery, I prayed the Our Father with a family as we committed the body of their loved one to the grave. In the evening, sitting in the parish parlor, I discussed the words of the Our Father with our parish’s OCIA group.
Ministry, communal life, my own personal meditation — the Lord’s prayer informs all these parts of my life. I’m always asking God for my daily bread and begging him to bring his kingdom to all the places and people he sends me.
A: The title calls the “Our Father” our prayer of hope. What new inspirations or insights can we draw from it in this Jubilee Year with the theme of “Pilgrims of Hope?”
Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P.: The Our Father is our prayer of hope because it points us toward our final goal: life with God in heaven. Any time we want to grow in hope, it is wise to think of heaven. Jesus wanted his disciples to hope for heaven. The prayer he taught us mentions heaven twice: Our Father, who art in heaven . . . Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The Our Father is a prayer that teaches us to hope for heaven.
For this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis chose the theme, “Pilgrims of Hope.” The foundational story of pilgrimage in the Bible is the story of the Exodus, when God led his people from Egypt, through the desert, to the Promised Land. We are not in the Promised Land yet, but we are pilgrims on the way, and pilgrims need help.
Fr. Andrew and I were inspired to ponder the Our Father as pilgrims on the way. In many ways, the words of the Lord’s prayer resonate with the story of the Exodus. Furthermore, since pilgrims need food to keep going on their journey, in the book we discuss links between the Eucharist and Our Father. In the context of this Jubilee Year of Hope, it’s clear, we think, that the Our Father teaches us both about the goal of our pilgrimage and how God wants to help us get there.
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.: The greatest pilgrims of hope are the saints during their lives on earth. Fr. Philip and I constantly draw upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Doctors of the Church such as St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Teresa of Ávila, and St. Thérèse, and other holy ones from different times in Church history.
We want readers to learn from these saints how to live on earth in the hope of heaven. We turn back to Scripture and the Eucharist to show how the saints have lives filled with hope.
A: When you say the Lord’s Prayer, which of Christ’s lessons most often comes to mind?
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.: The Our Father holds many mysteries for our contemplation! One aspect of this prayer that often comes to my mind is the order of the petitions. What is tops? “Hallowed be thy name.”
We hope to glorify God through our lives. God does not get holier, but we can become holier through our right worship. The last petition is the most basic, “But deliver us from evil.” I like to think of how God delivers us from evil through our own actions, at times. The Apostle Paul writes that “the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet” (Rom 16:20). God delivers us from evil by prompting us to stomp on Satan. God, of course, does the crushing — but he uses our feet.
Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P.: This prayer reminds me of the confidence we are to have in God. We are his adopted children, and Jesus taught us to pray with the disposition of children who trust their loving Father. I like to remember the Lord’s words to his disciples: “Do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’ All these things the pagans seek.
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides” (Mt 6:31-33). I am convinced that I can be very confident that God wants my holiness, that he wishes to feed me, that he forgives me, that he will lead me and deliver me — all things we ask for when we say the Lord’s Prayer.
A: For many Catholics, the go-to prayers are those from the Holy Rosary (the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, etc.), but what are some other prayers that you would recommend the faithful should more often pray?
Fr. Philip Nolan, O.P.: I think many Catholics would benefit from knowing more snippets of the Psalms. The Psalms give us inspired language that can be so helpful when we feel a bit at a loss in prayer. Some of my favorite little prayers to pray throughout the day come from the Psalms.
For example, the Divine Office begins with a quote from Psalm 70: “O God, come to my assistance,/ O Lord make haste to help me.” That is a good prayer for many circumstances! Another one of my favorites is from Psalm 16: “Preserve me O God, I take refuge in you/ I say to the Lord, ‘You are my God,/ My happiness lies in you alone.’”
It doesn’t take too much to memorize a few verses from the Psalms, and you can usually find some that speak quite directly to your own spiritual needs and desires.
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.: I wholeheartedly agree with Fr. Philip’s recommendation of memorizing a few verses from the Psalms. Dominican friars must pray Psalm 130 every day for the deceased: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.”
There are so many wonderful Psalm lines! “I love you, Lord, my strength” from Psalm 18 is one of my favorites. “O God, you are my God, for you I long” from Psalm 63 is also great.
St. Augustine of Hippo spent his final days on earth weeping and praying the penitential Psalms. Praying “Have mercy on me, O God” from Psalm 51 is not a bad way to live nor a bad way to die — in hope.
Our Father: Our Prayer of Hope is expected to be released in early March, just in time for Lent, and is already available for pre-order at the Magnificat website, with a special discount for those with a Magnificat subscription. Visit Magnificat to learn more.
