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Friday, December 14, 2018

Patro Nia: the Our Father in Esperanto

It is a sort of tradition to use the Our Father as a way to give an example of what a given language is like. That's why it's common to see translations of the Our Father into conlangs. These days that gives some people conniptions. But the Our Father is a simple thing to translate, and in addition is useful for religious persons. Why not learn it--- and pray it--- in a language you are learning?

Patro nia, kiu estas in la ĉielo,
Sanktigata estu via nomo.
Venu via regno.
Fariĝu via volo kiel en la ĉielo,
   tiel ankaŭ sur la tero.
Nian panon ĉiutagan donu al ni hodiaŭ
Kaj pardonu al ni niajn ŝuldojn,
   kiel ankaŭ ni pardonas al niaj ŝuldantoj.
Kaj ne konduku nin en tenton, sed liberigu nin de la malbono.
Amen.

How do you study this prayer? Line by line. For each line, look up any unknown words. Say the line to yourself over and over until you are familiar with it. The next day, learn the next line. When you are finished, practice reciting the lines together until you can recite them without forgetting the meaning of the individual words. At that point, you may add the Esperanto Patro Nia to your regular prayers. It is particularly good for praying for world mission (evangelization) and for the needs of those in distant lands. It can be prayed by those from differing faith-backgrounds. (The extra lines Protestants add can be found in an Esperanto Bible, Matthew 6:13. [Ĉar Via estas la regno kaj la potenco kaj la gloro eterne.]

To find the Bible in your native language, go to Jesus Army Multilingual Bible and select your language from the drop-down list of Bibles.

To type in Esperanto using the Esperanto special letters, use Typeit. (Or use the H-system, which is allowed by the Fundamentoj.)