“The Lord’s Prayer” is really a rock setting from the Lord’s Prayer with music by Arnold Strals recorded in 1973 through the Australian nun Sister Jesse Mead. Mead was noted for pioneering using contemporary rock music in celebrating the Roman Catholic Mass as well as for her weekly radio programs. This recording might be one among the hyperlinks in the introduction of what can become referred to as contemporary Christian music.

It was created by Martin Erdman and initially released by Festival Records around australia. After reaching number 3 around the charts around australia, it continued to get an worldwide smash, selling nearly three million copies worldwide and making top of the reaches from the pop charts in territories as diverse as Canada, Japan, South america, Germany, and also the U . s . States.

Within the U . s . States, “The Lord’s Prayer”, selected up for American distribution with a&M Records (catalog number 1491, b/w “Brother Sun and Sister Moon”). It had been certified gold for sales of 1 million copies. The only joined the Billboard Hot 100 chart on 23 Feb 1974, charted for 13 days and arrived at an optimum of # 4 during Holy Week in April. The record also arrived at # 2 around the Adult Contemporary singles chart. It made Mead the very first Roman Catholic nun to possess a hit record within the U . s . States since Jeanine Deckers, the Singing Nun, hit #1 with “Dominique” at the end of 1963. Additionally, it grew to become the only real song hitting the very best 10 where the entire lyrical content originated in the language from the Bible. More particularly, it’s the only Top Ten hit whose lyrics were related to Jesus.

Mead was nominated for any Grammy for the best Inspirational Performance (although she lost to Elvis Presley’s How Great Thou Art) as well as grew to become the very first Australian artist to market a million U.S. copies of the record created around australia. She donated all her royalties in the recording’s massive worldwide sales to charitable organization, and her record label used their share from the proceeds to construct a brand new condition-of-the-art studio room.

Mead re-recorded “The Lord’s Prayer” in 1999 on her comeback album, A Period to Sing.

Mead’s version was covered within the satirical stage musical Disaster!.