In Coventry, England, the Lord’s Prayer played a dramatic role in 1519, when seven people—six men and one woman—were executed for teaching their children the prayer in English rather than in Latin. This act seemingly simple, was considered heresy under the authority of the Catholic Church, since it bypassed the Latin liturgy and placed sacred words directly into the hands of common people. These martyrs, sometimes called the “Coventry Seven,” were burned at the stake, their deaths highlighting both the severity of the Church’s opposition to vernacular religion and the deep desire among reformers to make Scripture and prayers accessible to ordinary believers. During the time of the Reformation, small printed copies of the Lord’s Prayer began appearing in Germany. Printers used fine, miniature type to produce tiny versions of the prayer that could be folded or rolled up and then placed inside lockets, pendants, or small cases worn as necklaces.
These devotional items served both as personal reminders of faith and as discreet ways to carry forbidden or reformist texts, since wearing or teaching the prayer in German was, in some regions, considered an act of defiance against church law. Such miniature “paternosters” combined printing innovation with private devotion, blending jewelry and spiritual practice in a way that allowed believers to keep sacred words literally close to the heart.
This reproduction of those famed miniatures were printed on a Gutenberg Press in 7 different languages. They are as follows: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and English ( American Version)