Christian Pure

Prayers Before Meals: Traditional Graces, Grace After Meals and Short Blessings

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • The Catholic grace before meals is “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty: through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
  • The 1928 Book of Common Prayer gives two graces, including “Bless, O Father, thy gifts to our use and us to thy service; for Christ’s sake.”
  • Luther’s Small Catechism (1529) has households say Psalm 145:15–16, the Lord’s Prayer and a short blessing before eating, and verses of thanksgiving after.
  • Grace after meals goes back to Deuteronomy 8:10: “When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God.”
  • Jesus gave thanks before the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:19) and at Emmaus (Luke 24:30), and Paul gave thanks before eating on a storm-bound ship (Acts 27:35).
  • Short graces cover a family dinner, young children, a restaurant, eating alone, a celebration, a tight budget and remembering the hungry.

A short grace before eating: “Thank you, Father, for this food and the hands that prepared it. Bless it to our use and us to your service. Amen.” The traditional Catholic grace is: “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty: through Christ our Lord. Amen.” Traditional graces before a meal The Catholic grace This is the short grace printed in Catholic prayer books for well over a century, with the…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Deuteronomy 8:10; Psalm 136:1; 145:15–16; Proverbs 15:17; Matthew 6:11; 8:8; 14:19; 25:35; Luke 24:30; Acts 27:33–37; 1 Timothy 4:4–5). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
  • Lasance, Francis Xavier. The Catholic Girl’s Guide: Counsels and Devotions for Girls in the Ordinary Walks of Life. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1906. “Grace before Meals” and “Grace after Meals,” p. 439; “Short Form of Grace at Table,” p. 440. https://archive.org/details/catholicgirlsgui00lasa
  • The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Holy Communion, prayer “We do not presume,” p. 82; Family Prayer, “Grace before Meat,” p. 600. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
  • Luther, Martin. The Small Catechism (1529), Appendix II, “How a Father Should Teach His Household to say Grace and Return Thanks at Meals.” Translated by Robert E. Smith from the German text in Triglot Concordia (1921). Project Gutenberg eBook no. 1670. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1670
  • A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Devotions for Mass, “Domine, non sum dignus,” p. 102. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888

Responses

  1. Coen Avatar
    Coen

    Rob,
    Te beginnen met ‘Ik dank U, Heer’, is heel wel mogelijk.
    Laat deze gebeden een inspiratie zijn voor het gebed dat jou persoonlijk raakt.
    Schrijf het op.
    Schrijf ik, mij, mijzelf in plaats van ‘wij’ en pas de zinnen verder aan, zo, dat het jouw gebed kan worden.
    Je hebt alle vrijheid!!
    De Heer zal je leiden!!

    Reply
  2. Rob Adams Avatar
    Rob Adams

    I’m looking for a mealtime prayer as a single adult. All of the prayers on this page seem to say “‘we’ thank You, Lord.”

    Reply

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