Saying Grace before and after meals:

28 April 2019

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” Luke 24:30

All things come from God our Father and we as His children ought to give gratitude and remembrance to Him for providing for all our needs. This is more so when God provides us food and drink that sustains our life. Saying “Grace” before and after meals is a Catholic tradition that probably has its origin in the Scriptures.In the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 8:10 Moses says, “You shall eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for the good land that he has given you."

Grace is a short prayer of thanksgiving to remember and honor God’s providence in our lives. When we give thanks to God we also remember all those who are not so fortunate and are being deprived of basic necessities of life. We can see this tradition being followed in the New Testament too in Acts 27:35 where we read that St. Paul too followed this tradition “After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.”

Grace is most often said by the senior most person present in the gathering, usually the head of the family. If grace is said by a priest or deacon, the food is blessed too. When possible, grace should be said aloud and standing with a simple prayer to begin and end the meal. If you are eating alone, or the only Catholic in the gathering, you can say the grace silently before and after the meal.

The traditional form of 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 traditional form of Grace after meals is:

“We give Thee thanks,
Almighty God,
For these and all Thy benefits,
Who lives and reigns,
world without end.
Amen.”