Q. What is the prayer “Thanksgiving after Meals?’
A. Great question. Thank you for asking it.
Just last week I went out to eat with two lifelong Catholics who are their 60s. At the beginning we prayed Grace before Meals and at the end I prayed the Thanksgiving after Meals. The version I pray goes like this:
“We return you thanks Almighty God for these and all Thy benefits which we have received from Thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy God rest in peace.”
Some people who know this prayer might have prayed it in a slightly different way. Use the version you are comfortable with. One is free to speak to use other words of blessing and gratitude. However, there is a value in using memorized and widely known prayers so that others can join in the recitation.
The two people with me at the recent meal looked at me and asked what was the prayer that I recited. They said in their entire lives they had never heard that prayer. I explained that it is a prayer going back to apostolic Jewish times which recognizes that everything comes from the Lord including our food that we have a real need to thank God for everything we have.
Theologically, the act of saying grace is derived from the Bible, in which Jesus and Saint Paul pray before meals (cf. Luke 24:30, Acts 27:35).
If the Prayer of Thanksgiving after meals has not been a part of your faith tradition I invite you to begin saying it after every meal. Perhaps take an index card and write the prayer on it and try to memorize it.
Very good question. Thanks again for asking it.
This question was answered by Father Kenneth Borowiak, pastor of St. Michael Parish in Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
