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What are the Eastern Prayers that are said before and after meals? Western Catholics say before meals: "Bless us O Lord and these Thy Gifts which we are about to receive; from Thy bounty through Christ Our Lord. Amen." and after meals: "We give thanks for all thy benefits, Almighty God, who livest and reignest forever. May the souls of the faithful departed through the Mercy of God rest in peace. Amen."

There are more intricate forms, but the simple form I use is:

Before meal - Christ our true God, bless the food and drink of your servants, for you are holy now and ever and forever. Amen.

After meal - We thank you, O Christ our God, that you have filled us with your earthly gifts; deprive us not of your heavenly kingdom, but as you came among your disciples and gave them peace, come to us now and save us. Amen.

Prayers at meals from the Old Rite:

PRAYERS BEFORE BREAKFAST OR THE NOON MEAL
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be they name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. [bow]

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord, bless. [bow]

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

PRAYER AFTER BREAKFAST OR THE NOON MEAL
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us Amen. [bow]

It is truly meet to bless thee, the Theotokos, ever-blessed and most blameless and Mother of our God. More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos, thee do we magnify. [bow]

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. [bow]

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord, bless. [bow]

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen.[bow]

Another prayer after the meal:
We thank Thee, O Christ our God, that Thou hast satisfied us with Thine earthly gifts; deprive us not of Thy heavenly Kingdom, but as Thou camest among Thy disciples, O Saviour, and gavest them peace, come to us and save us.

[And twelve bows, saying the Jesus Prayer. Then, having thanked those who prepared the meal, say:

God be merciful to me, a sinner. [bow]
Thou hast created me; Lord, have mercy on me. [bow] I have sinned immeasurably; Lord, have mercy and forgive me a sinner. [bow]

PRAYERS BEFORE THE EVENING MEAL
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

The poor shall eat and be filled, and they that seek the Lord shall praise him; their hearts shall live for ever and ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. [bow]

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord, bless. [bow]

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

PRAYERS AFTER THE EVENING MEAL
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord, bless. [without bows]

Thy womb is become an holy table, bearing Christ the heavenly bread. All that eat from it shall not die, as hath said the Nourisher of all, O Mother of God.

More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim, who without corruption gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos, thee do we magnify. [bow]

Thou hast gladdened me, O Lord, by Thy deeds, and in the works of Thy hands will I rejoice. The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, hath been signed upon us. Thou hast given gladness to my heart. From the fruit of their wheat, wine and oil are they multiplied. In peace in the same place shall I lay me down and sleep. For Thou alone, O Lord, hast made me to dwell in hope.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. [bow]

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

Lord bless. [bow]

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, for the sake of the prayers of Thy most pure Mother and all the saints, have mercy on us. Amen. [bow]

And twelve bows, saying the Jesus Prayer. Then, having thanked those who prepared the meal, say:

God be merciful to me, a sinner. [bow]
Thou hast created me; Lord, have mercy on me. [bow]
I have sinned immeasurably; Lord, have mercy and forgive me a sinner. [bow]

That's nice, but what about the prayers used by the overwhelming majority of Byzantine Christians and not just those few who follow the Old Rite customs? That would seem to be more apropos to the question raised, though those Old Rite prayers are very nice and Diak is always a fountain of knowledge.

Logos Teen

Dear Logos Teen,

Larry gave the simplified version and Deacon Diak just supplemented it with the full grace. What is said by most follows a slight abbreviation. I wouldn't knock the Old Rite for they have preserved much of what has been abbreviated today.

Actually the grace before meals I learned for everyday is the Lord's Prayer, followed by Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Lord have mercy three times,then the prayer Larry L mentions.

After meals, it would be: We thank you O Christ our God that you have satisfied us with you earthly blessings, as You came into the midst of your disciples and granted them peace, so come among us, followed by Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages, Lord have mercy three times,then the prayer Larry L mentions.

Dr. Eric, I hope this helps.

Have a blessed Nativity.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father, bless!

I didn't mean to knock the Old Rite (or Diak), but I can see after re-reading my post that it could be taken that way.

So, I just want to make it clear that my post wasn't intended to be offensive to the Old Rite at all. In fact I mentioned how nice the prayers were twice; and they are very lovely.

The world would be a better place if everyone said these prayers before and after meals (or any prayers at all).

Once again, my apologies.

Logos Teen

Logos Teen,

Have a blessed Nativity!

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Father Anthony, Father Deacon Diak, and Larry L, thank you all very much for your help. I shall use these prayers to enrich me spiritually as the food enriches me bodily.

Dr Eric,

I made an error in my earlier post.

In the grace after meals the final prayer would be:
We thank Thee, O Christ our God, that Thou hast satisfied us with Thine earthly gifts; deprive us not of Thy heavenly Kingdom, but as Thou camest among Thy disciples, O Saviour, and gavest them peace, come to us and save us.

Forgive me. I pray that you have a blessed Nativity.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Dear Father Anthony,
There's nothing to forgive, you found the mistake and corrected it, no sin there. I pray that you also will have a very blessed Nativity.

Shlomo Lkhoolkhoon,

Here is the Maronite Prayers for all meals.

Before Meals

Leader: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

All: Amen

Leader: O Lord God, may your plenty, blessing + and prosperity come down upon this meal prepared by your worshipers, and bestow upon those who partake of it the abundance of your favors.

All: Amen

After Meals

All: May food abound and never fail; may it remain plentiful, through the prayers of Our Lord's Mother, and the prayers of the rightous and just, who pleased the Lord with their deeds.

O Lord, you are a good God, and we praise and thank you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

Poosh BaShlomo Lkhoolkhoon,
Yuhannon

What if you buy fast food or you are served at a restaurant or something. Do you still say "prepared by your worshippers"? How would that work? LOL

Logos Teen

Dear Teen:

Your last post seems both sarcastic and unnecessary. Please, in the future, let's avoid such inflammatory language!

Fr. Deacon Edward

My family and I use the following prayer for all mealtimes:

All: In the name of the (+) Father...

Leader: The Lord gives food to the poor and they are satisfied.

All: All those who seek the Lord shall praise Him and live forever.

Leader: O Christ our true God, bless the food and drink of your servants, for you are gracious and you love mankind.

All: Amen!

I have small table tent cards that I created initially so that we could all learn it.

I also realize that it uses the "m" word ("mankind") but so far my children do not appear to be overly traumatized.

We also remember the special commemorations for the week:

Sunday: The Resurrection of Christ
Monday: The Holy Angels
Tuesday: St John the Forerunner
Wednesday (fast): The Precious and Lifegiving Cross and the Betrayal of Judas
Thursday: The Holy Apostles and St. Nicholas
Friday: The Precious and Lifegiving Cross
Saturday: The Mother of God and all the Saints

Hope that helps! God bless!

Gordo

Sorry, lame attempt at a joke...

But the problem still does persist, i.e. that it seems rather presumptuous of the supplicant to suppose that those who are preparing the meal are worshippers of God!

Am I the only one who sees even the slightest bit of humor in this? :p

Logos Teen