Praying Before Meals: Thanksgiving and Spiritual Protection

It’s such a simple thing–praying before meals–but something that people don’t always do when eating, especially in public. This, in spite of the spiritual benefits it can provide, such as a partial indulgence, and spiritual protection. Praying before meals also allows us to witness our faith to others. And most importantly, through these prayers, we thank God for His gift of the meal to us.

Historical Roots Of Praying Before Meals

We can trace the practice of saying grace before meals back to the very earliest times of the Church. Jesus said a blessing before feeding the crowds at Galilee, and at the Last Supper (cf. Mt 14:19, 15:36, 26:26). After that, outside of a sacramental context, Aristides, a second-century Christian apologist wrote of the Christians that, “over their food and over their drink they render God thanks.” As well, Tertullian, who lived in the late second and early third centuries, mentions it in his writings. A contemporary of his, Clement of Alexandria, wrote that, “Before taking nourishment, it is fitting to praise the Creator of all things, and it is fitting also to sing His praises when we take as nourishment the things created by Him.”

Moving forward to the sixth century, we find the following verse in the Rule of St. Benedict: “But, if anyone does not come to the table before the verse so that all may say the verse and pray and sit down at table together…” (RB 43.13) Note that such prayer is said standing, which is the practice in many religious communities. Whether said standing or sitting, suffice it to say that praying before meals, and after, for that matter, constitutes a solid Christian practice.

Giving Thanks in Our Prayers

We should consider praying before meals if only to give thanks to God for supplying the food for our needs. St. Ignatius of Loyola’s First Principle and Foundation reminds us that, “All the things in this world are gifts of God…”  And that includes the food on the table.

A friend of mine, Peter, immigrated to the U.S. from an Eastern bloc country. He immediately noticed a key difference in the way we commonly pray before meals. Where he came from, when praying before meals, thanksgiving always came first. Here, in the U.S., the prayer he usually heard was the rote prayer that many Catholics pray, “Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts…” Although it’s a great prayer, the thanksgiving piece is missing unless you free-form it and add it in (which some do).

Gain an Indulgence

Many of the faithful don’t know that praying before meals, or after meals, can result in an indulgence. The Manual of Indulgences states,

“A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who…before and after meals, devoutly offer some legitimately approved prayer of supplication and act of thanksgiving (e.g….Agimus Tibi gratias; Benedic, Domine…)” (Manual of Indulgences, No 26, §2, 3)

The Agimus Tibi gratias prayer is one of thanksgiving: “We give You thanks, Almighty God, for all your blessings: who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.” Catholics probably would recognize Benedic, Domine in English as the more or less standard grace before meals: “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Given that praying before meals and after meals with such prayers can yield an indulgence, why wouldn’t we pray them at every meal?

Spiritual Protection

Although giving thanks and gaining an indulgence are great reasons on their own, spiritual warfare presents yet another argument for praying before meals. In a post taken from his book, Diary of an American Exorcist, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti relates an incident he personally experienced. After a waiter served his table, a member of his team discerned the presence of demons on the food. This happened during both the main course and the dessert course. Upon praying the typical meal blessing, over each course, the demons left. Msgr. Rossetti conjectured that one of the kitchen staff might have been placing curses on the food.

To some this all may seem a bit hard to swallow (no pun intended), but more and more people are engaging in occult practices. As well, consider documented stories of bad actors in restaurants doing unthinkable, non-spiritual things to food before they serve it to unsuspecting customers. It’s not much of a stretch to go from there to such things as curses. As a result, it’s a really good practice to say grace before meals when eating in public places.

Giving Witness: Praying for Others

A friend of mine, Dan, shared a practice of his with me recently. When he goes out to eat, he asks the waiter or waitress if there’s anything they would like Dan and his group to pray for. “We’re about to pray here, and I wonder if there’s anything you’d like us to pray for.” Frequently there is, and the waiter is grateful for the offer. He told me that, in one case, the waitress asked what Dan would like her to pray for after his table group prayed for her! Stepping out boldly as Christians, giving testimony to our faith–that’s what Dan and his friends do at mealtime.

Praying After Meals

And let’s not forget praying after meals. This is something we rarely see, except when joining in with religious communities for meals. But what a great opportunity to give thanks to Our Lord, especially if we use the Benedic, Domine as the grace before meals. A short and sweet prayer of thanksgiving afterwards is the Agimus Tibi gratias. Another nice one is the prayer that we prayed before the virus lockdowns when staying at St. Benedict’s Abbey in Kansas:

“Lórd, we thánk you for your mány gifts. And praise you as the soúrce of all we háve and áre. Teách us to acknowledge álways your blessings. And to be thánkful for the ínfinite expréssions of your lóve. Help us to be génerous with óthers as yoú are generous with ús. We ask thís through Chríst our Lórd. Amen.”

The diacritical or accent marks above the syllables show where to place the emphasis in reciting the prayer as a group. If you’re not already doing so, consider adding a prayer of thanksgiving after your meals

Praying in Public

In view of such powerful reasons–witnessing our faith, giving thanks, gaining indulgences, and spiritual protection–why do so many omit grace before meals? And this question applies to praying over meals not only in public, but also privately, at home, alone or with family. Chalk it up partly to poor preparation in the faith. Many faithful simply may not have heard about the reasons and benefits of praying before or after meals. On top of this, many may never have witnessed this behavior in their families or peer groups.

If praying before meals in private is off the spiritual radar screen, consider what that can mean for public prayer. Making the sign of the cross and praying over a meal in a crowded restaurant may be intimidating to some. It may feel awkward–especially if someone is new to it or not practicing it at home. Some people may be embarrassed by the prospect of praying in public. But we need to get over that for at least a couple of reasons.

For one thing, the act of praying in public gives witness to our faith. It can encourage or inspire others who see it. Who knows what the Holy Spirit will do in their hearts after they’ve observed your prayer before the meal? For another, in the future we may very well be called to take a public stand, providing a much more dramatic witness to Our Lord than simply saying grace in a restaurant.

“We have all very much for which to thank and love God.” – St. Mary MacKillop