Grace Before and After Meals: Catholic Prayers in Latin and English

The table is laid, the soup is steaming, and before anyone reaches for a spoon, the father makes the Sign of the Cross. This is how grace has begun in Catholic homes for centuries. Many still know the opening words, “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts”, but no longer remember how it continues or what is prayed after the meal. This guide gives you both prayers word for word, in Latin and English, shows their origin in the Roman Breviary and explains how a family prays them on weekdays and at Christmas.

What is grace before meals?

Grace is a short prayer before and after eating. Before the meal the faithful ask God to bless them and their food; after the meal they thank Him for all His benefits. The Church has known this prayer since her beginnings.

Holy Scripture is the foundation of the custom. Psalm 144 says what every meal rests upon: “The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand: and fillest with blessing every living creature” (Ps 144:15–16, Douay-Rheims). St Paul writes that every creature of God is good and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified per verbum Dei, et orationem, “by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim 4:4–5).

The first Christians already did so. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1909 cites Tertullian, who at the beginning of the third century reports in his defence of the faith that at their common meals, the love feast, Christians did not recline at table before they had prayed to God, and that prayer also closed the meal.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God.”

1 Cor 10:31, Douay-Rheims Bible

What is the Catholic grace before meals?

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.” In Latin it reads Benedic, Domine, nos et haec tua dona, just as it stands in the Roman Breviary.

Benedic, Domine, nos et haec tua dona, quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Latin: Horae diurnae Breviarii Romani, Benedictio mensae, Regensburg 1898. English: the traditional English form of the grace.

The traditional English grace follows the Latin closely: the Latin words de tua largitate mean “from Thy bounty”. The old German prayer book “Mutter-Liebe” (Regensburg 1893) says simply “goodness” instead of “bounty”. A Regensburg prayer book of 1875 hands down a second German version: “Bless, O Lord, us and these Thy gifts, which we shall take through Thy goodness; through Christ our Lord. Amen” (translated from the German). Both mean the same. In the Breviary this blessing is preceded by the Benedicite, the psalm verse Oculi omnium with the Glory Be, Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison, the Our Father and the versicle Et ne nos inducas in tentationem.

What is the grace after meals?

After the meal the prayer of thanksgiving is said: “We give Thee thanks, almighty God, for all Thy benefits, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.” In Latin it reads Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus, pro universis beneficiis tuis. Then the faithful departed are remembered.

Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus, pro universis beneficiis tuis: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace. Amen.

We give Thee thanks, almighty God, for all Thy benefits, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Latin: Preces et pia opera, Rome 1952, no. 683, and Horae diurnae Breviarii Romani, Regensburg 1898. English: the traditional English form.

In the Breviary the thanksgiving is followed by a petition for benefactors: Retribuere dignare, Domine, omnibus nobis bona facientibus propter nomen tuum vitam aeternam. The same prayer book of 1875 renders it thus: “We beseech Thee, O Lord, that Thou wouldst give eternal life as a reward to all those who do us good for the sake of Thy holy name. Amen” (translated from the German). The Catholic Encyclopedia explains this remembrance of benefactors by the monastic origin of the prayer.

What short graces are there?

Short graces consist of the Sign of the Cross and a single sentence. Before the meal “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts” is enough, after the meal “We give Thee thanks, almighty God, for all Thy benefits”. Children quickly learn these two sentences by heart.

If you have more time, add an Our Father and a Hail Mary. You will find the wording of these basic prayers in our guide to the Rosary with all its prayers. A third short prayer is the psalm verse with which the Breviary opens the meal:

Oculi omnium in te sperant, Domine: et tu das escam illorum in tempore opportuno. Aperis tu manum tuam: et imples omne animal benedictione.

The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them meat in due season. Thou openest thy hand: and fillest with blessing every living creature.

Ps 144:15–16. Latin: Vulgate and Horae diurnae, Regensburg 1898. English: Douay-Rheims Bible.

How does a family pray grace together?

In the family one person begins grace with the Sign of the Cross and the others pray along together. The Catholic prayer book “Mutter-Liebe” (“A Mother’s Love”) of 1893 arranges the prayer before meals and the prayer after meals in six short parts each, from the Sign of the Cross to the Glory Be.

This is the order before meals in the prayer book “Mutter-Liebe”:

1. Sign of the Cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
2. The psalm verse “The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord …”
3. “Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.”
4. An Our Father and a Hail Mary.
5. “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts …”
6. Glory Be.

After the meal come the Sign of the Cross, “We give Thee thanks, almighty God …”, again “Lord, have mercy on us”, “Christ, have mercy on us”, “Lord, have mercy on us”, the Our Father and Hail Mary, the prayer for the faithful departed and the Glory Be. In religious communities the priest begins with Benedicite, “Bless ye”, and the others repeat it. In the family a child may also lead the prayer in turn. A cross on the dining-room wall gives the common prayer a fixed point to look upon.

Is there a special grace for Christmas?

For Christmas the Roman Breviary has its own grace. From Christmas Day until the midday meal of 5 January, the verse “The Word was made flesh, alleluia” replaces the psalm verse. After the meal the faithful pray “The Lord hath made known His salvation, alleluia”.

The rubric of the Breviary reads: In Nativitate Domini usque ad cenam Vigiliae Epiphaniae exclusive. Before the meal it then says: Verbum caro factum est, alleluja. Et habitavit in nobis, alleluja, after John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us”. After the meal follows Notum fecit Dominus, alleluja. Salutare suum, alleluja from Psalm 97:2, in the Douay-Rheims: “The Lord hath made known his salvation”.

The blessing and the thanksgiving stay the same. The Breviary has similar verses for Easter and other high feasts. Whoever sits at table with the whole family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day can place these verses, in Latin or English, before the usual prayer.

Where does grace come from, and is there an indulgence for it?

The Catholic grace has its origin in the Benedictio mensae, the blessing of the table in the Roman Breviary, which comes from monastic life. For the thanksgiving Agimus tibi gratias the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary granted an indulgence of three hundred days in 1934.

The blessing of the table is built from psalm verses: Oculi omnium comes from Psalm 144, the verses after the meal such as Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore from Psalm 33. The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1909 calls the origin of this order monastic. The 1898 edition of the Horae diurnae contains the complete order, including the reader’s request for a blessing before the reading at table and the priest’s blessing: Mensae caelestis participes faciat nos Rex aeternae gloriae, in our translation “May the King of eternal glory make us partakers of the heavenly table”. Thus grace itself already points beyond our daily bread to the eternal banquet.

The official collection of indulgences, the Preces et pia opera of 1952, lists the prayer Agimus tibi gratias under no. 683 among the prayers of thanksgiving: Indulgentia trecentorum dierum, granted by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary on 14 December 1934.

Under the 1917 Code of Canon Law, anyone wishing to gain an indulgence must be baptised and not excommunicated, be in the state of grace at least at the completion of the prescribed work, have at least a general intention of gaining it and perform the prescribed work at the right time and in the right manner (CIC 1917, can. 925).

Where a particular prayer is prescribed, the indulgence may be gained in any language, provided the translation is approved by the Church as faithful; it is lost through any addition, omission or interpolation (can. 934 § 2). If you want to be certain, pray the Agimus tibi gratias in Latin. Sacramental confession, Holy Communion, a visit to a church or public oratory and a prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are the usual conditions the Church requires for plenary indulgences (Preces 1952, preliminary note no. 4).

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Frequently asked questions about grace