Do you say grace in restaurants?

[Aureole]

You don’t hear of much rebuking the students for forgetting the Sign of the Cross today. It’s something I kind of miss even though I never knew it.

It sounds like wjp984 and LilyM could use some of those young men around making the Sign of the Cross and belting out a good “Bless us…”. You know, just to remind you.

Flopfoot and RCAdvocate have given us some attractive prayers for after meals, who can remember to pray them is the task we have now! I’m going to try, it’s a good practice to start.

abb, there’s no “proper” way to pray any prayer aside from the Liturgy (Mass and Liturgy of the Hours). There is traditional ways of praying but these are not canonically fixed. You can even pray the Rosary or Way of the Cross however you like. The only exception I can possibly think of are the approved litanies and then only in public prayer.

 

[Wendy-Kay]

Anyone want to break down where I can find or figure out all the prayers before and after meals? I usually do the sign of the cross and “Bless us…” before meals no matter where I am at… But sadly I don’t know what to do after meals.

Are you supposed to stand or kneel while you do the sign of the cross and prayer before meals? and after? thanks…

Andrew

Hi, Andrew!
I think it is good to wing it every once in a while to avoid the regular prayer becoming insincere or habitual only. But, remember what Hank Hill said, “I don’t think the Good Lord wants the pork chops to get cold.”

 

[kage_ar]

(Think I told this story back before the crash… but here goes again).

Dinner with friends - Friday night one of those super busy big huge all you can eat Chinese buffet places - we all make SOTC and say “bless us oh Lord…”.

Two of us are walking back from the buffett late in the meal, with a couple of kiddos in tow, and one of the restaurant staff - a bus person - approaches. She is very soft spoken and speaks broken english - she says “Catholic?”.

Long story short, she had been in the country for a few months, and did not know how to find the Catholic Church. When she saw us make the SOTC, she approached us. My friend grabbed the bulletin out of her car, helped her find a Mass in her native language, and gave her phone numbers, etc.

Now, in that busy eating place, for all those weeks - we were the FIRST people she had seen who made the SOTC. Wow.

You never know WHO is watching.

 

[guardian1]

How many here pray after meals? I normally forget somehow but I do it when I remember.

catholics pray after eatting? what prayer is that? i was raised protestant and neer heard of anyone praying after eatting.

 

[Magicsilence]

(Think I told this story back before the crash… but here goes again).

Dinner with friends - Friday night one of those super busy big huge all you can eat Chinese buffet places - we all make SOTC and say “bless us oh Lord…”.

Two of us are walking back from the buffett late in the meal, with a couple of kiddos in tow, and one of the restaurant staff - a bus person - approaches. She is very soft spoken and speaks broken english - she says “Catholic?”.

Long story short, she had been in the country for a few months, and did not know how to find the Catholic Church. When she saw us make the SOTC, she approached us. My friend grabbed the bulletin out of her car, helped her find a Mass in her native language, and gave her phone numbers, etc.

Now, in that busy eating place, for all those weeks - we were the FIRST people she had seen who made the SOTC. Wow.

You never know WHO is watching.

Well, heres my story.

I picked up my friend and his mother from the airport recently. To say thankyou, they took me out to have a meal in pizza hut.

When the food was served, I made the sign of the Cross and prayed silently looking up to heaven, then made another sign of the Cross. My friend and his mother did not.

Of course, a whisper of pride was straight into my ear by “you know who”.

“They didnt pray before their meal, your so much holier than them” etc…

Wanna know how God responded?

My friends mother paused with her hands clasped after EVERY MOUTHFULL.

Now THATS holy.

Peace and God Bless.

 

[Aureole]

catholics pray after eatting? what prayer is that? i was raised protestant and neer heard of anyone praying after eatting.

Sorry guardian1, I don’t quite remember the specific words. It goes something like:

“We give thee thanks, Almighty God, for these and all Thy gifts which we have received through Christ Thy Son. And may the Lord provide for the needs of others.”

A couple other people posted some other prayers as well. It doesn’t really have to be in any form, taking time to thank God after meals is just a good practice.

 

[Loren_1of6]

We all make the sign of the cross, hold hands around the table, say our prayer, and finish with another sign of the cross. We have had waiters wait respectfully and apologize for interrupting our prayers.

 

[annb]

(Think I told this story back before the crash… but here goes again).

Dinner with friends - Friday night one of those super busy big huge all you can eat Chinese buffet places - we all make SOTC and say “bless us oh Lord…”.

Two of us are walking back from the buffett late in the meal, with a couple of kiddos in tow, and one of the restaurant staff - a bus person - approaches. She is very soft spoken and speaks broken english - she says “Catholic?”.

Long story short, she had been in the country for a few months, and did not know how to find the Catholic Church. When she saw us make the SOTC, she approached us. My friend grabbed the bulletin out of her car, helped her find a Mass in her native language, and gave her phone numbers, etc.

Now, in that busy eating place, for all those weeks - we were the FIRST people she had seen who made the SOTC. Wow.

You never know WHO is watching.

Wow, that brought tears to my eyes.

We try to pray most of the time at home. Someday hopefully we’ll work up to doing it in restaurants out loud.

 

[abb]

Hi, Andrew!
I think it is good to wing it every once in a while to avoid the regular prayer becoming insincere or habitual only. But, remember what Hank Hill said, “I don’t think the Good Lord wants the pork chops to get cold.”

Thanks, I’d have to agree with Hank on that one.

 

[Augustine]

Many moons ago, I posted the same question in this forum because, after starting to say grace before meals at home, it stroke me as incoherent to not do it in restaurants, when perhaps we should be even more thankful for being able to afford it.

The first attempts trying to lead my family in prayer then were met with resistance. With gentle persistence, as sometimes being the only one saying grace, it became a habit for the whole family.

Don’t think that we’re one of those pious families who’ve practiced the Faith for all their lives, no. I’ve been trying to make up for a decade of neglect to pass the Faith to my children. My challenge is to lead them patiently and gently and to resist rushing them.

May God forgive me for failing Him in this responsibility for so many years.

 

[mommyof4]

Don’t think that we’re one of those pious families who’ve practiced the Faith for all their lives, no. I’ve been trying to make up for a decade of neglect to pass the Faith to my children. My challenge is to lead them patiently and gently and to resist rushing them.

May God forgive me for failing Him in this responsibility for so many years.

Augustine, I am in the same boat. I have so much to make up for, all of that lost time and opportunity to bring my family closer to God. Now that I am activly working on it, I am running into a lot of resistance from my oldest child. She thinks I am just “freaking out” about all of this “church stuff.” The younger ones are accepting this a bit better.
I will pray for your family, too. I try to remember that through Christ, all things are possible, and He can bring good out of my neglect.

 

[kasmith]

Yes, all my life. Never thought it was a big thing until one time when I was in high school my family and I were at a restaurant and made the sign of the cross, said grace, made the sign of the cross and started eating. No big deal right, same-o, same-o. Then a couple came up to our table and told us how wonderful it was to see us praying to God in public and they were very impressed. I have never forgotten that and now my children and grand children now do the same thing. Now that I listen to Catholic Answer’s I realize it’s a witness to our faith to do it.

I have never heard of a prayer after meals, what is it?

 

[In_His_Glory]

Yes absolutely!!! The last time I visited a restaurant was with my brothers in Christ and we prayed at the table that everyone else joined in. That was a site. It got so quiet. Amazing.

 

[Aureole]

I managed to stumble upon this page that gives blessings before and after meals in Latin and English. I can’t recall seeing the prayers for after midday or evening anywhere else.

 

[tradcathconvert]

I try to always say grace no matter where I am, even if alone. The TLM I attend on Sundays is at noon, so by the time Mass ends we are ready for lunch. A group of us usually go to our favorite restaurant every Sunday for lunch. I have the privilege of leading grace before and after the meal.

 

[CatholicMC]

Yes, and with a genuine sign of the cross. It took/(still takes) some time to get used to doing this in public, but I don’t like to be ambarassed of my faith!

 

[BlestOne]

Yes.

Have you ever taken a half dozen big huge teenage boys (give or take - I think there were actually 8 of them) to a fast-food place and led them in praying “Bless Us Oh Lord,” standing and out loud, with the sign of the cross both before and after?

It’s a terrific experience - the whole place goes quiet.

Yep!!! Exactly the same here…my 2 sons (19 & 16), 2 daughters (15 &11) and any number of their friends all doing this in McDonalds every Friday night except during lent (we go elswhere during lent), My DH and I go over to the “kids” table and lead prayers then hand out the food before we sit at a seperate table…just for relaxation(ok and safety too…you never know what a bunch of teen boys are going to do). We have had people actually come over and thank us for being an example and reminding them to pray… never once has anybody complained about us praying in public.

 

[SCALCO]

I had a friend who is the most amazing person I know. She converted at age 20 and has since answered a call to a religious vocation. What began her journey to conversion was seeing someone make the sign of the cross at a restaurant! So, with that always in mind, no matter what, we always make the sign of the cross and pray before our meals dining out.

(Think I told this story back before the crash… but here goes again).

Dinner with friends - Friday night one of those super busy big huge all you can eat Chinese buffet places - we all make SOTC and say “bless us oh Lord…”.

Two of us are walking back from the buffett late in the meal, with a couple of kiddos in tow, and one of the restaurant staff - a bus person - approaches. She is very soft spoken and speaks broken english - she says “Catholic?”.

Long story short, she had been in the country for a few months, and did not know how to find the Catholic Church. When she saw us make the SOTC, she approached us. My friend grabbed the bulletin out of her car, helped her find a Mass in her native language, and gave her phone numbers, etc.

Now, in that busy eating place, for all those weeks - we were the FIRST people she had seen who made the SOTC. Wow.

You never know WHO is watching.

These two stories were inspiring. I am ashamed to admit that sometimes I feel uncomfortable making the sign of the cross and praying in restaurants or when eating with co-workers. I think it’s just because I am shy and don’t like to draw attention to myself, not that I am ashamed of my faith or being Catholic.
No one should feel uncomfortable or ashamed of praying.

 

[Kinderteach]

Yes, when my family is at a restauant we do offer grace. It bothers me that my two children (23 and 21 yr olds) and husband do not ever make the sign of the cross. I do not know why this bothers me so, but I feel that they are embarrass to do so.

 

[anamchara]

We do not. I am one of these people that worries about making others uncomfortable. Also, I don’t like to draw attention to myself. If we are out on some Church outing and in a restaurant then I wouldn’t mind. I can’t explain why.

I did raise my girls with prayers before dinner at home and of course at Church whenever there was a meal.