Prayer before meals.

[Timi_Celcer]

1. How should i pray before meals? Is there any rule or any particular prayer that you need to pray before you thank God for your food and drink?
   2)Do i need to show everybody that i pray before meal or can i do my prayer in my mind? If i would pray loudly or cross before meals then my schoolmates and friends would think im weird. Can i do my prayers quietly?

 

[JM3]

From the MTF Daily Roman Missal, page 2473.

Blessing before a meal

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

Add for midday

May the King of everlasting glory make us partakers of the heavenly table. Amen.

Add for evening

May the King of everlasting glory lead us to the banquet of life eternal. Amen.

Thanksgiving after a meal

We give you thanks, almighty God, for all your benefits, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.
May the Lord grant us his peace and life everlasting.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

1. The sign of the cross precedes and concludes every prayer.

Luke 12:8 And I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.
9 But he that shall deny me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God.

 

[Timi_Celcer]

But do i have to speak these prayers loudly and do i have to make sign of the cross in front of everybody?

 

[Joe_5859]

JM3 provided the traditional Catholic prayers before and after meals. They are certainly good ones to use (and what I ordinarily pray), but you can also use other words.

If I am dining alone or joining a group that is already mid-meal, I generally pray the prayer silently, but I still do the sign of the cross (also silently). You need to decide for yourself what is best. As JM3 said, we do not want to be ashamed of Jesus before others. But we also don’t want to blow a trumpet before us in order to gain attention (Matthew 6:5). So search your heart and decide what your intention is.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

But do i have to speak these prayers loudly and do i have to make sign of the cross in front of everybody?

No, you don’t have to do anything that makes you stand out among the crowd, unless that’s your thing.

At a restaurant, I merely bow my head and ask for the Lord to bless my meal and thank Him.

God cares what’s in the heart, not how much we impress or irritate others with displays of piety.

Jim

 

[angell1]

agree with the posters above. don’t make a great show out of it but if you’re afraid to do it because yu feel like people will think you’re weird, it might show that you’re ashamed of god. you don’t have to say it super loudly, i usualy just talk quietly or whisper, bow my head, put my hands together. i actually didn’t know you had to make the sign of the cross before every prayer so i might implement that now

 

[landon13]

This is what my family says:

"In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. amen

"Bless us o Lord and these thy gifts for which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. amen

“in the name of the Father and of the Sona no of the Holy Spirit. Amen”

 

[Joe_5859]

agree with the posters above. don’t make a great show out of it but if you’re afraid to do it because yu feel like people will think you’re weird, it might show that you’re ashamed of god. you don’t have to say it super loudly, i usualy just talk quietly or whisper, bow my head, put my hands together. i actually didn’t know you had to make the sign of the cross before every prayer so i might implement that now

There’s no hard-and-fast requirement to do/say the sign of the cross at the beginning and end of every prayer. It’s not strictly necessary to get God’s attention so he knows we are praying. But it is a good Catholic prayer.