Grace

[Auntiemoll]

Does anyone know of a grace one can say before a meal other than the old chestnut "for what we are about to receive...". I have to say grace before quite a well educated crowd and would like an alternative. Thanks..

[carmalee]

Bless this table and its bounty, the sun, rain and earth that nourished it and the hands that prepared it.

[Harry-Wragg]

At this time of the year I don't think there could be anything more appropriate than the 'Selkirk Grace', usually attributed to Rabbie Burns.

Some hae meat and canna eat,
and some wad eat that want it,
but we hae meat and we can eat,
and sae the Lord be thankit.

[wasp]

Rub a dub dub , Thanks for the grub

[tara20]

Family favourite:

For what we are about to receive - may the Lord help us! :-))

[BigBoab]

O Lord wha blessed the loaves and fishes
Look doon upon these twa bit dishes
An' tho' the tatties be but sma'
Lord mak' them plenty for us a'
But if oor stomachs they do fill
'twill be anither miracle.

[BigBoab]

O' God above look doon wi' love
On this wee piece o' ham
For Goodness sake send doon some steak
This isnae worth a damn.

[Ethel]

Thank you, Lord, for this food which is set before us. May we use it to nourish our bodies, and thee to nourish our souls. Make us ever more mindful of the needs of others, and the needs of our planet. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

[Clanad]

Three potatoes for four of us...
Thank God there's no more of us...

[fredpuli47]

Well educated crowd, you say. All right give 'em the one we use in [The honourable Society of the] Inner Temple, before dinners for barristers and student barristers.

" Benedictus benedicat" [pronounced Ben-ay-dik-tuss ben-ay- dee- kat "]

Short, and in Latin ! It means 'May the Blessed One bless ' [this meal ]

If you're dead flash you can do the closing grace too, to signify that the meal is ended. It is 'Benedictus benedixit' ' [ben-ay-dik-sit] that is 'The Blessed One has blessed '

[Auntiemoll]

Thank you all for helping me out. but I am going to use the blessing that Ethel has posted as the luncheon club is Church based.

[NiceCupOfTea]

I don't mean to sound rude to your final choice, but why is that the best one for a well-educated crowd? It's not alternative at all - a quick witted Burns version would go down much better, and then you could say your choice after it if you felt you needed to take things back to a more traditional level after assessing how the first version went.

[Auntiemoll]

I did like the Rabbie Burns blessing, but said in a Welsh accent would be pushing it a bit !!!!

[mallam]

Oh Fred, has the Inner Temple gone over to the New Pronunciation? What, decree nissy and all? Even Oxford has all but caved in, but in my day it was Benny-dick-tuss benny die cat, and the closing one was "Benedicto benedicatur" [Benny-dick-toe benny die cater], or 'The Blessed One be blessed'. In the reductionist college where I was a Fellow, that is. In my undergraduate college it was (to the best of my recollection, at any rate!) "Benignissime Pater, qui providentia tua regis, liberalitate pascis et benedictione conservas omina quae creaveris, benedicas nobis, te quaesumus, et hisce creaturis tuis in usum nostrum, ut illae sanctificatae sint et nobis salutares, et ut nos inde corroborati magis apti reddamur ad omnia opera bona in laudem tui Nominis aeterni, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum."

If they're such a well-educated crowd of Christian gentlefolk, give 'em that!