Why do Catholics Pray?
Ukrainian Catholics believe everything that is good comes from God, and we remind ourselves of that every day. A good way we can do this is to say a short prayer of thanksgiving before a meal to be grateful for the food we eat. In our tradition, it is common to also individualize these prayers, by adding other prayers like the Our Father or including prayer intentions to pray for all those around us. A common prayer to mention right before eating a meal would be to pray “O Christ God, bless the food and drink of Thy servants, for holy art Thou, always, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.”. You can keep a printable form of the prayers at your dinner table to help remind you and your family to say a short prayer before you eat.
6 Catholic Prayers Before Meals
Before Breakfast
Psalm 144:15-16
The eyes of all creatures look to You and You give them their food in due time. You open wide Your hand, and grant the desires of all who live. + Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy (3). Christ God give the blessing.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, we ask You Christ God, to bless this food and drink for Your servants, for You are holy, always, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
After Breakfast
Troparion, tone 8
Blessed are You, O Christ our God;* You have given us food in due time.* Fill us also with the Holy Spirit** and abide with us all the days of our lives. Amen.
Before the Noonday Meal
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
+ Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy (3). Christ God give the blessing.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, we ask You Christ God, to bless this food and drink for Your servants, for You are holy, always, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
After the Noonday Meal
Troparion, tone 8
We give thanks, O Christ our God,* for You have satisfied us with Your earthy gift;*deprive us not of Your heavenly kingdom,* but as You came among Your disciples and gave them peace,** come to us and save us.
+ Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy (3). Christ God give the blessing.
Blessed be God, Who shows us mercy and nourishes us with his abundant gifts through His grace and loving kindness, always now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Before the Evening Meal
Psalm 21:27, tone 4
The poor shall eat and be satisfied,* and those who seek the Lord shall praise Him** their hearts shall live forever.
+ Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy (3). Christ God give the blessing.
Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, we ask You Christ God, to bless this food and drink for Your servants, for You are holy, always, now and for ever and ever. Amen.
After the Evening Meal
+ Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Hymn to the Theotokos, tone 6
It is truly right to bless you O God-bearing
One,* as the ever-blessed and immaculate Mother of our God.* More honourable than the cherubim* and by far more glorious than the seraphim;* ever a virgin, you gave birth to God the Word,** O true Mother of God, we magnify you.
Your womb O God-bearer, became a holy table, bearing Christ our God, the Bread of heaven. As the Nourisher of all, He has said, “Anyone who
eats from it shall not die.”
Psalm 91:5 Your deeds, O Lord, have made us glad; for the work of your hands we shout for joy. Psalm 4:7-9
Lift up the light of Your face upon us, O Lord. You have put into my heart a greater joy than they have from abundance of grain and new wine. I will lie down in peace and sleep comes at one for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.
+ Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen. Lord, have mercy (3). Christ God give the blessing.
God is with us through His Grace and love for mankind, always, now and for ever and ever.
Amen.
Prayers Before Meals – A Great Family Rituals and Custom
The family—the domestic church—is a liturgical community of mutual, unselfish, and dedicated service to God and one another. Besides common prayer, the family liturgy includes a common reading of God’s Word and Christian literature, as well as blessings and thanksgiving for God’s gifts at common meals: “We give you thanks, O Christ our God, for you have satisfied us with your earthly good things. Do not deprive us of your heavenly kingdom, but as you came into the midst of your disciples, O Saviour, granting them peace, so also come to us and save us.” This is how we pray after the noon meal.
The solemnity of the family liturgy is particularly evident at the vigil suppers on the eve of Christmas and Theophany, and at the Paschal breakfast. The prayerful service of the family members is seen in the festive greeting and blessings that they exchange. For example, the father solemnly initiates the vigil supper by distributing the Christmas prosphora to each family member, and then the consecrated Jordan water. At Pascha (Easter), he also distributes a portion of the Paschal egg. The Christmas and Jordan carols, as well as the Easter songs that accompany the festive meal, are a majestic proclamation of the “great deeds of the Lord,” a joining to the ceaseless praise of the angels. Indeed, both common prayer and common meals are Christian family treasures.
A special form of marital love is the intimate relations of husband and wife. With God’s blessing, the two become one body, reflecting in the domestic church the mystery of Christ’s unity with his Church (see Eph 5:31-32). The joining of husband and wife is conducive to mutual love; it sanctifies them and opens them to conceiving new life. This is why the Church prays that God would “keep their marriage bed undefiled … that their common life be without flaw.” The sanctity of a daily family routine, the introduction of Christian rituals and customs into the household’s way of life, a liturgical spirit of domestic interaction— all this creates a solid foundation for the spirituality of family relations.
This exert can be found on page 215 in the Catechism here.
