# How should 'grace' be said. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312 "2008-07-21T22:23:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/41 "2008-07-22T19:24:05Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] Does reciting a repeated “grace” tend to lose meaning for you? Having been raised in a house where we just “talked” to God openly and about anything before eating, I wonder what impact reciting a prayer would have. Does it become more of a ritual, or are you able to maintain meaning with it? [/QUOTE] There is meaning in ritual. Doing the same thing, saying the same words over and over again can give you the space to think _about_ the words and actions rather than having to think _of_ the words and actions. (Not saying that a person couldn’t do both - but sometimes, for me, it’s easier to contemplate when I’m not talking. Especially if other people can hear me talk.) Sometimes, though, it can be the equivalent of small talk with a person(“Hi!” “how are you?” “fine.” “have a nice day.”). But keeping up with small talk makes it possible to have larger, deeper, more meaningful conversations later on. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/42 "2008-07-22T19:28:17Z")
There’s always Burns: > [@](#): > > Some hae meat and cannae eat > Some would eat that want it > But we hae meat and we can eat > Sae let the Lord be thankit ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/43 "2008-07-22T20:03:41Z")
My husband’s family says “Bless this food to our use and us in thy service. Amen”. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/44 "2008-07-22T20:07:28Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] There’s always Burns: [/QUOTE] That would be the Scots grace mentioned above. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/45 "2008-07-22T20:11:59Z")
“For this food and our many blessings we give thanks. Amen.” ---
**Author:** ![redtail23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3e96dc/32.png) [@redtail23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/redtail23)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/46 "2008-07-22T20:30:53Z")
None for me, thanks. When I was just a tot, we used the “God is great, God is good, Let us thank Him for this food.”. Of course, I thought we were talking to the lady on the bottle of my favorite dressing, so I was a little confused. (Green Goddess dressing…Goddess great, Goddess good…) Wasn’t till years later that I figured that one out. My in-laws generally used some variation on the “bless us and this food” or “we give thanks for this food and our blessings” themes. The actual words depended on who was saying it and what they wanted to throw in. That’s consistent with what I’ve generally heard said when I’ve been somewhere that Grace was spoken. Maybe some of those folks used the same words every time and I just didn’t know it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/47 "2008-07-22T21:17:39Z")
Hmmm. “Godess great, Godess good. Let us thank her for our food” could work for some of my pagan friends. They may get a kick out of it. Then there’s an old, somewhat irreverent favorite of mine: > [@](#): > > Good food. > Good meat. > Good God, > Let’s eat!" On a more serious note, this was brought up recently in an on-line community of Episcopalians and Anglicans I belong to on-line. People have said grace using all sorts of forms there, both spontaneous and traditional. For Episcopalians in America, the _Book of Common Prayer_ has four graces. They are: > [@](#): > > Give us grateful hears, our Father, for all thy mercies and make us mindful of the needs of others; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. > [@](#): > > Bless, O Lord, thy gifts to our use and us to thy service; for Christ’s sake. Amen. > [@](#): > > Blessed are you, O Lord God, King of the Universe, for you give us food to sustain our lives and make our hearts glad; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. and > [@](#): > > For these and all his mercies, God’s holy Name be blessed and praised; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Of course, **Lobsang** , you old heathen, none of these match what you’re used to, but the Americans and English _are_ different. You’re versions one of the ones I’m used to and I like it better than the shorter one, but I’m long-winded. Edit: and not good at writing tags! ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/48 "2008-07-22T21:33:16Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] Is there a ‘correct’ way to say it? [/QUOTE] How about “Go god, Boo Devil” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/49 "2008-07-22T23:42:17Z")
[QUOTE=bannerrefugee] How about “Go god, Boo Devil” [/QUOTE] This doesn’t really thank anyone for food. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/50 "2008-07-23T00:54:54Z")
[QUOTE=Lobsang] This doesn’t really thank anyone for food. [/QUOTE] God likes to be thanked? Frankly thanking the cook gets better results than saying grace. Cooks always appreciate the superlatives. ---
**Author:** ![kdeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kdeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kdeus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/51 "2008-07-23T00:55:13Z")
**Lobsang** ’s The OP’s original grace (“For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.”) is what Maria (Julie Andrews) says in “The Sound of Music”. “Bless us O lord…” is what I grew up with and I always thought of a “Catholic Standard” At nursery school, my daughter learned: Thank you for the food and care, Help us now to love and share …which served us quite well for a long time, until we realized more than a year later that she was saying “Help a snout,” and now I can’t hear it without smiling. Its not easy to share a snout, let alone love one. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/52 "2008-07-23T02:36:48Z")
We have friends who come to dinner with their 7yr old daughter. Grace is always said, it rotates and is different each time. But the ritual is always the same. We all hold hands and then, once grace is over, we kiss the back of each of the hands we’re holding. It’s their tradition not ours, but I quite enjoy it, anyone else ever see this done? ---
**Author:** ![DistendedPendulousFrenulum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/43a26b/32.png) [@DistendedPendulousFrenulum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DistendedPendulousFrenulum)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/53 "2008-07-23T03:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] It can even be a song. At church camp we sang [Johnny Appleseed](http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/johnny_appleseed_grace.htm). [/QUOTE] We did? All I remember is having God’s own case of the munchies ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/54 "2008-07-23T08:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=kdeus] more than a year later that she was saying “Help a snout,” and now I can’t hear it without smiling. Its not easy to share a snout, let alone love one. [/QUOTE] LOL loud and long: “help a snout” [_snerk_] Too, too funny! ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/55 "2008-07-23T09:52:43Z")
I grew up with the same “UK standard” grace as the OP ("“For what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful.”), but neither my own family nor anyone else that I knew actually _said_ grace before meals. On occasions when I’ve been asked to say grace myself, I usually go with the [Selkirk Grace](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkirk_Grace#Start_of_the_evening) (aka Burns or Scottish grace as mentioned upthread). The grace that has been said in my presence more times (\>500) than any other is: > [@](#): > > _Nos miseri homines et egeni, pro cibis quos nobis ad corporis subsidium benigne es largitus, tibi Deus onmipotens, Pater caelestis, gratias reverenter agimus; simul obsecrantes, ut iis sobries, modeste, atque grate utamur. Per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum, Amen._ [“We unhappy and unworthy men do give thee most reverent thanks, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for the victuals which thou hast bestowed on us for the sustenance of the body, at the same time beseeching Thee that we may use them soberly, modestly and gratefully. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen”] I can still come up with the whole darn thing on demand, and have been known to mumble it in my sleep… ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/56 "2008-07-23T22:49:24Z")
In the same vein as “help a snout,” my best friend’s family also said the “Catholic Standard” (that’s how I think of it too), but her little sister thought it went: “Bless us, O Lord, and these thy _guests_,…” which, when you think about it long enough, has a slightly cannibalistic flavor to it… They were unable to make it through grace without giggling for quite a while after they realized that that’s what she was saying. We grew up with “Bless us, O Lord” in English, and this in Spanish (which we got from my great grandma): _Bendecidnos Señor y bendecid nuestros alimentos, que debemos a vuestra infinita bondad. El Rey de la gloria eterna nos haga participar de la mesa celestial. Así sea. Amen._ Bless us O Lord, and bless our food, which we owe to your infinite goodness. May the King of eternal glory allow us to participate at the heavenly table. Amen. We also used “Rub a dub dub…,” “God’s neat,” and, when especially smart-assy, “Grace.” My SIL is Episcopalian; her family always used “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest…” My German friends hold hands after saying grace and say “Guten Appetit” (=Bon appetit!). GT ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/57 "2008-07-24T00:21:56Z")
In response to the OP, I think any grace that is said with sincerity is acceptable. [QUOTE=Mahaloth] I’m learning a lot from people here. So much, in fact, that I’ll add another question. Does reciting a repeated “grace” tend to lose meaning for you? Having been raised in a house where we just “talked” to God openly and about anything before eating, I wonder what impact reciting a prayer would have. Does it become more of a ritual, or are you able to maintain meaning with it? [/QUOTE] I grew up with the kind of grace where you essentially created a new one each meal, but I now have one “grace” that I usually say. It has not lost meaning for me in the least. My heart is in it every time, even when I’m rushed. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/58 "2008-07-24T02:32:11Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] That would be the Scots grace mentioned above. [/QUOTE] Missed that. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/59 "2008-07-24T04:48:52Z")
No one yet has come up with “Baruch ata Adonai Elohenu, Melek ha’Olam…” ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312/60 "2008-07-24T05:33:52Z")
> [@](#): > > How should ‘grace’ be said. Silently, if at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-should-grace-be-said/457312.md?page=4)