Everyday Prayers – Grace After Meals

Most people pray some kind of grace before meals, but how many people do you know who pray grace after meals? This used to be a common Catholic practice, but it has slipped into disuse over the years. Perhaps it's time to renew the practice with the following little prayer:

We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever; and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Let's take a close look at the meaning of this compact yet expressive prayer.

1. We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits – By saying this, we are recognizing that everything we have comes from God. He pours out His benefits upon us: His love, His mercy, His blessings, all our material possessions, the natural world around us, and even our very existence. Our job is to acknowledge God as our source and to give Him thanks with a grateful, loving heart.

2. O Almighty God – God is all-powerful or omnipotent. People often have difficulty wrapping their minds around that. God can do anything He wills to do, but He always wills what is good, true, and beautiful because He is, in His own nature, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty at their highest.

3. Who livest and reignest forever – God is Being itself. He does not depend on anyone or anything for His existence. He simply is. He lives. God is also the highest of kings. As the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, all-seeing, all-loving God, He reigns supreme over the whole universe and every creature in it, for He made them all and holds them all in existence at every moment. What's more, God lives and reigns forever. He is eternal. He has no beginning, and He will have no end.

4. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace – Catholics must pray for the souls of the faithful departed who are or may be in Purgatory. Our prayers and the good works we offer for them help to bring down God's mercy upon them. For a more in-depth explanation of how this works, please click here. The goal of our prayers is, of course, the souls' eternal rest in the presence of God in Heaven. That indeed is true peace beyond anything we can grasp here on earth.

5. Amen – With this one little word, we give our final, heartfelt “yes” to our prayer.

From here on out, then, let's remember to pray this short but very meaningful prayer after every meal:

We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, O Almighty God, Who livest and reignest forever; and may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.