Grace
The grace prayer is a blessing over the food and a prayer of thanks to God , which is said or sung at the beginning and sometimes again after the meal .
Judaism
The grace of grace in Judaism is called Birkat Hamason . It is spoken after the meal and is traced back to Deuteronomy: "... when you eat there and are full and praise the Lord your God for the wonderful land that he has given you ..." ( Deut 8, 10 EU ). It essentially consists of four blessings in which God is thanked and asked for the redemption of the people of Israel .
Christianity
_b_517.jpg)
Origin and meaning
The Christian grace has its roots in the Bracha of Judaism: Blessed are you, Lord our God, Creator of the world. You give us bread, the fruit of the earth and human labor.
The two aspects of thanks and blessings are one in it. The Hebrew Barúch , like the Greek eulogetós and the Latin benedictus, can be used both as praise and as a blessing on creatures and created things . The praising of God over the gifts at the same time blesses them for salutary and beneficial use. For everything that God has created is good, and nothing is reprehensible that is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. ( 1 Tim 4,4-5 EU ).
shape
The grace period in a larger community usually consists of psalm words (especially Ps 104,27ff EU or Ps 145,14-16 EU ) and the Gloria Patri , in addition to which there can be coined or free prayers. Catholics begin and end with the sign of the cross .
Some of the more popular short prayers include:
- Bless, father, this food,
- us for strength and you for price.
- Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest
- and bless what you have given us.
- All good gifts
- all we have
- come, oh God, from you;
- we thank you for that.
- O God, from whom we have everything
- we praise you for your gifts.
- You feed us because you love us;
- o also bless what you give us.
Islam
In the Islamic tradition, grace is said in the form of a duʿā ' at the beginning and at the end of the meal. At the beginning one says: “ Bismillah ” (“In the name of God”) or also: “Allahumma bark lana fi ma razqtana wa kina athaban nari, bismillah.” (“O God, bless us, our maintenance that you have given us and protect us from fire, in the name of God ”). At the end of the meal one says: " Al-hamdulillah " ("Praise be to God").
literature
- Guido Fuchs : Mahlkultur - grace and table ritual , Regensburg 1998, ISBN 3-7917-1595-X
