Grace (meals)

Theologically, the act of saying grace is derived from the Bible, in which Jesus and Saint Paul pray before meals (cf.

[2] Pope Francis has suggested that "all believers ... return to [the] beautiful and meaningful custom" of stopping to "give thanks to God before and after meals".

[3] Typical Christian mealtime grace prayers include: German prayers to be sung before a meal include "Aller Augen warten auf dich" (All eyes are waiting for you) by Heinrich Schütz, after Psalm 145:15, and the anonymous 20th-century round "Segne, Vater, diese Gaben" (Bless Father, these gifts).

The ritual washing of hands and eating of salted bread is considered to be a substitute for the sacrificial offerings of the kohanim (Jewish priests).

Hence only bread made of wheat (which embraces spelt) or of barley (which for this purpose includes rye and oats) is deemed worthy of the blessing commanded in verse 10.

Sometimes, the 14th verse from the 15th chapter of Bhagavad Gita is used: Aham Vaishvaanaro Bhutva Praaninaam Dehamaashritha Praanaapaana Samaa Yuktaha Pachaamyannam Chatur Vidam This translates as 'Becoming the life-fire in the bodies of living beings, mingling with the upward and downward breaths, I digest the four kinds of food.

'[15] Traditional Maharashtrian grace invokes the Lord through the shloka of Sant Ramdas namely: vadani kaval gheta naam ghya shri-hariche l sahaj havan hote naam gheta phukache l jivan kari jivitva anna he purn-brahma l udar-bharan nohe janije yadnya-karma ll 1 ll

jani bhojani naam vache vadave l ati aadare gadya-ghoshe mhanave l harichintane anna sevit jaave l tari srihari pavijeto swabhave ll 2 ll This translates as: Take the name of the Lord when putting a morsel into your mouth.

In the Nichiren School of Buddhism, a prayer is done to "repay the Four Favors", debts we owe to parents, sentient beings, leaders and The Buddha, Dharma and Sanga.

Before eating, grace in Korean is "주님, 은혜로이 주신 이 음식과 우리에게 강복하소서.

우리 주 예수 그리스도를 통하여 비나이다, 아멘" ("Lord, bless this food that you have graciously given us and us.