For Thanksgiving: Graces Sung and Spoken, Part One

Hi all. In synch with the season of Thanksgiving, let me pass on these gems from the book Graces, Sung and Spoken, ed. by the Rev. Carl Scovel, published through the UUCF by the Massachusetts Evangelical and Missionary Society, 1963. It will come in two parts. Said by One; Said Together.

I. Graces Said by One
Let us in peace eat the food
that God has provided for us.
Praise be to God for all his gifts. Amen.
from the Armenian Apostolic Church of Lebanon

Father, who feeds the small sparrows,
give us our bread
and feed all our brothers. Amen.
From France

Be Thou our guest, Almighty Lord,
And bless the bounty of this board
That we may be restored. Amen.
From Germany

Blessed are Thou, O Lord our God,
King of the Universe,
Who bringest forth bread from the earth.
Amen.
From the Jewish tradition

This is the day which the Lord hath made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm CXVIII:24

For all good gifts we thank Thee,
Lord, the Giver. Amen.

Grant us grateful hearts, our Father,
for all Thy mercies and make us
ever mindful of the needs of others,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer

O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good; for his mercy
endureth for ever.
Psalm CVII:1

We give Thee thanks, Almighty God,
for these and all Thy gifts, which
we have received from Thy bounty,
Thou who art Lord God for ever
and ever. Amen.
A medieval grace from the refectory of Christ College, Oxford.
In Latin,it reads:
Gratias tibi agimus, Deus
Omnipotens, pro his ac universis
donis Tuis, quae de Tua
largitate accepimus,
Qui es Dominus Deus
in Saecula Saeculorum.

Almighty God, for all Thy gifts
of nature, love and grace,
we offer humble thanks and
hearty praises, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.

We give thanks for Being,
We give thanks for being here
We give thanks for being here together.
The Rev. Joseph Barth, D.D., King's Chapel, Boston

Lord, help us to receive all good
things from thy hand and use them to Thy praise. Amen.
From Western College, Oxford, Ohio.

For food and friends and family
May we always thankful be.
from Arlington, Virginia

Bless, O Lord, this food to our use
and our lives in Thy service. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, alt.

For good food to eat
and a challenge to meet,
For this life to live
and for love to give,
For friends to deserve
and a cause to serve,
We thank Thee, O our God.
The Rev. Donald Harrington, The Community Church, New York City