Does your family say a special grace at Thanksgiving. We usually ask gramma to say the blessing, but last year it got a little kooky, leading to some strange looks and confusion. I think she may need to pass the baton! My preacher used Psalm 100 in his sermon this week and I thought it would nice to read it at the table, as a reminder of why we are getting together. It's a day Abe Lincoln set aside as a national holiday to say thank you to God. It's not about Pilgrims and Indians. It's not just about listing WHAT you are thankful for, but WHO you are thankful to! Made so much sense to me. So, do you "give us this day, our daily bread"? Do you nominate a person to say a random prayer, do you not bless the meal at all, just dig in? Or is there a special way your family says grace?
Psalm 100
1Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
2Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Stephanie ... is it this one? The Gloria Patri, so named for its first two words in Latin, is commonly used as a doxology by Roman Catholics, Old Catholics, Independent Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and many Protestants including Presbyterians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Reformed Baptists. It is called the "Lesser Doxology", thus distinguished from the "Great Doxology" Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and is often called simply "the doxology". As well as praising God, it was regarded as a short declaration of faith in the co-equality of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity.
The Latin text,
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.
is literally translated
Glory [be] to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, both now, and always, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
My father usually leads grace, however, we all go around saying something we are thankful for. It's so cute to listen to the younger kids.
When we were growing up, while the adults were gathering upstairs, we kids would go to the basement where we'd do a Thanksgiving craft and then write that year's prayer together. Then we'd choose one of us to lead the prayer, after which my uncle would lead the traditional Catholic "Bless us, our Lord" before meal prayer.
Great memories!
We don't say grace (not since my grandmother passed), but my mom has this cute thanksgiving centerpiece... it's a fabric pumpkin with ribbons all over it. Everyone writes what they're thankful for, ties it to the ribbons, then we take turns going around the table reading each others notes on what we're thankful for :)
ETA: T., what you just recited I know as 'The Glory Be', which is one of the prayers (between Hail Mary's and Our Fathers) recited on the rosary in Catholicism.
I grew up with two meal blessings, one for every day and one for special occasions.
Every day was the typical "God is good, God is great, we thank him for this food we eat. Amen."
For holidays and special occasions we'd say "We thank the Lord for happy hearts, for rain and sunny weather. We thank the Lord for this, our food, and that we are together. Amen."
Happy Thanksgiving!
We sing the doxology.
EDIT: Hi T., we sing this one:
"Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow"
Another doxology in widespread use in English, in some Protestant traditions commonly referred to simply as "The Doxology" and in others as “The Common Doxology”,[3] is "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow". The words are thus:
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
For us, it depends on where we go. We say grace every night at my home, my In-laws are the same so we jazz itup on speciali occassions. My Dad, the man who believes religion is for "weak people", actually says grace on Thanksgiving (????)...strange.....And at my Mom and Stepdads, I don't think so. Which is odd because my Mom was the one who went to Catholic school, made sure we went through all of the traditions of our Church (1st Holy Communion, Confirmation, etc.) and she is the one who doesn't say much of anything. I even have my 18-3 month old daughter saying "Amen" which makes me happy!
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Be safe in your travels and adventures this week!
Growing up we would always say grace, but since my mom's death my family has pretty much scattered throughout the country so I spend the holidays w/my in-laws who really don't bother w/too much. I have managed to get them to go around the table and say one thing they are thankful for which is a pretty big accomplishment w/them ;) It's only taken 23 yrs, but I managed! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you mamas!
Prayer is easy, just remember who you are talking to. God has heard it all before. He loves to hear from his children, speak as you would if He were sitting next to you. Speak as if you were taking to the God who sent his Son for you.
We are non-religious, non-believers in our house, so we do not say a prayer. I grew up Catholic, and we always recited the standard prayer: "Bless us, oh Lord, for these, thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord, Amen."
However, this year we have been invited to the home of some friends, who are Evangelical. I am sort of living in fear of being asked to say the blessing. I have no idea how Evangelicals pray before a meal. I will be watching this post for ideas! Evangelical mamas, help a sister out with some ideas! :)
usually, we just dig in, but if someone expresses the desire for a table grace, we have a short, non-sectarian one we use.
We partake of this food with gratitude for all the blessings of heaven and earth, for the efforts of those who have prepared it, and for those with whom we share it.
This year, I hosted, and had 16 family and extended family in attendance. I asked my brother to first say a blessing for all the things we are thankful for and then asked my dad to follow up a prayer of Thanksgiving. It was interesting to hear the two different prayers and what each were thankful for as we remembered those that were not with us on that day. Exceptional prayers. I am sure even the teens got a feeling for what those older were thankful for and what the day should mean here in our great nation.
