Catholic Prayer: Table Blessing for Holy Thursday

Description:

It is good to have a special table blessings reflecting the Church's liturgical year. These can be used individually, with the family or in a group. Here is meal blessing for Holy Thursday from Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette.

Prayer:

Reading:

Instructing his friends into the divine mysteries, Jesus, the wisdom of God, prepares a table that gives food to the soul, and mingles for the faithful the cup of the wine of life eternal. Let us all, therefore, draw near the mysterious table, with pure souls let us receive the Bread of Life: Let us remain at the master's side, that we may see how he washes the feet of the disciples and wipes them with a towel, and let us do as we have seen him do, washing one another's feet. For such is the commandment that Christ himself gave to his disciples (Byzantine Matins).

Responsory:

Verse: Come, O faithful, let us enjoy the master's hospitality, Response: and partake at the table of immortal life in the upper room.

The Lord's Prayer

Blessing

Lord Jesus Christ, in your ardent love for your apostles you desired to share the Passover meal with them on the night before you suffered. During the course of that meal, you instituted the sacrament of the Eucharist where you offered to us your own body and blood as bread and wine to nourish our souls. Send your blessings upon this table and all those who partake of it. Nourish us with the Bread of Life, until the day we are called to the banquet of eternal life. Amen.

Prayer Source: Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Ave Maria Press, 1994