Catholic Prayer: Holy Saturday Table Blessing
Description:
The Easter triduum is a three-day celebration of the Lord's death and resurrection. It begins on Holy Thursday "with the evening Mass of the Lord's Supper, reaches its high point in the Easter vigil, and closes with evening prayer on Easter Sunday" (Roman Calendar, no. 19).
The following prayers are used on the most holy days of the Lord's passion, death and resurrection.
Prayer:
BEFORE THE MEAL
Leader: Christ for our sake became obedient unto death, even to death on a cross. Therefore God has exalted him and given him the name above every name. Let us worship him and say: We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.
ALL: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
Leader: Lord Jesus, victor over death, fill this time together with your blessing. Removethe sadness that sin places in our hearts, and let us share in the joy of your passing-over from death to life, both now and for ever.
ALL: Amen.
AFTER THE MEAL
Leader: Glory and praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for making holy the graves of all believers and for giving joy to those who have died. Give us grateful hearts for the life you poured out for us, for the suffering that takes our sin away. Glory and praise to you, Lord, both now and forever.
ALL: Amen.
Prayer Source: Prayers at Meals by Michael Kwatera, O.S.B. and Dietrich Reinhart, O.S.B., The Liturgical Press
