Bless This Food : Thanksgiving Grace

Sorry they who dine for food alone; sorry they who dine not at all : but sorrier far, they who cannot remember a New England Thanksgiving … [Then the family] gathered round the long, heavily-burdened tables; one for grown folks, and one for the little ones. A moment of sacred silence, as they listened, with beating hearts, to the words of thankful prayerful grace that, in trembling voice, dear old gran’ther sent straight up to the heart of God, before they fell to feasting.

From New England Folks by Eugene W. Presby, 1901

"Bless This Food"

Benedita sea esta comida (Spanish)
Benis ce repas (French)
Benedetto questo cibo (Italian)
Segne diese speisen (German)
Gode Gud valsigna maten (Swedish)
Abencoe esta comida (Portuguese)
Zegen deze maaltijd (Dutch)

Whether the usual dinnertime "grace" is spontaneous or formal, many families acknowledge the special significance of Thanksgiving by asking each person at the table to give thanks for the most meaningful personal blessing of the past year.