We say Grace before and after dining at our Festive Board, for those who might wonder why, here is some brief words hopefully in explanation. The saying of grace before dining is a very ancient practice. It is the act of expressing thanks to God for the provision of our food and drink and a fellowship in which to share them. It is a practice that is still observed on Royal occasions, as well as at City, Armed Services and Livery Company ones. The same is true at all meetings of Free and Accepted Masons when we come to the dining part of proceedings. Moreover, Freemasons, like their predecessors in the town or city guilds, and then in the Livery Companies, have adopted the ancient Jewish costom of saying Grace both before dining, and after the actual dining is over. This nexplains why there are some Graces for before and after meals.
The word “Grace” comes from the Middle English form of the Latin word “Gatias” meaning “Thanks” and to that has always been attached the Latin “Deo”, “To God”. Hence the idea of the divine provision of food and the blessing of the Creator for it, and upon it. It may serve to fix the real idea of what a Grace is through the following short story.
At a Naval dinner, the Chaplain was asked by the Admiral who presided, if he would say Grace. Having been a classical scholar, the Chaplain recited the long Latin Grace used at his University college. As he sat down, one of the younger Captains remarked “Why ever didn’t you say Grace in a language we all understand? to which the Admiral retorted “Young man, he was thanking and talking to God – not you!”.
The sincere and reverent offering of Grace, remembering to whom the words are properly addressed, can be a necessary and helpful introduction to this act of sharing. We learn to be freshly thankful that we have food to eat when so many are hungry and that what binds us to who so share, not least as Freemasons, is belief and trust in a Supreme Being, private to each one of us, but yet forming a shared conviction.
Richard Page – Chaplin Abbot Baldwin Lodge 8656