„Pobłogosław Panie, Boże, nas i te dary”, czy „Chwalimy Cię, Panie”? O poprawnej modlitwie przy posiłku

Abstract

The growth in recent times of publications on the subject of prayer before meals has prompted the following reflection: what is the source and what is the sense of prayer before and after meals. An unrivaled model for those kinds of prayers is the home liturgy of our brothers in faith of the First Covenant. The host kept watch during ceremonial banquets that they should praise God before the reception of every dish. The texts of these prayers have survived until our time (Berakot). In Christianity we see the Manichean tendency of a sharp difference between sacrum and profanum. Instead of blessing the Lord for His goodness, it is fitting to say bene – dicere, the asking for the blessing of things has taken the primary place. That is not only an unthinkable thing for Israelites, but is also an evident withdrawal from the sense of such prayers. Communal meals present an excellent occasion to praise God through song (the first mention we have of praying through song before meals is a song book from Venice dated 1603 – in which are remembered the psalms Hallelu which were sung before the end of the Jewish paschal feast). From there are taken the propositions for the texts and melodies of those kinds of prayers.