Catholic Prayer: Easter Week 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 prayer is used on Easter Sunday and through the Easter Octave.

Prayer:

BEFORE THE MEAL

Leader: This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad, let us praise the Lord for his goodness. For behold, Jesus died and now lives for evermore. Alleluia!

ALL: He has gone before us. Yet he is with us for all time. Alleluia!

Leader: Lord, on this most holy day let your blessing rest upon us and upon our table. Strengthen us in this time together. We ask this in Jesus' name.

ALL: Amen.

AFTER THE MEAL

Leader: Blest are you, Lord our God, who gathers us together in Jesus' name. We thank you for sharing your life with us, both in this meal and in all the ways you sustain us, through Christ, our Risen Lord.

ALL: Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayers at Meals by Michael Kwatera, O.S.B. and Dietrich Reinhart, O.S.B., The Liturgical Press