Grace At Meals (2)

Grace At Meals was customary among the Jews (Lightfoot, Horae Hebr. on Matthew 20:36), and forms are contained in the Talmud (Berachoth, 7). Numerous examples occur in the New Test., and early Christian writers abundantly confirm the practice (Chrysostom, Homil. 49; Clemens, Alex. Paedag. 2:4, § 44, 77; so also Tertullian, Cyprian, and others). Examples of forms occur both in the early Eastern and Western churches, and the Gelasian Sacramentary sets forth quite a number. See Smith, Dict. of Christ. Antiq. s.v.