Blessing the Thanksgiving Table: A Catholic Tradition of Gratitude and Grace
- Denver Catholic Staff
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
As Thanksgiving draws near, families across the archdiocese are preparing their tables for Thanksgiving: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and all the trimmings. For some of those families, the preparations take on a holy hue through the rich and beautiful practice of bringing food to church to be blessed before it is shared.
Roots in the Eucharist and Harvest Feasts
The Church’s call to give thanks is ancient. In fact, the very word Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistein, “to give thanks.”
Long before the fourth Thursday of November was designated as a national holiday in the United States, Christian communities gathered to give thanks: sacramentally and communally as well as personally.
In Europe, during the High Middle Ages, that thanksgiving took on new meaning as the Church celebrated harvest feasts where first fruits and grain were brought to church and blessed.
In the United States, Spanish settlers in 1565 in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, celebrated a Mass and a meal of thanksgiving, offering one of the earliest Thanksgiving observances on these shores.
The Blessing of Food: Parish Practice
Many U.S. parishes now invite families to bring their Thanksgiving bread, wine or other food items to Mass or a special blessing event. The items are placed before the altar or another designated area, and the priest or deacon prays over them, often sprinkling holy water and invoking prayers from the Book of Blessings:
God most provident, we join all creation in raising to you a hymn of thanksgiving through Jesus Christ, your Son. For generation upon generation peoples of this land have sung of your bounty; we too offer you praise for the rich harvest we have received at your hands. Bless us and this food which we share with grateful hearts. Continue to make our land fruitful and let our love for you be seen in our pursuit of peace and justice and in our generous response to those in need. Praise and glory to you, Lord God, now and for ever. R. Amen.
Why It Matters
When Catholics bring food to be blessed, they are doing more than marking a nice custom. They are affirming several truths of their faith:
Everything comes from God: blessing food acknowledges the Creator’s gift of all good things.
Our lives are sacramental: The sacred and the ordinary are joined when a parish blesses everyday food.
Hospitality and solidarity: Many parishes also bless food intended for the poor, reminding the faithful that thanksgiving extends in service.
How Families Can Participate
Here are practical steps for families or parish communities:
Attend a parish Thanksgiving Mass or blessing service. Bring a loaf of bread, wine or grape juice, or other non-prepared food items you intend to share. Be sure to label them so you leave with what you came with!
Use the blessed food with intention. After the blessing, when you gather at your table, remind the family how this food has been set apart in thanksgiving.
Connect the blessing to the Eucharist. At the meal, you might speak of how the table you share is linked to the altar and the one feast Christ gave us for all time — the Mass.
Extend the blessing to the wider world. Consider donating a portion of your food or volunteering in a parish meal program, so your gratitude becomes a gift to others.
A Thanksgiving Full of Grace
This Thanksgiving, Catholics in the Archdiocese of Denver have an opportunity: to turn a feast into a eucharistic moment; a meal into a moment of praise. By blessing food — either at Mass or in family prayer — we remember that our bounty is not simply ours, but a gift. We welcome God into our homes and our meals. And we live out the gratitude taught us in the Mass: “in everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
May your table be rich in conversation, laughter and faith. And may the blessing you receive at church be the first of many blessings shared at your table.
