One of the most basic Catholic customs is to ask God to bless the food we are about to eat. The French Cistercian monk Helinand 0f Froidmont (d. 1237) tells us the following about this custom:
“Because originally there was a curse
on all the fruits of the earth, due to the sin of Adam, the Holy Catholic
Church, instituted by God himself, instituted that as many as come to the table
in order to refresh themselves with earthly fruits, should first give thanks to
God, and invoke his name upon their food and make the sign of the life-giving
Cross, as though of the Tree of Life against the Forbidden Tree. We should drive out its curse with a
blessing, and then let us eat our cleansed and sanctified food with the fear of
God, after giving thanks to him who grants gifts by his divine precepts. Those who eat without the blessing and the
prescribed prayer are like beasts and animals that lean forward greedily as they are
about to devour their earthly food. Men often receive the death of their body and soul from their food, just as in the case of that
religious who, in biting her lettuce, bit the devil sitting upon it, and who, by
this bite, was immediately turned into fire.
Thus also that rich man who was sitting at the table of the king of
England, and whom the king suspected of the death of his brother. Holding up a lump of food, he said to the
king: ‘My lord the king, if I am guilty of, or knowledge-able of, the murder of
your brother, may I not be able to swallow this lump of food. Rather, let me be choked by it.’ Having said this, he put the lump of food in
his mouth, but it stuck in his throat.
Soon his eyes turned up and he fell dead upon the table.”
No comments:
Post a Comment