Saying Grace In Restaurants

[melikalani]

[i](Mods, please move if this belongs in another category...)[/i]

I've only recently started saying grace in restaurants. How about you? It's been a great way to witness!

Any stories would be appreciated too!

[franciscanheart]

Yes. Always. It's more interesting when you have a large group (like 15+) praying out loud together. I sometimes get stares on my own with a friend or two but there's nothing like the stares we get in groups!

[Lil Red]

usually, if it is just my hubby and i, i pray it aloud, and make the sign of the cross. if we are with family (usually his) i pray it silently, making the sign of the cross, and he respectfully waits for me

[homeschoolmom]

Often... and then yes to the

[Mercy me]

Yes and yes...once I was out of town with a friend and after dinner a lady came up and thanked us for doing it. It surprised me.

[Era Might]

Honestly, I feel awkard saying grace around my family, but I have no problem with saying it around strangers. I don't know how I explain that, it's not that I'm embarrassed, it's just weird to me. It feels like a very personal and private act. I don't come from a religious family so maybe that's why, they knew me before I got religion.

[Franimus]

[quote name='Era Might' post='1100258' date='Oct 24 2006, 06:35 PM']
Honestly, I feel awkard saying grace around my family, but I have no problem with saying it around strangers. I don't know how I explain that, it's not that I'm embarrassed, it's just weird to me. It feels like a very personal and private act. I don't come from a religious family so maybe that's why, they knew me before I got religion.
[/quote]
Ditto, ditto, DITTO!
I say grace at home silently while I'm getting my food when everyone else is already sitting at table and i'm facing away from them..
..but i've invited friends to say grace with me at restaurants

[MilesChristi]

yes and yes

[Maria]

I say it silently unless I'm with a (Catholic) group, which is, come to think of it, just about every time. I guess I said silently because I was thinking of what I do in the caf at school when I'm alone.

And yes to the sign of the cross. I don't think I have that much trouble with it at meal times, actually. I have more problems when I'm saying the rosary on the public transportation... I have this urge to look around and make sure that no one will see me.

[Norseman82]

Silently and without the sign of the cross when by myself, if with a group and they pray out loud, then I do too.

Interesting note: one of my friends at the parish has taught his children a litany of people to pray for at the end of grace. I found this out when we were at Boston Market on the way to a Wolves game. The last thing the people around us heard was a prayer for "all the atheists".

[IcePrincessKRS]

[quote name='Mercy me' post='1100211' date='Oct 24 2006, 06:05 PM']
Yes and yes...once I was out of town with a friend and after dinner a lady came up and thanked us for doing it. It surprised me.
[/quote]


Yes and yes, usually.

That happened to me once! When I was in college my friends and I went out to dinner before one of our formal dances and, of course, we said grace and our waiter of all people gave us kudos on saying Grace and told us to keep it up because it was awesome.

[goldbug16]

Yes and Yes!

[Sinner]

always yes to both...... to me it is all or none. I would feel as if I were denying Our Lord if I just did it sometimes.

[HeavenlyCalling]

I make the sign of the cross and pray silently, esp when I am on my own, I dont like to attract attention to myself, or to stop the conversation of people at other tables while they wait for me to finish. If someone in my party starts to pray aloud, then I join in.

[toledo_jesus]

my parents always look at me when it's time for Grace since we never used to do it. I usually make someone else say it.

[Akalyte]

always..

[dUSt]

I always say grace silently when I'm alone, and always make the sign of the cross. Even at work, and even at a one on one lunch with my boss after he starts to eat. haha

I will often see co-workers pray to themselves after I pray to myself, and I know most of the time they wouldn't have done it unless they saw me do it.

[aalpha1989]

i always say it outloud when i am with a group, and make the sign of the cross. when i'm with peopel my own age we usually hold hands too. we get some looks, but we dont really care. its awesome.

[tojo]

I always say it and always make the sign of the cross, but I usually do so silently unless I'm with other people who want to pray with me.

[MissScripture]

You forgot a sometimes option.
It depends on who I'm with. My family, yes, friends, not usually. I just don't think about it. I don't usually pray before I eat in the cafeteria. But when we eat up at my friends apartment as a "family" (usually making a total of 9, including me and the bfs of the girls who live there) we pray. Then we do both the Catholic and Lutheran prayers, since we have both.
It's funny, because I forget to pray when I'm not eating in a "home" but when we don't pray as a group and I'm eating in a "home" I sit staring for a good five minutes before I realize what I'm doing.
But whenever I do pray, I do the sign of the cross.

Edited October 25, 2006 by MissScripture