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I have lived in Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau, and (briefly) Altenburg, Missouri

Monday, January 19, 2009

Blessings And Thanksgivings

The origin of the Common Table Prayer Come Lord Jesus can be found here on the LCMS website. It states that the earliest known printing of Come Lord Jesus was in a Moravian hymnal. What I can't figure out is how come we all use it instead of the prayer listed in the Small Catechism.

My family always used these:

(Before) Come Lord Jesus, be our guest and let Thy gifts to us be blessed. Amen.
(After) We thank Thee Lord for all our food, for life and health and every good. Amen.

The second prayer apparently comes from a 1741 hymn Be Present at Our Table, Lord written by an Anglican-turned-Methodist-turned Moravian Brethren named John Cennick. What is the connection between the Saxon Lutherans and the Moravians? I guess Martin Stephan used to hang out with them.

Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,
For life and health and every good;
By Thine own hand may we be fed;
Give us each day our daily bread.

We thank Thee, Lord, for this our good,
But more because of Jesus’ blood;
Let manna to our souls be giv’n,
The Bread of Life sent down from Heav’n.

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