Before & after a meal

“Before taking nourishment”, says Clement of Alexandria, “it is fitting to praise the Creator of all things, and it is fitting also to sing His praises when we take as nourishment the things created by Him” (Pied., II, iv). Tertullian, a contemporary of Clement, shows us the Christians of the beginning of the third century making the sign of the cross on taking their places at table (De cor. milit., iii). “Our repasts”, says he, referring to the Agape, “are in nothing vile or immodest. We do not recline until we have prayed to God. In like manner prayer concludes the feast” (Apol., xxxi).