Christ, the gladdener of all,
without whom nothing is sweet or pleasant,
bless, we beg of you,
the food and drink of your servants,
which you have provided for our bodily sustenance;
and grant that we may use these gifts to praise you,
and may enjoy them with grateful hearts;
grant too that, just as our body
is nurtured by bodily foods,
so too our minds may feed on
the spiritual nourishment of your Word,
through you our Lord.

A prayer written and delivered at Christ’s College, Cambridge, one Sunday in 1535, the year after King Henry VIII dismantled the Catholic Church in England and assumed supremacy over Rome.