College Grace and Crest

The College Grace

Every evening before dinner grace is recited by the senior Fellow presiding. The simple grace is as follows:

Benedic, Domine, nos et dona tua,

quae de largitate tua sumus sumpturi,

et concede, ut illis salubriter nutriti

tibi debitum obsequium praestare valeamus,

per Christum Dominum nostrum.

(Bless, O Lord, us and thy gifts,

which through thy goodness we are about to receive;

and grant that being by them healthfully nourished,

we may be enabled to show our bounded duty toward thee,

through Christ our Lord.)

If both of the High Tables are in use then the following antiphonal formula is prefixed to the main grace:

A. Oculi omnium in te sperant Domine:

B. Et tu das escam illis in tempore.

A. Aperis tu manum tuam,

B. Et imples omne animal benedictione.

(The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord

And thou givest them meat in due season.

Thou openest thine hand

And fillest every living thing with blessing.)

At the end of the meal the simple formula Benedicto benedicatur is employed.

See further Reginald H. Adams, The College Graces of Oxford and Cambridge (Oxford: Perpetua Press, 1992).

Argent, a chevron between three roses gules barbed and seeded proper and on a chief gules a lion passant gardant between two closed books all or.

See further: C. Humphery-Smith, H.E. Peek, G.H. Wright, and C.W. Scott-Giles, eds, The Cambridge Armorial(London: Orbis, 1985), pp. 80ff