In a message dated 97-09-06 03:04:54 EDT, you write: << The most distinctive thing about this grace was the way we said it, everyone at the table speaking in unison, with no one in particular leading the prayer. Does anyone else remember saying grace in this way? Could it be a custom of Pennsylvania Dutch origin? >> I grew up in a home with an Irish mother and an English/PA Dutch father. We always said grace in unison. We said the Catholic version: Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive from thy bountiful hands [or "from thy bounty"]. Amen. We still say it, and when my 3 yr old grandson is here, he says "blah, blah, blah" (or what sounds like that! Then he ends with a big AMEN! Jane