“A family that prays together stays together.”
-Father Patrick Peyton
Today, October 7, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, so it would a great day to try the family Rosary, if you haven’t started yet! Here are three reasons you won’t regret it.
1. Your Kids Will Learn Scripture
As I mention in my rosary basics article, when we pray the Rosary, we meditate on specific moments in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and some events from Mary’s life (like her assumption). These are called the mysteries of the rosary. For example, we read scripture passages about and meditate on the annunciation, the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the transfiguration. There are four sets of mysteries with five stories/decades in each set, so that is twenty stories from Sacred Scripture.
When you pray the rosary frequently with your children, leading them in hearing and thinking about these mysteries, you are giving them knowledge of Sacred Scripture and an appreciation for those stories. When they hear those familiar stories at Mass, they feel a personal connection and pay attention.
2. Your Kids Will Grow to Love Mary
If you have a Mary statue, place it on a table while you’re praying your family Rosary. If it isn’t too precious or delicate, allow your children to hold Mary or touch her feet while you pray. Encourage them to bring flowers from the garden or other small gifts, and place them at Mary’s feet before or after your Rosary. One of my sons used to put Lego creations near Mary. I know she loved them!
Allow your children to offer their prayers to Mary as you begin each decade. Show them how you do it, calling on Mary, presenting your needs, asking for her intercession. If your kids are small, explain to them that we’re asking Mary to pray for us, and we’re asking her to have a chat with Jesus about our needs and concerns. She is a wonderful, gentle mother who wants to do what is best for them. She is always ready to open her arms to them.
When prayers are answered or graces received, show your children how to say thank you in prayer.
3. Your Kids’ Faith Is More Likely to “Stick”
Praying with your kids is a powerful evangelizing tool. Kids who grow up praying with their families (and doing other faith-related activities with their families) are far more likely to continue practicing their faith in adulthood because their faith comes to form their identities and decision-making. Through our prayer rituals, we are showing our children how to lean on God, that they can approach and trust God, that God answers prayers, and that they have an advocate in Mary who will fight for them.
The Family Rosary is an ideal devotion to get your family prayer rituals and practices going because most of us know the basic rosary prayers and our kids can learn them easily.
Resource List including books and websites for praying the Family Rosary.