Being the family that prays together

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You’ve heard that saying about families that pray together, haven’t you? Fr. Patrick Peyton famously said that “The family that prays together, stays together.”

A lot of times, I’m guilty of making the whole idea of “praying together” much harder than it needs to be. Really, it’s often just a matter of stopping all of us long enough to just do it. I really appreciated the 11 ways that Lyn has for working a rosary into her day.

To those, I would add a few for families (and I wouldn’t limit it just to the rosary, but would include all prayer):

  • While you’re folding laundry, doing dishes, or involved in a chore around the house. It’s a win-win: That thing gets done and you’re praying together!
  • In the car. You have a captive audience, for one thing.
  • At a lull that your family usually experiences. For us, it’s before bedtime. For others, it’s after dinner. Still other families I know have time in the morning. Instead of picking up your favorite novel, tuning out by turning on the TV, or sneaking off to scrub the bathtub, grab the kids and spend five minutes in prayer.

Memorize together

Our parish focuses on teaching first graders some common prayers. It inspired us to spend time together that year learning and practicing the prayers.

That made me wonder, though, what prayers my kids should know. (And, of course, I also asked Google.)

I thought about my years as a catechist, of the prayers I’ve taught kids from 3rd to 8th grades, of the prayers we reflexively say in our own family, of the ones I’ve struggled to learn in the years since I’ve been Catholic.

And, honestly, I like the list that Dianna came up with. I still don’t know the “proper” Act of Contrition, but working with the kid who’s had to memorize it has gotten me close. A different list, compiled by Scott, included Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity that, really, I think I could work on.

DIY saint costumes

And while we’re talking about giving our kids the foundations they need to be saints…how about those saints costumes? Make your own and have a blast with it.

Do you have a link or resource to share? Send it to us at takeout@osv.com so we can share it in a future issue!