Pray for us!
I am working to develop a deep love for our Blessed Mother in our home. One of the best ways to accomplish this, I believe, is to pray the rosary as a family. I started out a few years back with great expectations of us all kneeling in prayerful silence while I led the rosary and the children responded with reverence and awe. Yeah, I know - WAKE UP! That's not reality. So, I had to figure out what could work. I decided that we would pray one decade each day. I made a rosary on a poster board that looks like this.
We placed the first Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection - on the board this morning. This is a great way for the younger children to become familiar with and eventually memorize all of the mysteries of the rosary.
Each day, we place a 4 x 6 inch picture of that mystery next to the corresponding beads. I read a short meditation on that mystery and we recite the prayers for that decade. I wish that I could report the children sit perfectly still and really meditate for the 3-5 minutes of rosary time, but this is the reality in our house.
You can see the 2 1/2 year old doing a puzzle, the baby climbing on the otherwise attentive 10 year old, the 5 year old picking something off the cuff of her pants, and the 8 year old giving the evil eye to her brother who is messing around with his rosary. But, despite the struggle, we do this every day. The children and I know that our Loving Mother enjoys our time and will lead us closer to her son, Jesus.
God Bless!
Heather :-)
You are such a good mommy! I've mentioned this before somewhere, so forgive me if I'm repeating...we pray two decades in the am before morning class. We will pray another two decades after lunch, before starting pm classes...and then they each say one decade in bed on their own. When they were younger, we prayed that last decade together at bedtime.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful way to allow them to love the rosary without them growing to dread praying it. Just and idea...
you give me hope and encouragement! I posted yesterday about how I introduced my 3 year old daughter to the rosary, and how it went. It does take perseverance, and thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDeleteahhh - perserverence, yes! This morning I got frustrated with the children and their "antsy-ness" and had them do their decade of the rosary on their own. I should mention, that I slept too late and didn't have time for my rosary and prayer before jumping into the day. What a difference that makes!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of spreading out the rosary throughout the day and having 5 decades done by bedtime. I'll keep that idea in the back of my mind and get it going when I feel ready to change it up a bit.
Thank you for your comments!