Perhaps you too have heard it said that “the Rosary has always been the prayer of and for the family” and also that “the family that prays together stays together”.
A saint, a great saint, a much-loved pope and wise theologian, supports this: Saint John Paul II. In his beautiful letter on the Holy Rosary, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (RVM), he maintains that “we must return to praying as a family and praying for families,” using the Rosary. So, this May, why not try praying it as a family?
The prayer in which the family comes together
Pope Francis also recommends that within the family “we must not forget to […] create spaces […] for prayer,” because “the family that prays together stays together” (AL 227).
If the family does not pray, it cannot open the door to God's presence and love; it loses harmony and peace, individualism prevails, and joy fades. By contrast, a family that lives prayer experiences joy and communicates it spontaneously; the Rosary is the privileged way of family prayer: “The Holy Rosary, by ancient tradition, is particularly suited to being the prayer in which the family comes together” (RVM 41).
We must return to praying as a family
Praying the Holy Rosary is a special moment to share with one's family. John Paul II also says that “many family problems stem from the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to communicate. People are unable to be together, and perhaps the rare moments spent together are absorbed by the images on a television. Resuming the practice of praying the Rosary as a family means bringing quite different images into daily life, the images of the mystery that saves: the image of the Redeemer, the image of his Most Holy Mother. We must return to praying as a family” (RVM 41).
The Rosary places Christ at the center of the family and, as John Paul II states, “recreates, as it were, the atmosphere of the house of Nazareth: Jesus is placed at the center, joys and sorrows are shared with him, needs and plans are placed in his hands, and from him are drawn hope and strength for the journey” (RVM 41). From the example and witness of the Holy Family, every family can draw valuable guidance for its way of life and choices, draw strength and wisdom for each day's journey, and learn to live the small things of daily life in depth, living the ordinary in an extraordinary way.
Praying the Rosary with and for children
In the prayer of and for the family, we entrust ourselves to one another, so that each member may be safeguarded by God’s love. For this reason, it is important to «pray the Rosary for one’s children, and even more so with one’s children, educating them from their tender years in this daily moment of the family’s “prayerful pause”; it is certainly not the solution to every problem, but it is a spiritual aid that should not be underestimated» (RVM 42).
Families often object that the Rosary seems like a «prayer poorly suited to the tastes of today’s children and young people». The Rosary is an exceptional tool, but how can we help our children, both younger and older, manage to pray the five decades of the Rosary every day? How can we get them to take part in prayer for about twenty minutes? Is it really possible? «If the Rosary is properly presented – John Paul II says –, I am sure that young people themselves will once again be able to surprise adults by making this prayer their own and reciting it with the enthusiasm typical of their age» (RVM 42).
Practical advice
In Rosarium Virginis Mariae , John Paul II says: «Nothing prevents the recitation of the Rosary – both in families and in groups – from being enriched, for children and young people, with appropriate symbolic and practical aids that encourage them to understand and appreciate it. Why not try it?».
So let creativity flow to involve our children in prayer!
If praying the Rosary as a family is something new, you can begin with one decade for a week. Then move on to two for another week, until you reach five decades. Or you can:
• prepare the Rosary poster together, completing it gradually during successive times of prayer;
• prepare a small altar with the Bible, a statue or sacred image, candles, and flowers;
• make the prayer more joyful by adding songs or short sung refrains;
• pray using alternating parts: the father (or mother or oldest child) prays the first part of the Our Father and the Hail Mary, and everyone else prays the second part.
This is not about imposing the recitation of the Rosary, but about proposing it while accompanying our children in discovering the beauty and richness of this form of prayer.
The Rosary is such an easy and, at the same time, enriching prayer that it truly deserves to be rediscovered by the family. So why not try it?
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