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Daily Rosary with Little Children
Lately my husband and I have been trying very hard to have our family say our Daily Rosary, as Our Blessed Mother has asked on so many occasions. This proves very difficult with my husband in school two nights a week, and with out little boys who are 4, 2 and 1. For example, in order to get through the Rosary tonight, my husband sat on the couch with the 4 and 2 year olds, and I had to sit on the floor with the Baby while he continually put a baseball down my shirt (to see it come out the bottom) and put a cup on my head like a hat--I had to keep him quiet!
I know that Our Lord and Our Lady our pleased at our attempts, but it seems like there is rarely a night where we actually feel like we're "getting" anything out of our Rosary. It just doesn't feel like we're doing it in a pleasing manner. It's all I can do to remember what Mystery we're on, let alone reflect on the Mysteries.
I don't know if I'm looking for tips, advice, or just encouragement? Does anyone have any thoughts?
Thank you!
Views: 74
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Angèle on -
My mom tells me I learned how to pray the Hail Mary at age 18 months and that's when they would start letting us lead the decades.
There was a daily battle for the next 10 years or so, day in and day out. Mom and Dad vs. 4 young kids. We would routinely get up and walk around, talk, and misbehave horribly I'm sure (I remember sitting quietly while piously moving the beads through my tiny sanctified fingers, but perhaps my memory is a bit skewed). Apparently it was even harder when my dad was working late and mom had to referee us solo. But we always knew, no matter what we did we wouldn't "get out of" praying the daily Rosary.
A few things that invariably helped:
#1. St. Louis de Montfort recommends (if you know you're going to be distracted) that for each Hail Mary you say a word or two after "Jesus" in the Hail Mary to remind yourself which decade you're on ("...fruit of thy womb, Jesus scourged. Holy Mary..." "Jesus crucified," "Jesus presented," "Jesus risen," "Jesus' mother assumed into heaven" etc.). This still helps me when I try to pray while doing dishes or driving or whatever.
#2. We had a big scrapbook that had pictures of the mysteries of the Rosary in it. For little kids, the "Holy Rosary" book by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik is very good. It helps stay focused and we liked to take turns leading the decade so we could hold the book and look at the picture for that decade.
The most important thing is just to stay consistent! There are so many graces from the family Rosary! Don't be discouraged, don't give up, "this too shall pass." :) (and remember, it's not always about what you're "getting" out of the Rosary, sometimes it's what your giving out of the Rosary (patience, self-control, perseverance, long-suffering, dry martyrdom!).
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Ianiro on -
Wow, Angèle, what great, great advice. My husband always leads, but I think it would be wonderful to give the children the opportunity. And I'm sure the St. Louis de Montfort "trick" will help keep our minds focused (which can be hard with a cup on your head and a baseball in your shirt).
I have to thank you for the honest portrayal of your childhood Rosary escapades. I really needed to read that. I picture all other Catholic families with their silent little children, eyes up to Heaven the whole time--just like you when you were little, right? :) You definitely gave me the boost I needed to keep on keeping on!
I especially appreciate you specifically outlining some of the virtues we can strengthen while we persevere through our Rosary. I know that we're all benefitting while we say it, but it is hard to figure out just how sometimes!
I can't wait to go over this with my husband tonight. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom with me and whoever else will come upon this!
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Permalink Reply by Shaunda Penny on -
Jessica,
We are still struggling with this with 6 little ones running about and my oldest is 7. My approach is slightly different though, I try not to be too forceful about it, especially with the littlest ones. Everyone has rosaries and I print out coloring pages for one of the mysteries we will be saying for the littler ones. But I really one require sitting still and really actively participating for all 5 decades of my oldest 2, 6 yo ds and 7 yo dd. My reasoning that I told them is that if you are old enough to prepare for receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist you are old enough to pray a rosary.
The little ones certainly join in and pray quite a bit, but this way it is not a fight and is a prayer we enjoy saying together and I know that just watching us pray, even if they are toddling around us, is doing my littler ones a lot of good.
I hope you find what works for your family!
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Permalink Reply by Kristin Detloff on -
Angèle gave such a beautiful response and testimony I can't add much. I just wanted to mention that when we have similar experiences with our three (2 boys 4yrs and 3yrs and 1 girl 6 months) whether it be having to be in the church entry vs in Mass or when trying to say prayers, I remember an article I read several years ago written by a priest. The main point of the article was that "parenting is prayer" and even when it seems like we aren't "praying" we really are. I have spent many Sundays since then pacing in the entry way reciting in my head "Parenting is prayer, parenting is prayer, parenting is prayer."...and it is!
One other thought. Do you think it would help at all to "ease" them into the full rosary? Maybe say one decade a day for 5 days then 2 a day for 5 days etc. I know for our boys it seems to help them acclimate to the time it will take for any sort of quiet activity if it is done in shorter bursts to begin with and gradually extended. But we have very active boys who like to keep things moving so that's why it's important for them. If your boys are a different temperament that may not apply to them :-)
Let us know how things go and what works/doesn't. We are wanting to start a family rosary soon as well!
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Permalink Reply by Nicole Palm on -
I love your ideas! My husband and I used to pray the rosary together as a couple regularly. Now, with two little children (20 months and 3 months) it is very difficult and challenging but we try to pray it together once a week, usually on sundays. Sometimes when they are very lively, we do the decade-prayer Kristin mentioned . Our 20 month-old likes it to hold his own rosary in his hands and to play/pray with it !!
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Ianiro on
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Hi Everyone,
Thank you all for your wisdom and advice. We have been trying to implement many of the ideas here and there, and we look forward to implementing more in te future (got to take our time with these little ones!)
I finally have some time to give a portrayal of how our Family Rosary works in our house. Granted, this is NOT what we do every night, but what we try to do as many nights as possible (again, with my husband in night class, etc).
There are two different ways we might pray our Family Rosary:
Scenario 1:
Right after we clean up from dinner, and right before bedtime, we all sit on the couch (all except for the 14-month-old who is allowed to wander around the living room). The older boys (2 and 4) know the rules: if either of them gets off the couch while we're praying, they have to go up to their bed (since we'll be heading there after the Rosary anyway). This actually works REALLY well! In the winter we throw a blanket over all of us, which makes it even easier to keep them in one place. :)
Scenario 2:
We get all the boys ready for bed. Then they either (a) lay in their respective beds OR (b) put their pillows in their doorway and lay there. It depends how late it is. Since their bedroom doors are adjacent to one another, my Husband and I sit or kneel in the hallway outside of their doors. This is a nice way to wind down the day.
Each night we also let them say their own intention before we start. Let me just say, don't be surprised when you find out LeBron James is beginning Seminary formation. :) Nary a night goes by that we don't offer our Rosary for him, among others (Mo Williams, John James Audubon, etc.)
It's so beautiful to hear how so many different families are accomplishing their Family Rosary as often as possible. It gives me great encouragement.
God Bless all of your Families and your efforts! Praise God for the abundant Graces we receive from the Rosary!
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Permalink Reply by Alicia Hart on -
Have you seen this blog post by PONDERED IN MY HEART? http://ponderedinmyheart.typepad.com/pondered_in_my_heart/2009/04/p...
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Ianiro on
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Wow, THANK YOU! This is a beautiful idea, and I'm sure it's JUST the thing that most of us mothers have been looking for: a way to keep little ones occupied, but without having to resort to secular entertainments. Thanks for posting this reply, especially since this thread hasn't been updated for a while. I have some additional thoughts to post, but am at work right now so that will need to wait until later. Thanks again, Alicia!
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Permalink Reply by Tima on -
Jessica, I want to thank you for starting this thread. There is alot of great advice here already which is awesome since the only advice I could offer is, stick with it: I recently learned that "sometimes the best we can do is to show up for prayer, fighting distractions becomes the prayer."
I only have 2 boys, ages 11 and 7 yrs old and yet we seem to have the same struggles, probably because we only reverted back to our faith 4 years ago, so the idea of sitting still for 15 minutes is still a challenge for them. We were told we should invite them to pray with us, but not force the issue, so for awhile they would not come....now our 11 year old prays with us regularly and sincerely. I have hope that our 7 year old will come around too, somedays he sits with us, its so much nicer when he is with us out of his own free will choice.
At times, what I do is fit in a rosary on my own that can be a sincere, reflective praryer, then the family rosary becomes more of an opportunity to help the kids fit in this prayer into their day, then I don't feel so bad about being distracted by their behaviour, not sure if one justifies the other, though.
Thanks again.
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Ianiro on
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Hi Tima,
You are most welcome for starting this thread--I'm so glad I did! I love this online Catholic community, and all of the eager Mothers we have out there, all wanting to help each other out. I'm glad I can benefit from so much wisdom! So thank YOU!
Your advice is so simple and sensible. "Stick with it" it really the theme of our whole faith, isn't it? :) It's nice to hear that again because much of the time it seems like I get caught up with just making sure we're "doing it right."
I'm going to reply in a minute to my original post, updating some of my initial comments with things that we have changed in our family.
Thank you for your beautiful testimony, and your kind words!
Jessica
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Ianiro on
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So it has been less than a month, and we have already modified our nightly Rosary. I have to thank all of you for your suggestions, which have been a catalyst for our changing things up a bit.
After reading all of your tips, I realized that perhaps I was being too demanding with our young children. I tend to be a scrupulous person, so when it comes to catechizing my children, I tend to err on the strict side. However, I realized there is much wisdom in the idea of letting my children progress at their own pace--not at MY pace.
I have included a link to an audio file that has revolutionized the way I look at my children’s faith. I had heard it back in September, but it wasn't until I listened to it again a few weeks ago that it really clicked with me. This is the audio from the EWTN television program, "EWTN Live" where Father Mitch Pacwa interviews Father Antoine Thomas. Father Antoine could not be any more gentle or thoughtful when it comes to children, and his thoughts are so profound and so PRACTICAL. I encourage all of you to listen to this. This file is freely available on EWTN's website, under the "Audio Library."
Based upon your suggestions, and Father Antoine's advice, for the past few weeks we have been praying only a single Decade of the Rosary. It is not my ideal situation, but it is actually working out beautifully. For one, we have not yet missed a night, since it is so much easier to "squeeze in" (pardon my terminology, Mother) a single Decade on a crazy-busy night. The second fruit of this practice is the fact that my once obstinate 4-year-old Rosary-prayer is now downright giddy every night when he asks, "Are we just doing a Decade tonight?" and I answer "Yes." He actually prays along because I think he is not as overwhelmed!
So now, after the children are all ready for bed and they are laying in their beds, my husband and I sit in the hallway and my husband gives a nice, detailed little talk about that night's Mystery. We tell the children that they are not allowed to talk while he is talking, but we allow them to ask as many questions as they want (about the Mystery) after he has explained it. (We tell them to ask their Guardian Angel to help them remember the question if they think of it while he's in the middle of talking). This process takes 5 to 10 minutes, and it is so enriching because often my husband teaches ME things as he's explaining the Mystery to them.
Then we pray our Decade, and that's that!
So, here is the link to that audio file. I know it will benefit all of you who have posted, as well as anyone who has been following this Thread. Let me know what you think. It's been a game-changer for me! :) (Right-click the file and select "Save Target As...", then save it somewhere on your computer).
http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/dload1.asp?audiofile=el06042003...
God's Love,
Jessica
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Permalink Reply by Elisa on -
I'm so encouraged by this post!! I wrote about it on my blog http://www.elisaloves.com/2010/06/family-devotions-rosary.html and we actually began our family rosary last night. SO excited!
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