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Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Miss Clara, a fourth-grade Catechism teacher told her kids one day: Children, let me tell you today about a quiet man, who used to be immersed into much reading and writing. This man was big and gentle, but because he stayed silent, people thought he wasn’t very smart. One day, his friends played a trick on him. As he was busy writing, one of them pointed to the window and shouted, ‘Look, there’s an angel!’ He ran to see, but there was nothing there. Everyone laughed.”
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From its origins in nineteenth-century France, the Congregation of Holy Cross has expanded around the world, bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to the farthest reaches of the planet in its mission to make God known, loved, and served. As of 2026, the Congregation of Holy Cross has a presence in 17 countries across 6 continents. The process of expansion took place gradually over the course of the community’s 190-year history. Below, in a snapshot, is a list of the countries where Holy Cross serves today, along with the dates of the community’s arrival:
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
Holy lives of inspiration | Learn more about our faith
Normally on the day of ordination, parents or guardians walk the person to be ordained up to the bishop, they do a ritual of handing him over. Simple as that may appear, but it has great significance in both the life of the one to be ordained as well as his parents. He leaves his family of origin and surrenders to the authority of the bishop a representative of the wider spiritual family; to serve all as he shares in Jesus’ priesthood. For the parents, it’s an act of letting go and not holding on, much less the generosity of offering their child to God.
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In this installment of our Holy Cross Heritage month series, we reflect a little more deeply into the life, mission, and spirituality of Blessed Basile Moreau, founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, particularly his vision on unity. Moreau's legacy continues to shape Catholic education, parish life, missionary work, and the formation of families rooted in faith. Moreau was an extraordinary figure of the nineteenth‑century French Church—an educator, a spiritual leader, and a visionary who believed deeply in the power of unity, love, and the renewal of society through faith. As we shared in an earlier reflection, Basile Moreau was born in 1799 in Laigné‑en‑Belin, a rural region of northwestern France marked by its resilience and deep Catholic identity, especially during the persecution of the French Revolution. The ninth of fourteen children, Moreau grew up in a tightly knit family whose hardships and fidelity helped form his lifelong conviction that the family is the “domestic Church,” the seedbed of unity, holiness, and Christian virtue.
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Ave Maria Press | Family Activities | Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary | how to pray the rosary
Ivonne J. Hernandez recaps her own experience of using the new book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, to pray the Rosary. Father Willy Raymond, C.S.C., in his book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, encourages us to pray the Rosary a little bit at a time. As we stretch those muscles and create new habits, he invites us to pray a decade a night. The goal of this book is to help you establish a habit of daily prayer rooted in devotion to our Blessed Mother. To that end, each day’s prayerful reflection is built around the rhythm of the Rosary. I could immediately appreciate how this would be a gift to families with young children. To be introduced to this magnificent prayer in small bites, allowing the grace to flow as the roots deepen in their little hearts. Habits of virtue to last a lifetime. What surprised me was how praying with the Sorrowful Mysteries for a week with this little book impacted my prayer life.
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Family Rosary | Living the Faith | catholic family life
Building habits to support steady spiritual growth became easier for Kathie Scott-Avery when she began using these four strategies. Although rooted in good intentions, we can overwhelm ourselves when deciding to revamp our spiritual life. Major resolutions, no matter how enthusiastically embraced at the outset, frequently wane or backfire, often leading us to conclude that we lack ability, conviction, willpower, good timing, or even faith. Thinking small can help, particularly when we are fashioning a path to a new spiritual habit or trying to improve upon one already established. Of course, the process still requires a commitment to specific and concrete actions related to what we want to accomplish. Is it just for ourselves, or for the whole family? Are we trying to fill a spiritual gap in knowledge? Refresh a practice that’s gone a little stale? Combat a particular sin? Improve on a virtue? Once we know where we’re aiming and whether it’s a solo or family trip, four strategies can make the journey easier: starting small, combining, adding on, and tweaking or substituting.
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