family prayer | The-Rosary-In-Our-Hands
In January 1991, my cousin was sitting in a tank in a hot desert, awaiting orders to go into Kuwait. The newspapers were filled with troubling stories, and the world felt like a sea of uncertainty.
Every Saturday for months, my family — aunts, uncles, and cousins included — gathered at my grandparents’ house to pray the Rosary for protection over my cousin and the success of the mission.
Prayer is Powerful
Praying the Rosary together is among the mightiest.
When the orders finally came, my cousin and his fellow Marines rolled into Kuwait with hardly a fight. Whereas we were concerned about chemical weapons, their biggest problem became what to do with all the surrendering Iraqi soldiers. It was as if they were surrounded by an army of guardian angels.
Our prayers were answered! By July, my cousin was home celebrating the Fourth of July with us!
My family, however, continued to pray the Rosary every first Saturday at my grandparents’ house. Grandma would make chocolate-chip cookies, along with cream cheese and celery, and always had cheese puffs for us to munch on after the Rosary. Those Rosary Saturdays are a blessed family memory that I have.
Not only is it a cherished memory of mine, but my oldest children also remember going to Great-grandma’s to pray the Rosary. Sitting in the living room, the little ones would play with their large wooden children’s Rosaries. Perhaps they would make it through a decade before wandering off to pull toys out of their diaper bags. They would come back when they heard the Hail Holy Queen prayer, knowing that the prayer was almost over, and they soon would be able to have the snacks!
As they got older, they would sit through more and more of the Rosary until they could recite the whole prayer with us. Still, they mostly enjoyed the snacks afterward. Before we would leave, orange fingerprints from cheese-puff dust covered Grandma’s table and chairs. She never minded.
A Family Rosary Tradition
Recently, my oldest son, who is now married and has a baby, asked if we could rekindle the family Rosary “as we had at Great-grandma’s house.” My mama’s heart could not have been happier or prouder.
We have had to make the tradition our own. The last Saturdays of the month have worked better for us than the first. Instead of cheese balls and celery sticks, we have pizza. After the Rosary and pizza, we play a game or watch a movie together. Nonetheless, my children and granddaughter gather in the living room and pray the Rosary together, just as, once upon a time, my grandparents’ children and grandchildren gathered in their living room to do the same.
Venerable Patrick Peyton was right: The family that prays together stays together.
...May God be praised.
Do you remember as a child seeing a grandparent or parent praying the Rosary? Were you blessed to be able to pray the Rosary with a grandparent?
Venerable Patrick Peyton, known as "The Rosary Priest," devoted his priestly life to encouraging family prayer, especially the Rosary. This October, for the Month of the Holy Rosary, Family Rosary (an apostolate founded by Father Peyton) and Catholic Mom have teamed up for this daily series dedicated to the Rosary.
