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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Catholic Family Fun | Summer Vacation | summer activities
Does your family make a Summer Bucket List? Megan Swaim has 20 ideas for families who want to celebrate their Catholic faith all summer long. We’re coming down the final stretch: summer break is almost here! Memorial Day is here! My children are looking forward to lazy summer days and endless hours of riding bikes and playing in the water, and I’m looking forward to being able to get into better chore routines. And also spending time together—I promise I’m not forgetting that! In the past few years, I’ve seen these great “Summer Bucket Lists” passed around the internet, full of fun ideas for making the most of school breaks and warm weather. You print your list, add some of your own ideas, and then spend the summer checking off the boxes—make s’mores, visit a museum, catch fireflies, read in a hammock … these lists can be quite comprehensive! But beyond the usual fun-in-the-sun activities, our family also really wants to prioritize living our faith together this summer. We know firsthand how easy it is to have good intentions but little follow-through, so putting prayer and service on our Bucket List will remind us of our goals and help keep us accountable. If, at the end of the summer, we’ve been to the pool every week, but the Adoration chapel only sparingly, the list will tell us. I’m hoping it will help us make prayer and service a high priority and get us excited to do these things together. If you’re making a Summer Bucket List for your family, here are 20+ ideas to help you live your Catholic faith together and have fun all summer!
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Catholic Family Fun | catholic parenting | family entertainment
For far too long, the terms "Christian media" and "children’s shows" were synonymous with "cheesy" and "fluffy." But that’s not necessarily the case anymore, especially on the Catholic platform called Formed. There seems to be a deep-seated desire to bring beauty, truth, and goodness back into art, especially in filmmaking. Formed — a streaming service created by practicing Catholics — has aimed to rebrand the landscape of Christian programming by curating a collection of top-notch content.
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Catholic Family Fun | Children's Stories | pray the rosary
Lindsey Mitzel reviews a children’s book of meditations on the Rosary written by Dominique Morelli and illustrated by Anna Morelli. The Illustrated Rosary: The Life of Christ in Prose By Dominique Morelli; illustrated by Anna Morelli Published by Diocesan The Illustrated Rosary: The Life of Christ in Prose is a beautiful Rosary meditation book for kids. Written by Dominique Morelli and illustrated by Anna Morelli, this Rosary guide, written especially for kids, is lyrical, whimsical, and thought-provoking.
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Blessed Virgin Mary | Catholic Family Fun | Family Activities | Marian devotion
Shelly Henley Kelly shares a how-to guide for families and friends who want to host a May Crowning at home. There’s something deeply beautiful about honoring Our Blessed Mother in the month of May. For generations, Catholics have celebrated May Crownings in parishes and schools, but this tradition can be just as meaningful when brought into the home. Growing up, Judy always wanted to be the girl chosen to crown the statue of Mary in her school’s May Crowning celebrations. She never was. But the happy childhood memories of singing Marian hymns and processing with flowers stayed with her for many years. So, when she saw the parish bulletin announcing a preschool May Crowning, it inspired her to host her own May Crowning at home with friends. What are you waiting for? Need ideas on how? Read on...
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Catholic Family Fun | Easter season | Living the Faith
Laura Vazquez Santos explores how the Church’s fifty-day Easter season invites mothers to move from celebration to formation. Every year, I enter the Triduum with holy ambition. I imagine dim lights, whispered prayers, and children gazing reverently at a crucifix. What I usually get is my 6-year-old asking for crackers every 5 minutes during the Gospel at Mass or my preschooler sword-fighting with last year’s blessed palm. I admit that getting through the Easter season can be both logistically challenging and spiritually testing. In years past, and especially after my reversion to the Faith, I placed unrealistic pressure on myself as a mother to get everything right each Easter, as I feared my children would be more enticed by the Easter Bunny than by the amazing reality of the Resurrection.
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Catholic Family Fun | Glorious Mysteries | The Family That Prays Together Stays Together
Maria Riley recaps her family’s experience of using the new book, The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, to pray the Rosary. I have mixed emotions about praying the Rosary with my family. As children growing up in a Catholic home, we were “forced” to pray the Rosary, and I always dreaded it. The Rosary seemed to last forever, and there were a million other things I would have rather been doing. As a result, my prayer time was never fruitful. I recited words, but never actually prayed. Today, rarely does a day go by that I don’t pray at least one decade of the Rosary. If I happen to be having a particularly sleepless night, I can get through more than one Rosary easily. My love and devotion to Mary has grown into an integral part of my faith, and I love having her as my spiritual mother.
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