World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Our Lady of Sorrows | Seven Sorrows of Mary | family prayer
Devotion to Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Sorrows, took root in the Church around the 14th century. It was revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden that devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary's Seven Sorrows would grant seven extraordinary graces. In contemplating the suffering of Mary, one is drawn ever closer to her Son, Jesus, and his suffering which redeemed the world.
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Family Time | Family Vacation | family prayer
Going on vacation? Here's some advice on how to recreate or “re-create” during this time and come home feeling renewed. For me, vacation is often, well, exhausting. I usually need a vacation after my vacation to rest up. And with a family with little ones sleeping in unfamiliar settings and following unusual schedules, this is to be expected. Even as my family has gotten older, working as the "travel agent" to make sure everyone is well-fed and entertained is equally exhausting. Despite coming home exhausted, it is still possible to come away from a vacation “re-created.”
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family prayer | litany | praying for your family
When I became Catholic, the lives of the saints were a rich treasure trove of interest and hope for me. I was blown away by these small, yet holy lives. These were real people that I could relate to and love and ask to pray for me! I love to encourage my family’s devotion to the saints. One way to encourage this devotion is to write a litany of the saints for your family.
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Fruits of the Spirit | family prayer | pray the rosary
Paul asks in the Acts of the Apostles if the others know the Holy Spirit. When he lays hands on them, they are filled with its grace. This passage reminds us that we should live our lives aware of, open to, filled with, and guided by the Spirit of God.
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Parenting | family prayer | pray the rosary
Over the years our family has done many special things to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary in our family, especially with our younger children — Mary crowning, Mary altar, reading about Mary, making a Mary peg doll ... and this year we are going to try a Marian terrarium, only because we do not have a place for a garden. Most importantly, we've celebrated Mother Mary by attempting to pray the Rosary daily together as a family.
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Celebrating family life | St. Joseph | family prayer | father's day
Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are what I consider to be the “trip wire” holidays … wonderful when they are brunches, BBQs, and rainbows, but potentially miserable if a family is estranged, grieving a parent, struggling with infertility, or painful for a myriad of other reasons. My own relationship with Father’s Day is complicated.
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