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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Praying with images | Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary | family prayer | pray the rosary
Artful depictions of Christ's life, especially His Passion and Death, offer families a unique opportunity to engage in discussions of faith that can often be difficult to begin. From the youngest member of one's family to the oldest, everyone can look upon the beauty of art and share what they see and how it makes them feel. Visio Divina, or "sacred seeing," is an ancient form of Christian prayer that utilizes the imagination to enter into prayer. Visio Divina is an effective method of praying for families looking to begin or deepen a practice of family prayer in their homes. We recommend starting your time with these images, calling upon the Holy Spirit to guide your discussion. Your prayer can be as simple as, "Come, Holy Spirit," or you may wish to recite or write a longer one, such as: Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth. This collection of images of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary includes short reflections with each picture to illustrate the variety of ways sacred art can be viewed and discussed. We pray your family is truly blessed by your time together immersed in the beauty of the art, these words, and your precious time with each other.
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Mother Mary | brokenness | pray the rosary
"I'm just that little shepherd dog," says former radio personality Kevin Matthews, who once ruled the airwaves in Chicago. "If I can get them to God, if I can get them to Christ Jesus, He does the rest. He's the shepherd." Matthews takes a particular route to bringing people to Jesus. First, he urges them to take the hand of His mother. "If I can get all you broken people who need your mom to clean you up," he says, "if I can get them to Mary, she does the rest. And when I say, 'She does the rest,' she sends them to Christ. "We've just got a little conveyor belt happening, and eventually they all get to God, our Father in Heaven." On Oct. 7, for just one night, Fathom Entertainment presents the documentary Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story. It tells the story of just how Matthews came to be what he refers to as "Mary's Roadie."
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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.
Catholic womanhood | peace | pray the rosary
When a friend suggested adding the Rosary to her day, Laura Vazquez Santos found a spiritual lifeline.
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Blessed Virgin Mary | Catholic Faith | pray the rosary
Meg Herriot looks back on how she has grown in praying the Rosary and the ways she and her husband have made the Rosary the center of family prayer.
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Family Rosary | Psalms | catholic devotions | pray the rosary
Here is a prayer method that combines a Psalm, a Rosary mystery, and a Canticle. This way of prayer creates a “liturgy of the present moment,” fostering emotional connection, contemplation, and praise throughout daily life. During a visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., I picked up a small paperback from Magnificat Press, The Abbey Psalms and Canticles. This booklet inspired me to a new way of prayer. While the Psalms and Canticles prayerfully express emotion in the movement of the human spirit, the Rosary, developed from these, is a prayer of contemplation.
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Rosary with kids | family prayer | pray the rosary
“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17) We receive countless gifts from God in our lives, from food, clothing, and shelter to the graces He gives us each day. When we count our blessings, do we remember to return blessings and adoration to God? The prayer of blessing and adoration is one of the five forms of prayer designated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, and praise) — the form in which we worship God or invoke His grace. “Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other.” (CCC 2626) The Catechism describes the prayer of blessing as an “encounter” between God and man. What is an encounter? The dictionary definition of the word is a meeting or experience with another person. As in a visit with a good friend, an encounter is an exchange, a back-and-forth between two people. In the Rosary, we engage in an encounter with Christ and our Blessed Mother, especially through the prayerful recitation of the Our Father and the Hail Mary. As our fingers move over the Rosary beads and our lips recite the words of these prayers, we listen and respond to Jesus and Our Lady.
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