My wife and I have been praying the rosary and various novenas even before the pandemic. Even before our daughter Sienna was born! Since the lockdown, we ensured we have a fixed family prayer time, particularly now that Sienna is nearly 2 years old and starts to understand what's happening inside the house.
I remember as a young boy, my mother used to gather me and my siblings at 8 pm for evening prayer. My parents are also active Catholics and I am thankful that they shared their faith to us.
My parents came to visit me here in the UK 3 months ago. They have been a part of our evening rosary. We say our prayers and novena out loud so Sienna could hear the words we say. It could be chaotic at times because Sienna would run around the living room whilst we are in the middle of prayer. Most of the time, she would also sing out loud in her efforts to beat our loud voices.
But we don't mind. We let her do what she wants whilst we pray. We want her to witness us praying together as a family. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states,
'The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity (CCC 1666).'
My wife and I know we have a mission to raise a Christian family. This is our own way of helping with the evangelisation efforts of the church. Paul VI said, 'In a family which is conscious of this mission, all the members evangelize and are evangelized.'
We know she is starting to understand. Whenever we say pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, she would stop her play and attempt to say in her own baby words 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.' Sometimes, she would randomly kiss the photo of Jesus or pick up her Kid's Bible book during family prayer time.
I can only pray that she would grow up loving the Catholic faith just as her parents do.
'The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity (CCC 1666).'
My wife and I know we have a mission to raise a Christian family. This is our own way of helping with the evangelisation efforts of the church. Paul VI said, 'In a family which is conscious of this mission, all the members evangelize and are evangelized.'
We know she is starting to understand. Whenever we say pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, she would stop her play and attempt to say in her own baby words 'Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.' Sometimes, she would randomly kiss the photo of Jesus or pick up her Kid's Bible book during family prayer time.
I can only pray that she would grow up loving the Catholic faith just as her parents do.
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