Family That Prays Together...Stays Together

The Importance of Family Prayer


Be sure to teach the families to pray all together - father, mother and children. For the family that prays together stays together, and if they stay together they will love one another as Jesus loves each one of them...I will be praying that the Lord will bring peace into the world through the love of fathers for their families...



Mother Teresa







The Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the "domestic church" where God's children learn to pray "as the Church" and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church's living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.


PRAYER OF PARENTS:

God, our Father, I thank you for the gift of

my children and for the privilege and responsibility

of being a parent, for this is my way of holiness.



May I regard each of my children as a sacred pledge

of Your love and a beautiful sign of Your confidence in me.

Help me to pass on to my children our greatest treasures -

faith in Your truths, hope in Your goodness,

love in Your name for all.



I entrust my children to Your loving care.



Banish from our home any bitterness or lack of forgiveness.

Let us have time, deep concern, and a sense of

sacrifice for one another. Teach us never to be ashamed

that we are , in name and in fact, a Catholic family

striving to live in the way of Jesus,

Who is head of our home.



Give us Your Holy Spirit to unite us throughout

this life and let the circle of our family be

unbroken in the Kingdom of Your Son Jesus Christ,

our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER OF SPOUSES FOR EACH OTHER

Lord Jesus, grant that my spouse and I may have a true and understanding love for each other. Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust. Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony. May we always bear with one another's weakness and grow from each other's failings and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness and the spirit of placing the well-being of one another ahead of itself.

May the love that brought us together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection. Amen.







Prayer of the children for their parents

O Almighty God, you gave us the commandment to honor our father and mother. In your loving kindness hear my prayer for my parents. Give them long lives and keep them well in body and spirit. Bless their labors; keep them always in your care. Bless them generously for their loving care for me. Grant that, through your grace, I may always be their support and comfort, and that, after our life together on earth, we may experience the joy together praising you forever. Amen.