Hello Families,

October 7th is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary! In honor of this feast day, we asked our consultants to share with us their tips on getting into the routine of saying a family Rosary. They shared their thoughts on how to start the habit if you don’t already do it, how to encourage your little kids to stay quiet and interested, and how to fit it in when schedules seem super busy, etc. Please feel free to share these tips with a friend today!

"As a mother of ten, we've done many things throughout the years.  My favorite was when we finally made the rosary part of our bedtime routine.  We would get the youngest ones ready for bed and then say the rosary with everyone in their bedroom.  They would fall asleep at some point and the rest of us were able to pray a little more easily!  Another favorite technique was to do a rosary round, where dad would start and then whoever was sitting next to him led the next prayer and that continued.  That way they had to pay attention to know when their turn was coming up, they got to participate, and I could see them even counting ahead to know which prayer they would get next.  It was almost like winning a prize if they got the Glory Be or got to start the next mystery. As they got older, it was just expected that everyone would say a rosary every day. If they had something going on or weren't around when the rest of the family said it, then they were expected to say it on their own-- even mom or dad.  So when dad had to work late, they would hear him say, "I need to say my rosary still!"  That was very powerful.  Also, for teens, it helped them have some autonomy if they could say it when they wanted and not necessarily with all the toddlers, but they usually ended up with the family sooner or later."

"When we started praying the rosary, I presented it to the family that during Lent we would say one decade of the rosary together. That included the Apostle’s Creed, the Our Father and the 3 Hail Mary’s at the beginning and ended with the Salve Regina and a nice long prayer to St. Joseph. By the time Lent ended we were in the habit, so I told everyone that saying the whole rosary would not take that much longer and so then we prayed every night in the evening before bedtime. Another tip would be to have the rosaries displayed around some small home altar that can be any small corner or small table. A statue or holy picture and candle also makes the whole practice more special."

"We started out with just a decade when the kids were very young, but also found that when we made the leap to the full Rosary, it really wasn't much harder for the kids than just a decade! We follow the taking-turns-around-the-circle method, with each person starting a prayer, rather than having someone lead a whole decade. Many years ago, I bought a lovely set of illustrations of each mystery from a religious article store, and displaying the lovely, reverent artwork for each mystery does really help to keep people focused. That was before the Luminous Mysteries, so when those were added, we were able to complete our set of illustrations by using artwork from beautiful Catholic calendars. I slipped all of the illustrations into plastic sheet protectors, and we keep them in a looseleaf binder, the "Rosary book." I also think having the children participate in stating our intentions at the beginning of all of the things and people we are praying for has helped them to be attentive to others and their needs. At some point, we started incorporating Latin into our Rosary. I think it was Laura's idea to say the Our Father in Latin when praying the Rosary to help people learn it - and that is how I finally learned the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Gloria Patri!  We leave it up to the individual leading each prayer whether he or she wants to pray in Latin or in English, and all respond in whatever language the leader has chosen. It may sound as though this would be distracting, but it has become very natural and people slip back and forth between Latin and English without even thinking about it.  We have loved sharing this with overnight guests who always seem to like our bilingual Rosaries! We have also very much enjoyed the years we spent hosting Sunday afternoon Rosary gatherings with other homeschooling families and friends. People would bring snacks to share, socialize, and then we would sit in a large circle to say the Rosary together, again going around the circle so people could take turns leading (of course, if anyone were shy about praying out loud, he or she did not have to lead).  We also always had plenty of volunteers among the children for the changing of the picture with each new mystery."

"Thank goodness for technology which helps this distracted mom and her kids pray the daily rosary! Depending on what’s going on that day, here are our rosary times: Car ride - A Rosary Companion Podcast OR taking turns with whoever wins the “Name That Mystery!” game, leading that particular decade. Afternoon - we have a working rosary and we’ll put the podcast on while doing dishes and picking up for the evening. Evening - we love EWTN’s Holy Land rosary before bed."

"Our family prefers to do the rosary in the evening if possible.  Sometimes with busy schedules we must fit it in during the day when the most people are home. My rule is no watching a show until the rosary is prayed so that our priorities are straight…God before all else.  For our family when everyone is present, I lead the intentions and beginning prayers, dad leads the first decade, and the kids lead the other 4 decades based on where they are sitting.  We also go between Latin and English; the person prays in whatever language they want and we all respond accordingly.If dad and the boys aren’t home, the girls and I use this series on YouTube.  The beautiful artwork helps to keep the mind focused and changes with each prayer; the classical music is calming; and the second part of the prayers is not said on the video to ensure participation by those watching.  The girls and I love these videos; the men think they are too long, but they aren’t.  They are only 17 minutes. We also start out all long car trips with a rosary where we take turns leading or we use these videos over the car radio if we are in our large van so the leader doesn’t have to yell to be heard."

"When my grandkids were very young and wiggly, my daughter started praying parts of the rosary and had the little ones put a rose in a basket for every prayer that was prayed during the rosary.  The roses were made out of felt.  By the end of their prayer time, the basket was filled with roses."

"During the rosary when the children were young, we used to light a candle in the middle of the coffee table we were sitting around. This made it seem more special and solemn, and it also helped quiet the children and focus their attention as they gazed at the beautiful flame. It was a treat for the child selected to blow the candle out at the end. Also, we had little Rosary prayer books for each child that they could follow along with and look at the illustrations for each mystery to help them focus."

Thank you to all our consultants for sharing their helpful tips. God Bless you! We pray you have a beautiful feast day!