By Fr. Hervé Morissette, CSC –
The Christian family is the first school of prayer. It is often called the “domestic Church,” because it is in the family that children learn how to pray. The parents are, for their children, the primary witnesses of a living relationship with God. Their example of life is fundamental and irreplaceable. The family is the privileged environment where the members become aware that they form a living cell of the Church. Parents and children come together as the sons and daughters of their heavenly Father. Thanks to the example of the parents, family prayer contributes to the transmission of faith to the children.
Jesus himself underlined the special importance of the prayer made in common, when he said: “If two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt. 18: 19-20). The members of a Christian family can apply these words to themselves in a special way.
Children in Prayer
In His Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, no. 60, Saint John Paul II reminded Christian parents: “By reason of their dignity and mission, Christian parents have the specific responsibility of educating their children in prayer, introducing them to a gradual discovery of the mystery of God and to personal dialogue with Him: ‘It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and the office of the sacrament of Matrimony, that from the earliest years children should be taught, according to the faith received in Baptism, to have a knowledge of God, to worship Him and to love their neighbor.’
The concrete example and living witness of the parents is fundamental and irreplaceable in educating their children to pray. Only by praying together with their children can a father and mother – exercising their royal priesthood – penetrate the innermost depths of their children’s hearts and leave an impression that future events in their lives will not be able to erase.
Let us listen to the appeal made by Paul VI to parents: ‘Mothers, do you teach your children the Christian prayers? Do you prepare them, in conjunction with the priests, for the sacraments that they receive when they are young: Confession, Communion and Confirmation? Do you encourage them when they are sick to think of Christ suffering, to invoke the aid of the Blessed Virgin and the saints? Do you say the family rosary together? And you, fathers, do you pray with your children, with the whole domestic community, at least sometimes? Your example of honesty in thought and action, joined to some common prayer, is a lesson for life, an act of worship of singular value. In this way you bring peace to your homes. Remember, it is thus that you build up the Church.’” (1)
The Role of the Family
The education to prayer should permeate the atmosphere of peace prevailing in the family. When it is carried out in a family that is truly Christian, prayer is not an artificial duty. It follows the deepest rhythm of life, leading the children to become aware that they can pray at the beginning of the day, at the end of it, and whenever they have an opportunity to do so. All need a supportive environment in order to pray. The family has a very important role to play in that line, especially in the early stages of life. The children have to see their father and mother praying together with them and telling God everything they have in their hearts.
However, some people say that it is impossible to pray in the family these days, because all are too busy. It is true that family prayer constitutes a great challenge in today’s circumstances of life. Yet it is possible to face that challenge with a bit of faith and love. Other people think that it is better to wait till the children are old enough to understand the prayers. That would be equivalent to refrain from having the children listen to beautiful music under the pretext that they do not understand the richness and beauty of that music!
Children have a lot of potential, but we must acknowledge that they are particularly helpless at birth. They have to learn everything. It is the same with faith. We know that the children’s actions are influenced by the environment. It is through numerous contacts with their parents who live their faith in concrete life situations that children awake to the spiritual dimensions of life and have their first God experiences. The example of the parents who pray and teach short prayers to their children are the best ways of awakening faith in them. The children’s prayer is the beginning of an intimate relationship with God and allows them to enjoy God’s presence in their lives.
To be continued next week…