The Rosary, the Family and the Month of October

By Sarah McDonald

As a child, no matter what was going on in our house, at 8:30 my parents turned on EWTN for us to recite the rosary as a family in our living room. I can still see and hear that version of the rosary where people from around the world were represented in the images, and the Our Father and Hail Mary were prayed in their native tongues.

Now, as an adult, I look back fondly on that family rosary time, but I can honestly say, it was not my favorite thing to do as a child.

As a parent, I have even more of an appreciation for my parents’ efforts to teach us to pray and the importance of praying as a family.

My children are little, five bambinos, age 7 and under, so praying an entire rosary can be a bit much for a 4- and 2-year old (and if we are being honest, probably not easy for a 7-year-old boy either).

That said, October is the month of the rosary, so our family goal is to pray one decade of the rosary together as a family daily. If we are successful, we’ll try to add more, but baby steps.

I will try to keep you all posted on our prayer journey and any resources we find to help our children understand and engage in this devotion, but in the meantime, if you have any ideas or resources for helping children understand and pray the Rosary, let us know!