Mass Offered on April 1, 2017 for Renewal of Family Prayer

A Mass will be offered tomorrow for Renewal of Family Prayer through the Capuchin Missions. This is something we do on the first Saturday of every month. The children also pray for renewal of family prayer in their prayer groups. In addition, over 800 individual 9 day novenas have been said by members oft the Children's Rosary to different saints also asking for renewal of family prayer.  Why so much attention and prayer for this topic?  

The Children's Rosary is not an intercessory prayer group, meaning its purpose is not to pray for intentions, rather it is a prayer group for children which helps support their prayer lives. Yet one cannot ignore the importance of prayer in the family.  Saints throughout history have championed prayer in the family.  The famous saying coined by Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton summaries it so beautifully, "The family that prays together stays together".  And so to keep and strengthen our families we pray for them. We hope that the prayer the children experience in their prayer groups will blossom into a richer prayer life in their homes.  Many members of the Children's Rosary have shared how this is happening in their families.

The picture above are children who are part of the Children's Rosary in the village of Dugl Mood in Pakistan. The Children's Rosary is spreading in a beautiful way... village to village in Pakistan.  There have also been reports of families returning to praying the Rosary in their homes in the villages where Children's Rosary prayer groups exist in Pakistan.  We thank God for such blessings.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
New Children's Rosary in Jinja Uganda
Our Plans for Lent...We are Starting Small

Anniversary Novena

The sixth anniversary of the first meeting of the Children's Rosary is on April 10th. We have made it an annual tradition to offer a novena of Masses for the 9 days prior to the anniversary for the fulfillment of Our Lady's plans for the Children's Rosary. We then follow this with 9 days of Masses in thanksgiving. The support for this effort has always been strong and for the past three years we were able to have two Masses offered on each of the 18 days. As Good Friday and Holy Saturday will fall within the 9 days of our thanksgiving novena we will delay the start of the thanksgiving novena until April 16th Easter Sunday.

As Our Lord and Our Lady are blessing the children in a beautiful way, we would like to keep Our Lady's hands full of prayers and also Masses to present to her Son so more can unfold for the glory of God.  If you would like to sponsor a Mass for the usual donation of $10.00, please email me at blythe@childrensrosary.org
If there is a particular date you would like to sponsor, please let me know. I plan to request Masses through the Capuchin Missions, but if you would like to request a Mass be said at your Parish or another location this is wonderful as well.
April 1-9: For the Fulfillment of Our Lady's Plans for the Children's Rosary
April 16-24th: Thanksgiving

Donations can be made out to Children's Rosary Inc and sent to:
Children's Rosary
PO Box 271743
West Hartford,CT 06127 USA

Donations can also be made on our website electronically HERE

The Children’s Rosary is a non profit organization with 501 (c)(3) status through the IRS. All donations are tax deductible in the United States.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
A Window to the World Through Prayer
"Their Love for God is Great?"

"The children followed me needing rosaries ..."

During the Christmas holidays we sent a statue of Our Blessed Mother and the Baby Jesus for the Children's Rosary group in Entarara, Kenya.  The group there has grown from 50 children to 250 children.  An additional package of 30 Rosaries was sent.  Br. Cleophus relates that the statue was given to the children and 22 of the Rosaries. But eight Rosaries he kept to share with a church some distance from the group in Entarara. This remote Church, St. Michael Shartuka Catholic Church, is close to his home at least a days journey from the region of Rombo, Kenya. In this parish the children have never had exposure to the Rosary. Br. Cleophus was able to visit with them and share the eight rosaries he had remaining. (see picture above) They were very excited to receive them and expressed interest in beginning a Children's Rosary prayer group. As Br. Cleophus was leaving he relates, "the children followed me needing Rosaries but I did not have."  

Hearing of the children running after Br. Cleophus wanting a rosary of their own we were excited to recently put together another box for Br. Cleophus with even more Rosaries.  This time the package contains over 200 handmade rosaries. We are so grateful to those who lovingly make these Rosaries and donate them to the Children's Rosary.  We try to get each one into the hands of a child. We were also able to send some Children's Rosary books that explain how to begin a Children's Rosary prayer group as well as some Children's Rosary bookmarks.

We continue to invite people to unify prayers with the children when they meet in their prayer groups. The schedule of meetings is present on our website www.childrensrosary.org
The meetings are listed in your local time zone.  When a group is meeting it will show up as a blue flashing light on the View from Heaven map. You can hit the button "Join in Prayer" and become a gold blinking light. The Children's Rosary group in Entarara meets each Sunday. I hope you will consider joining them in prayer or one of our other Children's Rosary prayer groups meeting each day.

Other Posts you May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary 
Satan's Most Worn Tool: Discouragement
Resources to Begin a Children's Rosary 

A Gift to Our Lady on the Solemnity of the Annunciation

On this Solemnity of the Annunciation the Children's Rosary has a humble gift to give Our Lady.  It is a Mass offered today through the Capuchin Missions for her intentions.  We come before Our Blessed Mother with a spiritual gift as it is the most precious one we have: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  It is given with love from her children...even the ones who are not so young any more 8-) 

The Children's Rosary also has a little gift for all the members.  A Mass was also offered for all the members of the Children's Rosary today.  This is something we do on the 25th of every month.

As today is March 25th we are exactly 9 months from Christmas!  A few years ago a member of the Children's Rosary shared with me a 9 month novena that begins on the Annunciation and ends on Christmas. It is called the Nine Month Novena for Impossible Requests. We included it on the Children's Rosary website a few years ago.  The link to it is HERE. Maybe some of you would like to bring some special intentions to prayer leading up to Christmas.

Other Posts You May Enjoy
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Theme Song for the Children's Rosary
EWTN Interview about the Children's Rosary

Global Rosary Relay for Priests 2017

Please save the date!  The Children's Rosary has once again been invited to participate in the annual Global Rosary Relay for Priests.  This is something we are very excited about and hope many children will want to join in!  The Global Rosary Relay for priests will be held on June 23rd 2017 which is the World Day of Prayer for Priests and the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Beginning in Siberia every 15 or 30 minutes a Rosary is led at a different Shrine for the sanctification of priests. Over 100 Shrines will be participating from over 50 countries.  

Members of the Children's Rosary are encouraged to unify prayers with a Shrine of their choosing and pray a Rosary for the sanctification of priests on June 23rd. Children's Rosary groups already meeting on June 23rd may choose to unify as a group with a Shrine.  Groups  that would not normally meet on June 23rd, could arrange to hold an extra meeting on that day to help add to the prayer power of the day for priests.

We are very grateful to Marion Mulhull, founder of Worldpriest, for inviting the members of the Children's Rosary to participate.  An updated schedule of Shrines participating has just been added to the Worldpriest website.  A pdf flyer as seen above, is available on the Worldpriest website in English, French, German and Spanish. 

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Resources to Start a Children's Rosary 
Highlights from the Participation of the Children's Rosary in the Global Rosary Relay

Doing Less So You Can Do More

Last week we had an unexpected spring Nor'easter.  For those unfamiliar with the term Nor'easter, this means lots of snow and high winds. The Governor of Connecticut put a travel ban in place during the storm so only essential vehicles could be on the road.  Most people were therefore home from work.  But there was a wonderful blessing amidst the blanket of white...more time with family! 

Few people ventured out in the peak of the storm save for my husband and our three kids who thought there was nothing more fun then walking into town and exploring. Nothing was open...even the post office was closed.  With a vacant town and lots of snow there was so much fun to be had.  Konstantin thought it was a blast to slide down the stone wall that lines the stairs next to the library. I was inside for this adventure but I can just imagine it was pretty fun.  There was also the feet of climbing the tall mounds of snow created by the plows.  As we had an impressive 2 feet of snow fall there was lots of snow to move around.  The joy of playing in the snow would not end on day one.  Kids were off from school for TWO DAYS! 

Even that was not enough as this weekend more construction continued in our backyard.  Several fortifications were constructed. One in our front yard for protection from "invaders" two more fall back positions were created if retreat was needed.  Some of these walls took considerable effort to construct... one made of many show balls. Another was made with snow packed into buckets and then transferred to the wall.  The creation of forts and walls was only half the fun. Then there was a version of "Winter Olympics" that was also held...not your typical events one would see on TV.  
There was an original event created. This involved one child swinging on a swing while two other children threw snow balls trying to hit him.  In all, the snow this week brought a lot of wonderful memories. The creativity of children is remarkable. Very little was needed to enjoy each other. There was snow...yes but it was also the time spent as a family.  There is a battle these days to stay simple. To enjoy the simple things.  Our Lord gives us many gifts that bring joy but often there is so much going on that we miss them. 

Our family is a bit unique in that our children are growing up with one disabled parent who cannot drive. That means while dad is at work we can only go to places we can walk to in town. Lessons and activities are not possible. The result is more time at home together.  Yet, when I saw a phrase at a retreat recently suggesting we should do less so we can do more, the phrase rang true for us as we often cannot do very much but yet it seems we do a lot just being together.  

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Kids Will Be Kids
Resources to Start a Children's Rosary

Hello from Kenya!

This past week we received some pictures from Br. Cleophus, one of the Children's Rosary group leaders in Kenya.  As the Children's Rosary has been spreading significantly in Kenya, I thought it would be wonderful to see some of the beauty of the land where so many groups now meet.  

Br. Cleophus shared some of the captivating wildlife that calls Kenya home. Indeed this is an up close and personal meeting with many animals at the Masai Mara National Park. My personal favorite is the Cheetah. At top speeds he can run up to 75 mph!

You may also notice the zebras are trying to grazing on grass that seems to be baking in the sun. There has been so little water these past few months. The area has been experiencing a severe drought.  This is planting season and water is desperately needed.  Many of the children in the Children's Rosary groups in the Rombo area must walk great distances to find water.  Please keep these children and their families in your prayers. Please also say a prayer for Br. Cleophus who has not been well.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary 
Epiphany Sunday in Kenya
A Celebration in Kenya

A Child's Devotion to St. Joseph

Our middle son, Konstantin, has a strong devotion to St. Joseph.  This began as a small child.  When we met him in an orphanage in Kazakhstan at the age of 4, he had the name Konstantin which is the Russian form of Constantine.  We decided we would keep his birth name but chose a middle name for him.  The name my husband and I chose was Joseph (husband of Mary).  His sister who we also adopted we gave the middle name of Marie after the Blessed Mother.  

From a young age we shared with Konstantin the life of St. Joseph.  As early as we can remember he has always loved St. Joseph.  He even asked recently if when he is older could he choose St. Joseph as his Confirmation name even though his middle name is already Joseph.  Like St. Joseph, Konstantin has a love of working with his hands especially with wood.  He very much wanted to learn the skill of carpentry.  We hoped and prayed that we might meet someone to help mentor Konstantin with such a skill.  Last year something beautiful happened. We met a wonderful man who was a carpenter.  He providentially came to our home to meet the family of a priest that was visiting.  At the end of the lunch Konstantin looked at me and said he thought this was the man who might help him learn carpentry.  Indeed the match seemed Divinely ordained.  A wonderful friendship began and on the first day of the carpentry lesson we happened to be by the car of Konstantin's friend and mentor. His license plate read: St. Joe.  We were all surprised by such a signal grace.  One of the projects the two of them made together was a wooden tool box.  Today with the wonderful snow that fell this week Konstantin made a St. Joseph statue out of snow.  He even put his new tool belt on him.  March 19th is the Feast of St. Joseph.  Tonight I asked Konstantin why he likes St. Joseph so much. He said, "I like St Joseph because he protected the holy family and because I want to become a carpenter and he is the patron saint of carpenters." Seeing Konstantin leaning against his St. Joseph, one can see the beauty of a child's devotion to a Saint that has been asked to protect not only children but also families and even the Church.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
"What Do You Think About When You Say the Rosary?"
Resources to Start a Children's Rosary

A Lenten Wish

The Children's Rosary at Sago Bago, Pakistan recently held their weekly meeting.  In addition to praying the Rosary during Lent, the group also prayed the Stations of the Cross.  The little Church in Sago Bago does not have the Stations of the Cross so they read then from a little book.  The group shared a Lenten Wish. They hoped that maybe they might be able to have pictures of the stations to put on the walls of their Church. If there is anyone who would like to help fulfill this wish let us know.  Please email Blythe at blythe@childrensrosary.org if you have an interest in helping.

Thank you all.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
"Light Spreads, Darkness Stays Where It Is"
Litany to St. Joseph

Lorica of St. Patrick

The Lorica of St. Patrick is also known as St. Patrick's Breastplate. It is a prayer for Divine protection.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness 
Of the Creator of creation. 

I arise today 
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs, 
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men. 

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven; 
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea, 
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock. 

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me, 
God's wisdom to guide me, 
God's eye to look before me, 
God's ear to hear me, 
God's word to speak for me, 
God's hand to guard me, 
God's way to lie before me, 
God's shield to protect me, 
God's hosts to save me 
From snares of the devil, 
From temptations of vices, 
From every one who desires me ill, 
Afar and anear, 
Alone or in a mulitude. 

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, 
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry, 
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. 
Christ shield me today 
Against poison, against burning, 
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, 
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, 
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, 
Christ in the eye that sees me, 
Christ in the ear that hears me. 

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

New Children's Rosary in Jinja, Uganda!

We are happy to share that there is a new Children's Rosary group at St. Mary's Church in Jinja, Uganda.  St. Mary's Church also serves as a school room for the children during the week.

The new group had their first meeting on Sunday March 12th.  The children came to Holy Mass in the morning at St. Mary's Church.  This was celebrated by Fr. Ssali. 

Each child was given a Rosary. We are grateful for those who have donated rosary beads to send to the children. 

The children returned in the afternoon to hold their first Children's Rosary in the garden.  The children knelt around a small statue of Our Lady and the baby Jesus. They created a little intention box which they placed in front of them.  

They brought little flowers to place in the box to represent their intentions.  One at a time they placed their flowers in the box before Our Lady and Jesus. The children also attended Adoration following the Children's Rosary (see the last photograph).  

We welcome the members of Children's Rosary in Jinja. We also thank Fr. Ssali and Henry Bukenya for their help organizing this new group.This new Children's Rosary group is in the Jinja Diocese in Uganda and joins groups in the Kampala Diocese and Mityana Diocese in Uganda along with other Children's Rosary groups around the world.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start the Children's Rosary
Children's Rosary at St. Denis School in Uganda
First Children's Rosary in Uganda

New Children's Rosary in San Antonio, Texas

There is a new Children's Rosary group at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas. They will hold their first meeting Wednesday March 8th at 4:30 PM CT. Please consider joining the children in prayer.  The children pray for those unifying prayers with them.

We welcome the children from Our Lady of Grace Church in San Antonio to the Children's Rosary!

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Saint John Paul II Pray for US
Add Charity to Truth

New Children's Rosary in Hawaii

We are excited to share that there is now a Children's Rosary group in Hawaii.  Their first meeting was held on February 8th 2017. A picture taken after their meeting is included below. The new group is at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Kona, Hawaii. Their next meeting will be held on Tuesday March 7th at 5PM local time in Hawaii (10 PM ET). We hope you will consider joining the children in prayer.  We have asked the children to pray for those unifying prayers with them. You can see a full schedule of meetings that will be held in your local time zone on www.childrensrosary.org
When a group is meeting a blue light will flash on our View from Heaven map. (You will need to drag the map a bit to the right to see Hawaii).  By clicking "join in prayer" you can add a gold flashing light to the map. It is very exciting for the children to see others around the world unifying prayers with them.

Kona is also known to many as the "Big Island". With temperatures dipping into the single digits in the Northeast of the United States, I thought a few pictures of the beaches and sites of Hawaii might be a welcome site!  As we feature new groups, we have begun to include pictures from each region. In this way, the children who are part of the Children's Rosary can see a glimpse into the beauty of each place where a Children's Rosary prayer group exists.  Our Lord has created beauty in such different ways throughout the world.  It was not hard to find some breathtaking vistas from the Big Island. The picture below is from Akaka Falls State Park in Kona. 

We welcome the children from St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Kona to the Children's Rosary!

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
If We Pray We Will Believe, if We Believe We Will Love"
Theme Song for the Children's Rosary
(photo credit of the sunset in Kona, St. Michael the Archangel Church, and Akaka Falls State Park: wiki commons)

Mass Offered on March 4th 2017 for Renewal of Family Prayer

A Mass was offered today for Renewal of Family Prayer through the Capuchin Missions. This is something we do on the first Saturday of every month. The children also pray for renewal of family prayer in their prayer groups. In addition, over 780 individual 9 day novenas have been said by members oft the Children's Rosary to different saints also asking for renewal of family prayer.  Why so much attention and prayer for this topic?  

The Children's Rosary is not an intercessory prayer group, meaning its purpose is not to pray for intentions, rather it is a prayer group for children which helps support their prayer lives. Yet one cannot ignore the importance of prayer in the family.  Saints throughout history have championed prayer in the family.  The famous saying coined by Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton summaries it so beautifully, "The family that prays together stays together".  And so to keep and strengthen our families we pray for them. We hope that the prayer the children experience in their prayer groups will blossom into a richer prayer life in their homes.  Many members of the Children's Rosary have shared how this is happening in their families.

The picture above are two children who are members of a Children's Rosary prayer group in Pakistan. We have had reports from Pakistan that in certain villages where there are Children's Rosary prayer groups there has also been a return to praying the Rosary in homes. We praise Jesus for such blessed news.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Star of the Sea
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Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima Visits St. Stephen the Martyr Parish

The Children's Rosary at St. Stephen the Martyr Parish in Lilburn, Georgia will lead a Rosary today in front of the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.  The Rosary will begin at 4PM ET.  Please consider joining the children in prayer. The children always pray for those unifying prayers with them. A schedule with the meeting time in your local time zone is present on our website www.childrensrosary.org
Click "full schedule" to see this meeting time as well as the other meetings that will be held today and over the next few days.  Each meeting will display as a blue flashing light on our View from Heaven map when the children are meeting. By clicking "join in prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to the map!

As this year is the 100 Anniversary of Fatima, it is particularly special that the children will have a visit from the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

Please note that in honor of the 100 Anniversary of Fatima, Pope Francis has conveyed a plenary indulgence:
"to the pious faithful who visit with devotion an image of Our Lady of Fatima solemnly displayed for public veneration in any temple, oratory or adequate place, during the days of the anniversary of the apparitions (the 13th of each month, from May to October 2017), and devotedly participate there in any celebration or prayer in honour of the Virgin Mary, pray the Our Father, recite the symbol of faith (Creed) and invoke Our Lady of Fatima." To read the complete list of ways to receive a plenary indulgence associated with the 100 Anniversary of Fatima see this LINK on the official Shrine of Fatima website.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
A Visit from Our Lady of Fatima to the Children
Our Plans for Lent...We are Starting Small

* The photo included above was taken during a visit from the UN Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima to St. Thomas Becket Church in Cheshire CT. To see more about that visit and how the children welcomed her click HERE.

Mass Offered for Seminarians on March 1 2017

A Mass was offered today for all seminarians that they will grow in holiness and lead us all in love.  Every month we have a Mass offered for this intention.  As our seminarians will be the future shepherds and our children are the future flock, it seemed a beautiful way for the children to help. 

We have been periodically featuring different seminarians on the first of the month by inviting them to share something of themselves - a beautiful sharing of faith and love of Our Lord.

The Seminarian we share today is from the Parish where the Children's Rosary began. His name is Gabriel.  Indeed even his name bespeaks good news! 

The following is a little background about Gabriel which he shared with us for this post:

I grew up in central Connecticut, where I went to private school. After high school I attended Princeton University, majoring in computer science. Having graduated from Princeton in 2015, I moved to New York City and worked for a year as a software developer for a small finance company.

I first felt a call to the priesthood from an early age, about 7 years old, but was unsure of what to do about it for a long time. When I got to college I thought that a career in technology would be fulfilling, so I majored in computer science. But by senior year, I could no longer ignore God's call to consider the priesthood. So after working for a year, I decided to apply to the Archdiocese of New York to begin studies for the priesthood. I'm now in my first year of seminary, studying philosophy. I very much enjoy the life of a seminarian, with it's focus on prayer and study.

One of my favorite quotes: "God is quicker to forgive than a mother to snatch her child from the fire."  - St. John Vianney
 

We are grateful to Gabriel for sharing how he heard God's call. It is beautiful to see how such awareness of his vocation came at such a tender age. 

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Supporting the Prayer Lives of Our Children When their Faith is Tested
Release of the Children's Rosary Book in French!