9 Days and 9 Ways to Get Involved and Help the Children's Rosary: Day 1

Beginning today and for the next 9 Days we will be highlighting ways people can get involved and help the Children's Rosary. For those unfamiliar with the Children's Rosary,  the Children's Rosary is a prayer group movement for children. It is an effort to begin in parishes, schools and orphanages Rosary prayer groups composed of children. These groups meet regularly to pray a Rosary as a prayer group. Some groups meet monthly, weekly or in some places daily. The children in the groups traditionally range in age from 4-14. But any child with an interest to attend should not be turned away especially those with disabilities who may be older. Children younger then 4 can also attend. More and more there is an appreciation of the benefit young children can receive from praying and seeing other children praying at a very tender age.

Today is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving which has in recent years taken on the name giving Tuesday. This seemed an appropriate place to start this 9 day journey. Our last day will be December 6th the Feast of St. Nicholas. If you have been hoping to do something as a gift to Our Lady and Our Lord come on this journey with us. 

The first way to get involved with the Children's Rosary is to Start a Children's Rosary in your parish, school or in an orphanage.
The picture above is of a small Children's Rosary prayer group at St. Peter Claver Parish in Connecticut. This is a relatively small group of children...usually 2 or 3. Some of our Children's Rosary groups are much larger but many are tiny with a handful of children meeting. I share this group as an example because many may feel intimidated that finding enough children for a group would be difficult. 

If one thinks of an adult prayer groups these traditionally are small. Yet, there is great comfort that comes with praying with just one other person. It is also okay if the children involved are different ages...actually there can be some benefit to this. Young children are beautifully open to prayer. One of the ways I have seen to engage older children is to give them an opportunity to help the younger ones. Having a younger child in the group that needs help is just the situation where an older child can step in and help. I have seen this with my own children. When my older two children see a younger child come to the group who might be a little nervous and unfamiliar with the prayers they light up. There is something inside of all of us that takes joy when we feel needed and can help someone...this is especially true for children. 

We have tried to create various resources for those interested in beginning groups.
We have the steps to begin a Children's Rosary outlined in English, Spanish and French.
We also have created three instructional videos to help in: 
Starting a group (video in English & Spanish) 
Running your first meeting (video in English & Spanish) 
Answering frequently asked questions (video in English & Spanish)

The Children's Rosary book was also designed to help a person begin a Children's Rosary group. It can be very helpful to show the book to your Pastor when asking permission to begin a group. Additionally, it can also be used by the children to pray the Rosary. This book is currently available in English, Spanish and French and can be ordered through EWTN in the US and Great Britain. The English version is also available through EWTN shipping in Canada. The books are available as a single book and as a discounted ten pack.

We have also created a printable pdf of how to pray the Rosary in English, Spanish and French. This is particularly useful  if you do not have access to the Children's Rosary book.

If a person would like to begin a Children's Rosary and does not have the means to order materials please contact us (blythe.kaufman@gmail.com). We will make every attempt to get the materials to you. We also have donated handmade Rosaries which can be shared with groups that are forming.