Lent is only a week away and we wanted to share our plans with you. Over the past year I have read to the children the life of St. John Vianney and also the life of St. Therese of Lisieux. Both gave many sacrifices to Our Lord. St. John Vianney gave heroic fasting and mortification. St. Therese gave daily sacrifices also dear to Our Lord but they were of a different nature. They were tiny sacrifices but ones that also led to the heights of sanctity. While the life of St. John Vianney resonated deeply in my soul it seemed Our Lord was showing my children and I that there are many ways to please Him. Such was what we learned in reading about St. Therese and the little sacrifices she would give Our Lord with love each day. She spoke of little sacrifice beads she would carry in her dress. When she found something particularly hard such as being kind to someone she did not like, she moved a bead with her finger and did that which was difficult but out of love for God. In reading her story, I loved the idea of these sacrifice beads. I knew they would be different then Rosary beads as they would have to stay where you put them (see picture below). There is a time in everyone's life for different things to help them on their journey. It seemed my heart was earning for something to help me with these daily struggles.
Something beautiful happened after we finished the book of St. Therese's life. A package arrived with some sacrifice beads! We had not asked anyone to send us these beads they just arrived in a box along with some Rosaries. It was clear they were handmade and had a little card explained how to use the St. Therese beads.
To receive these beads was as if a dear friend had read your heart and gotten you the gift you had been hoping for but had told no one. We were excited to put them to use.
A few days after the sacrifice beads arrived at our home a friend stopped by our house to drop off some handmade Rosaries. Our friend had recently suffered a terrible loss with the sudden death of her daughter. As we were talking I mentioned the unexpected arrival of the Sacrifice beads and gave her a string. She took the beads and felt they might help her. Later I would find that she began making some for friends. People at her work seeing her beads asked if she could help make a string for them. As she runs the little Rosary making group at our parish which my daughter attends, my daughter was able to make a few of these sacrifice beads. This week we went to the post office and the lovely women who took our package at the counter mentioned she had one of the handmade sacrifice beads from our common friend. This it seemed was only further confirmation that the time was right for these little beads. Not only were our hearts open to them but it seemed other hearts were looking for something to help them, too.
Requests were coming in for more beads. So we are now in the process of trying to make them. Well this is a rather long story to bring us to the place where we can share these beads and our plans to use them.
Why are the beads helpful? Well for me I find the beads are concrete. When something difficult comes and I have a split second to decide how I will act my mind goes to the opportunity to do something for God. A chance to move a bead for Him.
To look at the beads at the end of the day and see none moved is sad and there is the opportunity to reflect at what could have been done differently...opportunities lost. But then there is the next day and one is more ready to take each chance to make an act of love. In reading with my daughter tonight I found something that made a lot of sense. This is a portion from the book of Mother Mary Loyola (The Soldier for Christ):
"We cannot, then, afford to get into bad habits, the way to which is doing bad things once, twice, three times. It is much easier, I think to get bad habits then good. It may be. Yet we have this thought to encourage us - that by every good act we do, whether it is prompt rising in the morning, or forgiveness, or overcoming human respect, or checking impatience, we are helping to form a good habit. The effort will be less each time, and what was hard in the beginning will come to be not easy only, but pleasant." The passage went on the share how very important it is to create these good habits young. "So Holy Scripture tells us if we train ourselves well whilst we are young, we shall keep in the right way when we get older, just as a well-trained horse goes,through habit along the right road without need of spur or bridle."
So this Lent we want to begin small. We want to take our day and search in it moments to choose God. To choose to do that which is often the most difficult...being kind to those we live with and see each day. For myself it is always easier to be kind to a stranger. The thought of being kind to the person that drives me crazy, well this is much harder. But having begun using the beads I can see the beginnings of new good habits. They are new so Lent is a perfect time to make them more routine. The kids are also excited about the beads. For each person I have seen Our Lord will ask something a little different. My daughter's first thought was to pick up some trash on the ground on our walk home each day from Church. I told her if she picks up the trash and says in her heart I am doing this out of love for you God, it is a beautiful sacrifice. Tonight she and I sat together talking about Lent and a few places she could try to target. There was a beautiful set of questions we came across in our reading together. Maybe they will help in searching for ways to move a bead.
We hope in the coming week or two to post a description of how to make your own sacrifice beads. We also are a bit new at making these sacrifice beads but are happy to share what we will make. Donations for postage are always helpful to keep us able to help more folks. If you would like a string you can email a request to blythe@childrensrosary.org
There are a few other things we will be doing this Lent including adding more saints to our list through 9 day novenas (see Saints invited to Join the Children's Rosary). But our major effort will be with the small things each day.
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
This is a picture from the Children's Rosary meeting at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, CT from last Saturday. A day before the meeting it seemed none of the four children that appear in the picture would be at the meeting. The two children on the left are part of the family that helped begin the Children's Rosary at the Immaculate some three years ago. Last spring they began spending more time in Steubenville, Ohio.
For many reasons the former group leader and her family wanted to attend the Children's Rosary at the Immaculate as a gift to Our Lady. This being the month of the Rosary, there was an extra special pull to come back. Yet the trip is a long one - 8 hours by car. As the date of the Children's Rosary approached - October 1st 2016 a host of things seemed to be going wrong that prevented this family from coming back to CT for the Children's Rosary. Yet through so many trials hope was not lost. Even the night before the Children's Rosary a clear way was not seen. Prayer continued that such a way would open. At the very last moment a few pieces clicked into place that allowed the burdens that had come down on this family to be lifted enough to take a chance. Their mom shared with me that setting off at 7:30 AM for the 4PM Children's Rosary seemed too tight. She worried about traffic and the need of her children for frequent stops. Yet the children seemed to settle in beautifully and her youngest unexpectedly slept most of the way. Traffic turned out to not be an issue despite considerable construction on the roadways. Their mom described beautifully how her periodic checks of the time seemed to shock her as the miles seemed to be going by so fast.
Indeed it seemed they were being carried along in record speed. They arrived in Waterbury in only 7 and a half hours. They were overjoyed. Many might cringe to think of a trip so long for a Children's Rosary yet when hearts are moved to give the gift of prayer and sacrifice to Our Lady and her Son such time and distance melts away. Their early arrival meant they could purchase flowers for the children to give to Our Lady during the Children's Rosary. There was also time for the children to get cleaned up and arrive with plenty of time for the Children's Rosary. Upon arriving they were surprised by old friends who had also made a long drive from New York to attend.
The photo that they sent from the Children's Rosary is included above. It has almost a mystical appearance to it. The gold glow behind the children seems almost a glimpse into Heaven. The little girl on the right also appears to have a hallo around her head - a providential accident by standing in front of her sister's sweater. Indeed who could deny the beauty of such a sight: four children who had sacrificed so much in the hope of giving a special gift of prayers to their Heavenly Mother.
Many, many thanks to these children and families that came and those that helped in allowing them to be there. A very special thank you to Our Lord and His Mother for taking care of every detail that allowed the impossible to become possible.
Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Link to Listen Daily to the Children's Rosary on EWTN Radio
Hear from the Children
This past Friday the Children's Rosary led the Stations of the Cross at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford, Connecticut USA. Seven children led those gathered. We had two candle bearers, a boy carrying the cross and four other children reading at each station. We were also graced with music by a member of the music ministry.
One family whose children helped with the Stations had grandparents visiting from France. This lovely family is originally from Paris. All three children speak both French and English. As we had a brief lull in the snow which seems to be almost continuous here in the Northeast there was a last minute hope that they might show their family Cape Cod before their departure. Yet the family chose to forgo this little trip to stay home and help with leading the Stations. A true sacrifice for the family. Yet this was done with so much joy. It was so beautiful to see their little daughter carrying a candle, their son the Cross and their older son reading. As we moved from Station to station there was a beautiful reverence of the children. As I looked to the side I noticed one women crying.
As the evening came to a close, it was clear that many seemed in a special way touched that night. I began to think of this little family who had sacrificed in such a beautiful way to help in honoring Our Lord's Passion. How dear must such a gift be, given with love from a family to Our Lord. This gift which allowed such pure little souls to come and carry His cross and hold vigil with a candle at the foot of the cross. Indeed it was a special evening.
