Mother Teresa of Calcutta

"God does not choose the qualified, but he qualifies the ones he chooses."-Bl Mother Teresa of Calcutta

The Gospel today so beautifully mirrors this sentiment by Mother Teresa.  In the gospel today Simon Peter, James and John were just coming in from a night full of fishing with empty nets.  Our Lord tells them to once more cast their nets but this time it comes back full of fish.  Simon Peter approaches the Lord saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."(Luke 5:8)
Our Lord responds "Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men" (Luke 5:10) It is this humbly fisherman that Our Lord chooses to build His Church.  This gospel and the beautiful words of Mother Teresa give us hope that even when we are weak and stumble often Our Lord can still use us to further His plans.  We have only to give Him our yes and He will strengthen us in virtue and gently takes us by the hand.  It is our prayer that with us we may bring a great multitude of others.

Today September 5th the Church honors Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta and we humbly ask her to intercede for the Children's Rosary and all of us that we may be a docile instrument in the hands of Our Lord doing only His Will.

Learn More about the Children's Rosary on Sunday Night Prime on EWTN

Don't miss Sunday Night Prime on Sept 29th the Feast of the Archangels. The topic of the  show will be the Children's Rosary.  We are so grateful to Fr. Apostoli for the invitation to discuss the Children's Rosary and share this prayer movement.  It is our prayer that St. Michael and all the angels will be very active that night bringing many beautiful souls to see the show and hopefully feel moved to start a Children's Rosary in their parish.  The show will also air at the following times:

Sun Sep 29 at 8:00 PM ET
Mon Sep 30 at 2:00 AM ET
Mon Sep 30 at 9:00 AM ET

Please spread the word to your friends about the show. If you missed the show it can now be viewed on the EWTN website by clicking here.

Words from the Children Wednesdays

ANSWERING THE QUESTION:

 WHY IS THE CHILDREN'S ROSARY IMPORTANT

Recently we introduced a new weekly highlight on the Children's Rosary Blog: Words from the Children Wednesdays. As the Children's Rosary is a prayer movement composed of children and led by children we would like to begin highlighting some of the beautiful feedback we have been getting from the children from our different Children's Rosary groups.  

Recently I reached out to the different Children's Rosary groups and asked for their help.  The Children's Rosary had a booth at the Catholic Marketing Network(CMN) Trade Show in New Jersey USA from August 7th-9th.  It was our hope that the children could provide the voice of the movement by creating visuals and phrases to briefly describe WHY THE CHILDREN'S ROSARY IS IMPORTANT.

The pictures have been coming in by mail from all over the country.  They were all so beautiful in their own unique way it seemed like a perfect way to begin our Words From the Children Wednesdays.  More beautiful original artwork to come over the upcoming weeks.  Please if you are a child and would like to submit a picture or message see our contact information and send it in.  We will be featuring them here.

The drawing above was done by Asher age 6 who is a member of the Children's Rosary.  His words are simple.  But what more could our Heavenly Father want from us then to approach Him as a small child full of love.  The church which little Asher so beautifully drew aglow with warm light is so fitting as the more children we bring to Our Lord in prayer the brighter Our Church will shine.  The Children's Rosary is a humble way to bring our dear children to Our Lord under the watchful eye of Our Blessed Mother in the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
A special thank you to Asher for an open heart full of love for Mary and Jesus.

Pope Francis Calls Upon a World Day of Prayer and Fasting for Syria

WE HAVE AN INVITATION FROM OUR HOLY FATHER!

Pope Francis Sept 1, 2013 during the Angelus prayer
Riccardo De Luca, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.On 7 September, in Saint Peter's Square, here, from 19:00 until 24:00, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God's great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention. (Pope Francis)

We are extremely blessed to have three Children’s Rosary groups meeting on Sept 7th each will be praying in a special way for Peace especially in Syria.  The Children’s Rosary group from the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, CT USA wrote to me that they will not be holding the little birthday celebration for Our Lady after their Rosary this Saturday as they had planned. Instead they will be fasting from such sweets in response to the loving request from Our Holy Father. Please let us join Our Holy Father in Prayer and Fasting on Saturday. We hope that many will also unify their prayers with the children Saturday as we pray for Peace.  The following is the schedule of Children's Rosary groups that will be meeting Saturday:

The Children's Rosary at St. Agnes Church in Naples, Florida USA will hold their monthly Children's Rosary at 9:30 AM ET.

The Children's Rosary at Sacred Heart Parish in East Berlin, CT USA will hold their monthly Rosary at 10AM ET

The Children's Rosary at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, CT USA will hold their monthly Rosary at 3:30 PM ET.

The Children's Rosary is Traveling to Washington D.C.

The Children's Rosary has been invited to lead a Rosary and participate in the procession of nations at the Eucharistic Prayer Vigil at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC September 21st 2013.  This represents the kick off event for the 21st International Prayer and Fasting Campaign.  Pope John Paul II strongly supported this prayer and fasting initiative conveying an Apostolic Blessing going forward to all who participate in the annual week of prayer and fasting. Mother Theresa also was a strong supporter of this annual prayer and fasting event.  The vigil will be held at the National Basilica and there will be Adoration all day with Holy Mass at noon, speakers and confessions as well.  The event is free which is wonderful.  

At first when the organizers invited the Children’s Rosary the logistics of such a trip seemed impossible but with God we know all things are possible.  In a short amount of time two members of the Children’s Rosary stepped forward to help with the event.  Ryan Argentieri who lives in DC will be coordinating all local logistics.  Sandy Gasse mom of 7 and Children’s Rosary group leader at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury is coordinating a bus and will be helping coordinate children for the Rosary in DC. Already we have families and children interested in traveling to DC and one of our families is traveling from Boston.  The bus as we have investigated is expensive and we would like to subsidize the cost of tickets for the parents and children through donations.  Some families have 8 children and expensive bus tickets would make the trip impossible. 

We are praying that we might be able to find two sponsors per child to help with the cost of the bus ticket.  Each sponsor a wing if you will that together will help to carry each child to DC.  Each child will be asked to carry the name of each sponsor with them for the day and keep that person in their prayers.

If one believes in the power of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament now imagine  you have little children kneeling before Our Lord praying the Rosary.. a prayer beloved to Our Lord and His Mother. Now imagine that these small children are leading thousands in prayer and on the holy ground of the National Basilica a place honoring Our Lady and her Immaculate Conception.  Now imagine that one of these children is praying for you.  How happy will the Lord be to see such a sight.  How happy will he be with us that we helped to bring each one of these precious little ones to Him.  If you would like to sponsor a child we are hoping for a 25.00 donation.  If you have recently lost a loved one or know someone in special need of prayers we would be happy to send a personal Children’s Rosary card to that person letting them know of the donation made in their name and that a child will be praying for them on Sept 21st.  We will also be letting you know the exact time of the Rosary so folks unable to travel to DC can unify their prayers with the children.

Anyone interested in sponsoring a child or joining the bus trip can contact blythe.kaufman@gmail.com to make arrangements. 

Thank you all for your wonderful support.  

Monthly Mass Offered for Seminarians Today

Seminarians from St. John's Seminary in Boston May 2013

As part of our new prayer initiative to pray for seminarians there was a Mass offered today for all seminarians that they may grow in holiness and lead us in love.  

Since April all Children's Rosary groups have been praying for the seminarians attending St. John's Seminary in Boston.  We are planning to expand this prayer initiative to include more seminaries.  The most recent addition is Holy Apostle Seminary in CT USA.  Members of the Children's Rosary are also being given the opportunity to choose a seminarian to pray for in their home.  So far we have more children then seminarians participating and hope to continue to grow this initiative.  

Children's Rosary to Meet Today

JOIN US IN PRAYER

The Children's Rosary at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, CT will meet today at 11 AM ET. There will be a small reception after the Rosary provided by the Legions of Mary.  Please consider joining the children in prayer either at the Church or from your home. The children always pray for those unifying their prayers with them.  Recently we have heard some beautiful feedback from those who have unified their prayers with the children.  Truly it is a wonderful thing to have your prayers ushered up to heaven by these little ones.