On December 6th, the Feast of St. Nicholas the Children's Rosary was able to have a booth at the annual St. Thomas the Apostle School Christmas Bazaar. St. Thomas the Apostle School has children attending from age 3 through 5th grade which is usually around age 11.
Our booth was perfectly positioned in the hallway near the front door. We were happily surprised to see a poster, made by the students of the school, above our table with a picture of the manger and little drawings of nativities by the children arranged around it.
Many other tables lined this hallway which led children to a large gym with more tables and also snacks. While we had our Children's Rosary CDs and books available for purchase as perfect stocking stuffers we also gave out free Rosaries. One of our main purposes was to share information about the Children's Rosary with more families and invite them to our next meeting. This turned out to be wonderfully fruitful. Alina and Kostin invited families to also sign up for our free raffle of a Children's Rosary CD. A little girl who was running a booth with her mom and sister won the CD at the end of Bazaar. She was a fifth grader and had made the sweetest hair bows that coordinated with the children's school uniforms. These two sisters attend St. Thomas school but are parishioners at St. Peter Claver Church in our town of West Hartford. As we have a Children's Rosary at that parish too we are hopeful that maybe Grace and Claire will consider joining that group. In many ways we never know what seeds we are planting. As many children ran by often looking for toys or treats they sometimes would stop just for a moment. Little tiny seeds being sprinkled out. Sometimes it is years later when such a seed is rediscovered. Yet in faith we keep trying and praying.
This past Sunday we held our monthly Children's Rosary at St. Thomas. We had a strong turnout and two new little girls. Alina and Kostin were so happy to see the group growing. Sometimes Children's Rosary groups are very tiny and we have learned never to judge a groups success by numbers. Yet we are faithful to it and also keep inviting children.
Other posts you may enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
The Children's Rosary® is a prayer group movement that was begun out of love for Our Lady and Her Son. Jesus tells us "Truly, I say to you unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:3). The Children's Rosary is an effort to begin in parishes rosary prayer groups composed of children and led by children. Through prayer of the Rosary Our Lady will guide our young people while at the same time sanctify families and Parishes.
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