St. Francis Shelter

On January 7th a Children's Rosary was held at St. Francis Shelter in Vietnam.  This is home to 80 children and 40 adults. Most of those living at the Shelter are severely disabled and cannot speak.  There are a few children who are not confined to their beds and are able to speak and even sing.


Tran (age 16) was able to bring a Statue of Our Lady of Fatima for the visit to St. Francis Shelter. The Children's Rosary began in a general meeting room with several kneeling before Our Lady.  Candles were lit.  A decade of the Rosary was prayed and then a rose was placed before Our Lady. In between decades Ave Maria was sung. Our Lady was then lifted  and in a most reverent way carried to the rooms where the children and adults live. 

Our Lady was again set down and all those able to kneel took their place. Candles were placed before her and the Rosary continued.  Those confined to beds could pray from where they lay. At the end of the decade each person could place a rose before Our Lady and the statue of Our Lady was brought close enough to each in their beds that they could kiss her.  

May I humbly share that through Tran's phone I was able to have a window into the meeting and hear the children praying, singing and also see them.  What I witnessed was incredibly moving.  As Our Lady was brought to some they tenderly kissed her, pausing in some cases to say a quiet prayer and simply be with their Heavenly Mother. I remember the man in the yellow shown in the picture to the left. He took some extra moments when it came to his turn and he kissed Our Lady.

As Tran passed from room to room each time praying a decade of the Rosary, we began to see more of the rooms were filled with younger and younger children. Several of the children who were healthy moved with Our Lady accompanying her and kneeling in prayer at each room.  One of the little girls in pink was a tremendous help. She was able to carry a little baby close to Our Lady as others knelt praying.  

For the children that were small and mostly unresponsive, Our Lady was brought to them as well.  They could hear the praying and singing.  I was able to see several times when a head was touched in such a gentle way by another child and with such compassion and love.  

These children and adults have a life of incredible suffering.  Yet they are shown great love. The person who runs this shelter calls himself the Servant of the Miserable.  He speaks of each person as his treasure.  Although they have little, the Director had one request of the Children's Rosary: please pray for us.  This was his request of us. 

I include the sign for the shelter above.  One can see on the sign, a heart and within the heart is a wheelchair.  Our Lord's words come to mind, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me."(Matthew 25:40)

There are efforts now to begin a monthly Children's Rosary group at St. Francis Shelter. We humbly ask you to please keep this in your prayers. Thank you. 

Please know that the children prayed for all the members of the Children's Rosary at the meeting on 1.7.017.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Confession is the Soul's Bath
Lion and the Lamb

Why Does Our Lord Choose to Work Through the Humble?

Scripture tells us, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness". (2 Corinthians 12:8) Indeed it seems Our Lord often chooses those that have been humbled to work through.  In this way His hand can be seen most clearly.  Our Lord also shows us the wonderful blessings that come through our weakness.  For when we realize we cannot do it alone then Our Lord strengthens us and gives us those that can help us in doing His work.  

Over the past months I have been receiving notes from a new Children's Rosary group leader from Ohio named Betty.  She is blind.  Betty felt drawn to begin a Children's Rosary after hearing about it on the EWTN show Sunday Night Prime.  The timing of her first inquiry was providential, as we were working with the Xavier Society for the Blind on a Braille transcription of the Children's Rosary book.  With all the needed materials provided to Betty in Braille she began to pray that Our Lord would send her a sighted person to help her.  Our Lord sent her two.  She began at Holy Cross Academy Elementary School in Massillon, Ohio.  They have held Children's Rosary meetings in October, November and December.  She hopes to soon have a Parish monthly group as well.  During this time, Betty realized that her service dog was a highlight for the children when she came.  As we were talking one day a wonderful inspiration came that maybe her guide dog could wear the Children's Rosary logo.  With my own joint disability sewing was not possible.  Betty also could not sew one without being able to see it.  However, with prayer and God's grace a wonderful answer came.  Women from her Churches "caring stitches"  offered to make a Children's Rosary banner for her dog that he could wear both to meetings and at the Church to help increase awareness of the Children's Rosary.  She also felt moved to put a little miraculous medal on his harness too.  Through blindness and the need for a guide dog, Our Lord was bringing beautiful blessings. 

Indeed it would seem that no disability or weakness is too great that Our Lord cannot use it for the good.  

The next Children's Rosary at Holy Cross Academy will be January 15th, 2016.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Welcoming Our Lady of Czestochowa
Children's Rosary Books, DVDs and CDs

Gifts

Several members of the Children's Rosary

This past week during our 9 days of prayer and fasting, the Lord has showered a great many gifts down on the Children's Rosary.  I would like to humbly share some of those blessings.  The first 5 days of the fast we spent in San Antonio, Texas.  During those days in San Antonio we met a great many people who interested in helping spread the Children's Rosary.  With members of the Children's Rosary intensifying prayers and also fasting it seemed that many hearts were open to hearing about the Children's Rosary. I would like to share several of the meetings that have happened during the fast.

On our third day in San Antonio, we met a beautiful young blind women in San Fernando Cathedral.  She was very interested in the Children's Rosary and immediately thought of three children she gives singing lessons to at the Cathedral who might be able to help her begin a group.  When I offered to have braille materials sent to her about the Children's Rosary through the Xavier Society for the Blind, she said she could not read braille as her blindness is very new.  My eight year old son and I felt our meeting with her a very special blessing.  She also mentioned that she would be going to a conference in the New Year of cantors from around the country.  She expressed interest in telling those she might meet about the Children's Rosary.  To see such a heart so open to help especially when she was dealing with her recent loss of her sight seemed overwhelming to us. Yet the Lord would continue to show us the charity and love in the hearts of many we would meet on our trip. 

Later in the week during Adoration at St. Joseph Church in San Antonio a father approached my son and asking for prayers for his own 11 year old son who he is having trouble bringing to Mass.  We told him we would pray for his son and shared with him about the Children's Rosary.  Indeed it was also a gift to see a father reaching out and asking the children for help and prayers.  We are all broken in some way and we need each other.  To see another soul asking for help especially from a child was very special.  

The following day we met a mother of eleven after Mass, she was there with several of her young children.  In talking to her about the Children's Rosary I noticed she was having problems hearing and had her daughter repeat many parts of what was said back to her.  She told me she is going deaf.  I felt an immediate connection to this mom and seeing her daughter helping her, it reminded me of my own daughter who is always helping me as I have a joint disability that prevents me from much use of my hands.  

This mother of 11 was very excited to help begin a Children's Rosary in her parish and took some of our materials and also was quick to tell her friends visiting from Sydney, Australia about the Children's Rosary.  

Photo taken by a member of the Children's Rosary

The blessings continued as we were flying home to Connecticut.  A kind women sitting next to my son began to talk to him.  We were preparing to land and she mentioned that she had a rare medical condition that leads to progressive loss of sight.  She said prayer really helps. I asked her what type of prayer.  She said the Rosary.  This opened up a conversation about the Children's Rosary and the possibility she might be able to bring this to her parish and grandchildren.

Indeed it would seem that Our Lord was bringing us special gifts all week.  Showing us the many people who have so much to give.  It would seem since the beginning of the Children's Rosary those with disabilities have had a special place.  As founder of the Children's Rosary, I have a disability and many children and group leaders that have been involved with the Children's Rosary have disabilities as well.  No matter what a person's physical, mental ability or age it would seem Our Lord has a beautiful role for them.  Recently we have been in contact with the priest who is in charge of outreach to deaf community in the Archdiocese of Boston.  This priest is also deaf.  We had the special grace of meeting him at the World Meeting of Families and have subsequently been in touch with him.  He is looking into holding a Children's Rosary monthly with the children who are deaf that gather together for catechises in sign language. To imagine a Children's Rosary composed of all deaf children signing the prayers is a magnificent thought to contemplate.  We pray that in the future this will indeed become a reality. 

May I humbly thank all of you who have increased your prayers this week and also given sacrifices to Our Lord as part of the International Week of Prayer and Fasting.  As a special thank you a Mass is being offered tomorrow, October 25th, through the Capuchin Missions for all the members of the Children's Rosary and all who help the Children's Rosary.

Thank you all and God Bless!

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Children's Rosary Book
EWTN Interview About the Children's Rosary

Resources to Help those with Disabilities Pray

The Children's Rosary is a prayer group movement for children.  Looking back on our first prayer group meeting it would seem Our Lady always intended children with disabilities to have a special place in the Children's Rosary.  Although the group was small when it began several of the children had disabilities.  The group grew in a special way involving all children of every ability.  As founder of the movement, I too have an inherited disability with my joints preventing me from driving or using my hands for many activities.  Two of our three children have disabilities one an inherited physical condition that is progressive in nature and our other child suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). So indeed there was an awareness that children are called to prayer no matter what their abilities.  In a special way we have incorporated things into the Children's Rosary to include children who might be unable to lead the prayers. One example is the inclusion of roses at the end of each decade.  A child is asked to place a rose at the foot of Our Lady at the end of each decade.  Those children who for whatever reason can't lead the prayers are able to be involved and show in a special way how much they love their mother Mary.  The prayer group also provides a wonderful place for children of different abilities to support each other.  It is so moving to see a little child taking the hand of an older child with a disability and together leading prayers.  Likewise some of the older children also find a sense of belonging when they can help an uncertain littler child.  No matter what the age and ability all come together with a heart open to love and prayer.


Recently we recorded several Children's Rosary Cds. A mom of four who leads a Children's Rosary, shared that her 16 year old son who has Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD) has struggled for years with the Rosary.  He would try to pray at home but became frustrated as it was difficult for him to finish and it would take him up to an hour. His mom was looking for something to help him.  She received our Children's Rosary CDs as a gift and her son began using them.  He was so excited as he could finally pray the Rosary daily and complete it without frustration.  It was then that I began to see the CDs as a resource for those that struggle praying the Rosary due to disability. 
Another resource that we have to help pray the Rosary is a Diagram created with help from the children.  Recently we also heard that this has been helpful with a child with dyslexia.  His mom shared that he began using the diagram which has different colored beads..moving his fingers along the diagram. This diagram we offer free on our website.