Happy Father's Day!

Today we received these pictures from the Children's Rosary in Pakistan. The children took the opportunity to thank their Fathers and even give them presents. We wish all the Fathers who are part of the Children's Rosary a special blessing this day.  We also remember Our Heavenly Father. The Children's Rosary has always had a special relationship with each person of the Trinity. Our books, CDs and DVD are all dedicated to the Holy Trinity and Our Blessed Mother.  Today at Mass I reflected that several years ago we met at Our Father's Retreat House to hold a Children's Rosary on Father's Day. We made a video recording of the Children's Rosary and parts of it were highlighted on an EWTN interview in 2013.  Many graces and fruits came through that initial interview on EWTN and there was a feeling that God the Father had helped us in a powerful way. We thank Him for such grace and assistance.  So today when we honor the Body and Blood of Christ in the celebration of Corpus Christi we also remember the Father that sent His Son to us. 

"It is my Father who gives the true bread from Heaven"

"We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures. We are the sum of our Father's love for us." John Paul II

A beautiful reminder of Our Father's love for us is just behind the children leading the Rosary.

The children will be gathering to pray over the next several days.  Please consider joining them in prayer.  The children always pray for those unifying prayers with them.
Saturday November 22nd
Children's Rosary of St. Michael the Archangel Parish and held in the Kibera slum in Langatta Nairobi Kenya 10 local time
Children's Rosary at St. Michael's Church in Garden City South CArolina 10:30 AM
Children's Rosary at St. Mary's Church in Corvallis Orgon 12 PM PT
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at the Daughters of Charity Convent in Bridgeport CT 2:30 PM ET

Sunday November 23rd

Children's Rosary at Our Lady and St. Patrick's Parish in Nottingham, England 9AM local time (4AM ET)
Children's Rosary at Assumption Church in Umoja, Kenya 7AM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston CT 11AM ET

Children's Rosary at St. Patrick's Church in Tacoma, WA 11:30 AM PSTChildren's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET

Children's Rosary at the Daughters of Charity Convent in Bridgeport ,CT 2:30 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Anthony Church in Lorain, Ohio 3PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament
Monday November 24th
Children's Rosary at Our Lady of Grace Home for Children in Meru, Kenya at 10 AM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Academy in Shenandoah, PA 12:20 PM ET
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Family Church in Gladstone Michigan 4:30PM  ET
Children's Rosary at St. John the Evangelist Church in Mahopac, New York 4:30 PM ET held in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Children's Rosary at Rose of Mystica House in Edmeston, NY 4:30 PM ET

Tuesday November 25th

Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
Children's Rosary at Holy Redeemer Parish in Menominee, Michigan 6PM EST

Wednesday November 26th

Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate Lagos, Nigeria 1PM ET

Thursday November 27th
Children's Rosary at St. Augustine Church in Iba Estate, Lagos Nigeria 1PM ET
The Children's Rosary at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Brentwood, California will meet at 6:30 PM ET in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
The Children's Rosary at St. Martin Church in Kingsville, Texas will meet at 6:30 PM

Other posts you may enjoy:

A Saint for Young People: John Paul II

Totus Tuus

Favorite Quotes of John Paul II

When a Father Isn't There

God the Father and Angel by Giovan Francesco Barbieri
source: Wikimedia Commons the free media repository

Growing up without a father can be a scary experience for a little child.  There are times of feeling self conscious and worried for the future. Having grown up with only a mother in the home and no relationship with my father, save for the knowledge of his name,  I remember wondering what he looked like and if he thought of us.  For I had never met him and I was told he left shortly after I was born and had seen me only once as an infant.  Without a picture and only a name there was little to fill the void of a father.   Such an experience can be confusing for a little one.  With a great deal of uncertainty around me I remember vividly praying to God the Father late one night while I was still very young.  In prayer I asked Him to step in and take the place of father in our family.  To watch over my mom and I.  This was a tear filled request, one that came straight from the heart. It was an anchor for me to have God the Father to turn to in prayer.  It made me feel safe which was so important and filled the hole that lay in my heart.

Tonight as I was falling asleep and thinking about tomorrow being Father's Day the memory of this early prayer to God the Father returned to me.  It was then that I realized how important it had been.  Who would I have turned to if I had not had Our Heavenly Father to ask for help? I also thought of the many children who share my childhood experience or something like it;  who may be feeling alone or questioning if their parents love them.  The knowledge of a Father in Heaven who is always there is a grounding force,  one that tethers a little one to love and security. Today with so many broken families, faith in a loving Father is more important than ever before.  It may be a life jacket for our children in a turbulent sea. 

Other Posts You many Enjoy:
Under the Care of Our Heavenly Father

How to Start a Children's Rosary

Under the Care of Our Heavenly Father

Children's Rosary held today at
My Father's House in Moodus CT USA

Today is Father's Day in the United States.  It is a time for families to come together and thank and honor our fathers.  Despite this being a secular holiday it would seem that many pieces would come together to point not only to our earthly fathers but also Our Heavenly One as well.  Several weeks ago, Fr. Apostoli called with an invitation to feature the Children's Rosary on his show: Sunday Night Prime on EWTN.  Fr. Apostoli is also the Vice-Postulator for Archbishop Fulton Sheen's Cause for Canonization.  Fr. Apostoli was a speaker at the Little Audrey Santo Conference and had been present during our Children's Rosary there.  He took several of our books and was very excited about helping the movement spread.  

One of my first questions, when he called,  was could parents and children be on the show.  He really liked the idea but wasn't sure how that would work as the NY set is very small and only set up for an interview.  However, he said he would check about this.  Later he called back and left a message that the producers did not think it would be possible for the children to be filmed on the set but that if there were pictures and a DVD of the children praying this could be sent to the editors at EWTN in AL and integrated into the program.   

Our Lord had in His infinite Mercy already provided the means for a DVD to be made.  On Divine Mercy Sunday, Mary Alice and Fr. Bill McCarthy happened to visit St. Thomas the Apostle Church to participate in our afternoon reconciliation and Mass.  In speaking to them that afternoon they offered that if the Children’s Rosary ever had need of a video they had a facility at My Father’s House in Moodus, CT.   At the time I thought it a wonderful and generous offer but did not see an immediate need for such a DVD.  However, after hearing Fr. Apostoli’s message their offer came right to mind.  

After contacting Fr. Bill and Mary Alice again they graciously accepted our request for their help in creating a DVD of a Children’s Rosary.  While at first Father's Day seemed like an unlikely date to hold a Children’s Rosary through a series of conflicts it became clear that this would be the date. However, as things have unfolded it would seem to be a tremendous blessing meant in a special way for our earthly father’s and an acknowledgement of the graces being poured down from Our Heavenly Father. Even the location of the taping provided on Divine Mercy Sunday is dedicated to Our Father.  The charism of My Father’s Retreat House is the Father’s love that is manifested personally to each through Jesus. 

Today at My Father's House there was a feeling throughout the day that Our Father had most beautifully taken care of every detail.  One of our members who has a disabled daughter had been ill all week and worried she would not be able to attend. She also needed a ride to the Rosary which was about an hour from her house.  Today just moments before the Mass was to begin in she walked with her daughter.  She would later explain that the most beautiful events had unfolded where she was able to attend a Mass the prior night and another member of our Children's Rosary had offered to give them a ride to the Rosary and Mass today.

Two members of Our Children's Rosary

Another remarkable event occurred after the Rosary was over and the children all ran back to their families.  As I was beginning to thank everyone for coming I noticed children sitting down with plates of food at the tables in the dining room.  Our planned reception only had juice, pasties and a cupcake rosary.  Seeing the children and families eating what looked like baked ziti with meat sauce and salad I thought how wonderful that Fr. Bill had managed to have food for all of us.  Later I would find out that one of the families that had come to Mass at My Father's House just before the Rosary had felt an inspiration to bring two trays of food and a large salad to Mass.  Debra said she and her husband and children had not been to the Retreat center in months but felt in a strange way called to come today.  Upon hearing at Mass that there was a Children's Rosary she and her family decided to stay.  The need for the food then became clear to her and she set everything out for the children and families.  Debra said seeing the large crowd of at least 30 children and their families she wondered if there would be enough food with the two trays of pasta and one bowl of salad, yet as all the children and families had their fill she returned to her trays to find there was still plenty left over.  Indeed Our Father in Heaven had provided everything needed and more.  

The Children so beautifully lead the Rosary today.  As we were gathering all the children together and we were asking which children wanted to lead it became so beautifully clear that a perfect number of groups of children where assembled to lead each decade.  As the children took turns leading there seemed to always be a small child with one or two older children just beside to guide and help the younger one.  How beautifullly they all cared for one another and helped each other as some of the children with disabilities made their way to lead or place a rose before the statue of Our Lady.  

Fr. Bill McCarthy

Another blessed piece of the day was Fr. Bill McCarthy who blessed all the children present and families.  We ended the Rosary by praying for Our Holy Father and asking the children to extend their hands and pray for all those present and all those unifying their prayers with them either at that moment or in the future.

In a special way we thank God the Father who sent His Son to us and a Mother to lead us all back to His Heavenly Embrace. Amen.