"The wind blows where it wills"

"The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."(John 3:8)

Sunday morning and afternoon Children’s Bibles and bookmarks were given out at both our children’s rosary and the Divine Mercy Celebration.  Each Bible and bookmark had a Saint’s name written on it.  The Saint had been prayed to for 9 days and asked to choose a family, individual or priest to lead in their spiritual journey.  The crowd at the Divine Mercy Celebration in the afternoon was large maybe totaling one or two hundred.  I explained that the children were dedicating their upcoming year to renewal of family prayer and hoped that many would take a Bible and begin family prayer in their homes.  Those sitting in the seats might never know who had said the 9 day novena asking a Saint to lead them in family prayer.  Children had prayed many of the novenas and stayed up late at night to make sure all their novenas were completed.  There was a moment in the chapel of fellowship and love.  Each of us contemplated the thought that another soul had taken the time and cared enough to pray for one of us.  

After the prayer service many people came up to take either a bookmark or Bible.   That evening the children’s rosary offered the 5 PM Mass for renewal of family prayer.  One of the members of our children’s rosary, Monique and her daughter Sofia,  were present at the Mass.  After the Mass she and her daughter were approached by a women.  The women had one of the bookmarks that the children’s rosary had made.  It had St. Samuel written on it.  The women offered the bookmark to Monique and her daughter.  As Monique and Sofia had been at the children’s rosary they had already received a Bible.  What impressed me about this story was that this women had received an act of kindness from the children and then later felt moved to share an act of kindness to someone else.  The children had extended a hand of fellowship to this women and then in turn she reached out to another family. The family that she felt moved to reach out to is one in particular need of our prayers. 

Monique is a courageous single mom who lovingly cares for her disabled daughter Sofia.  Despite significant medical problems of her own, that have brought her in and out of the hospital, she continues to share her faith and love of Jesus with her daughter.  This women must have seen Monique caring so beautifully for her daughter as she is so frequently seen doing and felt moved to approach her.  It is very difficult to approach someone you don’t know and extend a gift such as the one she offered to Monique and Sofia.  She did however, overcome that inertia and took a chance as someone else had done when they decided to pray for her.  Goodness begets more goodness.  This beautiful moment of reaching out to our fellow neighbor shows us that we can all be Mary and Jesus’ extended hands.   Just as the gospel from Tuesday said "The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit."(John 3:8).  We don’t know where we will be called to reach out to another soul but when we do an act of kindness it helps the next soul find the courage to do the same.  

Monique and her daughter Sofia at Easter

In this spirit of fellowship may I ask you to include Monique and her daughter Sofia in your prayers.  Monique is facing a time where she could use the prayers of our extended children's rosary group.  As her health has been failing she is worried as any mother would be who will care for her daughter when she cannot.  As Sofia suffers from many mental and physical disabilities the struggle to find help is continual.  Thank you all!

God Bless!

Renewal of Family Prayer

April 15th Rosary with the Children

Sunday the children's Rosary Celebrated our 1 year anniversary and dedicated our upcoming year to renewal of Family prayer.  We gave out Read Aloud Children's Bibles and Bookmarks to a great many people at both our Rosary in the morning and the Divine Mercy Celebration in the afternoon.  The children's Bibles that we handed out are the same one we read in our family at night.  We read two stories per night.  After a long but exciting day at the Church we met my mother for dinner and returned home for baths and our night prayer.  When we took our Bible out Kostin, our 7 year old son, said lets get the bookmark we selected for our family earlier in the day.  Realizing that the kids were right, the whole idea was to have our bookmark in our Bible.  As we opened the Bible my husband said, "Oh we actually are done and it is time to start over".  The Lord was showing us that although we were using the same Bible we always use, tonight was beginning a renewed family prayer in our home. We had prayed for renewal of family prayer in the 169 novenas completed and the Lord made it visibly clear that he was answering this prayer. He was blessing our family along with all of our members a new time of renewed family prayer. Just as many who received their Bibles were reading their first stories we too were beginning on the first page too:  The Creation.  As we prayed for each other my son closed the night with a prayer for the Saint that chose our family: St. Dymphna.

Lord may all the members of the children's rosary experience renewal of family prayer and spread it across the globe.  Amen

I Have Nothing To Lose

Bibles and bookmarks which were given out

May I share one of the many beautiful experiences that occurred yesterday during both the Children's Rosary and the Divine Mercy Celebration held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford CT USA.  We met at 2:00PM for adoration and to celebrate Divine Mercy with confession, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and veneration of the image of Jesus and His Divine Mercy.  The children's rosary gave out Bibles and bookmarks at the Divine Mercy Celebration as well as the morning rosary.  Each Bible and bookmark had a Saint's name written on it which was asked in a 9 day novena to choose an individual, family or priest to lead in their spiritual journey.  One of the women to come up and take a Bible approached me.  She told me that she had a particularly difficult week and had prayed to her father.  She opened the Bible to the first page where the name of the Saint that chose to lead her was written.  It said St. Leo the Great.  I asked her if her father's name was Leo and she said-yes.  She was almost in tears but not tears of sorrow but tears of joy.  I told her I remembered the person who said the novena to St. Leo.  He had been a quiet man who after daily Mass often remained in the back of the church while some of us stayed to pray the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  One day a few weeks ago during Mass I asked Jesus to help show me who I should reach out to and ask to pray a novena.  When Mass ended I turned around and this man smiled at me and then winked.  This seemed to be the sign I had asked for and hence I approached him.  After explaining how the children's rosary is dedicating our upcoming year to renewal of family prayer I asked him if he would say a novena to a saint to lead a family in prayer.  After a pause of silence, his answer was "I have nothing to lose". Today at Mass I shared with him the story of the women who received the Bible.  He told me he had chosen to pray to St. Leo as it was his brother's name.  I told him by choosing to pray the novena he had touched another soul. A big smile came across his face. One person at a time, this is how we will bring joy back to our tired broken world.

Update on Children's Rosary Today!

The children and I are just back from the children's rosary and will be going back to the church shortly for the Divine Mercy Celebration where more Bibles and handmade bookmarks will be given out.  We were blessed this morning with new members.  We had four new children.  Three of which were from a Parish in Waterbury some distance from our town.  They are home schooled.  As this is school vacation week many children were away but the Lord in his goodness brought us three beautiful children who are schooled at home and therefore do not care that public schools have vacation. One of our new members is named Bernadette which seemed so wonderful as St. Bernadette's feast day is tomorrow.  At the conclusion of the rosary led by the children the first bookmark was chosen by Mary Rose for Our Holy Father the Pope.  The Saint which chose to lead him in his spiritual journey was St Charles Lwanga a Martyr from Uganda.

St. Charles Lwanga and Companions

Children's Rosary is Tomorrow

Bookmarks made by the children's rosary to be given out

Please join us for the children's rosary Sunday April 15th from 9:45-10:15 EST in the lower chapel of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford CT USA.  If you are unable to be there please join us in prayer from your home.  We are going to be celebrating our 1 year anniversary. Our upcoming year will be dedicated to Renewal of Family Prayer.  We will be giving out 93 Bibles and 77 handmade bookmarks each with a Saint written on it.  Each Saint was asked to choose a family, individual or priest associated with our children's rosary to lead in their spiritual journey.  To be a member of the children's rosary one only has to tell the Lord in their heart of their desire to join our group.  Then you will be included in all of our daily rosaries and novenas.


Fr. Sam will be unable to join us tomorrow but I did ask him to extend a priestly blessing to all those present at the rosary and all those joining us from home.  The five PM Mass tomorrow was also requested by the children's rosary for Renewal of Family Prayer.


Thank you all for your prayers and support!

"Ask and it will be given to you"

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened".

  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:7-11)

This week the gospels have described Jesus appearing to the disciples after His Resurrection.  They initially don’t recognize him and then a veil is lifted and they see him plainly.  This morning was not any different.  After daily Mass I made an announcement about this Sunday’s children’s rosary.  That the children are dedicating their upcoming year to renewal of family prayer and will be giving out Children’s Bibles and handmade bookmarks at our rosary.  I also mentioned that 171 novenas are underway to saints asking them to lead our families as we set out. Each saint has been asked to choose one family to lead and that saint will be written on one Bible or bookmark.  After the announcement, Fr. Jacob, the priest who said the  Mass approached me.  He is the pastor from Holy Trinity Church in Hartford.  With pleading eyes he asked if we could bring children’s Bibles to his Parish.  He told me there is a real need there.  My first reaction was to tell him we would probably have Bibles left over from this weekend and we could give them to his Parish.  He asked me to really think about it.  As I was walking home from Mass it was as if a veil was lifted.  I could see Jesus in this request.  He had heard all of our prayers-that we may experience renewal of family prayer and spread it across the globe.  Here was the first step.  The children would bring Bibles to Holy Trinity Parish with saints written on each one.  Children and families from one Parish reaching out to another.  Those families receiving the Bibles would be asked to say novenas and contribute to Bibles not for themselves but for families at another parish that they might never meet.  Hand to hand we will spread renewal of family prayer and reading of the Bible in our homes.  For months I could not see how this would all happen but in faith we proceeded knowing that we have a loving God.  He heard us and is now showing us the way.  We did not have to go and knock on doors, the door was already opened for us and a person with pleading eyes was looking back asking for our help.  How wonderful God is to us.  He loves us immeasurably. 

Bibles will be given out this weekend at our morning children’s rosary and then in the afternoon at our Divine Mercy celebration.  Many new families who do not know about our children’s rosary will be there as 45 families from our parochial school have been invited.  We will ask them to choose a saint and begin a novena from a new wish list of saints and contribute to the purchase of new Bibles.  Those Bibles will then be brought to Trinity church and given to those families.  The thought comes as I am writing that maybe we can bring the bibles to Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Sunday June 3rd. In anticipation of our first step out of our parish  we may be able to say a novena to the Trinity to bless this first endeavor and bless us with more parishes who desire our help.  Joy fills my heart as I realize what is unfolding.  Each one of us fits into the puzzle, through prayer we see where we need to go.  With so many of us praying the Lord in His mercy will unveil to each one of us his desires.  We will see him in the face of another and hear his request and in our heart know what our answer should be.  Thank you all for what you have helped bring to fruition.  We have much more work ahead of us but the door is open and we need only walk through it with our Blessed Mother and Jesus.  God bless!!!!!

Children's Rosary turns 1

A Look Back Over the Past Year

One year ago a small group of children and their parents met for the first children's rosary in the lower chapel of St. Thomas Apostle Church in West Hartford, CT USA.  We came before the Lord and consecrated ourselves and our children to Our Lady and Jesus.  We came with Love for Mary and a desire to have her guide us to her Son.  As the most perfect of mothers she heard us and has been leading us by the hand this past year.

Reflecting on the families that have come to join our rosaries I can see that the Lord hand selected each child and family.  Many of our first members were children with disabilities.  These children through their love and purity shine like diamonds before the Lord.  We thank the Lord for each child and each miracle that occurred when they were created and then brought into this world.  Our youngest member was barely walking when we began last year.  It is beautiful to see children grow in their faith and love for their heavenly Mother Mary.

Fr. Murphy praying with the children

The children's rosary has grown and I am happy to say that I do not know the ages of our youngest and oldest members.  Only God knows how many people have in their heart told the Lord that they want to join our group.  My prayer is that there are many members spread across the globe that have read about our group and chosen to unite themselves with us.  We began by teaching our children the rosary and praying it with them.  The Lord in his generosity has blessed this effort and put a desire within the children to continue to increase their time in prayer each day.  Some of the children as young as seven, by choice say 15 decades of the rosary daily.  This could only be possible with the help of Our Lady and the Lord.  The effects of this degree of prayer each day are profound.

Before Pentecost last year the children made flames with a gift of the Holy Spirit on each one.  Each flame was prayed over individually during family rosary.  The children as a group prayed over all of the flames at our monthly rosary.  The flames were then given out to the Parish with the prayer that the Holy Spirit would bestow a gift of the Holy Spirit to each family who chose a flame.  The response from this prayer initiative was incredible.  At the end of Mass a line to the end of the Church formed to receive a flame with a gift from the Holy Spirit.

Children praying the rosary over the flames on Pentecost

The children made an intention box which is kept in our Parish and all are encouraged to place an intention into the box to be prayed for during our daily rosaries as well as well as during our monthly group rosary.

A Mass is being said today, April 10th 2012,  for all of the families of the children's rosary.  To be a member of the children's rosary one only has to tell the Lord in their heart of their desire to join our group.

The children are dedicating the upcoming year to renewal of family prayer and will be giving out children's Bibles and handmade bookmarks at their anniversary rosary this Sunday at 9:45AM EST in the chapel of St. Thomas the Apostle Church West Hartford CT, USA.  If you cannot attend the rosary join us in prayer from your homes.  If you would like one of our handmade bookmarks please contact us at blythe.kaufman@gmail.com

The children's rosary has also begun inviting Saints to join the children's rosary and pray with us and for us.  170 Novenas have been said to individual Saints by approximately 30 people.  The complete list of Saints can be found on the page "Saints invited to Join the Children's Rosary". The intention for each novena has been:

MAY THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY, THEIR FAMILIES, THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY INCLUDING OUR PRIESTS, OUR BISHOP AND OUR HOLY FATHER THE POPE BE THE EXTENDED HANDS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER AND HER SON.  MAY WE GATHER A GREAT MANY SOULS ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE LORD.  MAY WE EXPERIENCE RENEWAL OF FAMILY PRAYER AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE GLOBE. IN A SPECIAL WAY WE ASK EACH SAINT TO CHOOSE AN INDIVIDUAL, FAMILY OR A PRIEST, ASSOCIATED WITH OUR CHILDREN’S ROSARY GROUP TO LEAD IN THEIR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. DEAR SAINT PRAY FOR OUR EXTENDED GROUP THAT WE MAY EMBODY THE VIRTUES YOU EXEMPLIFIED HERE ON EARTH.