This month’s 4-6th grade memory verse is a great one for the whole family to memorize and here’s my foolproof, pain-free way to do so:

Last month in the Feast of All Souls lesson there was a simple activity where you listed names of your loved ones who have died, and it was suggested that you place this paper on your prayer table as a reminder to pray for them. My suggestion is that you shift your prayer from “God bless Grandma” (and on through the list) to simply naming them all at once and then end with our memory verse, the Prayer for the Dead.

Really, it’s a Win for everyone-

• Your loved ones in purgatory will continue to benefit from your family’s prayers.
• Your family will experience the comfort of actually being able to do something useful for them.
• You will be reinforcing Church teaching.
• Your family will all be exposed to a part of our Catholic prayer tradition (something you’ll encounter in formal and informal settings for the rest of your lives).
• You will all have this prayer memorized with little effort before you know it!