Family Formation

In the novena section of this week’s lesson we offer a simple variation in which you ask the prayers of your patron, but just how do you know who that patron might be?

There are several ways to determine this, and all are good ideas:

• Your patron could be randomly chosen.
• Your patron could be someone who shares your name.  (This is also sometimes referred to as  your name day.)
• Your patron could be the one who celebrates their feast on your birthday.
• Your patron could be someone with whom you share a common interest.  (For example, St. Joseph is a patron of fathers.  St. Luke is a patron of artists.  St. Nicholas is a patron of children.  St. Thomas Aquinas is a patron of students, etc.)
• Your patron could simply be a saint you’ve chosen as a special friend.  (For example, many people feel an affinity to St. Therese for her very simple way of following Jesus, or to St. Francis deSales for his practical advice.  This category of patron can just be thought of as a friend you’d like to invite out for coffee.J)
• All of the above.  You don’t have to limit yourself to one patron.  Just as you may ask many earthly friends and family members for prayer, you can do the same with your heavenly friends.

Related:

• You can find more here.
• Should we ask the Saints to pray for us?

There is no shortage of things to pray for and since novenas are typically more intention-based they will always be a popular choice to fill that need.  The hard part is consistency.  Unless any prayer is part of your routine, it may be difficult to keep up the nine day format.

Pray More Novenas to the rescue!  Simply sign up here and, free of charge, you will have daily reminders sent directly to your email.  Their next novena starts the second week in March, so sign up today!

• Get Novena prayers delivered to your inbox!
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Gosh, I love new lessons!  This one was particularly fun to write because I learned a lot and because I got help from several families who successfully put these methods into practice with children of all ages.  Special thanks to Donna, Stephanie, and Emily for their very practical suggestions!

People have been praying to God since the dawn of creation and in all that time have developed some very creative, effective, and satisfying methods of prayer.  Some of them have survived the test of time and even though they are very ancient, they are still embraced today.  We focus on three of them in this lesson.  The goal is for you, parents, to learn about all three but then choose one to focus on now with your family.

NOVENAS: In a nutshell, a novena is typically nine days of prayer in a row, for a special intention (asking or thanking). Novenas are still a very popular form of prayer and there are hundreds to choose from, most asking for intercession from Mary or a particular Saint. There are three novenas included in this lesson, one asking the prayers of your patron Saint, one to the Infant Jesus, and one asking the prayers of Saint Therese.  Take a look and choose one of them.

A word of warning on novenas – It is pretty common to remember to pray for the first few days and then forget one or two.  Don’t be discouraged!  Simply pick it up again the next day and continue until your nine are complete.  Obviously, there is a value to developing the discipline to pray daily, but God will not give you a failing grade if you don’t do things perfectly and it is not a lucky charm that only “works” if you do it right.  (But of course you already knew that.J)

LECTIO DIVINA: Arguably, the best spiritual reading you can possibly do is to read Scripture and Lectio Divina takes that a step further to help you pray through the reading and listen to what God is telling you there.  There are many variations but they all include the same parts: reading, listening, praying and contemplating.  Before you look at this method and think it’s impossible for your squirrely kids to listen and meditate, keep going to pages 7 and 8 of the lesson where we share all sorts of adaptions and suggestions that will make it possible for your family.

LITURGY OF THE HOURS:  Liturgy is the the rites and prayers that make up the public worship of the universal Catholic Church.  In the same way, this form of prayer is one that people all over the world are constantly praying together.  Think about how you can to to Mass anywhere in the world and the readings are exactly the same.  It’s like that with the Liturgy of the Hours: a cloistered nun in France is praying the exact same prayers as a priest in Africa and your family in your living room.  Isn’t that awesome?

The Liturgy of the Hours is mostly centered on the Psalm, but also includes prayers, other Scripture reading, and meditations from spiritual masters.  Priests are still required to pray the Divine Office (another name for it), but everyone is invited to pray any or all of the hours.  We recommend you try it out with Night Prayer because it is the shortest hour to pray, taking only 5-10 minutes, and may already be a time when your family has established a prayer tradition. We’ve included two prayer guides for Night Prayer for Sunday, but we also highly recommend the online versions noted on page 10 of the lesson.  They’re all free and very easy to use.  The best part may be that you’ll have an expert to lead you through the steps.