HOW TO PRAY THE ROSARY – BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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 PDF version file 

HOW TO PRAY THE ROSARY – BRIEF INSTRUCTIONS

Contemplating Jesus with Mary and Praying As a Family

God is the source of vitality and love for Marriage and Family life.  Prayer is entertaining God’s presence in order to let Him connect us to his divine vitality. Here is how you can pray together as a Couple and Family.

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Step 1.                        Gathering together – make the Sign of the + Cross: “In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Step 2.                        Introductory prayers for God’s guidance and Mother Mary’s help:
“Dear God, here we are in your presence. Please guide and inspire us, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”  
     “Holy Spirit, instil in our minds the mind of Jesus and in our hearts the Heart of Jesus.”

                  You can also call upon Our Blessed Mother Mary to be with you and your family as you pray her Rosary:                         “Blessed Mother Mary, you who pondered in your Immaculate Heart all the wonderful things God did for you and his people, please be with us and guide us as we pray and meditate on the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Pray for us and help us to contemplate the divine light shining on the holy Face of Jesus, your Son, Our Lord. Amen.”

Step 3.                        The Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Mysteries of Jesus.

1.      The first devotional ejaculation:         “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.”
      This prayer could be said after the initial Glory Be and again at the end of the other ejaculatory prayers after each decade; so 7 times in all. (Prayer linked to family consecration to their United Hearts… published in Germany)

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2.      Creed, Our Father, three Hail Mary’s, Glory Be.

The Apostle's Creed – I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell; the third day he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer – O my Jesus, forgive us of our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Amen.

3.      All say second half of each prayer and after the Glory Be say:  “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.”

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Step 4.  This is how we ponder the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary and pray the five decades.

1.      One reads a Rosary Mystery out loud, slowly and clearly. Another then reads a pertinent Scripture passage, and perhaps also a brief meditation from a booklet or spontaneously.

2.      After a pause to reflect on the Mystery in Jesus’ life, each person may express what is on their mind or in their heart as they pray today. In this way all can hear what others think and feel and in this way learn how we can share and join in one another’s intentions.

3.      A designated leader begins by saying the first half of the Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be and all respond with the second half of each prayer. The leader may add after the Name of Jesus in each Hail Mary the Lourdes Shrine phrase which focuses on the Mystery. Decade prayers are begun in a single language. Each successive decade can be lead by a different person and can also begin in a different language.

4.      All respond by saying the second half of each of these prayers in a common language.

5.      We ponder not so much the words of the prayers but rather Jesus in his mysteries with Mary.

Step 5.   Fatima prayer and other ejaculatory prayers at the end of each decade.

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1.      At the end of the decade the person who has been saying the first half of the prayers now initiates the Fatima prayer and everyone joins in: “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls into Heaven, especially those most in need of your Mercy.” (July 13^th, 1917)

2.      Another devotional ejaculatory or short prayer can be added:      “Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved Spouse.”              (Taken from the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit)

3.      A third devotional ejaculatory prayer can be added: “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.”
                  (Taken from devotion to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary) 

Step 6.   Steps 4 and 5 are repeated for each of the remaining four Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

1.      The same persons may exercise the leader’s roles as in the first decade, and rotation can be made of the roles the following day or the following week, according to family preference. 

2.      At the end of the fifth decade and the prayers following it, the following prayers are said.

3.      (on next page) Hail Holy Queen – Prayer to St Michael the Archangel – Prayer for the Pope.

Step 7.  Look at each other and notice how you feel, having prayed together. (Fellowship time)

1.      You may not need to exchange any words, but may see in each other’s eyes that this has been a significant time of prayer – a time of intimacy with God, but also a time of intimacy with each other – because you have trusted each other with simple, daily secrets of the heart.

2.      We tend to feel well loved when someone listens to our heart, because this is who we are.

3.      Feel free to hug, kiss, bow before an icon, make the Sign of the Cross, or a reverent genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament if in a chapel. Prayer doesn’t have to include words, or be painful or boring. It is as lively and connected as we ourselves are.

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Remember that prayer is a normal human activity. You will become more at ease with it the more you do it. On the other hand, because you are not alone in it, but God is there with you, prayer is not only a human activity, but also a divine activity. For this reason it doesn’t make sense to try to evaluate our prayer experiences using only human parameters or measuring sticks. In fact, it is better not to evaluate our prayer at all, but rather to pay attention to the fidelity and generosity with which we spend or “waste” time “visiting” with God every day. The ultimate rule of thumb here is the rule of love that expresses itself and gives itself in freedom and generosity.

 

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At the end of the Rosary 

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
            Leader: Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
            All: That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.
Leader: Let us pray.                     All: O God whose only begotten Son by his life, death, and Resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life; grant we beseech thee, that meditating on these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel

 

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.  Amen.

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Prayer for the Holy Father

Leader: Upon this Rock He will build His Church...
All: ...and the jaws of death shall not prevail against her.

Leader: O Mother of the Redeemer...
All: ...Living Tabernacle of the Eucharist, and Luminous Rose of Heaven, with humble confidence we ask you to bestow upon the Holy Father all the graces and blessings reserved for him by the Holy Trinity from all eternity. Amen.

Leader: Help his friends...
All: ...and convert his enemies.

Leader: Saint Joseph...
All: ...pray for us. Amen.

Leader: May the Divine Assistance remain always with us...
All: ...and may the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

                “In the Name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

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Following the publication by Saint Pope John Paul II of his "Letter on the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in 2002, I first wrote notes in 2003 for the faithful, families, and all people of good will to help them pray to God with Our Blessed Mother Mary and contemplate the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary - so many "windows" into the life, ministry, mission, passion, death, and resurrection of her son, the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. I updated this every few years as a guide also for praying alone, as a couple, and as a family, and in October 2020 for these web pages.

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Marriage - Jesus Has a New Paradigm for Life and He Went to a Lot of Trouble to Bring It to Humanity - the old paradigms don't work... look around you....

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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Marriage, Family Life, and the Sunday Mass – Jesus’ New Paradigm for Life by Fr Gilles A. Surprenant (scroll down to the middle of this post for Jesus' New Paradigm)

Family Life was once enough preparation for Life, Work, Vocation, Marriage, and Family

Life, marriage, and family as we approach the middle of the 21st century is far less stable than it was a century ago. The social upheaval brought about by World War II, scientific, technological, and manufacturing upheavals, and the speeding up of society due to the "digital age" and omnipresent means of social communication have made society much more mobile. We won't understand for a while how radically life will be different because of the Covid-19 worldwide Pandemic. 

The so-called "sexual revolution" - it is beginning to be clear by now - has disturbed much of what had been known and expected about life, marriage, family, and religious life and priesthood. As a result, increasing differences continue to generate misunderstanding and confusion, greater disparity in women’s and men’s expectations of marriage, religious life, and priesthood, and greater fear and anxiety about what can be experienced by people in these vocations or walks of life.

It is clear to us today that the Church is composed of human beings; so it stands to reason that criticism is often warranted and the Church as an institution is ever in need of reform. Still she continues to mirror Jesus who is the Good Shepherd. Concerned for young people who had to endure all these destabilizing influences, the Church in her bishops began in the 1940’s to offer better preparation to help young adults cope with their new challenges in the hope that they would be able to succeed in their projects of marriage or religious life.

Formation houses for religious and for candidates for priesthood are constantly being renewed

Some religious orders and communities actually reach a point of “exhaustion” as they get farther away from their founder or foundress. They usually don’t wait until it becomes urgent to put into motion reforms and ongoing formation in order to help their candidates and members to “fan into burning flames” the desire of love that brought them to join. Seminaries must also constantly assess, review, and renew their formation program. In Montreal, 2020-2021 have been two years for a major “makeover” for the Grand Seminary which initiated a move to a new location, where the staff and candidates can be more directly involved in the life of local parishes.

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 “From This Day Forward” - Marriage Preparation Course 

Similarly, there have been several attempts in the Diocese of Montreal to develop Marriage preparation that would meet the needs and expectations of engaged couples. But, since human life and society never stand still, a course that satisfies for some years may no longer do so as time passes. A previous course on behalf of the Diocese used to be offered at St Patrick Basilica, and it seemed to work well enough for a few decades, but feedback gave witness to changing times, conditions, and people; making necessary a complete revision.

“From This Day Forward” has been the result of that process. The course you are now taking is not the same as the very first version offered some 20 years ago in 1998, but all the essential elements continue to be addressed. What has mostly changed are the people composing the team of presenters, and of course each person brings his or her own personality, experience, formation, faith, enthusiasm for married and family life and parenting, and love for engaged couples. In addition, in recent years – not only because of the Covid-19 Pandemic – we have undergone a “digital revolution” which will probably continue well into the future.

From your point of view and life experience as engaged couples

Most people acknowledge that society and culture are ever changing, but what stands out these days is the rapid acceleration in some of those changes. Our Marriage Preparation Course Team is constantly taking into account the evaluations and feedback given by engaged couples who take the course, as well as the data we receive from the couples who register and plan to join in one of the scheduled courses.

For a time, course participants asked for Mass on Sunday as part of the course and we offered it for about four years. The wheel of change turned again and engaged couples now want coaching in their desire to connect with God for help they feel they need in understanding and overcoming the obstacles, difficulties, and struggles they have in their lives, and further, in trying to develop a personal relationship with God. Then with the worldwide Covid-19 Pandemic which began here in Québec in March 2020; our Team agreed to offer our first “Workshop / Seminar on God and Prayer” in September 2020 and the participation of each set of engaged couples helps us to “hone” this very dynamic “Open Forum” for andragogical learning.

Sunday Worship and “Living the Lord’s Day Well”

We no longer include the Sunday in our course offerings; so there is no need to offer the Sunday Mass during the course. However, it remains valuable – even essential – for the Christian individual and couple to participate in the Sunday Liturgy. God is our Creator; so He knows under what conditions we will function the most “optimally”. To put it in other terms, God loves us so much He wants us to have “abundant life” in love. So God calls us to “live the Lord’s Day well” in order to have the rest we need and enjoy our life and family.

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Of what relevance is the practice of faith to married and family Life?

From our point of view as the Team, we hope to share with course participants our conviction about the richness of weaving together the human secular perspective with the spiritual religious perspective. The human sciences dovetail very well with the Christian faith in general and the Roman Catholic tradition in particular.

For example, today humanity is increasingly aware and alarmed about the accelerating damage to our environment and the accelerating threats to the survival of our common home on Earth. All the sciences and technology propose solutions which are difficult to implement because of the diversity of opinion and practice among human societies and governments. Faith brings the added perspective that the Creator loves our Earth even more than we do and offers us the inspiration and moral courage we need to take action.

While we get busy “greening” our home life, schools, and work places, we are only now beginning to get the picture that from the very beginning the Creator designed “green” into our very DNA and even into our human sexuality. When we try to follow the Creator’s plan, we enjoy deeper respect for our own body as well as ourselves as people, and by extension, a deeper respect for our beloved, both in their body and their person. This is called “chastity” in both the married and celibate versions in accord with each Christian vocation.

Of what relevance is the Sunday Mass to married and family life?

Faith in God shows us that Jesus Christ wasn’t just a great human being, or extraordinary preacher, or miracle worker. Jesus is the divine Son of God who, out of love for us and out of concern for our challenges and unhappiness, became one of us by the Holy Spirit through the Virgin Mary of Nazareth. In Mary the mother and in Jesus her son, God the Father provides a female and a male model of a human life lived with trust in God.

God wants us to have the satisfaction of giving meaning and purpose to our existence; so He doesn’t offer magical solutions to remove our troubles and challenges. Instead, God gives us the opportunity to do our best with the “cards which life deals to us”. Life is often very unfair, but it does provide opportunities for us to rise to the occasion and go beyond our comfort zones in order to make of our lives a gift of love for others. In this we have inspiring examples in Mary and Jesus, as well as in Joseph and all the saints.

Jesus was born a helpless baby, totally dependent on the love and care of Mary and Joseph. The son of God trusted in his Father and accepted to become helpless. Now Jesus trusts us to accept his words and to treat his gifts with respect. When we celebrate the Holy Mass, we hear God speak to us and once again Jesus trusts us to receive Him with love by coming to us in the helpless form of bread and wine as food for our souls.

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Jesus offers us a new paradigm for human life, Marriage, parenting, and family life

People who engage in any of the professions know how easy it is to produce reports, but how very difficult it is to go on to implement the recommendations made in those reports. Why is that? The obvious reason is that we human beings don’t like to change. We prefer what is familiar and what we know. We are reluctant to trust something or someone we don’t yet know. It takes time and effort for us to accumulate all the information and motivation we need in order to effect productive change.

            Perhaps that is why Jesus taught primarily by using parables, analogies, images, and stories. He wanted to respect people’s freedom and to give them the time they needed to become convinced and to make whatever decisions they needed to make. The Lord continues to treat us with the same respect in every generation as He did when He walked the Earth two millennia ago. From God’s perspective, Jesus never really left the Earth.

Yes, He ascended into Heaven – that mysterious realm of God which existed before the universe came into being, before the “Big Bang” – but because He is God in three persons: Father, the Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and is a “divine being”, God continues to “be present” to us at every moment of our lives.

The more you read, study, pray with, and assimilate all that is contained in the Gospels about Jesus and all that He taught, as well as all the reflections on all of this in the letters and Acts of the Apostles; the more you finally realize that Jesus is making all of us an offer that is so amazing and yet which we can refuse. Unlike the “Godfather” who made offers people “could not refuse” or they would be killed; Jesus makes us an offer that we can refuse, but do we really want not to accept the new life in God that He offers?

Jesus offers us a new paradigm for human life which, if we buy into it, will begin to bring order back to the Earth in our human relations and also in the environment which, in Pope Francis’ words, “is our common home.” What is Jesus’ new paradigm, his amazing offer? In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus offers each of us a “yoke”, a piece of wood that joins two oxen to a load that the pair then pulls together. Jesus offers us to no longer feel like we have to carry the weight of the whole world on our own shoulders, alone and by ourselves, because He loves us and doesn’t want us to be crushed by the burden. Jesus offers to “team up” with each of us.

To put it in commercial terms, Jesus is offering to become our “business partner” to be our inspiration and guide as we conduct our affairs in life, family, work, and play. Jesus wants to be our “life coach”. This is at the heart of the meaning of the word religion, which points to “re-linking” or “re-joining” our lives to God our Creator from whom we come and to whom we are all returning at the end of our life on Earth.

Jesus said He came so that we might have life in abundance, to share with us his joy; so that our joy might be full. Jesus as our Lord and God is not a “spoil sport”; on the contrary, Jesus loved being with people so much that He gives us an image of eternal life as a “wedding banquet”. We human beings become most clearly living images of God who is the source of love when we live our lives most freely and generously in marriage, parenting, and family life. As parents, we are the first experience of “god” that our children have. To them we are “god” or all powerful, until the day they begin to discover that we are only human and that God is someone else, someone really amazing. We don’t have to be perfect as their parents, because God is already perfect, and we can find all that we need in Him to satisfy our deep, burning desire for perfect love and wisdom.

When people are in love – either a woman and man or a parent and child – love has us use language that at first sounds illogical or irrational. We commonly hear someone in love, or ourselves may say, “I love you so much I could eat you up.” Of course, this is not to be taken literally, because it is a language of love, and love is so deep that it cannot be perfectly put into words, but we have to try anyway to express it. We want the one we love to be “inside of us” and we ourselves want to be “inside them” for a perfect union that will last.

The Holy Mass is full of love language spoken by God to us and by us in reply. Jesus is not only human and risen from the dead, but also the Son of God and divine. He can give us something of his own substance, of his own divine life, which He does in Holy Communion. We know how meaningful it is for a mother to nourish her baby at the breast, giving nurture from her own life. This beautiful reality of maternity helps us to see how Jesus feeds us spiritually his “Body and Blood” in Holy Communion. We need this “food from heaven” to meet the challenge of living as children of God on this Earth and like Him to make of our life a gift of love for others.

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Are we “just getting married” or… “Is God calling us?”

Statistical studies show the divorce rate for arranged marriages around 35%, and for love marriages between 40 and 50%. Divorce is what happens to people who weren’t really serious about their marriage, right? Actually, studies over the past 4 decades consistently show that when a husband and wife attend Sunday worship every week and also pray together every day; they are most certain to live a lively Marriage that thrives. That is because they are making room for God, who is the source of life and of love, in their intimate union of friendship and love. They remain connected to the fountain.

What is a Family Life Chaplain? What does a FLC do? To whom is this service offered?

Actually, "Family Life Chaplain" is in fact a "modern" term or title for the parish priest sent by Jesus to each parish through the supervisory authority of the local bishop or archbishop (in the case of an archdiocese). As Jesus received all those who came to Him with any ailment, complaint, need, or request while He walked this Earth in the Holy Land of Palestine / Israel; so now Jesus continues to receive all those who seek Him today all over this Earth through the pastoral presence and kindly services of the local parish priest. Priests don't necessarily have a charism of healer; so we continue to employ health services.

The priest continues to be a simple human being like all of us, a sinner; he isn't perfect yet. This means that we need to love him as we are called to love one another in our family and close personal circles; as well as our enemies and all those we don't necessarily like or enjoy.... Those we don't like give us an opportunity to practice perfect, unselfish love; since we don't expect anything good from such people. At such times God blesses us through the love we give rather than receive.

When the priest offers the Holy Mass, the Holy Eucharist, it is Jesus Himself who is there, offering Himself anew to his Father for us. The Holy Spirit gathers all our prayers, adoration, supplications, praise, contrition, and thanksgiving - the whole offering of our self and our life since the last time - and places our offering on the altar with the bread and wine. Through the priest, Jesus offers us, our offering, along with his own of himself, to the Father. Then, at Holy Communion, the Father answers our prayers by accepting our offering and in response, He gives us the best that He has to give, which is his only-begotten Son, Jesus, in Holy Communion. Jesus gives us a "transfusion" of the divine life and love He has with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Most Holy Trinity. With each Holy Communion we become more and more able to live, love, forgive, and serve as children of God, living images of Jesus in our world today; in this way He shines his divine light for the world.

It is the same with all of the sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation (Penance or Confession), the Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage. We see and hear the parish priest, but always it is Jesus who receives us, listens to us, speaks to us, prays with us, offers us words of instruction and encouragement, extends his hands over us in blessing, anoints us with holy oil, offers us forgiveness and absolution of our sins, challenges us to make better efforts to approach God, get to know Him and his ways, and give Him a return of love for all of the love He constantly pours into us in the Holy Spirit.... No matter how "distressing" we may find the "wrapping" - the human limits and failings of the priest - we can be assured that it is Jesus who is there, before us, serving and blessing us. Jesus promised He would be with us all days until the end of time, and He is faithful. Jesus, in union with his Eternal Father and the Holy Spirit, is faithful and ALWAYS keeps his promises.

What is on Fr. Gilles’ Web Pages - https://fathergilleshome.blogspot.com ?

On these web pages powered by Blogger you will find audio recordings of homilies given by Fr. Gilles since August 2020 and much more! On his original website you will find archived homilies sorted seasonally with links on the Home Page: HOMILIES – Summer – Fall – Advent & Christmas – Winter – Lent & Easter.

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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Christian Prayer – How to Pray as a Family

In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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 PDF file for more detail  

Christian Prayer – How to Pray as a Family 

For busy parents with children of varying ages – a simple approach to prayer

Prayer is visiting with God – the Creator of the Universe – who is always present. Jesus revealed God to be a Divine Being that is a Trinity, a Community of Divine Persons: the Father, the Son – who became human through Mary and is named Jesus – and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us interiorly in our own spirit.

PRELIMINARY NOTES FOR ALL WHO PRAY

1.      BUSY PRAYER IN THE DUTY OF THE MOMENT: Our life is complex in many dimensions. We can pray – visit with God – anywhere, anytime: in bed, in the shower, as we prepare food, before / after a meal, commuting to and from work, pausing a moment during work, at play…. CAUTION: If you pray as a family in the car, driver, pay attention to the road!

2.      PRAYER OF SILENCE: Friends of God find Him in silence, not the absence of noise, but in the silence we learn to keep within ourselves, quieting our mind, heart, and spirit, like a baby in the parent’s lap. The parents teach and mentor their children to notice thoughts and feelings, let them go, and return attention to the prayer. It is comforting to know that God knows everything that is happening within us and cares for us.

3.      OTHER FORMS OF PRAYER: You can pray with Scripture, the Word of God in the Bible; or with the Mysteries of the Rosary; or at Holy Mass; or TO God WITH the saints to help you pray; or written prayers.

4.      PRAYER TIME & PLACE: Choose a time and place to visit with God by setting aside any other activity.

5.      IT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO REALLY DOES THE PRAYING WITHIN US: Let the Holy Spirit carry you in the praying, especially when you are doing something else. At all times it is really the Holy Spirit who prays in us, and if we want, the Holy Spirit can give us the grace to relax; so we don’t need to “strain the brain” at all, and the Holy Spirit teaches us how to allow the prayer to “echo” within our spirit.

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ACTUALLY PRAYING TOGETHER AS A FAMILY

6.      “BE NOT AFRAID!” Remember: God, revealed to us by Jesus of Nazareth, is a “Divine Being” in whom is a “community” of Divine Persons: the Father, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit; yet God is a single Divine Being. God will always remain mysterious to us, but what’s life without mystery?

7.      DECIDE: Parents decide or anyone can ask to pray as a family, and in this way visit together with God.

8.      ASK: Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you as a family and help you to pray, to visit with the Holy Trinity.

9.      ENTER INTO YOUR PRAYER METHOD: In “silent prayer” together using a “holy word”, learn to “breathe” the word in and out, letting your breath and word “sync” to relax and rest in the Lord.
OR Select a Scripture text and read slowly, “ponder” the words, let them touch your mind, heart, spirit.
OR Pray the Rosary with Mary while meditating on the Mysteries of Jesus in the Holy Rosary. OR…

10.  “WORRY NOT – ENJOY”: You can almost hear Yoda say this to you. Just let whatever comes into your mind or heart – worries, ideas, emotions, resolutions, anxieties, lists or whatever – as you notice it wanting to occupy you, just let it drop, fall away… you will be able to find it or pick it up again later. Enjoy the presence and the love of God the Father, his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Parents teach children to do this.

11.  AT THE END GIVE THANKS: Say “Thank You, Lord… or Father… or Jesus… or Holy Spirit.”

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PRAYING AS A FAMILY WITH THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY

God is the source of vitality and love for Marriage and Family life.  Prayer is entertaining God’s presence in order to let Him connect us to his divine vitality. Here is how you can pray together as a Family.

Step 1.  Pick a form of prayer activity, such as praying the Holy Rosary, and select a set of Mysteries. For prayer with Scripture, a family can use and adapt Prayer Exercise – Praying as a Couple, in way that would be appropriate for the varying ages of the family members. Feel free to stand, kneel, or sit to pray the Rosary.

Step 2.  Someone pray out loud, in a way something like this, in order to ask God’s guidance: “Dear God, here we are in your presence. Please guide and inspire us, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.” You can also call upon Our Blessed Mother Mary to be with you and your family as you pray her Rosary: “Blessed Mother Mary, you who pondered in your Immaculate Heart all the wonderful things God did for you and his people, please be with us and guide us as we pray and meditate on the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary. Pray for us and help us to contemplate the divine light shining on the holy Face of Jesus, your Son, Our Lord. Amen.”

Step 3.  This is how we begin the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Mysteries of Jesus.

1. Someone leads for the first of seven times this devotional ejaculation: “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.” This prayer could be said after the initial Glory Be and again at the end of the other ejaculatory prayers after each decade; so 7 times in all. (Prayer of Offering to the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary linked to a family consecration to their United Hearts; as revealed to a German soul called by God in the 1970’s to make with great love and devotion reparations to Almighty God for the good of souls, under the care of a spiritual director, and published in Germany in 1981 by Fr. Joh. Ev. Gehrer, OFM Capuchin.)
2. The same leader begins the following prayers: Creed, Our Father, three Hail Mary’s, Glory Be.
3. All respond with the second half of each of these prayers. Then after the Glory Be all say:
4. “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.”
   

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Step 4.  This is how we ponder the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary and pray the five decades.

1. One person read the Mystery of the Rosary out loud, slowly, and clearly. One of the parents or a designated child, teenager, or youth could then read a pertinent Scripture passage, and perhaps also a brief meditation from a published booklet or that they have prepared, or even spontaneously.
2. After a pause of one or two minutes to reflect on the Mystery in Jesus’ life, each person may express what is on their mind or in their heart as they pray today. In this way all can hear what others think and feel and in this way learn how we can share and join in one another’s intentions.
3. A designated leader begins by saying the first half of the Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s, and Glory Be and all respond with the second half of each prayer. The leader may add after the Name of Jesus in each Hail Mary the Lourdes Shrine phrase which focuses on the Mystery. Decade prayers are begun in a single language. Different decades can be begun in different languages, each responding at will.
4. The others respond by saying the second half of each of these 12 prayers in a common language.
5. We ponder not so much the words of the prayers but rather Jesus in his mysteries with Mary.

Step 5.  Fatima prayer and other ejaculatory prayers at the end of each decade.

1. At the end of the decade the person who has been saying the first half of the prayers now initiates the Fatima prayer and everyone joins in: “O my Jesus, forgives us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls into Heaven, especially those most in need of your Mercy.” (July 13^th, 1917)
2. Another devotional ejaculatory or short prayer can be added such as: “Come Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved Spouse.” (Taken from the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit)
3. A third devotional ejaculatory or short prayer can be added: “Heavenly Father I trust in You, I offer You the United Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the triumphant bleeding wounds of Jesus and the tears of our loving heavenly Mother Mary. Lord, your will be done.”

Step 6.  Steps 4 and 5 are repeated for each of the remaining four Mysteries of the Holy Rosary.

1. The same persons may exercise the leader’s roles as in the first decade, and rotation can be made of the roles the following day or the following week, according to family preference.  
2. At the end of the fifth decade and the ejaculatory prayers following it, the following prayers are said.
3. Hail Holy Queen and concluding prayer – Prayer to St Michael the Archangel – Prayer for the Pope.

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Step 7.  You look at each other and notice how you now feel, having prayed together. (Fellowship time)

1. You may not need to exchange any words, but may see in each other’s eyes, that this has been a significant time of prayer – a time of intimacy with God, but also a time of intimacy with each other – because you have trusted each other with simple, daily secrets of the heart.
2. We tend to feel tremendously loved when someone listens to our heart, because this is who we are.
3. Feel free to hug, kiss, bow before an icon, make the Sign of the Cross, or a reverent genuflection before the Blessed Sacrament if in a chapel. Prayer doesn’t have to include words, or be painful or boring. It is as lively and connected as we ourselves are.

Remember that prayer is a normal human activity. You will become more at ease with it the more you do it. On the other hand, because you are not alone in it, but God is there with you, prayer is not only a human activity, but also a divine activity. For this reason it doesn’t make sense to try to evaluate our prayer experiences using only human parameters or measuring sticks. In fact, it is better not to evaluate our prayer at all, but rather to pay attention to the fidelity and generosity with which we spend or “waste” time “visiting” with God every day. The ultimate rule of thumb here is the rule of love that expresses itself and gives itself in freedom and generosity.

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Whenever you pray together as a family, the abiding values are:

First - in your praying together to God at the beginning and at the end;

Second - in your “interior converse” with God;

Third - in your sharing with each other, strengthening the family bonds;

Fourth - in your listening to each other, deepening intimacy between parents, children, and siblings;

Fifth - in your praying out loud for each other, increasing the sense of being loved and belonging;

Sixth - in the mutual trust you show to each other by the simple act of praying together; and

Seventh - in actually opening your heart, mind, soul, and body (sharing at times even any physical sensations you may have experienced during prayer) to each other.

God is always at work within us, in our couple as parents, and in our family, but through the incredible trust we show God and each other in praying as a family; we give God permission to accomplish wonderful things in us individually, in our many relationships in our family, and in our whole family together.

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Following the publication by Saint Pope John Paul II of his "Letter on the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in 2002, I first wrote notes in 2003 for the faithful, families, and all people of good will to help them pray to God with Our Blessed Mother Mary and contemplate the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary - so many "windows" into the life, ministry, mission, passion, death, and resurrection of her son, the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. I updated this every few years as a guide also for praying alone, as a couple, and as a family, and in October 2020 for these web pages.

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In the "New Covenant" made by our Creator God with humanity (Jeremiah 31:31-34) every person can know God from within - because the Holy Spirit is revealing our Creator to all who are willing to know the Lord and trust in Him. We can still help each other along the way; so may you be pleased to find here a variety of helps to the life of faith in God through Jesus Christ. G.S.

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© 2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC 

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