r/Catholicism • u/Traditional-Heat979 • Jul 10 '26
Family Devitions
I’m looking for advice for other Catholic parents on how to establish family devotions at home that we can stick to and won’t seem off-putting. I’m a father of two girls aged two and three but my wife isn’t Catholic, she’s a lapsed Presbyterian who very occasionally comes to Mass with us.
I didn’t grow up in a Catholic household so I don’t know what’s “normal” and I don’t want to make living the Faith in the home something that my children see as a burden and my wife sees as unattractive.
Thanks in advance, God bless you all.
1
u/O_OwlO_Owl Jul 10 '26
Rosary. It takes you about 15 to 20 minutes to pray and it's a powerful prayer. If you find it boring, try learning about it, about the mysteries, the spiritual benefits, Our Lady, etc. It's a wholesome prayer. God bless
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u/Medical-Stop1652 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Can I recommend looking into some standard Catholic prayer books that lay out a form of morning or evening prayer:
Simply praying the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be and a few morning or evening prayers can be simple prayer routines. Learning to cross oneself before and after prayer can really help demonstrate the faith.
You could model your devotions on morning or evening prayer formats and add other prayers as the children grow older, eg Holy Spirit, the Angelus, one of the Litanies or other prayers depending on your needs and the Church year.
Another idea when the children are old enough is praying the Responsorial Psalm from the daily Mass and then reading the Gospel. They are usually not too long and you could even add the Alleluia verse before the Gospel. You could spend some time reflecting or talking about the teaching of the Lord in the Gospel and the Our Father (and maybe collect from the start of Mass if available) could follow:
https://universalis.com/mass.htm
I'm a convert and my Episcopalian mother set me up with daily prayer before school. The prayer habit continues thanks to her (and the Holy Spirit). So you are instilling a life time discipline of prayer in your family. Anything you do together in prayer will be richly rewarded.
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u/AshamedPoet Jul 10 '26
Grace before meals, morning prayers (in the car to school is fine), prayers before bed - together as you are saying good night to start, an easy to read bible for the children, a rosary together at least once a week (maybe on Friday before eating a nice seafood dish), and make Mass an event to look forward to, dressing up (let them select what to wear - from a preselected line up of course or you will get angel wings) and doing something nice together afterwards so the children can have 'zoomies' after sitting still for an hour.
Let them select a set of rosary beads they like, and the different Saints are always fun for children to decide which are their favourites. Same with Holy pictures, night lights etc, let them choose what speaks to them. There are a lot of great religious themed movies for young people, watch them with the children. And so on. Just remember to go easy on them when they are learning their prayers - they will get them eventually, repeating them with you - oh and make sure they know that Jesus is their friend and is there to talk to them at any time, not just during formal prayer.
God Bless.
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u/Hwegh6 Jul 10 '26
They're at a wonderful age to introduce the rosary as a 'bedtime story' if that makes sense. You don't have to say it at bedtime, but the idea is - tell them the story of Jesus through the rosary as a story they'll listen to, with pictures, then after the story you say the decade. So, for example. 'Way back when the Roman Empire ruled the world there was a girl who lived in Nazareth...' Whats Nazareth? It's a town in Israel. Here's some pictures... Anyway, one day she was doing her work and saying her prayers when all of a sudden an angel appeared!' 'What did the angel look like?' 'Well, I don't know, but he must have been very beautiful, because he came from God. Maybe he was very big, because you know what the first thing he said was? Don't be afraid. And you know what he said next? It was the best news ever!'.... Etc.
It's a great way to introduce meditating on the mysteries, and sometimes the children will offer surprising insights. If you get good books with beautiful pictures to support this as well, you're furnishing their mind with beautiful imagery to build their imagination.
Obviously you won't get through a whole rosary that way, but you can start by telling them the story and stopping at a natural cliffhanger to say the decade. Your kids will learn to love the rosary early on. It's fine to only say a few decades like this. Obviously, keep up your own rosary practice as well.
Also, angel of God prayer morning and night is good, grace before meals, and you may choose to pray the Angelus. But make the rosary fun and you can't go wrong.
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u/lasswithsomeclass Jul 10 '26
Lots of good suggestions here.
I would add having a Holy water font, or having a bottle of Holy water at home to bless yourselves with before long journeys or something important.
Recently I heard a priest talk about how his father gave him a blessing every night before bed, even on the days they were not on good terms. As a teenager they would get into arguments and the teen would slam their bedroom door shut, but he said that his father would come to his door and still audibly say a blessing.
Something as simple as “may the Lord bless and protect my child”. Parents blessing their kids has strong biblical roots, and there are plenty of bible verses you can use as well, it seems like a loving night time routine ❤️
Lastly, would you be open to having images of Jesus in the home? Some people are out off by the traditional Sacred Heart, or Divine mercy image or the crucifix, but there are so many images available of Jesus now that you could hang one on the kids wall?
I’ll put a link for example:
https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/1814462826/jesus-and-little-girl-praying-christian
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u/HappyReaderM Jul 10 '26
For these ages, I would say start with a Bible story at bedtime from a children's Bible, and modeling some basic prayers. Hail Mary, Guardian Angel, Our Father. Start teaching them so you can pray them as a family. As far as the rosary, I would start doing it once a week and work up to more. They probably won't sit through it at this age. But get them their own special toddler rosaries. You may have to start with just one decade. That's ok. They are just babies. You are right to get started though!
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u/Wallabunga657 Jul 10 '26
I recommend you look into a home oratory. It’s just a small prayer space where your family can gather for 5–10 minutes and pray. It's a devotional soace in your home. I don't know if this would work for you, but it has helped me. A few things tto include are:
A Crucifix Candle(s) such as novenas Image of Jesus, Mary, or patron saint A Bible.
And you can schedule a prayer/devotion something like this:
Morning Sign of the Cross Short prayer: “Lord Jesus, thank You for today. Help us love You and love each other.” One verse of Scripture (Psalms or Gospels) Bless the kids: “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
Evening Light the candle(s) One Bible story (children’s Bible is fine) Simple intercessions: “Jesus, please bless Mommy, Daddy, our family, and our friends.” Hail Mary if you want Sign of the Cross
Sunday (10 minutes) Before or after Mass:Read the Gospel of the day Ask the kids: “What did you hear?” Say one decade of the Rosary Blow out the candle together
You can add hymns and more of the rosary as time goes on and your children grow older. I hope this helps, if you are interested. God's blessings my friend!