Praying with the Saints

Praying with the Saints

The Children’s Rosary in an orphanage in Bien Hoa City, Vietnam which met for the first time last Sunday, had a wonderful grace. On the day Mother Teresa was canonized they were able to meet before a first class relic of Mother Teresa.  

These children who were meeting for the first time knelt in prayer before their Blessed Mother. After their prayers each child had a turn venerating the relics.  The little boy pictured right seems taken with a picture of Mother Teresa. These little ones were not alive when she was working with the poorest of the poor. Yet on the day when her life was honored they were holding her relic.  It seemed perfect that little hands should be so close to Mother Teresa. Little hands that have not had it easy yet ones that now know the motion of praying a Rosary. These little children are innocent little souls just learning the ways of the world. To have such saints so close is indeed a great blessing.  Seeing these pictures last Sunday morning brought joy as we ourselves headed to the Church to hold a Children’s Rosary.  Maybe it was these images of the children praying with the saints that were still lingering but when my children and I were praying in the quiet time before the Children’s Rosary an idea came.  Maybe we too could invite the saints to pray with us. We became excited and thought, yes, I am sure they will come to pray with us if we invite them.  And so my son began inviting aloud a great many saints. He became very excited.  
He invited St. John Paul II, St. Faustina, St. Patrick, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. John the Baptist, St. Gabriel, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. Matthew. St. Peter Claver, St. Brigid, St. Peter, St. James, St. Paul, St. Kolbe, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Bosco, St. Therese the Little Flower, St. Augustine. Then my daughter jumped in to invite more: St. Constantine, St. Margaret Mary, St. John Vianney, St. Bernadette.  For my small part I invited some saints too: St. Raphael, St. Xavier, St. Thomas Moore, St. Thomas Becket, St. Anthony, St. Francis, St. Padre Pio, St. Pius X.  This list is not complete.  
We finished by inviting the angels to fill any open space.  While we were still finishing our invites a stream of musicians and singers who are part of our Church choir arrived.  With an unplanned move of Mass to the lower Church with summer heat still lingering it seemed that two things were planned for the same space: choir rehearsal and the Children’s Rosary.  As we had far less things it seemed to make the most sense for us to go upstairs and allow the musicians the space.  As we hurried to move everything upstairs we found another member of the Children’s Rosary coming into the Church.  In total there were four of us for the Children’s Rosary.  A small group and yet we were moving up to the large Church above that can seat hundreds of people. To hold our little Children’s Rosary group in such a large space one could feel a little silly. Yet we have always felt in our heart that numbers do not matter. Even if no children come we always ask the group leader to stay and pray the Rosary. With our small group of four we were still happy.  A thought came as the children quickly placed the statue of Our Lady before them as they were kneeling.  Maybe it was Divine Providence that we had been moved to the larger space. In the smaller lower Church maybe there was not enough space for all the Saints we had invited to pray with us.  Indeed maybe as we looked at the large church largely empty save for two adults and two children we were actually looking at full pews.  Such were the joyful thoughts as the children took turns leading the Rosary at the podium. Every once and a while I leaned over to ask one of them to speak a bit louder. I reminded them that their voices had to be heard in the back of the Church. Nothing more needed to be said they lifted their voices just a bit more in hopes everyone could hear.  

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How to Start a Children’s Rosary

Source: Children’s Rosary