Praying with Holy Cards

Lisa Hendey reflects on the beautiful devotions of praying with holy cards and offers strategies for incorporating this practice into our prayer life.

For years, I've been a collector of holy cards -- those special sacramentals which depict the lives of the saints or religious scenes and which aid us in recalling special moments in the life of the Church and in our own lives. I recently received a wonderful email from Judi Teters, who shared her family's devotion to praying with Holy Cards.

The Teters family suggests the following ideas for praying with the aid of holy cards:

Of course the most important is pray with them.
Use the holy cards that portray the mysteries of the rosary as tools to meditate on while reciting the rosary.
As an art project either using three as a trifold holy card or just one, paste them on background paper/cardstock and embellish them with a border using a gold gel pen or other art supplies.
Have a basket available in Adoration where one can place their extra holy card. Judi shares:"This was partly responsible for starting a St. Monica's Mass at our parish. While living in California for a short time, I found one St. Monica Holy Card with several prayers on it. I was inspired to do some research and found a St. Monica's Mass that has been in Chicago for many years. After moving back to Oregon, I asked our priest if we could do the same. He agreed. The first Saturday of each month, there's a basket in the vestibule before Mass for parishoners to place names of their loved ones who have left the Faith. This basket is brought up at collection and prayed for. After Mass the names are brought to the Adoration Chapel and placed in a box for prayer from Adorers."
Another very beautiful practice discovered by the Teters family in their travels: a construction company that collects broken rosaries, medals, other blessed sacramentals and upon the customer's request when building a home, this company places these items into the foundation.

A special thank you to Judi Teters for sharing her family's devotion to praying with holy cards. She has also kindly shared the following prayer:

O My God this day in my prayers I would remember

My mother and my father

My spouse

My children, grandchildren and godchildren

My brothers, sisters and all my relatives

Friends and benefactors

Those who I've met on my life's journey

Those who love me and those who hate me

The dying and those to die today

The poor souls in purgatory

The Holy Father and his intentions

Mother Church and all her children

All bishops, priests, brothers, sisters and deacons

My country, its' president and all its' citizens

Those who died in military service for it

Those who lost loved ones in the struggle

Those that are in our military now

The world and all its' people

All nations and all races

The sick, the poor,, the rich

The right to life of the born and unborn

The neglected, the persecuted and the enslaved

The tempted, the doubting, the despairing

Those in danger and distress

Those who asked me to pray for them

Those who I should be praying for

Men of goodwill that they may come to the fullness of faith

Men of evil ways that they may be converted

The triumph of God's Infinite Mercy in my life and in all lives

THROUGH THE MERITS OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS AND THE INTERCESSION OF HIS MOST HOLY MOTHER. AMEN