Nine Days of Prayer for Family Unity with Venerable Patrick Peyton: Day One

"Nine days of prayer for family unity with Venerable Patrick Peyton" (CatholicMom.com)

Image courtesy of Holy Cross Family Ministries. All rights reserved. Used with permission.[/caption] How to begin Take a moment to gather your family. It’s helpful to find a quiet space, turn off all digital devices, light a candle and perhaps have a statue or image of Our Lady or the Holy Family. Discuss as a family what intentions you will pray for today. Is a family member ill, out of work, struggling with their studies? Were you blessed in some way today that you would like to offer a petition of thanksgiving? There are no right or wrong petitions. Anything from the hearts of any family member are important to offer. If every family member has a Rosary, take them out. FamilyRosary.org offers an infographic on how to pray the Rosary that you can share with your children as they learn this form of prayer.

DAILY OPENING PRAYER

Begin by praying together each day the following prayer: O Jesus, on the Cross you gave us Mary as our Mother. Her faithful servant, Father Patrick Peyton C.S.C., the Family Rosary priest, was inspired by the Holy Spirit to proclaim an important message about the power of family prayer. He believed and preached that The Family That Prays Together Stays Together. Through Mary and his intercession, we ask for this favor for our family _____________________________________. Let our praying of the Rosary be a way for us to become more united as a family. Amen.

JANUARY 1: JOYFUL MYSTERIES

Pray the Rosary. Read one mystery and reflection at each Our Father and spend a few quiet moments reflecting on it. You may want to have different family members read the reflections and lead the prayers: SPIRITUALITY As we pray the Joyful Mysteries together today, we learn from Christ’s childhood and rejoice in all the good He brings us each day. "Rejoice. I say it again: rejoice.” First Joyful Mystery: The Annunciation "Mary, do not be afraid; you have found favor with God." Luke 1:30 God calls and not all answer, but Mary did. What about us? Are we aware and open to the many ways that God is reaching out to us, to our family and inviting us to share in his life? Second Joyful Mystery: The Visitation “Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste … to the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” Luke 1:39 Scripture describes the visit that Mary made to the house of her cousin Elizabeth and the joy that this brought to Elizabeth. Do we appreciate the value that we bring when we make time to spend with family? Like Mary, we carry Christ with us wherever we go. Third Joyful Mystery: The Birth of Our Lord You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12 Christ’s human birth invites us to reflect on the birth of individual family members, the early joys and struggles common to both; and the gift that parents make in bringing children into the family. Fourth Joyful Mystery: The Presentation in the Temple “Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon … he took him in his arms and blessed him.”Luke 2:25-28 We know what Scripture says about the experience of Mary when she brought Jesus to the temple and the words of Simeon, that a sword would pierce her heart. How do parents relate to this mystery today? Fifth Joyful Mystery: The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple “After three days they found him in the Temple” Luke 2:46 This mystery seems to point out a momentary lapse in the life of Joseph and Mary, in the life of their son and his whereabouts for three days. How do family members sometimes lose track of one another?

CLOSING

We end this novena with Venerable Patrick Peyton’s prayer for beatification: Prayer For the Beatification of Venerable Patrick Peyton Dear Jesus, Father Peyton devoted his priestly life to strengthening the families of the world by calling them to pray together every day, especially the Rosary. His message is as important for us now as it was during his life on earth. We beg you, therefore, to hasten the day of his beatification so that your faithful people everywhere will remember his message that The Family That Prays Together Stays Together, will imitate him in his devotion to your Mother and ours, and will be inspired by his holy life to draw ever closer to you with childlike confidence and love. Amen. Here at CatholicMom.com, we will offer the full text of the daily novena prayers at 6 AM Eastern through January 9. You may also download the novena ebook from FamilyRosary.org. All in honor of Venerable Patrick Peyton, we thank you for joining us in this Novena of Thanksgiving. As we express our profound gratitude to Our Lord for this tremendous gift, we also give thanks for all your prayers for Father Peyton’s Cause. Please continue to pray for Father Peyton’s Cause so that one day he will become “Blessed,” then a “Saint.” After all, the world needs “A Saint for Family Prayer.” We encourage you to continue praying with your family every day, wherever you are. For additional online resources for family prayer including a Prayer Petition Page and our World at Prayer Blog, please visit FamilyRosary.org. All our resources represent a sample of Father Peyton’s passion for family unity through prayer. We hope our services will enhance your family’s prayer life particularly remembering Father Peyton’s famous words: “The Family That Prays Together Stays Together” and “A World at Prayer is a World at Peace.” "Nine days of prayer for family unity with Venerable Patrick Peyton" (CatholicMom.com)