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

"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 2 – Sorrowful 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: MODEL TO FOLLOW As we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary today, let us remember the enduring love of Jesus in our lives. His patience, compassion, care, concern, and gratuitous love is always a model for us. First Sorrowful Mystery: The Agony in the Garden “Christ Jesus displayed all this patience as an example for those who would come to believe.” I Timothy 1:16 Christ Jesus displayed great patience as an example for his followers. When our impatience creates agony in the home and workplace, ask the Lord to help turn impatience into patience, patience into healing words, healing words into action so that our family and workplace become a garden of peace. Second Sorrowful Mystery: The Scourging at the Pillar “Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him scourged.” John 19:1 Compassionate Jesus loved the world enough to die for it. Seek forgiveness for the times we have been like Pilate, loving the world and its materialism more than loving Jesus. Turn to Mother Mary to bear with patience the rejection that we experience from others and love them as they are. May our family, O Lord, to be messengers of faith and witnesses to Jesus’ love. Third Sorrowful Mystery: The Crowning with Thorns “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has glorified his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence.” Acts 3:13 Jesus always did the will of His Father and he knew what was right and good. When we are crowned with the thorns of everyday life, Jesus, grant us the grace to see your will in them. Give our family serenity amid turmoil, peace amid travail, and a willingness to forgive amid torment. Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: The Carrying of the Cross “Whether Jews or Greeks … we were all driven to drink of one Spirit.” I Corinthians 12:13 Jesus chose to be born as a Jew of a Jewish maiden Mary and reached out to us. Like Christ, we are called to reach out to people of other creeds, nationalities, and races and treat them as children of God. When we see others bearing their crosses, reach out to them with a kind word, a helping hand, and unending concern. Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion “Into your hands, I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46 Jesus’ incredible commitment to the Father is a great lesson. He gave gratuitously and keeps giving of himself completely for others, even today. Sustain us in trouble, Lord; comfort us in pain; console us in sorrow; and help our family to imitate you with patience in our commitments.

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)