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

"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 7 – Glorious 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:

HOPE

As we pray the Glorious Mysteries together today, we embrace the same Hope Mary placed in Our Father. First Glorious Mystery: The Resurrection “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”John 20:2 Christ’s Resurrection was not just a marvelous event; it also drove despair out of the world. It was Christ’s way of promising that we too shall live forever. Second Glorious Mystery: The Ascension of Our Lord “The Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven … they went forth and preached everywhere.” Mark 16: 19-20 Jesus told his disciples that He must leave them so the Spirit could come. In times of trouble, remember we are not alone; the Spirit of God is with us. Come Holy Spirit, come. Third Glorious Mystery: The Descent of the Holy Spirit “And it happened that while they were conversing … Jesus drew near and walked with them.” Luke 24:15 Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon His disciples in the form of tongues of fire. The Apostles, convinced of their own hopelessness, learned from the Holy Spirit to hope in Christ. Let us always rely on the Spirit of God. Fourth Glorious Mystery: The Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven “Mary, preserved free from all stains of original sin, when the source of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory.” Pius XII Munificentissimus Deus (1950) From the moment of His conception in Mary’s womb, Jesus knew His Father. He would live a very down-to-earth life and would need the hope that only God can offer. May we, like Jesus, forever trust in the hope that only God can provide. Fifth Glorious Mystery: The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary “There, ‘in the glory of the Most High and Undivided Trinity,’ in the communion of all the saints, the Church is awaited by the one she venerates as Mother of her Lord and as her own mother.” At her Immaculate Conception, Mary’s soul was endowed with an intense degree of hope. Her hope, like all her virtues, centered around her trust in God. Mary was hopeful, even as Jesus died on the cross because she saw God’s will in everything. Hopefulness is a virtue God expects of us.

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)