Praying Over Your Children

Sister Margaret Kerry, FSP, offers a Scripture-based idea for way to pray over, and bless, your children.

After the family Rosary, all six of us kids would ask Dad for a blessing. At the bottom of the stairway, we stood waiting as one by one dad made the Sign of the Cross on our foreheads. He would ask God to bless us by name. Mom would follow with “God be with you, sweetheart.” Then we were off to bed, content that we were so loved. Praying over your children can be a simple and profound act to open or close the day (or both!).

In a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the Ecclesia domestica. It is in the bosom of the family that parents are "by word and example ... the first heralds of the faith with regard to their children." It is here that the father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way … so that the home is the first school of Christian life.” (excerpted from Catechism of the Catholic Church 1656-1657).

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One of St Paul’s blessing prayers can be a model for praying over your children:

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1: 1-8, NIV)

I thank my God every time I remember you.

Begin with thanksgiving. Lay your hands on your child and say their name. “______, our beloved daughter/son, we thank God for you.”

I always pray from the first day until now.

Tell your child of their worth. “We have loved you from the very first day, we love you now and we will love you forever. God created you out of love and will always love you.”

I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel.

Affirm who this child is in your family. “(Child’s name) _________, you have special gifts. (Name some of these gifts).

Confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.

Pray about God’s plan for your child’s life. Through Baptism you joined God’s kingdom as a beloved child of God. God calls you to be holy. Jesus died on the cross for us, to give us his holiness. The Holy Spirit gives you the strength to be holy. (For an older child you may mention the sacraments they received as sources of grace.)

Until the day of Christ Jesus.

(Child’s name) ______________, God is always with you. I bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (make the sign of the cross on the child’s forehead.) Amen.

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Praying over your children can be a simple and profound act to open or close the day (or both!). #CatholicMom

Our faith may be expressed through even the simplest rituals and may be lived in all circumstances and places. Let your children know that they have received a great gift, a light to shine on everyone they meet. (see Matthew 5:14).

What prayer practices do you already employ in your home?

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