This year marks the one hundredth year anniversary of when our Blessed Mother Mary appeared to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco in Fatima, Portugal. Among the various messages our Lady of Fatima told these children, the one Lucia shared about the attack of the family seems more relevant today than ever. According to her:

“The final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan will be about Marriage and the Family.”

Over the last fifty years, the family has come under attack like never before. Divorce, adultery, co-habitation, teenage pregnancy, abortions, unnatural sexual relationships, and many other sins and vices plague our society at unprecedented rates. If there was ever a dire need for families to come together and pray for the protection of the family, now is the time to do so.

This need for family prayer reminds me when my parents gathered my siblings and I in the living room at night for evening prayers. It typically consisted of that day’s intentions, an Our Father, Hail Marys, and the Acts of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Contrition. In addition, we often prayed the family Rosary together.

Today, society’s devastating influences has drastically diminished the importance and practice of family prayer. Too many families often get so caught up in worldly affairs that their prayer life becomes minimal at best. This is especially the case among families with older adolescent and young adult children.

With two busy full-time college students, a high school senior and conflicting schedules; I find it nearly impossible to gather as a family to pray. Like many parents with similar situations, I often find myself resigned to the reality that family prayer will lessen and hope that each of my children keeps prayer as an important part of their lives. Each time I arrive at this resignation, however, I hear the words of Fr. Patrick Peyton, “a family that prays together stays together.”

These words became louder at the beginning of this past Advent season because I know that prayer and penance are the most important ways of preparing for Christmas. I wanted to pray the rosary as a family throughout Advent, but I knew that would be almost impossible. As a result, a feeling of pensive sadness began settling within me. To combat this, I developed an “at least” attitude. I told myself “at least we still go to Mass together, pray before meals when together, etc.” This did little to change how I felt though, but aside from prayer, it was the only thing I could do to stay positive.

Then, just like the candles that glow during the darkness of a Rorate Mass at dawn, my wife thought of something that changed my entire Advent experience. She came up with the idea of saying a daily family rosary by having each member of the family take turns praying a decade on their own time. Given the fact that it only takes a little more than three minutes to pray a decade in English or Latin, I knew we could easily find time to do it. After announcing her idea, our entire family began this rosary.

First, I created a group text that allowed us to stay connected to the progress of the Rosary. Then each morning, I would text that day’s mystery and begin the Rosary with the Apostle’s Creed, followed by the Our Father, and the three Hail Marys for the increase of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Each person would then take turns praying a decade on their own time. Upon finishing their decade, they would text the mystery they finished followed by the word “done.” If they had a special intention for that particular decade, they would include it in their text. Naturally, the timing differed because of everyone’s different schedules. After the completion of the fifth decade, I would finalize the Rosary with the final prayers that includes the Salve Regina, prayer to St. Michael, etc.

Thanks to my wife, our family is able to keep praying in unity, even though we aren’t always physically together. It really helps us keep prayer in our lives no matter how busy we become at work, school, or play. It even helped prepare us for the forty days of Christmastide by keeping the meaning of Advent alive. This was such a wonderful idea that I am now doing the same thing with my nephew, who is a U.S. Marine stationed overseas.

This is just one example of how families can find ways to keep praying as a family. I’m sure many have also found other ways to pray together as a family. If this sounds like you or someone you know, please share your ideas in the comments below. Remember, a family that prays together – STAYS TOGETHER.