When I first heard somebody utter the phrase, "The family that prays together, stays together," I thought it was another hokey motivational quote. I could only relate it to my family history; and my family wasn't one to pray together very often. We sometimes said the Lord's Prayer together, or grace at meals, or even rosaries at funerals, and we always prayed at mass. As a cradle Catholic, the idea of praying together, made sense, but I didn't have anything to connect it to. There wasn't a long familial history that I could refer to to make sense of the quote. Instead, the best that I could say, is "the family that knows how to pray, stays relatively close."
Imagine my surprise, when as a revert to the faith, I discovered that there were families that actually prayed together. There were whole communities of Catholics that spent time praying together on a regular basis. There were Catholics with a rich, beautiful, fulfilling prayer life, and they prayed together...as a family.
The first time that I encountered such families, I was with a friend and his family. It was a solemn day and we spent time as a group praying the rosary together. It was probably the most powerful moment of my life. For, never before had I been a part of a prayer that lasted longer than a minute or two, outside of a rosary at a funeral. I felt a connection that I hadn't known existed. I felt at once, a connection to all Catholics worldwide, a connection to those who had prayed the rosary through the centuries, and a connection to all of the people in the room. It was a feeling that I had never had before and one that I hope to emulate with other Christians in the future, especially my children.
It was at that rosary that I determined to pray with my family. I would show my children how to pray together often so that they could develop an active, healthy prayer life. Unfortunately, I cannot say that I have prayed even one full rosary with my family since then. It is still something that I long to do. Instead, we have implemented a nightly schedule that includes the usual daily prayers. We do the "Lord's Prayer," a "Hail Mary," a "Glory Be," an "Oh My Jesus," and a prayer to our Guardian Angels. We pray at every meal, mostly by saying Grace, but every so often, we will improvise that one. While I am happy with the progress that we have made in our family, by no means, do I think we are where we need to be. But considering that a few years ago, not one of my children knew even one prayer, I am so happy that they both know multiple prayers and can recite them at will.
I look forward to that first rosary together as a family. I know it will bring much peace to our family to engage it that activity. And I hope to do it often. It is a shame that all families do not engage in prayer. It has been one blessing to us that allows us to reflect on our days according to God's will. It is an activity that helps me put my day in perspective. The more that we do, the more I know that will be true. If you don't engage in prayer, I ask that you try it out for a month. Give prayer a chance as a family and see what impact it has. I hope that it has as much of a positive impact for you as it did for us.