Lighting Up the World: The Children’s Rosary

Seton Home Study School seeks to educate children but also encourages children to grow in holiness.

One of the ways children can grow in their relationship with Our Lord is through prayer. Pope St John Paul II shared how the Rosary, in particular, can sanctify souls in Rosarium Virginis Mariae.

He quoted Blessed Bartolo Longo:

“Just as two friends, frequently in each other’s company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them.”

There are also special graces that come when children come together to pray within a prayer group.

“Where two or three are gathered in My Name, there am I in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20)

Adults for centuries have found support in their prayer lives by praying together in prayer groups.

There is the familiar sight of several adults staying after Mass to pray the Rosary. But what about children? Does such a thing as a prayer group exist for kids?

Absolutely, and a Seton Mom is the founder of the international prayer group movement, “Children’s Rosary.” This summer, Blythe Kaufman, her husband, and three children traveled to East Africa.

They spent the month of June visiting Children’s Rosary prayer groups in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The solitary prayer group that began in Connecticut in 2011, has now reached more than 30 countries on six continents.

Visiting Children in Africa

Blythe shares some of what she witnessed visiting children who are part of the Children’s Rosary in Africa:

“The testimonials we frequently heard from priests, parents, and children were so powerful. One pastor in Africa shared how many families in his parish were broken and after the Children’s Rosary began, they started to come together.

One 13-year-old boy shared: ‘I was undisciplined and now I am a disciplined boy.’ Indeed, this was a theme we heard. The children who participated in the Children’s Rosary developed self-discipline. They thought about their actions and made better choices. Another recurring observation was that the children were comfortable leading prayer. They were developing leadership skills and even felt comfortable leading prayer at home since they had experience leading prayer in their prayer groups. We also heard testimonials from parents and kids about how their prayers were answered. The kids took all that worried them to Our Lord and their Heavenly Mother and they found solace and assistance in their needs.”

We would like to share with Seton families an exciting way to participate in this international prayer group movement.

Start a Children’s Rosary in Your Parish

First, consider starting a Children’s Rosary in your parish.

Homeschooling families have more flexibility in choosing meeting times. They could hold meetings during the week before a Mass or in conjunction with social time with other children.

Permission from your pastor is needed to begin a group. Each new group should register on the website www.childrensrosary.org. Seton Educational Media carries the Children’s Rosary, a book that explains how to begin a group and which can be used by the children in the prayer group.

Consider Making Rosaries

Second, consider making rosaries and sending them to the Children’s Rosary to help children around the world begin Children’s Rosary prayer groups. So far this year, the Children’s Rosary has sent out 31,351 rosaries.

Almost all of these were handmade.

Consider also sponsoring the postage for a box to be sent to children in another country. The Rosary is changing lives.

Join a Prayer Group.

Third, join in prayer from your home. The Children’s Rosary has a “View from Heaven” map on their website: www.childrensrosary.org.

When a Children’s Rosary prayer group is meeting, a blue twinkling light flashes on the map. Individuals and families also can click the button “Join in Prayer” to add their gold light for 30 minutes.

In this way, kids around the world can see each other’s lights and feel connected in prayer.