Catholic prayers for children

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Teaching your children how to pray can be a daunting task. The best place to start is with common prayers for children that can be easily memorized. Children who are making their First Communion should have memorized most of the following prayers, while the Grace Before Meals and the Guardian Angel Prayer are prayers that even very young children can learn by repeating them daily.

1. The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross is the most basic Catholic prayer, though we don't often think of it that way. We should teach our children to say it with reverence before and after their other prayers.

The most common problem that children have in learning the Sign of the Cross is using their left hand instead of their right; the second most common is touching their right shoulder before the left. While the latter is the correct way for Eastern Christians, both Catholic and Orthodox, to make the Sign of the Cross, Latin Rite Catholics make the Sign of the Cross by touching their left shoulder first.

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2. The Our Father
We should pray the Our Father daily with our children. It's a good prayer to use as a short morning or evening prayer. Pay close attention to how your children pronounce the words; there are a lot of opportunities for misunderstandings and mispronunciations, such as "Howard be thy name."

3. The Hail Mary
Children naturally gravitate to the Virgin Mary, and learning the Hail Mary early makes it easier to foster devotion to Saint Mary and to introduce longer Marian prayers, such as the Rosary. One useful technique for teaching the Hail Mary is for you to recite the first part of the prayer (through "the fruit of thy womb, Jesus") and then have your children respond with the second part ("Holy Mary").

4. The Glory Be
The Glory Be is a very simple prayer that any child who can make the Sign of the Cross can easily memorize. If your child has trouble remembering which hand to use when making the Sign of the Cross (or which shoulder to touch first), you can get some extra practice in by making the Sign of the Cross while reciting the Glory Be, as Eastern Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox do.

5. An Act of Faith
Acts of Faith, Hope, and Charity are common morning prayers. If you help your children memorize these three prayers, they will always have a short form of morning prayer at their disposal for those days when they don't have time to pray a longer form of morning prayer.

6. An Act of Hope
An Act of Hope is a very good prayer for school-aged children. Encourage your children to memorize it so that they can pray the Act of Hope before taking a test. While there is no substitute for study, it is good for students to realize that they don't have to rely on their own strength alone.

7. An Act of Charity
Childhood is a time filled with deep emotions, and children often suffer real and perceived slights and injuries at the hands of friends and classmates. While the primary purpose of an Act of Charity is to express our love for God, this prayer is also a daily reminder to our children to try to develop forgiveness and love toward others.

8. The Act of Contrition
The Act of Contrition is an essential prayer for the Sacrament of Confession, but we should also encourage our children to say it every evening before they go to sleep. Children who have made their First Confession should also make a quick examination of conscience before saying the Act of Contrition.

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9. Grace Before Meals
Instilling a sense of gratitude in our children can be especially hard in a world where many of us have an overabundance of goods. Grace Before Meals is a good way to remind them (and ourselves!) that everything we have comes ultimately from God. (Consider adding the Grace After Meals to your routine as well, to cultivate a sense of thanksgiving as well as to keep those who have died in our prayers.)

10. The Guardian Angel Prayer
As with devotion to the Virgin Mary, children seem predisposed toward belief in their guardian angel. Cultivating that belief when they are young will help to protect them from skepticism later on. As children grow older, encourage them to supplement the Guardian Angel Prayer with more personal prayers to their guardian angel.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

The Sign of the Cross

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

The Glory Be

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

An Act of Faith

"O my God, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in three Divine Person, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; I believe that Thy Divine Son became man, and died for our sins, and that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, who canst neither deceive nor be deceived. Amen."

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

An Act of Hope

"O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen."

An Act of Charity

"O my God, I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen."

The Act of Contrition

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven, and the pains of Hell; but most of all because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen."

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

every good thing we have comes from God, and that is why we offer Grace Before Meals, to acknowledge our dependence on Him and to ask Him to bless us and our food.

We should also offer thanksgiving for the food that we have received by praying the Grace After Meals.

Grace Before Meals

"Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Each one of us has a guardian angel who protects us from harm, both physical and spiritual. In this prayer, traditionally one of the first that young children learn, we ask our guardian angel to watch over us.

The Guardian Angel Prayer

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love entrusts me here, ever this day [night] be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Child of The Light
Blessed is the Child of Light
Who doth seek his heavenly Father
For he shall have eternal life.
He that dwelleth in the secret place
Of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow
of the Almighty.
For he shall give his Angels charge over thee
To keep thee in all thy ways.
Know ye that the Lord hath been
Our dwelling place
In all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever he had formed
The earth and the world
Even from everlasting to everlasting,
Hath there been love
Between the Heavenly Father
And his children.
And how shall this love be severed?
From the beginning
Until the ending of time
Doth the holy flame of love
Encircle the heads
Of the Heavenly Father
And the Children of Light:
How then shall this love be extinguished?
For not as a candle doth it burn,
Nor yet as a fire raging in the forest.
Lo, it burneth with the flame
Of Eternal Light,
And that flame cannot be consumed.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Children's Prayer For Parents
Dear Lord! Fill our parents with Thy choicest blessings;
enrich their souls with Thy holy grace;
grant that they may faithfully
and constantly guard that likeness to Thy union with Thy Church,
which Thou didst imprint upon them on their wedding day.
Fill them with Thy spirit of holy fear,
which is the beginning of wisdom;
inspire them to impart it to their children.
May they ever walk in the way of Thy commandments,
and may we their children be their joy on earth
and their crown of glory in heaven.
Finally, Lord God, grant that both our father and mother
may attain to extreme old age
and enjoy continuous health in mind and body.
May they give Thee abundant thanks
because Thou bast bestowed upon them the great gift of parenthood.

Amen.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

A Child's Morning Prayer
Lord, I awake and see your light,
For You have kept me through the night,
To You I lift my hands and pray,
Keep me from sin throughout this day,
And if I die before it's done,
Save me through Jesus Christ, Your Son.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

A Child's Prayer
O Almighty God,
who hast given unto me my father and mother,
and made them to be an image of Thine authority,
and love, and tender watchfulness;
and hast commanded me to love, and honour,
and obey them in all things:
give me grace cheerfully and with my whole heart
to keep this Thy law.
Help me to love them fervently,
to honour them truly,
to yield a ready obedience to their commands,
to comply with their wishes,
to study their happiness in everything,
and to bear their rebukes with patience and humility.
Deliver me O God, from pride,
rebellion and wilfulness,
from passion and stubbornness,
from sloth and carelessness.
Make me diligent in all my duties and studies,
and patient in all my trials;
that so living, I may deserve to be Thy child,
who art our Father in Heaven.

Amen.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Family Blessing of the Children
May God bless you + (Name), And keep you in love.
The child answers: Amen.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Prayer to Live as a Child of God
Father in Heaven,
when the Spirit came down upon Jesus
at His Baptism in the Jordan,
You revealed Him as Your own Beloved Son.
Keep me, Your child,
born of water and the Spirit,
faithful to my calling.
May I, who share in Your Life
as Your child through Baptism,
follow in Christ's path of service to people.
Let me become one in His Sacrifice
and hear His Word with faith.
May I live as Your child,
following the example of Jesus.

Admin Nombre de messages : 25233 Date d'inscription : 17/05/2007

Look Upon a Little Child
Lord, look upon a little child,
By nature sinful, weak and wild;
O lay Thy gracious hands on me,
And make me all I ought to be.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child;
Pity my simplicity
Suffer me to come to Thee.
O supply my every want
Feed this young and tender plant
Day and night my keeper be,
And every moment watch round me. Amen!

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