Dear Families,
With October being the month of the Rosary, I would like to issue a challenge for all of our St. Joseph parish families… Could we pray at least 500 Rosaries in a month? With almost 200 children in K-8th grade in our whole parish, if each student prayed at least 3 Rosaries in the whole month, we would more than cover the goal!
The Rosary is a beautiful and powerful prayer. St. John Paul the II said “ The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth.” Venerable Fulton Sheen explained that “The power of the rosary is beyond description.” While Saint Padre Pio would actually call it his “Weapon against evil”! Imagine the good that could come from all of us saying these amazing and life changing prayers!
This is a challenge that we invite all families to accept, I have faith that we can reach our goal and then some! Do not be intimidated by the length or trying to get all of your kids to sit still. Break it up throughout the day! You could pray the beginning prayers and first decade while driving them to school, another decade on your way to sports practice, one before bed, sprinkle it in through the day and work up to saying it in one sitting. Or perhaps you join with another family or two and all pray it together at someone’s home. You can also find recordings of the prayers for your family to pray along to and for the little ones there are printable coloring pages for them to color the beads of the Rosary while they recite the prayers together.
On the back of this letter are the prayers and instruction on how to pray the Rosary and at the bottom of this are boxes for you to fill out and return as you have completed a Rosary. Simply fill it out and return to SJS or CCD. On the back of these are blank Rosaries, you can fill in the beads to help you keep track of where you have stopped and how many prayers are left. I hope that your family will accept this challenge and join us!
God Bless,
Anna McMahan, D.R.E.