My goal is to start your family praying by October.   The purpose is to bring families together in prayer to achieve the ultimate goal in Consecrating our families to our Blessed Mother.  We need to find unity in our families again.  We've established a night/s that our Blessed Mother has directed us to begin. "The Virgin Mary is asking and calling to all of us to keep Thursdays and Fridays as days of special graces, to regard them as days of atonement of her Divine Son. The way to achieve this is with the holy hour of the family."  One of the best ways to receive help is from our Patrons, the Blessed Mother, Saint Joseph and Jesus, who we know as the HOLY FAMILY.  Thursday and Fridays were chosen by Her to honor Holy Thursday and Good Friday.

Here are some steps to help lead you in prayer and preparation: 

1.  Begin to pray and ask our Blessed Mother for this grace to start the Family Unity Nite, which we will refer to as the "FUN" nite.  In her guidance she says " During this hour of reconciliation, you should say various prayers (the rosary, for example) and sing hymns."  The rosary is one of the most important prayers because She says it "blinds the eyes of Satan."

2.  Begin informing your family that you would like to start this family unity time, which you can decide as a family on what day would be best for you, Thursday or Friday.  Tell them it will only be once a week, and no longer than an hour depending on your family.  Be persistant.  Don't get discouraged and keep trying if there are obstacles.  Find a time and place that works for your family and stick to it. 

3.   As you establish this prayer nite, avoid frustrations by bringing guidelines into your home. Examples of these could be turning off cell phones, no head phones, turn off the television or even disconnecting the landline phone etc.  Maybe it can be also a family meal together.  No matter how old your children are, they'll always want to eat and this is a great time to be together.  Also, be prudent.  Don't overwhelm your family.  Start slowly, especially this month because it is the Holy Rosary month.

4.  Once you have started this time together, Here is a guideline to use:

a)   Begin with the Our Father

1.)       Read mercy messages ( have one already picked out)

2.)       Thank God

·         Begin by asking each person what they are thankful for. 

·         Now you can give an opportunity to ask each person for a petition.

 3.)  Say a Rosary ( make sure everyone has a rosary. Have one on hand for those who do not have one.)

                      4.) Read bible verses (Sunday readings)

             b)  End prayer with the Glory Be

We would also like to remind you of the specific feast days of the Saints and especially our Blessed Mother.  When you are ready to have your family consecrated, the feast days of this consecration will be December 8, the Immaculate Conception, and December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This is what Mary wants us to recite in the "Hail Mary "; the words of the Blessed Virgin's "Ave Maria."

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.  Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.  Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners.  Send forth the grace of your flame of love to all mankind, now and in the hour of our death.  Amen."