A ‘house rule’

A former neighbor of mine was widowed with 10 children when eight of them were still at home. You can imagine it was difficult for her to find time to pray. Life was a constant bustle of their needs and activities. Left to raise so many children on her own was hard and often lonely.

But this was a woman of strong faith and a strong constitution (she lived on her own to be 99!). She knew the Lord would help her, and she knew she needed time to pray – every day and throughout the day. So, she created a “house rule.” When Mom threw her apron over her head, she was not to be disturbed. This was a moment when she had taken herself “up the mountain” to ask Jesus for help.

With surprising dedication, her children joined in protecting her prayer time, reminding one another when they might be tempted to disturb her, “Mom’s under the apron! Leave her alone. She’s talking to Jesus.”

Although we can pray anywhere and at any time – in the line at the grocery store, doing chores, driving to work – we need special places designated for prayer. Jesus himself often “went up the mountain to pray” (Lk 9:28) or “was praying in a certain place.” (Lk 11:1) If the Lord recognized this need to withdraw himself to a quiet place to seek the face of his Father, how much more do we need to create spaces reserved for prayer?

The Prayer Corner Project

Creating a place to pray in your home is an excellent family activity and provides a natural way to discuss prayer – what it is, why we need it and how we pray.

Look for a corner of your home that you can designate as “prayer space.” Perhaps include a small altar, candles, a Bible, a comfy chair, a rosary, holy cards and holy water . Perhaps you can dedicate the space to Jesus, to your family’s patron saint, St. Michael or the Blessed Mother. Do you or your children like to pray with art or icons? Maybe your prayer corner has a book on sacred art to be used for this purpose. Allow everyone in the family to provide input on what would make this corner a great place to pray.

Creating a place for prayer that everyone in the family recognizes and honors and has permission to use exclusively for this purpose can alter the entire character of one’s home.

Celebrate the creation of your prayer space on its anniversary by talking as a family about some of the prayers that have been answered in the previous week, month or year. Then, give thanks to God.