When I was a little girl, my mom would remind me to “Blow a kiss to Jesus!” whenever we drove past a Catholic church. Today, I teach my own kids this small act of love.
This tiny devotion is one of countless acts that a child might experience growing up in a Catholic home. These things feel so familiar that we might not think of mentioning them to anyone. Yet each of these small acts help shape us into adults who love and follow Our Lord.
Because they have helped me, I thought it might be helpful to share some of these tiny (and super quick!) Catholic habits that parents can add to their family life.
Of course, our priority is taking our children to Mass and praying together as a family. It’s also wonderful to read the Bible and the lives of the saints to our kids. And in addition, these little acts of devotion help to keep God’s presence in our children’s minds and build a practice of lifelong faith.
1Stop and greet Jesus in the Tabernacle whenever you go in and out of a church
When my kids run into our church for classes or choir practice, I take them to genuflect before the tabernacle, saying, “Let’s go say hi to Jesus! Let’s blow a kiss to Jesus!” I learned this habit from my mom and I’ve found it a beautiful way to make young children aware of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
2Wave and blow a kiss to Jesus when you pass a church
When we walk or drive past a Catholic church, we greet Our Lord. You might add a Spiritual Communion on these occasions for older kids. Some people make the Sign of the Cross when they pass a church, a similar act of faith.
3Pray when you hear an ambulance siren
When we hear an ambulance or fire engine siren, we say a quick prayer for the person in need: “God, please help the person in that ambulance” or “God, please help the people whose house is on fire.”
4Pray for the dead when you pass a cemetery
When we drive past a cemetery, we might say, “God, please bless all those people who have died,” or pray the traditional Catholic prayer for the dead: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
5Pray a Morning Offering
We try to start our day by offering it to God. When my kids were younger, we said this prayer: “Oh my God, I give you this day, and all I think and do and say. I give you my best, and with Jesus, your Son, today I will choose to love everyone.”
Now that my kids are a little older, we say this version:
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer you all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world,
In thanksgiving for your favors, in reparation for my sins,
for the intentions of all my relatives and friends,
and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father.
6Pray before bed
Different families have different traditions. Some families make an Examination of Conscience before bed. My family thanks God for the day’s blessings and says the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer every night before bed.
Many parents bless their children with Holy Water or make the Sign of the Cross on their foreheads at bedtime. However we do it, we can give our children the habit of turning their thoughts to God before they fall asleep.
7Pray before meals
This habit helps us remember to thank God for his gifts. There are various ways to pray before meals; we usually say, “Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
8Model what it means to “offer it up”
I remember adults saying “Offer it up” to me when I was a child, and I didn’t quite understand what it meant. So I try to model what it means for my kids and explain it when I say it to them.
I might say something like, “It’s so cold out today! I’m going to offer up walking in the cold for our friend who is sick.”
Or when my kids complain about something that can’t be helped, I might say, “Why don’t you think of someone for whom you can offer it up? It’s amazing that we can turn things that happen to us into a sacrifice and prayer to help someone else. It’s almost like magic!”
9Pray together to calm nerves
When my kids are nervous or anxious about something, we pray about it. We might ask for their guardian angel’s help or ask for the intercession of favorite saints. Asking God for help always helps my kids feel calmer.
10Pray for your child’s future vocation
It’s a beautiful thing to pray for a child’s future spouse, but I don’t assume that my kids will be called to the vocation of marriage. Instead I pray for my children’s future vocations, whether that be a vocation to marriage, to religious life, or to another way of being a Christian witness in the world.
