The car is a great place to pray the Rosary

Every time Chris and Jennifer Sariego and their four children leave their home in Los Angeles and get into their car for a drive longer than 15 minutes, the family prays the Rosary together. “We call it the minivan Rosary,” Chris said. “If you have an active, on-the-go family, the car is a great place to pray the Rosary.”

It’s one of the ways their family is growing in holiness together as a domestic church, in the hallowed footsteps of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In their daily life together, families can grow in holiness by imitating the Holy Family.

Pray together. The Holy Family certainly prayed together. Their life was a living prayer as they grew together in faith and love. Father David Guffey, the national director of Family Theater Productions, encourages families to make the most of prayer, starting with saying grace at the table. “Take a moment and invite members of the family to offer prayers of intercession. Pray for someone or offer a prayer of gratitude for something they’re grateful for in their life,” Father Guffey said. “Family prayer sheds light on what’s in children’s minds and hearts, what and who they’re thinking and worrying about, and what they’re thinking about God,” he added.

Grace at every meal is a given for the Sariegos. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re in restaurants or not,” Chris said, explaining that they offer a public witness when they’re out to eat as they bless themselves and pray. Doing so aids them in teaching their “children that being a witness to the faith is important,” he said.

Bless one another. Couples should bless one another, and parents should bless their children, counsels Father Guffey. It is nice to imagine the Holy Family doing such family blessings themselves.

Joseph Pronechen

Adapted from: National Catholic Register