Dear Mom,

What a holy witness that you would be so concerned about the nature of teaching your little girl the formal prayers. Praise God.

You make several important and true points in your letter. Our dear and loving Jesus absolutely hears every prayer uttered. He hears those prayers that are conversations, lamentations, frustrations, and joys. He not only hears what we offer but He hears what we do not necessarily offer. The Lord works with the limitations of our human nature to do the miraculous and bring us to the glory prepared for us through His love.

The formal prayers of the Catholic faith are many things and meaningful in different ways to each person who takes the time to learn them. I remember learning as a child all the prayers that you mentioned. I remember thinking that Sr. Mary DePadua was just being strict when she asked us 2nd graders to recite our 'prayers' for her. She was loving and attentive as she called each of us to her desk to recite the prayers privately for her. She would ask us to whisper the prayer to her and remind us that though we were just learning the words it was still a prayer for the Lord's ears not hers. Then she added that every time we speak with the Lord we are praying but these prayers may be useful one day when we are unable to think of something to say. It made sense to me, a child. I remember the pride I felt when I was able to see that I received a star for every one of the prayers said successfully. I think that part of the exercise in memorization was just that: a discipline that would help further my education. Children are often asked to recite from memory facts, figures, and prose, etc. Why not let them memorize something holy as long as they are learning to memorize?

Now for the rest of the story. Of all the many prayers that I memorized as a child, there are only a few that remained in my memory banks. When my own children began memorizing prayers I had to start the process over. :)

Recently I went to confession with an elderly priest from our diocese. When he asked for my Act of Contrition, I naturally recited the prayer I had learned as a child. In fact this is the only Act of Contrition that I ever use. "Oh my God I am heartily sorry....." As I closed my eyes and prayed this simple rote prayer my spirit was suddenly overwhelmed with the beauty of my praying this childhood prayer knowing I was the Lord's precious child. The years of time, between the day Sister asked me to recite the prayer so she could give me a gold star and that moment in confession, seemed to disappear. I felt forgiven as though I were making my very first confession and was washed as clean as a small child. Though I go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a month, this particular time felt so special and I praised the dear Jesus for the gift.

Should you make your daughter memorize the prayers? Not at the expense of the beautiful meaning of the prayers. Should praying formal prayers take the place of conversations with the Lord? Never. Think of the formal prayers as 'something to say when you need words but can not find them.' My children and I are trying to memorize the Anima Christi. I have long felt that this prayer, prayed immediately after receiving our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, would be so powerful. The children agreed and so we are trying to memorize this prayer and a few others I have found.

The Sign of the Cross is our simple profession of faith. It is a powerful prayer in its simplicity alone. We acknowledge one of the great mysteries of the faith, the Holy Trinity, and we give ourselves up to the Lord in our crossing of our hearts and minds. I am sure that theologians (far more studied than me) could write volumes about this ancient prayer, however I like to think of it as a beginning to prayer. Jesus loves to hear His little ones praise Him. We can never be redundant when we come with a pure heart full of love for our Lord.

God love you for all you are striving to do. Your witness has been uplifting and reassuring to me this morning. Thank you.

Let us pray together a Hail Mary for the intentions of all homeschooling mothers. Amen.

Sending out a prayer,
Rita Munn