Family Holy Hour
7 Simple Steps
Dear Fathers and Mothers, we invite you to work with your parish priest to ensure Eucharistic Adoration for you and your children. In times when the priest is unavailable to offer Jesus in His Eucharistic presence exposed in the Sacred Monstrance on the altar, we invite you and your children to gather in front of the Tabernacle within the church where Jesus is truly present hidden in the Tabernacle.
What is Eucharistic Adoration? Eucharistic Adoration is a time for praying, adoring, and loving the Risen Christ present under the appearance of bread in the Blessed Sacrament shown in a monstrance on the altar or present in the tabernacle. It is important to remember that Adoration always flows out of the celebration of the Eucharistic Liturgy, the Mass, and that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle for the sick, the dying, and for adoration.
step 1 … Begin Leading Your Children by Kneeling Down and Making the Sign of the Cross.
Begin with an introduction to your children: We come before our Merciful Lord to answer the call of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. To pray for the conversion of sinners, for the sanctity of life, for the salvation of souls, for peace in our families, and for peace in our world.
We come to unite our hearts to Mary in loving and adoring Jesus - in adoring His Mercy. And to fulfill Jesus’ desire from the cross to love and honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary His Most Holy Mother in His Eucharistic Presence. We begin by placing ourselves in the loving presence of Jesus, and by uniting our hearts to Mary, the Mother of God.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, we place ourselves more deeply into your loving presence. We thank you for your love and for the gift of Mary, your Holy Mother. Dear Mother, thank you for your love and for calling us to be your children. We invite you dear lady to be with us now, and to pray with us and for us. We give to you our hearts in hopes that you will guide us in loving in adoring your son, Jesus.
step 2 … Invite Your Children to Take Time to Speak to Jesus from Their Heart as a Friend by Sharing Their Most Intimate Thoughts, Their Hopes, Sorrows and Their Fears. You May have Them Begin in Silent Prayer.
step 3 … Give Your Children Time to Listen to Jesus Speaking to Them in the Quietness of Their Heart.
Invite them to begin by simply being still, loving adoring Jesus in silence.Invite your children to go to Mary and ask for her help with the graces they may need to be still, to listen to Jesus in their heart, and to recognize His voice from within. Invite your children to continue to seek Mary’s help in recognizing Jesus’s loving presence as they walk with Him in their daily life. Suggested time: 15 minutes.
step 4 … Entrustment To The Immaculate Heart of Mary
Invite your children to make their Marian Consecration to Jesus through Mary. We love and honor Mary and welcome her into our hearts as our spiritual Mother by making an act of total consecration. To entrust our hearts to Jesus, the Divine Mercy through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, under her title Our Lady of Mercy.
Prayer: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear Mary, my Heavenly Mother, I love you. Please lead my heart always to Jesus in the richness of His Divine Mercy. O’ Mary conceived without sin, help me to develop my interior life of trust in Jesus, so that I may live more in the presence of Jesus - so that I may live a life of holiness, offering love, mercy, healing, and hope to the world.
O’ Mary full of grace, take me under your special protection of your Immaculate Heart and guard the purity of my soul. Guide me in life and comfort me in times of suffering.
In times of temptation, in the struggle against evil, in the effort to do good, to do what is right, pray for me dear Mother. And in moments that I may fall from grace into sin, lead me safely to the mercy of your son, Jesus.
Mary, loving Mother of Jesus and my mother, I give you my heart and entrust my life to you and all that I have under your title, Our Lady of Mercy. Amen
step 5 … Pray the Holy Rosary
Invite your children to continue by uniting their hearts in prayer to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - to pray the Holy Rosary for the conversion of sinners, for the sanctity of life, for the salvation of souls, for peace in our families, and for peace in our world.
Speak to your children: HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE. THE LORD IS WITH THEE, these are beautiful words from heaven, children. When we pray the mysteries of the Holy Rosary, we give glory to God by loving and honoring Mary. We find the most beautiful praises and greatest honors that Mary felt in being made Mother of God. Suggested time: 20 minutes.
step 6 … Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Continue to Unite your Hearts to Jesus and Mary, offer Your Prayers for the Conversion of Sinners in Atonement for Our Sins and Those of the Whole World.
Suggested time: 10 minutes.
step 7 … You May End Your Prayer by Singing a Song or by Simply Being Still in Silence.
At the end of your visit with Jesus, kneel down and make the sign of the cross. Suggested time: 15 minutes.
May your hearts be filled with the love and peace of Jesus. May your hearts be filled with the hope and joy of Mary’s, Immaculate Heart.
About Marian Consecration
What is Marian Consecration? Marian Consecration is a gift to us from Jesus at the cross. When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple there whom He loved, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother” (John 19:26-27).
The apostle John represents all of us. On Good Friday, Christ made His mother, the Mother of the human race, and made us her spiritual children.
Jesus loves us, and calls us to share in His divine life. Mary then was given to us to help us enter into a more intimate, and holy relationship with her son Jesus.
Jesus invites us to accept Mary, His own Mother into our heart. To walk with Mary, to share our hopes, our joys, our sorrows, and our fears. Then to allow Mary to help us develop our interior life of trust in Jesus, so that we may have a greater trust in His love.
Marian Consecration then is to say yes to Jesus’s invitation at the foot of the cross, to accept Mary into our heart as our spiritual Mother. To receive Mary in our heart, to love her, and allow her to form our heart in her maternal and loving protection of her Immaculate Heart.
Dear Fathers and Mothers, we invite you now to establish Children of Our Lady of Mercy - Eucharistic Adorers in your parish. We invite you to gather in your parish with other families to have a Children’s Holy Hour with Our Lady of Mercy.