originally WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006
The Power of a Child's Prayer
October 6th is the Annual Worldwide Children's Day of Prayer. Fr. Antoine of the Community of the Brothers of St. John invites the children of the world to unite with him in prayer before all the tabernacles of the world on Friday, October 6th, 2006, in honor of "Our Lady of the Rosary." This Eucharistic and Marian Holy Hour is to be specifically offered for world peace and for all families.
We all know that children hold an especially close place to Jesus' Heart. Because of this, popes in the past have entrusted the most dire of intentions to the prayers of children. Pope Benedict XV called out to children to pray for an end to World War I. In 1916 he said, “And who ever hugs Jesus Christ, if not a child? And who, if not they, could choose a life that would not impede one from getting close to him? And who is it we are to resemble in order to enter into Heaven? ...Stretch out your hand, O beloved and omnipotent children, to the Vicar of Christ, and give the consolation of the incomparable victory of your precious prayers. Do your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all the adults of your family respond to your humble demands? Yes, they do what you ask; because it is irresistible, and for God, the way that you speak to him and ask, is also irresistible... You know what it is We want. We want that the human society stop the hate and the massacres, and, after being of the wickedness of Cain, to convert, to be like Abel in the activities of peace, good works and forgiveness.”
Shortly after this Our Lady appeared to three young children in Fatima, asking them for prayers and sacrifices to help bring peace to the world and to save souls. Pope John Paul II reminded all the children of the world of this important task at the Beatification ceremony of Francisco and Jacinta. He said, “Dear boys and girls, Our Lady needs you to be like the little shepherds of Fatima. She needs you to console Jesus, Who is sad because of the bad things done to Him. He needs your prayers and your sacrifices to help change the world.”
Later in a Christmas Letter to Children, Pope John Paul II once again entrusted the intention of prayer for peace to children saying:
"What enormous power the prayer of children has! This becomes a model for grown-ups themselves: praying with simple and complete trust means praying as children pray.
And here I come to an important point in this letter: at the end of this Year of the Family, dear young friends, it is to your prayers that I want to entrust the problems of your own families and of all the families in the world.And not only this: I also have other intentions to ask you to pray for. The Pope counts very much on your prayers. We must pray together and pray hard, that humanity, made up of billions of human beings, may become more and more the family of God and able to live in peace.At the beginning of this letter I mentioned the unspeakable suffering which many children have experienced in this century, and which many of them are continuing to endure at this very moment. It was while I was thinking about these facts, which fill our hearts with pain, that I decided to ask you, dear boys and girls, to take upon yourselves the duty of praying for peace. You know this well: love and harmony build peace, hatred and violence destroy it.
You instinctively turn away from hatred and are attracted by love: for this reason the Pope is certain that you will not refuse his request, but that you will join in his prayer for peace in the world with the same enthusiasm with which you pray for peace and harmony in your own families."
Help your child become a Child of Hope!
"What enormous power the prayer of children has! This becomes a model for grown-ups themselves: praying with simple and complete trust means praying as children pray.
And here I come to an important point in this letter: at the end of this Year of the Family, dear young friends, it is to your prayers that I want to entrust the problems of your own families and of all the families in the world.And not only this: I also have other intentions to ask you to pray for. The Pope counts very much on your prayers. We must pray together and pray hard, that humanity, made up of billions of human beings, may become more and more the family of God and able to live in peace.At the beginning of this letter I mentioned the unspeakable suffering which many children have experienced in this century, and which many of them are continuing to endure at this very moment. It was while I was thinking about these facts, which fill our hearts with pain, that I decided to ask you, dear boys and girls, to take upon yourselves the duty of praying for peace. You know this well: love and harmony build peace, hatred and violence destroy it.
You instinctively turn away from hatred and are attracted by love: for this reason the Pope is certain that you will not refuse his request, but that you will join in his prayer for peace in the world with the same enthusiasm with which you pray for peace and harmony in your own families."
Help your child become a Child of Hope!
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