Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Act of Contrition…when is my kid supposed to memorize these (and all the rest) prayers? What if I don’t know the prayers either?

Many parents ask this question every year. To answer it fully I will be posting on the website the Diocese of Austin Family Prayer Book. We have hard copies on order for all of our registered families, but the Diocese is backlogged and they don’t know when they’ll get them out.

So, to keep everyone from waiting, I am going to digitize the old prayer book that we have. Once we get the new one, I’ll update the one online, too. The neat thing about having it online is that you can’t lose it! :)

To help you out now, though, here is a short list of the prayers each grade level should learn:

PreK: Sign of the Cross; Angel of God; Meal Blessing

Kindergarten: All Previous (AP); Our Father; Hail Mary; Glory Be

1^st Grade: AP; Order of the Mass (this should be easy if your child has attended Mass since their birth, but having a children’s missal available to them might be helpful)

2^nd Grade: AP; Act of Contrition; Rite of Penance; Nicene Creed (introduce along with other Mass prayers)

3^rd Grade: AP; Rosary; Hail, Holy Queen; Apostles’ Creed

4^th Grade: AP; Acts of Faith, Hope and Love

5^th Grade: AP; Prayer of St. Francis

6^th Grade: AP; Prayer to the Holy Spirit; Angelus

7^th Grade: AP; Prayer for Vocation

8^th Grade: AP; The Memorare

High School: AP; Praying with Scripture

Along with all of the “rote” prayers, spontaneous prayer is encouraged at all age levels. If you have a family prayer time, I hope that you have a place for spontaneous prayer…sometimes this is where you find out that your son is nervous about his test coming up, or that your daughter is worried about her best friend, or that your spouse is grateful for your extra effort. Bedtime prayer is pretty traditional, especially with young children. This is a great time to listen and encourage them in their relationship with Jesus. There are many nights when my youngest doesn’t want to pray. So, I ask him, what he wants to tell Jesus about his day. Lots of times this will prompt a deep discussion about theology, so be prepared! Also, at bedtime, I get lots of requests for hymns or, recently, Christmas carols, instead of lullabies. Singing the Hail Mary to my middle son has been very rewarding for me. And my youngest loves to have me sing “Jesus Loves Me”. We also have a traditional “God Bless” prayer where we start off, “God Bless, Mama and Daddy…” and continue with the names of the siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, godparents, close friends and finish it off with, “…and all our family and friends. Amen.” It’s a great prayer to help us remember those for whom we should be praying daily and it may jog a memory of someone we told “I’ll pray for you” earlier that day.

I hope and pray that by helping your child learn his/her prayers that you will also pray and increase your relationship with Christ. That is the whole purpose of prayer, you know, to grow closer to God and to grow in holiness. May your prayers be lifted up to God and His grace and blessings bestowed upon you.