I recently stumbled across a beautiful idea for mothers and fathers to bless their children before leaving home.
A brief but lovely blessing is a wonderful way for your child to carry your love and God’s peace with them everywhere they go. Hopefully it also helps them to be the light of Christ to all they meet.
Here’s a simple but powerful prayer from Magnificat that’s perfect for a daily blessing:
Strong and faithful God, Keep our son/daughter safe from injury and harm and make him/her a blessing to all he/she meets today. Amen.
You might consider posting this prayer by your door so you remember to speak these words of benediction over your child when he or she goes out.
My inspiration for this daily blessing came from a blog I really enjoy called My Child, I Love You. Its author is Lindsay Boever, a mother of 11 children.
Boever wrote that she was herself inspired to start this daily blessing by a family that had multiple religious vocations among their children. That mother had the habit of praying over each child any time they left the home.
“I found this so endearing for so many reasons,” Boever wrote. “We are raising them to go out into the world and share the gospel.”
She hung the prayer above by her back door and began to pray it over each child whenever they left home. To her surprise and delight, her kids quickly came to love this little habit. She wrote,
I thought the kids might find this silly or embarrassing until one time when Dominic was leaving the house, he said “Mom, you haven’t prayed over me.”
Perhaps this school year, as your child heads out to catch the bus or jump in the carpool van, this “short but sweet” prayer can go with them. It’s a lovely way for parents to pray for our children in all their endeavors, big or small.
And today we celebrate...