The phrase, “The Family That Prays Together, Stays Together” was coined by Venerable Father Patrick Peyton.* And it seems to have been received as a relatively uncontroversial assertion. But I want to ask why this works. Why does the family that prays together stay together? It’s not a magic spell we cast with our formulas. The prayers are a meditation on the life of Christ, and through them, we receive the grace to become more virtuous – better at being a family. Yet, lofty aspirations for virtue aside, there’s a simple reason this works.
In a word: togetherness.
My family started praying the rosary each night during the first year of COVID-19. Even when I was hospitalized, my husband set up a video chat for our rosary. We aren’t always hyper-focused or reverent, but we do cling to the habit like a lifebuoy. As much as anything else, being together during those 30 minutes every day is what changes all our familial interactions. Here are a few reasons why the “family that prays together stays together”: