2. STAGES IN THE TEACHING OF PRAYER.

If the children have been taught to pray by good Catholic parents right from infancy, there will be no difficulty in develop¬ing and perfecting this practice in the Crusade. The trouble arises when this early instruction in prayer has been neglected by the parents. Then Directors must as far as possible, help to supply for this defect. This can prove very difficult, especially in the case of older children or adolescents.

Prayer, like the other things children have to learn, must be taught slowly and accommodated to mental growth. We will suggest the following divisions although they do not entirely agree with the divisions and Age-groups of the Crusade.

1. First Stage:

This includes the period when children are generally not yet in the Crusade. It is the mother who should give her children their first instruction in prayer. Once reason begins to dawn and the child begins to take notice of the surrounding world, the first instruc¬tion - or rather the first exercise - in prayer should begin. When children begin to recognise flowers, animals, stars, etc., they should be told that all these were made by God who is in heaven, Who loves men and gives them all that is good and beautiful. To this first recognition, the first prayer ought to be joined, namely, a simple act of thanksgiving or a request for some good. If afterwards the notion of God is built up and God is seen as a Father, the giver of all good, Who loves what is good and hates what is bad, Who wants all men to come to Him in heaven, then little by little the scope of prayer is being increased. Children should thank God for all His graces and pray to Him that they be kept from sin, that God pardon their shortcomings and that they may come to Him in heaven. Finally, at an opportune moment, they should be trained to pray at set times, in the morning and the evening, before and after meals.