Excerpts From the Manual of the
Eucharistic Crusade of the Apostleship of Prayer

Educating the Youth to Live the Mass

(slightly edited by Fr. Boulet)

TEACHING CHILDREN TO PRAY:

Fourth Stage (continued)

d) Mental prayer must be emphasized. If  the children in the previous stages have become accustomed to talk to God in their own words and have meditated for some time, there should be no particular difficulty in bringing them to meditate daily for fifteen minutes, perhaps during a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. This should not be considered as something extraordinary but rather as part of the life of a good Catholic.  Directors must never omit to give repeated short explanations on how to pray and meditate.

e) Finally the importance of the Morning Offering cannot be over-emphasized. This, as has been said, is not finished with the mere recitation of a little prayer. Rather it should grow into a certain mentality, a readiness of mind and heart to do everything and to put up with all adversity out of love of Christ, for the intentions of His Heart and those of the Church. Since this habit of mind and heart demands that they fulfil all the obligations of their daily life well and promptly, the young people must be often assured that they pray in a perfect way by living well and offering all the works of the whole day to God.  They should be often urged to renew their Morning Offering throughout the day by brief ejaculatory prayers. Often during the day they should call to mind the presence of God and briefly adore Him. Such thoughts can have a great influence on the life of young persons. They can be a great help in time of temptation, and can lead them to true familiarity with God.

3. Vocal prayer should receive the same attention as mental prayer. In this stage, they should know the treasury of the Church's prayers more fully. They have already learned many. Now those prayers which have a special character must be explained, e.g. acts of reparation and consecration; special prayers which one usually finds in prayers books and which are used often, such as the litanies, and prayers for different states of life.  They should acquire a better knowledge of the popular Catholic devotions, such as devotion to the Sacred Heart, to Our Lady, to St. Joseph, to the Holy Souls, to the Guardian Angels, etc. It is important that they have a proper esteem for these and know how to practice them. Furthermore they must have a proper balance in the different devotions (Sacred-Heart, Our Lady, Saints…). Young people should be provided with suitable prayer-book. The books from Father Lasance, The Young Man’s Guide and The Catholic Girl’s Guide are especially recommended. Both books are available in our SSPX-BC bookstores.

4. It is recommended that the older children, have discussions from time to time on some spiritual subject. Themes such as difficulties in prayer, objections against prayer, the object of our prayer, etc. could be discussed.  They should be discussions in which the young people themselves talk over the chief practical questions about which all Catholics ought to be informed.