Father Jeff Jackson of Hamilton, Ga., makes a beautiful suggestion to enhance your family’s prayer life, and create peace as your children get ready for bed. Say Compline daily with the kids. (I wish I had done this with my own children as they were growing up.) He writes:
For many years, we have said nighttime prayers with our kids before bed. For much of that time, we would go around and simply give thanks to God for the day’s blessings. Like any prayer method, this form became stale after a few years. The kids would try to outdo each other in thanking God for silly things, and our two youngest, both boys, had a hard time sitting still. A few months ago, Molly and I decided we needed a change. Now that two of our kids are reading, with a third in the next year or so, it felt like the perfect time to introduce them to the ancient rite of Compline.
At his blog, Fr. Jeff offers six reasons this is a good idea.