If you’re Catholic, you probably already know that prayer is the foundation of our faith. It is our wireless connection to God himself, the founder of our Universe.
You also know that we use two types of prayers, formal and informal. Formal prayers include the Hail Mary, Nicene Creed, and Prayer of St. Francis (Get a free poster of it here!). They were written by some person or group of people. The informal prayers are things like meditation, contemplation, and our personal prayers to God.
In this post, I am going to share with you some formal prayers that I think are very important for Catholic children to learn. They include the five main prayers of the Rosary as well as some other useful prayers. The Sign of the Cross isn’t included in this list because all prayer begins and ends with it so children should already know it.
When it comes to teaching your children these prayers, it is probably best that you start with the shorter prayers and progress to the longer ones. I would focus on one prayer at a time. When your child masters it, move onto another.
Now, let’s take a peek at those Catholic prayers.
10 Catholic Prayers Children Should Know
- Our Father – This is one of the most important prayers. It is the one that Jesus himself taught as described in Matthew 6. You can get a free Our Father poster here and use it to as a tool for teaching this prayer.
- Hail Mary – This is the most well-known prayer to Our Lady. Parts of the text come from the Bible.
- Glory Be – This prayer gives glory to the Blessed Trinity making it a very holy prayer.
- Apostles’ Creed – The Apostles’ Creed states our beliefs as Catholics.
- Hail, Holy Queen – This is the concluding prayer to the Rosary. It is another petition to Our Lady.
- Guardian Angel Prayer – This is a beautiful rhyming prayer used to invoke the protection of your guardian angel.
- Prayer to St. Michael – This prayer asks St. Michael the Archangel to defend us from the deceptions of the devil.
- Prayer Before Meals – This, of course, is the blessing to say before meals.
- Act of Contrition – Use this prayer to prepare your child for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
- Anima Christi – This is a really wonderful prayer to say after receiving Communion.
If you’d like to have these prayers hanging up in your home for your child to look at, you might like these Catholic Prayer in Art Posters or Catholic Prayer in Art Large Posters. They have 12 Catholic prayers laid out on beautiful classic works of art. They can be used in the home, church, co-op, or classroom.