A CALL TO ACTION

Albany Catholics invited to pray the rosary as a family

A person prays the rosary in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this file photo from May 8, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez) (Courtesy photo of Lola Gomez)

Melissa O’Brien was sitting in adoration when she felt the call. 

It was Sept. 16, the night before her son’s wisdom teeth were removed, when O’Brien went to Christ the King Church in Albany for Eucharistic adoration and to pray for a successful procedure. In prayer, O’Brien asked God if there was anything he needed from her. That’s when the family rosary idea came up.

“In my heart came a thought of family rosary,” she told The Evangelist. “I already had done my rosary earlier that day, so I wasn’t thinking about the rosary, and so it was just a divine thought. I said OK, I’ll start it with my family.”

O’Brien began praying the rosary every day with her family. A mother of two college-age children with their own busy schedules, adding a daily rosary to her husband and kids’ routine was “not on my radar,” she laughed. Still, after they began doing it, her family started to feel the impacts.

“I can feel our Lady’s grace giving us strength to get through each season,” she said. 

O’Brien started with her family but knew she had to bring her call to others. She reached out to the Faith Formation team at her parish, Christ the King, and began calling churches across the Diocese about praying the rosary as a family. 

She put together a flyer, calling families to commit to praying the rosary daily for a full year (Oct. 7, 2025, to Oct. 7, 2026), starting and ending in the month of the rosary. 

A month since her time in adoration, 27 parishes have pledged to participate in the family rosary commitment.

“The hope basically is for the families to pray together, to make that time for a few minutes to recharge, to reconnect and to sit in prayer, which is talking to God and each other,” O’Brien said. “And the other is, when we meditate on the Gospels of life, that’s Christ’s life, so we’re getting to know Jesus better through his mother. She’s the queen of peace, and we get to know and have a direct connection to the king of peace, Christ.”

O’Brien knows that it can be hard to fit one more thing into a busy family schedule, but is encouraging families “to make the time” the best they can. 

“We have to do what we’re asked to do, and this is part of it,” she said. “Going to the Eucharist, going to adoration, understanding the presence of Christ and … also to pray the rosary daily.”

Families can pray the rosary in the car on the way to school, at the dinner table, or before bedtime when winding down. And when you can make the time for those 15 minutes together, it’s “really beautiful,” O’Brien said.

“Just try it,” she added. “What have you got to lose?” 

For more information on praying the rosary as a family, visit familyrosary.org.