What are the anchors of your day? I started thinking of certain prayers/family rituals as anchors because I wanted them to sink into the rhythm of our day. Seasons come and go, and schedules change as our family adapts to this season’s current priorities. Lent provided us with a wonderful opportunity not only for individual transformation, but also to reevaluate our family’s spiritual health, as we seek to become the holy family that God intends for us. So back to anchors. I realized that our family’s prayer time, which I label A.L.T.A.R., (is it obvious yet that I love acronyms? A.L.T.A.R stands for the major elements of our family prayer time — A for Adoration, L for Listen, T for Thanksgiving, A for Action, and R for Reflect) was getting shifted all over the day because we were trying so hard to include everyone and adapt to everyone’s shifting schedules. So I decided that we would have a set time in the morning — 7:30 am — when we would come together for our family A.L.T.A.R, and that would be our Morning anchor. We would strive to start on time (like Mass!) and have a basic routine, which generally includes the following: candle lighting, a Latin hymn (so many that we would like to learn by heart!) followed by English translation, English spoken hymn from Magnificat, Daily Mass readings, Lectio Divina (sharing words or a reflection with each other), Meditation of the Day (from Magnificat), and then we make a silent resolution for our day. We end by praying (in unison) our traditional Catholic prayers (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima Prayer, Morning Offering, Memorare with specific intentions, Prayer to St. Michael, our Guardian Angel) followed by a spontaneous prayer, led by Dad. We also ask for the intercession of our Blessed Mother (under one of her titles), Saint Joseph, and a Saint — everyone contributes! Finally, we sing another hymn in Latin (currently Tantum Ergo) followed by the English translation, and Dad blesses all of us with holy water before we set off in our myriad directions (which includes Daily Mass for those who can attend). Our family A.L.T.A.R. may last anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on the morning, but our main goal is to be consistent. Consistency does bear fruit! Our sharing and singing may look different from day to day as some of us are much tireder than others in the early morning, but we offer what we have, bringing God our loaves and fishes, in a sense. Having our family’s morning anchor doesn’t substitute for our individual time with God, but we know that God has called us to pray in community, not just in our parish Churches, but especially in our domestic churches, which are right here in our homes: “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them,”(Matthew 18:20). We also have an evening “anchor” although to date, I have to admit has been more of a floating anchor — outdoor Rosary walk, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and litanies of Saint Joseph and Our Lady of Loreto, followed by a family Read-aloud of Saint Biography (currently either Saint John Paul II’s Witness to Hope by George Weigel or Saint Damien of Molokai by Hilde Eynikel). One thing to know is that our prayer time has evolved over the years to its current form — we started very simply and that is my word of encouragement to others — wherever you are, and whatever you have to give, start there — if you are intentional about making the time to grow in holiness, our Lord will transform whatever you bring to his Altar!