Is our nighttime prayer ritual improper?

[Aggie414]

My sister’s family says:

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And as I sleep the whole night through,
I prayer, dear Lord, to be with you.
God bless… and then they list all of their prayer intentions.

They’re a very Catholic family and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with their nightly ritual.

 

[Humbly_Hopeful]

From when our kids were very small we had to tell Jesus 3 things we were grateful for and three things we were sorry for. Most of the time with little kids this is like “I was mean to my sister” Or I did not listen the first time my parents told me something." Their mom and I also say three things. So we model being contrite.

As a convert myself I see where Catholics can confuse this and have an aversion to it because confession is so guarded. But really, naming sins is certainly not reserved for the confessional. We are told to make peace with those we have wronged by Jesus Himself.

I actually think it is one of the reasons my children are so well behaved. They did not want to tell Jesus that they were bad. Though, certainly before the age of reason there is no sin anyway, it still was a healthy tool for them to understand Jesus, and humanity. Not to mention that they have no problem going to confession later when they are of age.

That’s a good point I hadn’t thought of. I only meant that I saw an opportunity to teach children how to prepare for Reconciliation during this family practice. Your point is very good as well and something to consider for a future family.

God Bless!