Bless My Child: A Catholic Mother’s Prayer Book
Julie Cragon
Cover art: Rose Walton
ISBN-10: 1594710147
ISBN-13: 978-1594710148
UPC: 033500021060
This book review is on a book of prayers for Moms! I actually bought it for myself while I was pregnant, having discovered it when I purchased the grandparents’ version as a gift to my own mother in celebration of her first grandchild. There is a lot of overlap between the two, but I don’t think it hurts to have more than one person praying for the same thing!
This thoughtful collection of prayers can be used for many stages of your child’s life, from gestation into adulthood, including for the sacraments!
The prayers themselves are quite modest in their language, without pretense or ostentation (haha, the irony of this review!), and seem to have been written from the heart. They relate to our daily parenting life, the joys, struggles, milestones, and everything in between, and they resonate well with the yearnings of a mother’s heart – some have definitely brought a tear to my eye! Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it also reminds us to pray for ourselves as moms, asking for God’s help and guidance in raising our little saints.
I acknowledge that it is difficult to write prayers for an individual without knowing their gender (that he/she can get a bit clunky and impersonal!). Cragon’s prayers address this by cycling through the use of masculine and feminine pronouns, so some prayers are written using he/him, and other prayers with she/her, but can be prayed for a child of either sex. This may be a stumbling block to some, but I find it easy enough to replace pronouns that didn’t apply with the appropriate ones for my child – I simply think about my child while I read each prayer, and correct as I go along.
There is a Catholic spin on it, hence the title. This is mainly because of the prayers written for receiving the sacraments, as I mentioned earlier. There are also prayers to patron saints of various issues our children may encounter on life’s journey, though neither of these are strictly Catholic things. Aside from these categories of prayer, the book contains many other prayers that could be applied to parents across denominations.
I have the paperback edition, although it is also available as an e-book for Kindle. The satin finish book cover has a sleek feel to it, with just enough grip to be easily held. The paperback book itself is fairly light, and isn’t too big, so it won’t take up too much space on your bedside table or in your bag.
This prayer book would make a great addition to any Catholic mother’s repertoire! It would be a touching gift for any faith-filled mother to celebrate a pregnancy, new birth, baptism, or just because!
Until next time, let’s pray for each other. And remember, we can do Mom things through Christ who strengthens us!
Mom Things Through Christ 