A great way to integrate prayer into our daily routine is to begin and end our days with prayer. When we use these “prayer bookends,” we may also be more likely to pray throughout all our waking hours and activities.
Jean-François Millet’s famous painting The Angelus (c. 1859) is pictured above. The church bells tolling at morning, midday, and evening reminded people in centuries past to stop whatever they were doing to pray. As this painting’s title indicates, it was the custom to pray The Angelus at those times. A print of this painting hangs in my dining room as a subtle and beautiful reminder to make time to pray throughout each day.
If it’s not already your custom to start your day with prayer, consider making a commitment to praying a Morning Offering. Introduce your families and children in your care to this practice and prayer. When we start each day by dedicating it to God, we may begin to see God’s presence more readily throughout our every day.
Image credit: Jean-François Millet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
