Catholic Prayer: Sacrifice Beads

Description:

The sacrifices which are made during Lent and Advent should not be merely negative—giving things up. One might suggest to the children that they make secret offerings to Jesus which will be known only to Him and to them. Here is a way to motivate them.

Prayer:

St. Therese of the Infant Jesus, when she was a child, made use of some "sacrifice beads." All that is needed is a string of about 10 beads, (a medal at one end is helpful) and something to move from one bead to the next, for example, a small rubber band. Every time the child does something for Jesus, she moves the marker to the next bead. Soon, like St. Therese, she will be "putting her hand into her pocket a hundred times a day to count her sacrifices." Eventually, the child will "graduate" to the stage of doing all for the love of Jesus, with or without beads.

Prayer Source: How to Make Your House a Home by Rev. Bernard Stokes, O.F.M., Family Life Bureau, Washington D.C., 1955