Praying with families

PARSIPPANY  The living room of the Rodriguez home looked a little like a chapel. A small table served as an altar, holding the Bible and statues of Our Lady Queen of Peace and Our Lady of Fatima. For a half hour one evening in October, this cozy room invited the family of four to take prayer into their hands and hearts in the rosary with help from a special visitor, Father Cesar Jaramillo, a parochial vicar of their parish, St. Peter the Apostle here.

With rosaries in hand, the Rodriguez family — Raquel, Armando, her husband, and children Rachel, 11, and Andrew, 6 — sat on couches with Father Jaramillo as they took turns leading the decades of the rosary as well as the Litany of the Virgin Mary. The priest’s stop was part of his month-long visits in October to the many houses of St. Peter’s families to pray the rosary for Respect for Life and the protection of marriage and family in the setting of the family: the “domestic Church.” In English or Spanish, he prayed at nights or on the weekends for 31 days at their homes in observance of Respect Life Month and the Month of the Holy Rosary.

“We were happy to welcome Father Cesar into our house. With the visits, he gets to see the conditions of the people so he realizes how they live and understands their needs. In the setting of our home, we can identify with him more,” said Raquel Rodriguez, who had invited Father Jaramillo to their house in Parsippany to pray in the past. For the visit, they wore face masks and socially distanced as precautions against COVID-19. “After, we offered Father Cesar something to eat and drink and talked about the kids’ activities. He asked us how we were coping in the lockdown. We are glad that he is making an effort to see us as a representative of Jesus Christ,” she said.

Her daughter, Rachel, told The Beacon that Father Jaramillo “made a good connection with the family in his special visit — something a priest doesn’t usually do.”

In his travels to St. Peter’s parishioners in Parsippany and neighboring towns, Father Jaramillo prayed with different types of families — from married couples to households of nine people — and in various settings — at the tables or islands of kitchens, in living rooms and on decks and porches. He asked families to have a statue or painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary to pray in front of for the visit.

In each home, Father Jaramillo prayed the rosary with families for up to 30 minutes as family members took turns leading the decades or, in some instances, singing hymns such as “Ave Maria,” after each decade. He allotted 90 minutes for each visit, allowing for travel, prayer and socialization afterward. Many of the families have children attending All Saints Academy on St. Peter’s campus.

“The visits were an effective way to reach out to parishioners during COVID-19 and help them still feel connected to St. Peter’s. It was a beautiful experience to enter into their regular family dynamic in an environment that is familiar to them. It sounds cliché but I think that it’s true: a family that prays together, stays together,” the priest told The Beacon.

“It was humbling to see the importance of the ‘domestic Church’ in this pandemic: to quote Pope Francis, ‘where Jesus grows in the love of a married couple, [and] in the lives of their children,’ ” said Father Jaramillo, noting that most of the families, like the Rodriguez household, already pray the rosary together regularly. “The families were so welcoming and the kids were so well-behaved,” he said.

At the condo of the Ahuatzin family in Denville, Father Jaramillo prayed in a living room with Carlos and his wife, Claudia Perez, a Spanish teacher at All Saints Academy, and their children, Claudia, 18, a high school senior, and Carlos, 11, an All Saints sixth-grader. They prayed in front of a cross, a glass figurine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and a Bible. Afterward, they shared in a cup of tea and some banana bread, Carlos said.

“Father Cesar’s visit was very impactful. Having a priest in our home and our personal lives makes us feel closer to the Church. It creates a different environment to help us teach our children about the Church and the faith,” said Carlos Ahuatzin, who regularly prays the rosary with his family and with his wife as part of a group that meets outside St. Peter’s on Monday nights. “Father Cesar is an inspiring priest who has a good approach to ministering especially to young people,” he said.

Their daughter Claudia said, “It was cool to have Father Cesar come to our house and instruct us in the rosary.”

It was in September during a Spanish-language Mass of the Hispanic Ministry, held at 7 p.m. on Saturdays at St. Peter’s, that Father Jaramillo invited families to sign up for his home visits. Later, members of the Anglo community heard about the outreach and asked to take part. He conducted 95 percent of visits in person and the rest by videoconference. Inspired by the priest’s visits, Hispanic Ministry plans to honor the Blessed Mother with the title “Queen of Families” for the parish’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass and celebration on Dec. 11, he said.

At the home of the Olohan family in Montville, Father Jaramillo sat with Ryan and Anne and their seven children, ages 7 to 17, spread out on couches in their living room to pray the rosary. As part of their family tradition, the children offered intentions before each decade, such as for children in Africa or for children who are disabled or are otherwise in need. The All Saints Academy family also shared dinner with the priest.

Tess Olohan, 7, told The Beacon, “Father Cesar is so nice. He works so hard and is a wonderful priest.”

Ryan Olohan, said, “It was great to see Father Cesar, an example of a good, holy and happy priest who took time out of his busy day to pray with us.” The family often prays the rosary together, he said, adding, “The world today can use more prayers. We are happy to do it.”