In every tabernacle, Jesus is present with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. It is a real presence—one to be believed and fully lived: if I have a dear friend in the hospital or who cannot leave home, love compels me to visit them, to share in their joys and sufferings. Jesus is not only my best friend—He is also my “brother, sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35), my “Lord and my God” (John 20:28), my “Everything” who, out of love for me, has become a prisoner in the tabernacle and calls us: “Bring me the children, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven; they are the great breath of my imprisonment.”
When one understands Jesus’ longing in His words on the Cross—“I thirst”—and realizes that this thirst—for souls and for Love—continues in the tabernacle, one cannot remain indifferent to His suffering. The greatest comfort we can give Him is to bring children to Him, because they immediately synchronize with His Heart that beats in every tabernacle. Just read the Memoirs of Lucia—fully available on this site—and you will sense the deep, personal relationship the children of Fatima had with the “hidden” Jesus, with the “alone” Jesus, as they called Him.
When children stand before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, they “feel” all of this, and within them, confidence in God is born; they “live” His presence and allow themselves to be drawn into His love, which invites them to a deeper intimacy in Eucharistic Communion. Only in this context can the prophetic words of St. Pius X—“We will have holy children”—and of John Paul II—“We will have apostles among the children”—come true.
It is important to teach children that when entering and exiting the church, they should make the Sign of the Cross and genuflect to the ground. One must genuflect every time one passes before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle: we stand before the King of kings!
The meeting time should be set when no other activities are taking place in the church, so children can concentrate on this special time of intimacy with God.
Invite the children to come, with reverent confidence, near the altar where the priest, deacon, or—if needed—the extraordinary minister exposes Jesus.
Then read the “Visit to the Blessed Sacrament for Children.” Pause for a few minutes of silence.
For praying the Rosary, follow the same suggestions used in family Prayer Nests.
Finally, sing an Eucharistic hymn in preparation for Communion; if sacramental Communion is not possible, make a spiritual communion. After Communion, pray the prayers taught at Fatima by the Angel as a thanksgiving. Conclude with a blessing and a hymn.
The prayer aids are the same as those suggested for family Prayer Nests and can be requested from us at our contact address.
Testimonials
Maricruz Ripoll, the tireless missionary of the White Army of the Madonna, who has led and consecrated over 80,000 children to the Father in Heaven through Mary in the Dominican Republic, wrote to us:
“Our Lady is doing many good things here in Santo Domingo. I have encouraging testimonies from teachers who, after the latest consecrations in their schools, describe to me the wonders the Lord is working in the children.
I told the children how, at Fatima, the Angel knelt and adored Jesus-God in the Host, asking Him for the conversion of sinners and peace in the world. They knelt too and asked if they could do so every day at home and how long they should remain prostrate.
At the end of the meeting, I spoke with the parish teacher of the Good Shepherd, and she told me that during a retreat a few days earlier, the children were taught about holiness and then the Blessed Sacrament was exposed. The children asked if they could prostrate themselves to adore Jesus, they did so—and some were very moved and cried for a long time. Later they said they felt so much joy and felt as though a great burden had been lifted. Imagine, Father, this coming from eight-year-olds, after experiencing the Love and companionship of the Lord…
In another school, children arrived in the chapel looking bored, but when the Adoration started with the recitation of the Rosary, I invited anyone who wished to pray prostrate before Jesus. Most of them came forward; despite teachers telling them to stay seated, many knelt and walked one by one to the center aisle to pray, prostrating themselves at each mystery. At the end of Mass, I saw their faces completely transformed; they asked to go to confession, forming a long line. I was surprised that the older ones left upon seeing us prostrate—but the younger stayed: Mary calls the little ones.
I believe we must show children today that God is to be honored as our God, Creator, and Redeemer, and that whatever we can do to honor Him is always too little for what He deserves, since He permits us—even sinners—to remain in His real Presence as long as we wish…
The children in this neighborhood, whom I am reaching out to, are very devoted to Padre Pio and St. Francis. They pray the Rosary on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—always prostrated with their faces on the ground; on Thursdays they adore the Blessed Sacrament. They attend Mass daily, and the group keeps growing. Most want to become Brothers of the White Army when they grow up. They accompany me in the consecrations; in their area there are many parishes and schools, and they know them all. They are very active and know their neighborhood well. Before these consecrations, most of them were Protestant.
I would love for you to meet them—they truly are something special. The oldest is called Diandi—12 years old—bright and intelligent. He is the group’s leader, learns quickly, and is articulate. I will give him the prayer booklet so he learns how to do the consecrations properly; I believe soon he’ll be able to do them himself. But first, I will guide him so that he learns well and can consecrate new children who wish to join the Prayer Nest.”
This testimony from Maricruz, many years after that sent to us by Don Vittorio Narducci—parish priest of Canosa, a small town in Abruzzo, Italy, —shows how the Spirit moving children of different cultures and languages, across time and space, is the same Spirit who moved the three children of Fatima in Portugal ninety years ago. It is wonderful to witness this marvelous work of the Holy Spirit, uniting children from around the world in His enduring, ever new action.
Canosa, 1974 – Don Vittorio Narducci, Parish Priest of Canosa (CH):
“Every evening there is a small group of children—ranging from ten to one hundred—who come to church to pray the Rosary and keep company with the ‘hidden Jesus.’ These little ones never cease to amaze me: they often arrive early and I find them already praying the Rosary. When they leave, they kneel and prostrate themselves face down, remaining like that for a good while, reciting the Angel of Peace prayer: ‘My God, I believe, I hope, I adore and I love You…’; some remain prostrate even throughout the Rosary. They renew their consecration to Mary, repeating several times daily the prayers taught by the Angel and the Virgin to the shepherd children, and they receive Jesus in Communion. They give silent thanksgiving—some face down—and conclude with singing the Fatima message. At first, almost everyone came; later the numbers reduced, but a devoted core remained: oddly, those who live farthest away, even a few kilometers…”
From Sulmona (AQ), Giulio writes:
“When my spiritual father told me to involve children in prayer, the venture seemed rather difficult, because I thought it would be hard to convince children to come to church to pray the Rosary, forsaking their games. But I soon had to change my mind: from the small initial group of eight to ten children, we soon reached peaks of thirty, with an average of over 150 children per week. This is a demonstration of the power of Mary’s love, which compensates for our lack of faith in a clear and unmistakable way…”
