Pope grants grandmother’s wish for a prayer

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PALM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 02.12.09

Catherine Wiley, right, is shown with her granddaughter, Kate Barrister, 9. Wiley, who has 10 grandchildren, is on a mission to get grandparents acknowledged for all they do

Courtesy Photo
Catherine Wiley, right, is shown with her granddaughter, Kate Barrister, 9. Wiley, who has 10 grandchildren, is on a mission to get grandparents acknowledged for all they do

PALM BEACH GARDENS | Catherine Wiley of Delray Beach thought up a simple idea to encourage all, especially grandchildren, to honor unsung heroes of today – grandparents.

She took the concept all the way to the top in Rome, and what happened next is pretty remarkable.

“We are deeply honored to receive the ‘Prayer for Grandparents’ composed by Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI,” the young-looking Irish granny said about her prayer vision that is now a reality thanks to a little hope, diligence and the leader of the Catholic Church.

On Jan. 21, Wiley, a part-time resident who is active at St. Joan and Ascension parishes when she’s in Boca Raton from Europe, gave a short presentation before a gathering of Catholic educators meeting at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola parish hall. At that time, she introduced the grandparents’ prayer.

“I wrote the Holy Father and I asked him for a universal prayer for grandparents,” said Wiley, a grandmother of 10. “I knew if the Holy Father saw the request he would write a prayer, and he did. And that was tremendously important to me and for grandparents everywhere.”

Wiley visited the Vatican in May 2007 and talked to officials there about her idea of honoring grandparents through a special prayer. Months later, after a follow-up letter sent to Rome with children’s short prayers in honor of their grandparents gathered from across Ireland as part of a prayer campaign organized by Wiley, she received “Prayer for Grandparents.”

After receiving the prayer, she knocked on the Vatican door again with an additional request.

“We have this wonderful, beautiful prayer and are not able to show it to grandparents everywhere,” Wiley said. “So I contacted the Vatican Pontifical Council for the Family in Rome, and asked them if we could present it at the sixth world congress, which we did.”

Wiley introduced the Prayer for Grandparents Jan. 17 in Mexico City before the Sixth World Encounter of Families. Every three years the Holy Father organizes the meeting to unite thousands of families from across the world with the idea of sharing issues and studying aspects of the role of the Christian family. Nearly 800 bishops attend the meetings organized by the Pontifical Council for Family.

Prayer for Grandparents

Lord Jesus, you were born of the Virgin Mary, the daughter of Sts. Joachim and Anne. Look with love on grandparents the world over. Protect them! They are a source of enrichment for families, for the church and for all of society. Support them! As they grow older, may they continue to be for their families strong pillars of Gospel faith, guardians of noble domestic ideals, living treasuries of sound religious traditions. Make them teachers of wisdom and courage that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.

Lord Jesus, help families and society to value the presence and role of grandparents. May they never be ignored or excluded, but always encounter respect and love. Help them to live serenely and to feel welcomed in all the years of life which you give them.

Mary, Mother of all the living, keep grandparents constantly in your care, accompany them on their earthly pilgrimage, and by your prayers, grant that all families may one day be reunited in our heavenly homeland, where you await all humanity for the great embrace of life without end. Amen.

– Pope Benedict XVI

As for her next project, Wiley said, “I would like to see the Prayer for Grandparents go into the schools and be a part of Grandparents Day. I would like to see it displayed in churches and in homes.”

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that National Grandparents Day be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day. Traditionally in the Diocese of Palm Beach, schools have their own special days set aside for grandparents depending on the school.

Many invite grandmothers and grandfathers to special events during Catholic Schools Week, held this year the last week of January in celebration of Catholic education.

“The prayer is a way to honor grandparents especially during Catholic Schools Week,” said Franciscan Sister Joan Dawson, superintendent of schools, who is impressed with the unique prayer.

St. Joan of Arc School in Boca Raton kicked off Catholic Schools Week by inviting grandparents to two morning Masses. The prayer was recited during the celebrations.

“We are happy to promote her cause,” said Victoria Farrington, assistant principal at St. Joan of Arc in Boca Raton. “It never hurts to have grandparents prayed for and ministered to by our children.”

This is not the first initiative Wiley has launched focused on grandparents. She organized a one-day gathering for grandmothers and grandfathers four years ago in England, where she resides part of the year. The event took place at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, and it continues to be staged there every year.

In 2007, she organized a one-day gathering of grandparents in her homeland at the Our Lady of Knock Shrine in Ireland. The event had the blessings of Bishop John Fleming, bishop of Killala. The shrine hosted a second event in September 2008 that attracted nearly 10,000, according to Wiley.

The day included music, talks, sharing of life experiences and challenges, prayer and worship.

The determined grandmother now wants educators and pastors in the Diocese of Palm Beach to use the prayer in honor of the seniors whom she feels are sometimes taking for granted.

“Their role in the family has changed enormously,” said Wiley about today’s modern grandmas and grandpas, who have pivotal roles affecting the family and influencing the younger generations. “They are picking up the slack wherever you look. Grandparents are going back to work to pay for the kids’ education. They are taking their kids back in to live with them. They are primary caregivers in the home. They are the main faith transmitters.”

Father John Gallagher, parochial vicar of St. Joan of Arc, supports Wiley’s efforts.

“The prayer will be used not only on just the one day for grandparents in the schools during Catholic Schools Week, but also when there are prayers for families and school Masses,” he explained. “Pope Benedict XVI has given this prayer for this cause.”

Holy Name of Jesus School celebrated Grandparents Day Jan. 29, starting with a Mass at Holy Name of Jesus Parish. A reception followed and students from each class presented a poem and a personal memento to grandmothers and grandfathers. Then the Prayer for Grandparents was recited.

“Grandparents are now a part of our parent/extended family life,” said principal Sister Kathleen Cummins, Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. “Where would we be without them?”

At this point, Wiley is working with the diocesan Office of Family Life to stage an event for grandparents in the fall.

“We are absolutely overjoyed,” she said. “The Holy Spirit is really moving us in a very strong direction to encourage and help grandparents embrace their vocation in quite a remarkable way.”

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