Hand in Hand with Mary: Back to School with Our Lady

The sun is a little lower, the nights a little cooler—autumn will be here before we know it. As parents, we look forward to crossing this threshold with our children into the new school year. Our students enter classrooms where they learn to reason, to create, to try and fail and try again. They also are learning, in every moment, to become the people God made them to be. The ups and downs of that journey will continue through their lives, especially in moments of transition. These bustling days offer an opportunity to instill the confidence, courage, and faith that will enhance that lifelong journey.

Attending the “The School of Mary” 

As the first day begins, stand together for a moment as a family. Pray a Hail Mary and offer everything that you and your children face to her. Let her carry them. Begin the day in Our Lady’s light: no matter what school your children are attending, they are illuminated by her gaze, love, and attention. If you can’t keep this up every day of the new school year, try to do it once a week or devote some time after Sunday Mass to pray to her for the week ahead. 

As in the natural life a child must have a father and a mother, so in the supernatural life of grace a true child of the Church must have God for his Father and Mary for his mother. -St. Louis de Montfort 

Before the school year begins, make sure your young ones are equipped with a rosary they are drawn to and proud to own. You can even make them together if you’d like—all it takes is some cord, beads, a crucifix, and a centerpiece. Even if they don’t take time out of their school day to pray the rosary, it can live in their pocket, backpack, or pencil case as a reminder of both your and Mary’s commitment to their spiritual wellbeing. Homeschooling families can keep the rosary nearby and available for their students to pray or examine whenever they are called to do so. 

The preeminent example of faith, Our Lady is a woman of prayer. Our children will only grow in relation to her as they grow in their prayer life. We can teach them to start small. Each room change or break in instruction can be a chance to offer their struggles—or those of others—to Our Lady. Likewise, we can meet Mary in the little moments: waiting in the drop-off line, planning the day, or cooking breakfast. A brief address to her is all it takes to help keep us seated in our faith.

As first days turn into first weeks, we will settle into the school year before we know it. By striving to end our days with gratitude, grace, and reflection together, we can build a routine of connecting to Our Lady not just individually but as a family unit, strengthening our bonds and devotions. This fall, let Mary place your worries, hopes, dreams, and fears where they belong—in the hands and heart of Christ.

Our Lady knows the effort of shaping hearts and minds. She knows our anxieties and prayers, our children’s apprehension towards the unknown, our desire to control. This school year, we can give those concerns over to Mary. When we choose to watch her walk before us and step in her footsteps, we come closer to surrendering to our faith and leading our children by example.