The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home

Includes 8 full-color icons!

Keeping a faithful prayer life with your family isn't easy. From herding distracted children to managing the seemingly endless litany of prayers and devotions, our spiritual life all too often feels frantic and burdensome.

This isn't the way it should be. Our prayer life, our family life, and our work life should--and can!--be in harmony. When they are, our family is a powerhouse of grace, and Our Lord transforms our home into a little Eden--a little bit of heaven on earth.

With simplicity and holy wisdom, authors David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler show you how to bring peace to your home by integrating your family into the calm, truly joyful way of Mother Church. Her feasts and seasons, prayers and devotions are gifts that draw us closer to God and unfold before us His marvelous plan of salvation.

To help you live the Liturgical Life of the Church more fully, David and Leila reclaim here an almost lost tradition that families used for centuries to build a beautiful bridge between home and church: the little oratory.

Consisting of a modest table and icons, the little oratory is a visible sign of spiritual awareness and devotion. It extends the Eucharistic worship of the Mass into the heart of your home, spiritually nourishing your family and preparing them to transform the world through prayer and charity.

Building your own little oratory is simple, and in these pages you'll discover just how easy it is. In fact, you likely have most of the pieces in your home already except, perhaps, the sacred art. That s why we've included here seven full-colored icons that are ready for framing, enabling you to get started right away!

By following the wise advice in this book, you'll discover the peace and love that flows from a home that is focused on Christ. You'll also learn . . .

How to use sacred art to strengthen your prayer life.

How to extend Catholic beliefs and devotions into every room of the house.

Why the Liturgy of the Hours is important and how it can make your family holy.

How to pray the Rosary with children and keep the rowdiest of them calm and reverent.

The active role children can and should play in the prayer life of the family.

What to do when only one parent takes the spiritual life seriously.

How to overcome the feeling that you're too busy to pray.

Practical ways to extend the liturgical life into your workplace.

And countless other tips to help you practice your faith in the heart of your home.

David Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, writer and broadcaster. He serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts. His artistic training is both in the sacred art traditions of Byzantine iconography and as a portrait painter in the style of Western classical naturalism, which he studied in Florence, Italy.

Leila M. Lawler is a wife of one, mother of seven, and grandmother of five (and counting), living in central Massachusetts. Leila practices "kitchen-sink philosophy" at Like Mother, Like Daughter, a website offering practical and theoretical insight into all aspects of daily life.

Deirdre Folley contributed the illustrations for this book from her home in the Washington, DC, metro area. Primarily instructed in art by her grandmother, Elizabeth Edwards, Deirdre also studied art under John Schmitt, son of artist Carl Schmitt, as well as at the Catholic University of America, where she majored in philosophy.