The Blessing Cup Prayer Rituals for Families and Groups (Revised)

Franciscan Father Rock Travnikar wants families and groups to discover the holiness of prayer and ritual and to claim a deeper identity as Gods people. To aid in this discovery, he created prayer-rituals that are centered on a common cup and based on the use of Scripture and petition to help family or group members express their deepest feelings.

This is the fourth revised edition of a book that has sold more than 200,000 copies. We are glad to see that a resource that gives everyday spirituality such a good name is so popular.

The original 1979 book contained 24 blessing prayers and in this edition a batch of new ones have been added to help families and faith-sharing groups target their devotional life to routines, rituals, holy days, and holidays. These prayers are centered on a common cup and use Scripture and petitions to be contributed by family members. The blessing prayers in the section on family life include celebrating a birthday, safe travels, graduations, and new beginnings. There are blessing prayers for volunteers, study groups, gardeners, and the earth in "The Circle of Love." Prayers for victims of a natural disaster, for caregivers, and upon the death of a loved one are part of "In Times of Need." The section on blessing prayers for "Milestones of Christian Life" includes prayers for baptism, first communion, marriage, and celebrations of vocations.

Ritual is a powerful binding force. From the bedtime routines that toddlers insist upon to the comic routines that leave outsiders puzzled, all groups, including families, shape their identities by the rites they observe. And, in the process, they discover that something holy lies at the heart of their relationships. Franciscan Father Rock Travnikar wants families and groups to discover that holiness and to claim a deeper identity as God's people. To aid in this discovery, he created prayer-rituals that are centered on a common cup and based on the use of Scripture and petition to help family or group members express their deepest feelings.