Contest: 2023 Try Prayer! It Works!

 It’s time to submit entries to the 2023 “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest! Sponsored by Family Rosary, the deadline for the national competition of children and teens in grades K-12 expressing their faith through art, poetry, video, and prose is Feb. 24, 2023.

With the goal of inspiring young people and their families to welcome the presence of God and the Holy Family into their lives, the theme of this year’s challenge is “Open Wide the Doors of Your Home to Christ.” According to Tom Lyman, Director of Family Rosary USA, the 2023 “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest encourages the enrichment of family faith in the home.

“This theme will help young people and their families answer God’s call to holiness by inviting Jesus and Mary into everything they do,” he said. “What makes this contest so unique and impactful is the family experience before the creative work even begins.”

For the contest, children and teens participate with their families through their Catholic school, parish, homeschool or other organization. Families explore the contest theme together guided by provided discussion prompts, reflection questions and prayer. The student uses this experience as inspiration to create his/her original entry for one of the contest categories: artwork, poetry, prose, or video.

Entries will be judged on content, ability to capture and interpret the theme, artistic and technical proficiency, and adherence to contest rules. Final deadline is Feb. 24, 2023. Entry forms and other information can be found at www.FamilyRosary.org/TryPrayer.

“By welcoming God and the Blessed Virgin Mary into family life, Family Rosary seeks to bring the Church’s teachings to life through time together as a family and creativity,” Tom Lyman said. “We pray that the 2023 contest does the most important thing – bring families together in prayer.”

In addition to the “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest in the United States, separate competitions are conducted in Mexico, East Africa, West Africa, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, France, Chile, Peru, and the Philippines.

Family Rosary was founded in 1942 by Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., who was declared Venerable in December of 2017. The “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest is named for an experience during Father Peyton’s seminary studies.

While a seminarian, Patrick was stricken with severe tuberculosis. He was visited by a Holy Cross priest, Father Cornelius Hagerty. They had a transforming conversation that resulted in Patrick seeing Mary with new clarity and intensity and developing a profound trust in the power of her intercession. Patrick prayed for Mary’s intercession and Father Hagerty offered a novena of Masses. In “All for Her,” Father Peyton’s autobiography, he shares, “The total impact of what Father Hagerty said was to add a new dimension to the love I already had for the Mother of God … I knew what I had to do. There would be no operations. I would put my trust in God, and I would approach Him through His mother and mine. She would cure me.”

This experience – coupled with his spiritually rich family life during his youth in Ireland – inspired Venerable Patrick Peyton to devote his life to Mary, Mother of God, and to the spiritual well-being of the family. His famous message, “The family that prays together stays together,” still resonates today.

In the spirit of its founder, Venerable Patrick Peyton, Family Rosary serves Jesus Christ and His Church by inspiring, promoting and fostering the prayer life and spiritual well-being of families throughout the world. Family Rosary encourages family prayer, especially the Rosary. For more information, visit www.FamilyRosary.org.

Please consider sharing the gift of family prayer with families, schools, teachers, and young people you know by encouraging them to participate in this year’s contest. Materials are posted on www.FamilyRosary.org/TryPrayer (scroll to the bottom of the page to view last year’s winning entries).