In my years working for the Church, I have met many people with varied devotional practices; many, of course, to Mary under her different titles, to Jesus or to the saints, but I never met anyone who had a devotion to the Holy Spirit, until I met my mother-in-law.

I was married for many years before she mentioned to me her night time ritual of prayers to the Holy Spirit, including praying the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit. When she passed away, I inherited all her religious items, among them a small tin box filled with her devotions to the Holy Spirit.

What struck me most was that her relationship with the Holy Spirit was on the level of a best friend. From things she had written, I began to have a new understanding of the Holy Spirit as one of three persons of the Holy Trinity.

I came to grasp more fully how valuable that kind of relationship with God can be for youth who are often in need of a comforter, helper, advocate or counselor, or simply put, someone who is always there in time of need. In the Church, April is the month dedicated to the Holy Spirit, and a good time to focus more attention on helping youth develop a relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Cardinal Newman Society proposes that “Catholic education is sustained by the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition,’ all of which play a part in the child’s growing understanding of the Holy Spirit.

Praying the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit, either in part or in its entirety depending on students’ ages, is an opportunity to help students connect the chaplet’s five mysteries to events in Sacred Scripture, and follow how the Holy Spirit worked in the life of Jesus and the Church from the time Jesus was conceived until his death and Resurrection, the birth of the Church and continues in the lives of Jesus’ disciples today.

There are also opportunities to build lessons around the Annunciation, the Baptism of Jesus, the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost and the 12 Fruits of the Spirit.

To learn how to pray the Chaplet of the Holy Spirit click here. While the number and pattern of beads in the chaplet is different, it is still possible to use a regular set of rosary beads if that is what students have.

1st Mystery
By the Holy Ghost is Jesus conceived of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Luke 1:35).

2nd Mystery
The Spirit of the Lord rested upon Jesus when he was baptized (Matthew 3:16).

3rd Mystery
By the Spirit is Jesus led into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2).

4th Mystery
The Holy Spirit in the Church (Acts2:2,4).

5th Mystery
The Holy Spirit in the soul of the just man and just woman (1 Corinthians: 6:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:19, and Ephesians 4:30).

Also, during the month of April, consider adding all or part of this prayer to the Holy Spirit to your classroom prayers:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy his consolations.
Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

About the Author
Mary Clifford Morrell, mother of six and grandmother to ten, is a Catholic journalist, editor, and author who has served the Dioceses of Metuchen and Trenton, New Jersey; Burlington, Vermont, and RENEW International in the areas of religious education and communication.