The Domestic Church

We are the living Church — people of faith gathered in prayer, love, community, and service to one another. The Church is not only found in buildings, but also in our homes, our relationships, and our daily lives. This is what we mean by the Domestic Church.

In the Catholic tradition, family life is a special place where faith begins to grow. Parents are the first teachers of faith, helping children come to know God through love, prayer, kindness, and everyday example. As the Second Vatican Council reminds us:

“The family, is so to speak, the domestic church.”
Lumen Gentium #11

It is in the home that we often first learn how to pray, how to care for others, and how to recognise God’s presence in our lives.

The name “Domestic Church” comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which beautifully says:

“in our own time, in a world often alien and even hostile to faith, believing families are of primary importance as centers of living, radiant faith. For this reason the Second Vatican Council, using an ancient expression, calls the family the ecclesia domestica [the domestic church]”
CCC 1656

From the earliest days of Christianity, families have been seen as small communities of faith. In his Letter to Families, St John Paul II wrote:

“The Fathers of the Church, in the Christian tradition, have spoken of the family as a ‘domestic church,’ a ‘little church.’”

The domestic church is lived out in simple and ordinary ways — sharing meals together, caring for one another, praying as a family, offering forgiveness, showing hospitality, and making room for God in everyday life. It is not about being perfect, but about growing together in faith, love, and joy.

Every family is called to be a place of prayer, compassion, and welcome — a “little Church of the home.” As Pope Francis writes:

“The spirituality of family love is made up of thousands of small but real gestures”
(Amoris Laetitia, no. 315)

Through these small but meaningful moments, families share God’s love with one another and with the world around them.

We hope the resources and links on this page will offer encouragement, inspiration, and practical ideas to help families continue growing together in faith.

  • Families come in many shapes and sizes, and each one is important both to the life of the Church and to the wider community. Within our families, we learn who we are, how to love, how to forgive, and how to care for one another.

    In Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), Pope Francis reminds us how deeply connected family life is to the mission of the Church. He writes that “the Church is good for the family, and the family is good for the Church” (87). Using the language of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Francis again calls the family the “domestic church,” describing the wider Church as “a family of families,” enriched by the life and witness of each home.

    More recently, Pope Leo XIV has continued this message by speaking about the importance of families in the life of the Church and the world. He described families as “the cradle of humanity’s future” and encouraged homes to become places where faith, hope, love, and peace can grow.

    Pope Leo also reminded the Church that families are called “to be a domestic church and a home where the fire of the Holy Spirit burns.” In his very first address as pope, he prayed that the peace of Christ would reach “your families, and all people, wherever they are.”

    Family life is often where faith first takes root. It is within the home that children first hear about God’s love, learn how to pray, and experience what it means to live with kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and compassion. Through ordinary daily life, families become places where faith is shared naturally and lovingly.

    Pope Francis highlights the many ways families live out their calling as domestic churches. In families, children are nurtured in faith, people learn the importance of prayer, and love is shown through patience, service, and care for one another. Family life teaches us how to live in community, how to support those in need, and how to welcome others with openness and mercy.

    The home can also become a place where the Gospel is lived in practical ways — caring for the poor, protecting creation, practising forgiveness, and standing alongside those who are struggling. Pope Francis reminds us that when families reach out with love and hospitality, especially to those who feel forgotten or excluded, they become a visible sign of Christ’s love in the world.

    No family is perfect, and faith grows slowly through everyday moments. The domestic church is built through small acts of love, shared meals, prayers, conversations, encouragement, and simply being present for one another.

  • Family life can be busy, noisy, and full of distractions. Sometimes it helps to pause and ask ourselves: how can we grow closer to God together as a family? How can we help our children come to know God’s love in everyday life?

    There is no perfect way to build faith at home, and every family will do it differently. What matters most is taking small and meaningful steps together. Here are a few simple ways to begin.

    1. Pray Together

    Prayer does not need to be long or complicated. The important thing is creating simple moments each day to turn to God together.

    This might be saying grace before meals, praying at bedtime, thanking God at the end of the day, or offering prayers for family members and friends. Even a short prayer shared together can help children learn that God is part of everyday life.

    Like any good habit, prayer grows stronger the more we practice it.

    2. Read the Bible Together

    Every family has stories that are important to them, and our family of faith is no different. The Bible helps us discover the story of God’s love for His people and teaches us about Jesus and the Gospel.

    Reading Scripture together as a family can be simple. You might read a short Gospel passage, use a children’s Bible storybook, watch a Bible story video together, or talk about the Sunday Gospel before Mass.

    The goal is not to know everything, but to help children become familiar with God’s Word and open their hearts to it.

    3. Talk About Faith in Everyday Life

    Faith is not only for Sundays or special occasions. Children learn most when faith becomes part of normal family conversation and daily living.

    Talk about God’s creation, acts of kindness, the beauty of nature, helping others, or moments when you have felt grateful or blessed. Share the joy of your faith naturally and warmly in everyday moments.

    Pope Francis reminds us that Christians are called to share the joy of the Gospel. A joyful and loving faith lived at home speaks more powerfully than words alone.

    These are only a few ways to begin. The other resources on this page offer more ideas and encouragement to help your family continue growing together in faith.

    • Pray as a family and read from  the Scriptures daily, certainly before meals, but also first thing in the morning or before bed. Find a time that works for your family. Use formal prayer, and try to include heartfelt unstructured prayer as well.

    • Pray a Family Rosary (each member leads a decade, and everyone shares intentions).

    • Create a prayer space and practice where you gather as family to praise, petition and thank God

    • Talk freely about the presence of God in the joys and sorrows of your life.

    • Demonstrate love for all members of the family and your neighbours and the world, including creation.

    • Pray for your neighbours as you pass their homes even if you do not know their names.

    • Encourage each other by reminding yourself  of the gifts each person has.  At the end of the day have a gratitude time when each person takes a turn to thank everyone for something they have done or said that day.

    • Remind  children that they are loved by God even when they make mistakes

    • Pray Mass as a family on Sunday.

10 Simple Ways Families Can Live the Domestic Church

Catholic family life expert, Dr. David Thomas, has identified ten simple but meaningful ways families can live out and share the life of the domestic church in everyday life. These are not complicated programmes or perfect routines - they are small, faithful habits that help build stronger families and deeper faith together.

  1. Speak kindly and respectfully to one another
    The way we speak at home matters. Listening well, encouraging each other, and showing respect helps create a home filled with love and trust.

  2. Share meals together whenever possible
    Sitting together around the table helps families reconnect, talk, laugh, pray, and support one another in the middle of busy lives.

  3. Take an interest in each other’s lives
    Showing interest in what family members enjoy, struggle with, or care about reminds each person that they are valued and loved.

  4. Stay connected with extended family
    Grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, and whānau help shape our identity and pass on stories, traditions, and faith from one generation to the next.

  5. Support one another through every stage of life
    Families grow and change over time. Being present for each other in joyful moments and difficult times strengthens family bonds.

  6. Help one another, while encouraging independence
    Love means supporting each other when needed, while also helping each person grow in confidence and responsibility.

  7. Celebrate important family moments and traditions
    Birthdays, anniversaries, baptisms, holidays, milestones, and family traditions create memories and remind us of God’s blessings through the years.

  8. Come together during difficult times
    In moments of grief, illness, stress, or uncertainty, families become places of comfort, strength, prayer, and support.

  9. Recognise and value each person’s unique gifts
    Every family member brings different talents, personalities, and strengths. These differences are gifts to be appreciated and encouraged.

  10. Treasure time spent together
    Faith grows through ordinary moments — laughing together, sharing stories, praying, helping, celebrating, and simply enjoying each other’s company. These everyday experiences help build a loving and faith-filled home.

Growing Together In Faith

  • Family Prayer

    We are not restricted to Church buildings as places of prayer. Wherever we gather we can pray. As the Domestic Church, the family is where we learn to pray.

    Pray for our own needs, the needs of the world. To petition (to ask), to praise and to give thanks. This might be through traditional prayers such as novenas or the rosary but we are only limited by imaginations. When we are deliberate about placing ourselves in the presence of God, about listening, responding and acting - we are praying!

    Make Family Prayer a Priority

    The frantic pace of family life can often mean that prayer gets lost in the shuffle. Here are five simple and practical suggestions to encourage family pray more:

    1. When you rise from bed, get down on your knees
      Try this method for morning prayer: Put your bedroom slippers or shoes under your bed at the end of the day. Each morning, while on your knees retrieving your footwear, say a quick prayer offering the whole day to God.

    2. Communicate with God whenever you climb into the car
      Many families spend a whole lot of their time in the family vehicle. As you buckle up, say a quick prayer that you will be aware of God’s presence wherever you are going and whatever you are doing.

    3. Place a prayer jar in the kitchen
      Keep a jar in the kitchen in which each family member, each day, places a note listing a “special intention” that others in the family can pray for. Before each family member goes to bed, he or she pulls a note from the jar and prays for that need.

    4. Say Thank You before you eat (GRACE)
      Before each meal, take a few moments to thank God who provides all that you need and blesses you with the lives of those around the table. Try mixing up 'set' prayers with spontaneous prayers, silent prayers and sung prayers.

    5. Pray when people or events upset you (PRAYERS)
      If you want a reliable way to pray more each day, make a habit of saying a short prayer whenever someone irritates you. A quick “Help me, God” is sufficient. You’ll never run out of opportunities!

  • Family Life

    Families are wonderful gifts to the Church. They are a Domestic Church; the place where faith is first taught and caught.

    Being a Family Together

    Dear parents, your children need to discover by watching you, that it is beautiful to love another.
                                                                                                                          Pope Francis

    You are a family! Your child/ren are a gift from God- and a great responsibility. During these important growing-up years, you are the most important influence in your child’s life. Recent research shows that parents have far more influence than commonly suspected in the formation of their child’s behaviour and character - far more influence that peers, popular media. You can have more effect on your child’s moral development than you realise, or at least you can if you choose to step into that role to the best of your ability.

    Building Christian Families

    1. Catholic Families Worship Together – The Mass is the source of and summit of our Christian life.  Therefore, as a family, its good to attend Sunday mass weekly together. Being part of a parish is more than just going to Mass (although that's a wonderful start). We are also called to actively participate in parish life – our spiritual home away from home. Additionally, we must also recognise that we do not always get it right, we struggle to be the loving people that we are called to be. Therefore, it is important to attend reconciliation, in order to seek God’s healing and grace, so we might live better lives. This is one of the habits we nourish in families. Parishes often hold reconciliation services during Advent and Lent.

    2. Catholic Families Pray Together – As a “domestic church”, we recognise that we cannot love one another as God loves us unless we are in relationship with God. To be in a relationship suggests we spend time with them, talking and listening. As families we pray together. We praise and thank God for all that we have been blessed with and for the grace to love each other and the world better. We recognise the expression “the family that prays together, stays together.”

    3. Catholic Families are Called to Love – Tertullian  (one of the wise ones of the Church), once proclaimed, “The world says, ‘Look at those Christians, see how they love one another!" The Christian life is first and foremost a call to love. We recognise that families are “Schools of Love.” Therefore, as a family, we constantly challenge ourselves to seek to discover new ways to be even more open with and loving to each other

    4. Catholic Families Celebrate Family – We recognise that, because our family relationships are the primary vehicle God uses to perfect us and challenge us to become everything we were created to be, family life itself is the most important activity. As families, we are called to cultivate our domestic church. We nurture regular family rituals and shared activities such as family dinners, family prayers, a games night and/or “family days” and regular time for one-on-one communication and relationship-building.  We hold these activities as sacred rituals of the domestic church and value them.

    5. The Catholic Family is a Witness and Sign – God wants to change the world through us.  First, by our striving to show in every way possible that we are loved by God, and rejoicing in it. Second, by show love for others through our serving the world-at-large. We do this by being aware of the world around us and searching for ways to 'clothe the naked, visit the housebound, give food to the hungry..."

  • The Rosary

    The Rosary is both one of the oldest and most popular prayers in the Catholic tradition. A meditative prayer it is entered into by repeating a cycle of prayers. It can be prayed alone or with others

    The intention of praying the Rosary is to enter into the events (mysteries) of Jesus' life. Praying the Hail Mary repeatedly helps the prayer to quietly reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

    How to Pray the Rosary

    The Rosary is a Scripture-based prayer. It begins with the Apostles' Creed, which summarizes the great mysteries of the Catholic faith. The Our Father, which introduces each mystery, is from the Gospels. The first part of the Hail Mary is the angel's words announcing Christ's birth and Elizabeth's greeting to Mary. St. Pius V officially added the second part of the Hail Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary center on the events of Christ's life. There are four sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious and - added by Saint John Paul II in 2002 - the Luminous.

    The prayers of the Rosary

    The repetition in the Rosary is meant to lead one into restful and contemplative prayer related to each Mystery. The gentle repetition of the words helps us to enter into the silence of our hearts, where Christ's spirit dwells. The Rosary can be said privately or with a group.

    The Mysteries of the Rosary

    The Mysteries of the rosary are the Christ events that are meditated on as the Rosary is prayed.   They are grouped by fives into four 'sets'.

    Traditionally there were three sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious.  In 2002 John Paul II added a fourth set the Luminous (Way of Light).

    Although there are traditional days when various mysteries are prayed. It doesn't matter you might choose another mystery to meditate on or another passage of Scripture.  In addition praying is what is important so you might only pray one decade not the whole set.  That doesn't matter - God just loves that you are praying

    The Five Joyful Mysteries are traditionally prayed on Mondays, Saturdays, and, during the season of Advent, on Sundays:

    1. The Annunciation

    2. The Visitation

    3. The Nativity

    4. The Presentation in the Temple

    5. The Finding in the Temple

    The Five Sorrowful Mysteries are traditionally prayed on Tuesdays, Fridays, and, during the season of Lent, on Sundays:

    1. The Agony in the Garden

    2. The Scourging at the Pillar

    3. The Crowning with Thorns

    4. The Carrying of the Cross

    5. The Crucifixion and Death

    The Five Glorious Mysteries are traditionally prayed on Wednesdays and, outside the seasons of Advent and Lent, on Sundays:

    1. The Resurrection

    2. The Ascension

    3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit

    4. The Assumption

    5. The Coronation of Mary

    The Five Luminous Mysteries are traditionally prayed on Thursdays:

    1. The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan

    2. The Wedding Feast at Cana

    3. Jesus' Proclamation of the Coming of the Kingdom of God

    4. The Transfiguration

    5. The Institution of the Eucharist