I would like to tell you about the place of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my family.

Prayer, as we well know, holds or should hold an important place in everyone's life, especially for us who are consecrated persons.

As far back as I can remember, prayer has been a part of my life. There have been times when we prayed regularly as a family, but we had, and still have today, two very special occasions when we gather to pray together: on the night of December 31 and January 1.

We would kneel and pray to thank the Lord for the past year and to entrust the new year to Him. On January 8, the date chosen by my parents, we would pray especially in honour of the Sacred Heart. We continue this practice today, and our parents pray with us in the Father's house.

The tradition of dedicating a special day to honour the Sacred Heart of Jesus comes from my maternal grandmother. Every year on June 3, we would celebrate the Sacred Heart prayer. Grandmother probably chose this date because that year, it was the actual feast day of the Sacred Heart.

Even though I wasn't born yet at the time, I know that it was an Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the official Consecration of the family, with the parish priest coming to perform the ceremony in which the Sacred Heart of Jesus was honoured.

There was a framed image of the Sacred Heart, as well as a family document signed by the officiating priest, the parents and the children. The blessed image of the Sacred Heart and the family document were framed and placed prominently in my grandmother's living room. This Sacred Heart still exists and is now in the home of one of my sisters.

Every year on June 3, the whole family, children and grandchildren, would gather at Grandmother's house to pray in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of course, the Virgin Mary was not far away and also had her place in the living room. After the prayer, the little children – and there were many of us – would sit around a long table for the meal.

And when the parents ate, the children played various games. There were no mobile phones back then.

This year marks 29 years since we, the descendants of our grandmother and grandfather, took up the tradition of celebrating the Sacred Heart on June 3.

In my family, my parents chose January 8 as the date to honour the Sacred Heart. It is a time for prayer, conversation, reunion and sharing.

I will never cease to thank the Lord for the gift of faith and for having been born into a believing and practising family.

I am sure that you too have had or still have family traditions in which the Lord is honoured.

Ellena Brelu Brelu