Inside Our Monthly Rosary Potluck (Responding To Our Lady’s Call)

In this episode, we’re sharing how we host our monthly Rosary potluck suppers, with 60 to 100 people gathering in our home for prayer, community, and a shared meal. From choosing a date to planning the guest list and preparing food, we’ll walk you through the process step by step. We’ll also talk about the spiritual significance of these gatherings, how we incorporate the liturgical calendar, and the intentions we pray for during the Rosary.

Transcript

welcome back everybody it's great to have you so in this video we're going to share with you exactly how we host our Rosary our Rosary potluck suppers that have an attendance of 60 to 100 people every month if this is of interest to you can keep on watching if not you can stop here but we have to tell you something before we get into the video this is our fourth time recording this video mhm fourth yeah that's never happened to us before like maybe once in a while some there was a glitch the camera stopped working and we've had to do it twice that's right we had to do a retake twice in I don't know 400 videos a handful of times yeah this is the fourth time we're doing this video uh anyways why I don't know maybe it's going to be a great blessing to you we hope it is I know like there is something working against us here so this is how we host our rosary potlock separ um if you want to know why we do what we do that video will be linked at the end of this video many people saw last week's video which is at the end of this video we're asking questions like how do you host this they wanted the details more specifically so we're going to be very detailed today so go ahead all right so the very first thing that we do after we've acknowledged that yes K the Lord wants us to host this event um is that we pray about a date because um we don't always host these events like the third Thursday of the month we literally look at our calendar and say what works best for our family I never consult other families and say okay does this evening work for you because there really aren't too many evenings that are you know suitable for our family to have a big group come into the house and so Ken and I have to really look at our calendar and decide what works best for our family and then the other thing that I also look at is um the lurgical calendar cuz I love it when these events fall on a feast day so for example our very first one in this this house we had was on January 1st the solemnity of Mary Mother of God and I just thought that was so special to be under our ladies mantle and to start these events in this house on her special feast day and then we also hosted one on um the Nativity of Our Lady which was September 8th and and then other times sometimes they're just you know Saints or um or solemnities or sometimes they just aren't and that's okay too you just kind of have to do what's best for your family okay so once you have the date set then you kind of have to start thinking about who should you invite and this is another important part you have to really ask the Lord who do you want to come to this event and you allow him to place it on your heart um or to bring people to mind that that he thinks would should be here and benefit from this event and so sometimes when I'm at Mass beforehand I'll think okay Lord who is it that you want me to invite and and I'll see different families or different people and I'll be like okay and I'll start making a running list and then once I have that list kind of made up and and I I'm always adding to the list or I look back to to previous events and I look oh who did we invite last time and you know I try to you know if someone hasn't been invited for a while try to remember to invite them and and it's difficult cuz clearly we only have a limited amount of space so we can't always invite everybody every single time um but uh anyhow I just trust God that he will take care of everything and that um I don't have to worry about people being offended I just really don't want anyone to feel offended or left out um okay so I sended a text message um as an invitation and it's always through text because that just seems to work the best for me and then um I try to make it a little bit personalized in the sense of always using the person's name and then if I've you know for some reason had an interaction with them recently maybe at church or maybe at an event that our kids were both at I'll try to address that and be like it was really great to see you at you know so and so's birthday party or at the sporting event or whatnot and uh just to kind of have a little touch point and just so that they know like you know I want them to know that they're special and loved and um you know unique in the eyes of God and hopefully they can sense that when they get my my text message so this is what I send them good morning so and so and family just wanted to invite your your family to the next Rosary potluck Thursday October 10th 2024 if you could let me know within the next couple of days if you and your family can make it that would be very helpful come anytime after 5:30 potlock supper begins at 6:00 Rosary at 7:00 dessert at 7:30 end at 8:30 we pray for three intentions number one reparation for sin our own personal sin and the sin of the world two for peace in the world and in our family amilies three that God would raise up Saints in our midst we really hope you can all make it I'll be serving chicken drumsticks broccoli salad and wild rice salad I'll send another message a day before letting everyone know who's all coming and what they are bringing so to be clear you can host this and you don't have to serve wild rice salad no and and actually when I think back I shouldn't have made all these difficult salads because it was a little bit stressful for me that day uh too much cutting and chopping okay so uh the reason why I let people know what I am providing is because then they kind of have a benchmark of like okay Janelle's already providing chicken maybe I'll make something different or uh something that compliments that or um there's no dessert yet so I'll bring a dessert and and then they just know a little bit of what to expect I also like to tell them that I will send out another message letting them know who's all coming and what they're bringing cuz I just know that sometimes like even for myself if I'm I'm going somewhere new it's nice to know that there's somebody else that's going to be there that I know um and if not then I have to have the courage to just you know make new friends and that's good too uh so then I wait once I sent this text send this text message out I wait to hear back from them if I don't hear within a day or two I do send them another message just saying hey just wondering if your family is able to come to the rosary poock no pressure and this way because it helps me to then if they can't come then I can invite another family and I don't ever want people to feel pressured you know either way and I'm never offended if somebody says no it's totally okay to not come to our Rose Republic you know they have to do what's best for them and their families um the other thing is like when I think of like people to invite I try to have a wide range of people so sometimes like in the early days of when we were hosting these events um we started in 2018 uh it was mostly geared towards families but now uh we kind of have a whole range like I like to have some young adults and you know retired couples people who you know maybe they have University students as children or um you know they're newly married it just it's a wide range there's no prerequisite um to you know your state of life it just you know as long as you want to be you're open to praying the rosary with a group of Catholics that would be lovely that's it y um and we also like to have also a little bit of a connection with the person uh because we do have a lot of little children in our home and so we have to know the person at least a little bit so then the day before I send out this message once I have the list of who's all coming this is what I send them good afternoon so and so we are very much looking forward to having your family come to our Rosary potluck on Thursday evening October 10th come anytime after 5:30 poock supper will be at 6:00 Rosary at 7:00 dessert at 7:30 and the end time is 8:30 if you have any questions feel free to text or call and then I write my text number and I send uh Ken's number as well and then I write the whole list of who's all coming and what they're bringing a lot of people don't always know what they're bringing and that's fine so there's a lot of blanks as to what people are bringing and then at the very end I write do not worry if you can if you can't bring something for the meal or if what you had planned has now changed all is well we always have more than enough food see you all soon and honestly I have never been concerned about the food um I just know that the lord always provides and even if there wasn't enough food I know nobody's going to starve so um so that's that and then um and on that list often times there's religious right oh yeah I do love to have like somebody who's either a priest or a sister attend the event it doesn't always happen uh but it is really lovely for you know other people to have that exposure to these people in a home setting okay so once we have the invitations sent and I'm kind of figuring out who's all coming then we start the preparations so I make sure that I have the food that I said I was going to prepare ahead of time the evening before I start thawing the meat and we start hiding up the house I think we usually start cleaning up the house after in the afternoon before the guests come or is it earlier well you know like I always have in the back of my mind oh it's the Ros pic this week like maybe I should start cluttering this little corner or something oh you do okay well M mind mind shifts just kind of in the afternoon before people come so this is what we do we we clear the Clutter from the counters we pick up the toys we make sure there's uh toilet paper in the bathrooms there's handh houses there for people there's uh we want the space to feel welcoming to people we want them to know that they're loved that we appreciate them and we want the space to communicate communicate that you know when we're washing a dish or cleaning a space why are we doing that it is because we love the person who will be using that space or that dish and so this is why we clean our home we want people to experience the love of God and so so we get ready and it takes some time you it takes the afternoon to clean the house up uh the kids are involved with that that's good good for kids to have chores and to learn responsibility and they know that they're working towards this event that's happening right around the corner so there's a time limit as well you got to work fast M and the thing is it's like I think you know oh I don't want someone to pull out the chair at the table and see a bunch of ketchup all over the chair you know so it's just for me like I want them to feel like okay this is like a nice comfortable space to come and be in and another thing is like we have to think ahead of time like okay what about where are people going to hang up their coats where are they going to put the food when they come in and so that's actually Ken you're always really good at so with the coats we have a a entrance area a boot room that we call it and I go there before our before our guests come and I clear out all our family's jackets if it's in the winter time it's the parkas and the mits and I take them sometimes multiple trips and I go into the garage and I put them into our vehicle that way when someone comes into our entrance it's completely clear of clutter and a person can easily find a hook and put their jacket or their par Parker uh it just makes it easier when they come in instead of coming in and you're like where do I put my things MH mhm yeah exactly and so prior to people entering into our home we have a little meeting with our kids and we kind of delegate different roles because it's really important for our children to understand that we are hosting family and so when we host there are certain kind of um characteristics that we should have and that is you know the virtue of affability which is friendliness and so having a smile on your face lead with a smile yeah and sometimes that doesn't always come naturally to all of us and sometimes it requires a lot of practice so um our kids are told to welcome people and they're even you know we sometimes model like when someone walks through the door what do we say to them welcome it's great to see you thank you for coming and so we'll have a couple children at the door to make sure that there's somebody greeting them if it can't be Ken or I I'm usually frantically you know doing some last minute things and then um they also help the guests um find a spot for their jackets or their shoes or where to put um their bins with their food and then they lead them up into the living space especially if they're a new person it's really good to have somebody there to greet them now if you come to our place and our children maybe don't quite do that exactly right just be patient with them they're learning so this is a work in progress some are stronger at it than others and including us sometimes on it on at a given day right yeah exactly so um then the people will often come up into the kitchena area and they'll have their hands full of food and then we'll tell them where the different food can go so for example like I like all the salads to be over here all the hot dishes over here desserts are placed in a separate area um away from um the Supper meal simply because I like to keep it we actually have our dessert after the rosary and so this way it's like out of sight out of mind nobody's tempted um and so if you have like maybe a laundry room or a closet or Pantry or just somewhere so that even if it's like in the corner somewhere uh just so that nobody's like tempted to like lift the Saran wamp off and take a little cookie particularly little kids yeah exactly you know you just want to eliminate that problem and then um at that point guest book oh I forgot about that yeah so we do actually have a guest book some of our kids are more um on top of that than others and they like to have our guests sign it so often someone will be at the entrance with that guest book and asking people to sign it at this point people are in the house and um I'm looking at my watch to see like okay it's about supper time or we're already over the time we got to get supper started so I grab a Belle that we got from Ken's great aunt Auntie Mary thank you for the bell I go and ring it so I'll go outside I'll go in the basement I'll go upstairs and I just ring this Bell and everybody gathers into the kitchen and at this point I usually find a chair to stand on and and then Ken stands right next to me and you welcome everyone yeah I say you know welcome everyone it's so wonderful to have you in our home we're grateful that you're here and then I quickly turn it over to Janelle MH and I kind of just go through a list of like little housekeeping things like where are the washrooms um where can everybody eat because I think sometimes people don't know like can we eat on the couches can we um you know go into that space over there so I I just sort of explain you know if you're if you have little children please keep them on the laminate floor just to eliminate some of the you know messes that might come up um and then you know I always the adults you're welcome to sit on the couches if you'd like or go out on the front deck or if you're 10 and older you can go into this space um try not to go into the basement with food sometimes I find plates down there two weeks later and um yeah so and one thing that I forgot to mention is that prior to everyone coming I also have to make sure that I have enough dishes uh we use disposable plates just because of the amount of people I don't have enough glass plates for everybody but my mother-in-law did go out and buy actual Cutlery from secondhand stores for us so that was a huge blessing so we have real Cutlery with disposable plates I also have disposable cups and then this way we kind of have a water area water jugs uh disposable cups with Sharpie markers everybody can label their name on the cup because if you have 60 or more people you don't want people taking multiple cups right cuz that ends up being a lot of garbage and um when we could have just reused the same one I have my coffee all ready to go I have the the pot started this way people when they come in I can offer them especially if they're a new person I can offer them would you like to have some coffee or some tea so we have real cups for the coffee yeah I do have real mugs for that um I actually did go and find some of those at the secondhand store and and yeah which is really nice and for I don't think we touched but in terms of drinking we do not serve juice yeah no I only keep have water just because it eliminates like sticky spills and those are big messes to clean up and everybody's fine with water um and then uh yeah so uh after I explained to everybody kind of like how things are going to run I also mentioned if you have like maybe for you if you have pets how do you want people to deal with your pets uh and then um also if kids are going upstairs into the bedrooms we make sure that the bedroom doors are always open we explain that there's more bathrooms upstairs if you want to it's just important for people to know like kind of the limits and where people can go you know maybe if you have a space in your house that's off limits it's important to articulate that to them as well and then I hand it over back to Ken yeah so the the the way that Janel just described what the announcements that are beginning actually took longer than the actual announcements that happened and it's it's a quick heart you know just saying this is where you can go this is where you can eat this is where the bathrooms are really quick then I will then start with Grace and so we do the sign of the cross say the traditional bless us the Lord and these th for and these thy gifts and then we end with uh for the souls of the faithful the part of the mercy of God Rest in Peace people join in for that and with the sign of the cross and then Janelle directs people on how to line up for the meal yes so I just explained the potluck line and then I also mentioned that the next time you hear the Bell that means that we are going to be praying the Rosary in 5 minutes and at that point people are free to just mingle and enjoy their meal and taste all these amazing dishes that people bring it's so fun to see what what people bring and this is the exciting part Janelle and I never sit together and we never eat together and the reason is we want to spread out and engage all our guests we want to talk to all our guests as much as possible make them feel welcomed and comfortable um I I usually don't eat during this time and the reason is it takes time to eat it takes time away from visiting with our guests and I want to make sure everyone's talked to uh during this time I'm also strategically going to certain men and asking them if they will if they feel comfortable leading a decade of the Rosary so I might go up to somebody say hey would you feel comfortable leading the first decade of the Rosary Janelle will make the announcement of the mystery then you lead with your father Hail Mary Glory Be and Oh my Jesus um and I always ask men who have been there before so they they know how everything works and I get someone to lead the first second third and fourth decade and I will lead the fifth decade you might be thinking also how in the world do Ken and Janelle seat 60 to 100 people in their home for a meal the answer is we don't they they just they're all over there some people are sitting at s sitting at a table some are on a couch some are outside some are on the floor sitting uh on their knees some are standing it's not perfect it's a little bit of a chaos but it's a beautiful chaos that's how we run it and so um if you're thinking well it has to be perfect look it it's definitely not perfect in our home and people don't care what they people I think care more about is being loved that's more important than having everything perfect when someone comes into your home and having a place settings and everything just got to people so so at that point I'm kind of checking my watch and I'm like okay it's almost time to pray the rosary so I usually go and find Ken and I'm like hey did you find enough people to lead their decades and I make sure that I have my pamphlet with the Mysteries and the fruits on it so that I don't forget what the depending on what day it is um and then I'll usually find a young person we have a basket of rosaries and I ask them can you start just like taking these rosaries apart and putting them on the coffee table and and then when people come to pray the rosary you can start handing them out cuz it's nice to sometimes to have a an actual Rosary in your hand when you're praying the rosary and then I also kind of find a few people and I just say can you just tidy up the coffee table to get rid of any of the garbage or the table or even um the island because I have to think ahead okay so after the rosary we're having dessert and you don't want to be like okay the Island's full of food now where do we put the dessert so we have to clear the space for dessert and um it's just to prepare things so that things go a little more smoothly after the rosary is done and sometimes we actually have people washing Cutlery because you know maybe we need some extra Cutlery for the dessert and then at that point I go get my bell and I start ringing it again and then everybody comes into the living space and Ken and I stand at the front and we explain um how the rosary is going to run so uh I will share that we're Gathering and we're praying for three intentions and I say we're praying for peace in the world peace in our home uh for reparation for sin our own sin and that of the whole world and that God would raise up Saints in our midst basically we're praying for the the conversion of ourselves and for other people that we'd be as holy as we ought to be for the glory of God uh I also mentioned that there's been gentlemen who've been asked to lead the Decades of the Rosary and that they'll jump in at the appropriate times and then I'll share with them also sometimes the history of how these intentions were placed upon our heart maybe that would be another episode that we'll do and um and then we begin to pray and I tell them they can sit they can stand they can kneel whatever is most comfortable and we begin the rosary with the sign of the cross I will lead the first part of the Rosary the I believe our father three h Mar's Glory Be Janelle then says the first mystery uh and the first gentleman who's been asked to lead will jump in and we continue that way up until the fourth decade with different men leading the the the decades and then I will lead the fifth decade and end with the additional Hail Holy Queen and St Michael prayer and then we end and conclude with a hymn the course of a Maria we sing that twice and everyone jumps in and it's beautiful to sing together and then we end with the sign of the cross yes and then I say don't move and I get everybody to kind of gather close nice and tight and I take a nice group photo which I then text to everybody who's come to the event just as a little U memory of of this evening um of praying the RO and again that's not the picture doesn't have to be perfect you know it's not like oh just do this quick yeah takes 15 seconds yeah and then uh I let everyone know okay um just give us a couple minutes to set out the dessert and then everyone's free to have dessert and mingle and until the end of the evening and um the reason I put an end time for the event is often because like it's a school night right and so we do have a busy household here with seven kids we homeschool and uh so the it's can be kind of exhausting the next day afterwards and honestly everybody is very respectful and sometimes there's some lingering visiting it which is totally fine I'm not there with my bell being like okay everybody time to go um and yeah it just it really is lovely uh one thing at the very end I know in at previous times and not necessarily Rosary Pock related but sometimes our kids are like Mom why is our house always so messy after and so so you know maybe just before some some families are leaving I'll just go into the basement usually where all the toys are and I'm like okay everyone let's pick up 10 things or you know it's actually been really lovely different parents or kids they just clean it up on their own accord and and our house I find often is cleaner after everyone leaves and when how it was before because people are just so willing to you know sweep the floor empty garbages um you know wash some dishes I make sure to have our dishwashers emptied so like people can just like put stuff in the dishwasher if it needs to go in there uh and yeah so I just I'm just so thankful I feel like these are such beautiful evenings um at the very end once everybody is gone then we kind of our family just congregates around the island there might be some leftover dessert some of the kids might be eating and we talk about how the evening went and we say what do you think went well what do you think we should do differently and uh that's about it yeah and going to the point as people are leaving we do try and see people off as they're at the door sometimes s both of us will stand at the door just one of us but we just want to say than you know thank you for coming um and then that little meeting with the kids yes M and that's it right and that's it yeah so uh if you want to mimic this we would welcome you to do so we know that some families are already doing this event in their homes since we've been sharing off and on about this uh we do think it's important to pray the rosary for these three intentions we welcome you to consider to do so you don't need to have have this many people in your home you can start with three you start with a couple friends um but think about starting did you mention that you were going to put the script no uh so Janelle give this the text that she sends out if you want that I'll put that in the description of the email so you can make it your own as well MH and I was thinking this morning before we recorded this video now for the second time today um fourth attempt fourth attempt was you know if there's one underlying message would be you know if you aren't already praying a rosary just get started like start by praying a daily rosary and then if you can invite people into that that's so wonderful uh I just think it's our lady is really calling us all to have this special devotion so other than that I that's it uh you got to the end of this video you should get an award cuz this is a long one um share with us below what's the not you and why we always love learning from you as well and hey one last point if you have already hosted this event in your home let us know in the comments