If children do not learn to pray from their parents, it will be difficult for them to ever learn to communicate with God naturally, simply and deeply, Pope Benedict said.

"In the family, children from the tenderest age can learn to perceive the sense of God thanks to the teaching and example their parents give of living in the presence of God," the pope said at his weekly general audience Dec. 28.

Pope Benedict looked at the Holy Family as a model of family life marked by faith, work and regular moments of prayer together.

"The Holy Family is the icon of the domestic Church called to pray together.

The family is the domestic Church and must be the first school of prayer," he said.