For families facing a crisis, it is natural and good to turn to faith and spiritual practices to help make sense of the madness. (Notably, the Pew Research Center says that roughly a quarter of Americans report that their faith has deepened during the present pandemic.) And while it’s not impossible to establish healthy habits in crisis, it’s far easier to have such habits in place, so you can dig into them when you feel the world crashing around you.

A 50-year research review from the American Psychological Association found that “family routines and rituals are powerful organizers of family life that offer stability during times of stress and transition.” The review defined “routine” as more like communication, something taking little time, and helping us convey “what needs to be done.” “Rituals, on the other hand,” writes lead author Dr. Barbara H. Fiese, “involve symbolic communication and convey ‘this is who we are’ as a group and provide continuity in meaning across generations.” The most common rituals of importance to families were birthdays, holidays, Passover, funerals, and the “Sunday dinner.”

How you as a family approach your spiritual life is of course a deeply personal issue, but all the research points to its importance. Whether you attend religious services of some kind, pray together (also associated with greater marital and family relationship satisfaction and trust), read faith texts, practice spiritual meditation, or some other practice, your family benefits from a disciplined, mindful approach to faith. Whatever it is, do it together, and probably even with other families. The research generally points to the fact that it is communal faith vs. a more individualistic, personal faith that confers a myriad of benefits. And be intentional about explaining to your children why you as a family do what you do.