I feel its tough to pray

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I always religiously sit to pray , but i always get distracted by the tim eIam half way through the rosary or a religious service or a prayer meeting , How can I hold my concentration back , kindly help me please.

-- varun (varunsayshello@hotmail.com), December 21, 2002

Answers

Response to i feel its tough to pray

That's normal I think. For the Rosary, try reading the Scriptures first that correspond to each mystery. Maybe start smaller first; do a really, really good meditation on one decade and move up from there over time. One well said decade seems better than one glazed over & hazed over Rosary. That's what I do with the kids.

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), December 21, 2002.

Response to i feel its tough to pray

If you can get a tape, or disc, of good catholic music, not this modern stuff., but Panis Angelicus, Sacred Heart of Jesus, etc, try that. It sure helps me. God bless.

-- ed Richards (loztra@yahoo.com), December 21, 2002.

Response to i feel its tough to pray

I know the feeling, so you aren't alone. What works for me is to concentrate on every single word, especially when saying the rosary..as if I've never said it before.."Hail, Mary..FULL OF GRACE.." wow..FULL of grace...powerful words there..even if it takes me longer sometimes to pray the rosary because I get caught up in the emotions of the prayer, it becomes a more meaningful prayer then for me. Also, when I find myself thinking about what to cook for supper all of a sudden..realizing that my weak little mind has wandered, I ask God for forgiveness, and for His help to keep me focused on Him...

-- lesley (martchas@hotmail.com), December 21, 2002.

Response to i feel its tough to pray

It is perfectly normal to have wandering thoughts during prayer. But as your prayer life matures along with your relationship with the Lord, this will be less of a problem. I have experienced this problem myself, but the more I pray and try to remain open to God's Will, the less problems I have concentrating.

Also, if you are praying late at night when you are tired, this could be the cause of your problem. Try praying more in the morning, or getting ready for bed 30 minutes earlier, so you will have more time to pray and will be less drowsy.

Hope this helps.

-- Tom (tjb2_99@yahoo.com), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

varun,

There is a beautiful story in St. Louis De Montfort's Secret of the Rosary which I will paraphrase for you.

It seems three sisters (nuns) were praying the rosary, when one day Mary appeared to the three sisters, but differently to each. To the first sister she appeared in radiant clothes with gold letters saying "hail mary" upon them. To the second sister she appeared in green, with no radiance and no gold letters. The second sister asked the reason for the difference to which Mary said that the first sister had said the rosary better than her. To the third sister She appeared in tatters and rags, to which that sister begged for a little more time to pray well.

Eventually, they all earned Heaven and were taken up.

As Emerald had said, one decade, even one "Hail Mary" said well counts for so much more than 10 said half-heartedly. In fact, St. Louis De Montfort likens the prayers of the rosary to adorning Jesus and Mary with a crown of roses.

I would highly recommend that if you have difficulties in praying your rosary, you slow down, you focus on the mysteries, especially the new "Luminous Mysteries," and allow yourself to contemplate each mystery. Remind yourself that in a world that has all but removed the supernatural (save ghosts and goblins) prayer still has an universal effect. Who knows maybe that offering you made of that rosary could have helped sanctify or save a soul, perhaps even your own.

Also, never neglect your rosary for "something better." Granted, the rosary is a private devotion, but a devotion that has been the sanctification of souls, the propagation of peace, and even the attributor to miracles. Now, remember God is the reason for all of it, but the Rosary is like having a beautiful conversation with the Trinity through Mary, a conversation you wish to never end.

When you are distracted, a holy priest once recommended that I ask my angel to help me pray the rosary, and to keep distractions away. Personally, I also find that praying the rosary while walking or driving can help keep you alert as well as away from distractions and even falling asleep. Also, distractions will occur, the thing is, don't let them take control, don't let yourself wander so much so you forget what mystery you are even on. It takes discipline as well as the grace of the Holy Spirit, for "we don't know how to pray as we ought."

Finally, I would recommend you pick up The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis De Montfort, you can find it at St. Escriva

God Bless You

May Mary take Her gentle hand and bring you to Christ

-- (seminarian@ziplip.com), December 22, 2002.



Response to i feel its tough to pray

Whoops, forgot to close the links in the HTML:

Tan Books St. Escriva

-- (seminarian@ziplip.com), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

Dear Varun,

There is a beautiful tape of the Rosary...I don't remember the name of it now, but a priest says the rosary accompanied by beautiful, gentle-sounding music.

You can listen to the tape while driving and say the rosary, along with the priest - that is one way to say the rosary if you find yourself distracted with that kind of prayer - some people do have a hard time getting through it. It is a good start.

You can check it out on the Internet - catholic sites usually have the tape.

God Bless.

MaryLu

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

Seminarian, you said, Eventually, they all earned Heaven and were taken up.

To avoid the possibility of anti-Catholics reading that and complaining that Catholics think they can save themselves ("earning their way to heaven"), can you please re-phrase that sentence and/or explain what you mean by "earned"? Thank you.

-- (playing@it.safe), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

It was a direct quote from St. Louis De Montfort, who was quoting what Our Lady said. My guess would be they earned Heaven by their simple life of prayer as a religious, specifically, by praying the rosary well. However, I cannot tell you exactly what She meant by saying that, and therefore there will most likely be speculation, because you pointed it out :)

God Bless

-- (seminarian@ziplip.com), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

P.S. lest any "anti-Catholic" think I am copping out here, they might keep in mind that it is the Holy Spirit that helps us to pray as we ought, therefore, the beginning and end of all prayer is never of our own accord. It is never anyone that "earns" it of their own accord but through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, no one, Catholic or anti-Catholic, can earn Heaven by their own means.

God Bless

-- (seminarian@ziplip.com), December 22, 2002.



Response to i feel its tough to pray

Just think about the rosary and nothing else. It may be hard, but if you concentrate, you can do it.

-- Guillermo Quintero (willie5@emelec.com), December 22, 2002.

Response to i feel its tough to pray

Varun,

The devil hates when we say the Rosary; so you may try saying the St. Michael Prayer before before praying; the devil will do anything to take us away from prayer, anything that brings us closer to Mary and Jesus.

ML

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), December 22, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

Varun,

Pray for yourself and ask God for the grace to pray. Ask God to help you through any burdens that you may be experiencing with your prayer time at the moment.

Choose a time to pray. Don't defeat yourself and expect to pray for 30 minutes when you might need to work your way there. The more you chase Him, the more He will let you catch Him. Keep Praying!

I thought you got some excellent answers from the other posts that I read.

God bless you

David S

-- David (David@excite.com), December 24, 2002.


Response to i feel its tough to pray

I like that, David --- "The more you chase Him, the more He will let you catch Him. Keep Praying!"

-- Ty2 (Thurmont@US.15), December 24, 2002.

I read this old post - in search of info on info for First Friday Devotions. Even in this simple task that I sought to do, I got distracted. It seems in anything related to religion, the devil is going to try and distract us from our purpose.

During prayer when my mind wanders, I clear my head by asking Jesus to cover me with his blood, bind the devil and bind the spirit of distraction. This always brings a feeling of peace and clarity to my mind. There are days when I need to say this several times during prayer.

God Bless!

-- Jennifer (jrabs@jrabs.com), July 02, 2004.



Great advice Jennifer. I get distracted a lot. Probably because I forget to pray for help with praying. I certainly need the Holy Spirit to keep me focused. I will start each prayer with your suggestion from now on.

-- Andy S ("aszmere@earthlink.net"), July 02, 2004.

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