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Author Topic: Reducing prayer life?  (Read 13554 times)

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Änσnymσus

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Reducing prayer life?
« on: September 24, 2024, 10:06:28 PM »
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  • I think I may be doing too much for a layperson.

    Between morning/evening prayers, 3x rosary, daily spiritual reading, a few other small prayers and the Divine Office I am starting to feel very wearied. I think the Divine Office might be the biggest thing for me the cut out (not the first cut i've made), though I have only been saying it for over a year now, at first I was very fervent in my prayer life but was the years have gone by I have become much more lukewarm to the point that my prayers feel like a chore that I 'have to do' (and I do make sure I do them). I am also noticeably more distracted in prayer than when I started, even meditating on the mysteries of the rosary feel impossible, I can only think upon the same events so many times before it became dull and without new insights, and also between meditating and saying the Hail Marys it is difficult to focus on both.

    I just feel so tired.

    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #1 on: September 24, 2024, 10:31:30 PM »
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  • Consult a good Traditional Priest. As a Lay Person, I say morning offering with 3 Hail Mary devotion. Wear Brown Scapular. Pray 5 decade Rosary daily. 10 to 15 min Meditation on the 7 Sorrows Mary devotion daily and 3 Hail Mary devotion before bed.

    This gets in all of the requirements without interfering with my daily duties which is just as important in the eyes of God.   

    Everyone is different and needs to do what they feel like God is asking them and follow advice of a true Priest who is a good confessor.


    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #2 on: September 24, 2024, 10:34:21 PM »
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  • Consult a good Traditional Priest. As a Lay Person, I say morning offering with 3 Hail Mary devotion. Wear Brown Scapular. Pray 5 decade Rosary daily. 10 to 15 min Meditation on the 7 Sorrows Mary devotion daily and 3 Hail Mary devotion before bed.

    This gets in all of the requirements without interfering with my daily duties which is just as important in the eyes of God. 

    Everyone is different and needs to do what they feel like God is asking them and follow advice of a true Priest who is a good confessor.
    I guess I will, but he has mentioned in the past that lay people should try to have 2 hours of prayer life per day (counting everything).

    Offline Giovanni Berto

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #3 on: September 24, 2024, 11:43:25 PM »
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  • It is normal for prayer to feel difficult and arid a you progress in the spiritual life.

    If you have the time, read the book "The Three Ages of the Interior Life" by Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange. It is all thoroughly explained there.

    You can find the book in its entirety here:
    https://www.christianperfection.info/

    You probably are seeing this situation as a bad thing, but I believe that it can actually be a sign that you are progressing. God is testing you to see if you really love Him for what He is, and not for the solace that you find in spiritual things.

    Don't be disheartened.

    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #4 on: September 25, 2024, 12:11:48 AM »
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  • It is normal for prayer to feel difficult and arid a you progress in the spiritual life.

    If you have the time, read the book "The Three Ages of the Interior Life" by Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange. It is all thoroughly explained there.

    You can find the book in its entirety here:
    https://www.christianperfection.info/

    You probably are seeing this situation as a bad thing, but I believe that it can actually be a sign that you are progressing. God is testing you to see if you really love Him for what He is, and not for the solace that you find in spiritual things.

    Don't be disheartened.
    So should I continue saying the divine office? If I were to ever get married I don't know how I would have time for this.


    Offline Giovanni Berto

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #5 on: September 25, 2024, 12:36:59 AM »
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  • So should I continue saying the divine office? If I were to ever get married I don't know how I would have time for this.

    I presume that you know that you are not obliged to say the Divine Office, right?

    Obviously, I am no one to tell you how much or what to pray. I am only offering a contribution that I believe that will help you.

    If you have the time, I think that it is a good thing to pray the Breviary, but there might be other spiritual exercises that could be a better use of your time. I have the impression that the Breviary has become a source of anxiety to you. You could try to omit the shortest hours and do some meditation or some other exercise to see how it goes. 

    When you get married, you will have to reorganize your priorities. It is no good praying all the  hours of the Breviary if it prevents you from giving the necessary attention to your family.

    It would be very good if you could find a really holy Traditionalist priest to guide you, but I know how hard it is to find any Traditionalist priest these days, let alone a holy one.

    Offline Stubborn

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #6 on: September 25, 2024, 04:55:13 AM »
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  • I think I may be doing too much for a layperson.

    Between morning/evening prayers, 3x rosary, daily spiritual reading, a few other small prayers and the Divine Office I am starting to feel very wearied. I think the Divine Office might be the biggest thing for me the cut out (not the first cut i've made), though I have only been saying it for over a year now, at first I was very fervent in my prayer life but was the years have gone by I have become much more lukewarm to the point that my prayers feel like a chore that I 'have to do' (and I do make sure I do them). I am also noticeably more distracted in prayer than when I started, even meditating on the mysteries of the rosary feel impossible, I can only think upon the same events so many times before it became dull and without new insights, and also between meditating and saying the Hail Marys it is difficult to focus on both.

    I just feel so tired.
    Everyone gets distracted in prayer to some extent, some to a greater extent. It's something we all have to live with as long as we're in this world, watch the below video on this.

    As GB said, you're not obligated to pray the Divine Office, perhaps you should seriously consider replacing that with some other prayers or spiritual activity? May I suggest replacing the Divine Office with listening to good trad sermons every day? Some suggestions..... This one and this one I like, but there are plenty of others out there. 

    https://youtu.be/F2atOBv1JMI?t=1
    "But Peter and the apostles answering, said: We ought to obey God, rather than men." - Acts 5:29

    The Highest Principle in the Church: "We are first of all under obedience to God, and only then under obedience to man" - Fr. Hesse

    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #7 on: September 25, 2024, 07:28:48 AM »
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  • (...) If I were to ever get married I don't know how I would have time for this.

    If your state in life changes, naturally, your love and service to God is expressed in other ways besides prayer. Here is a quote from St. Vincent de Paul (his charism compelled him to help the poor):

    If a needy person requires medicine or other help during prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer the deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you interrupted your prayer to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for such service. One of God’s works is merely interrupted so that another can be carried out. So when you leave prayer to serve some poor person, remember that this very service is performed for God. Charity is certainly greater than any rule.


    Offline Soubirous

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #8 on: September 25, 2024, 07:48:20 AM »
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  • 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18: Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all. Extinguish not the spirit.

    The reduced time you have for prayer can still be very efficacious even if the formal part of it is limited to what time is available to you. 

    Do you find that the words of those prayers surface as you're busy going about your day? Good, then encourage it and be open to those spontaneous moments. The added benefit is that good phrases will start to replace whatever worries, distractions, and self-naysaying may be running through your mind.
    Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices. - St. Teresa of Jesus

    Offline Soubirous

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #9 on: September 25, 2024, 08:27:02 AM »
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  • You probably are seeing this situation as a bad thing, but I believe that it can actually be a sign that you are progressing. God is testing you to see if you really love Him for what He is, and not for the solace that you find in spiritual things.

    Don't be disheartened.

    This.
    Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, all things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices. - St. Teresa of Jesus

    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #10 on: September 25, 2024, 08:27:47 AM »
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  • Can you perhaps switch up your morning and evening prayers? I have both a St. Andrew daily missal, and a Baronius press missal. I'll usually pray morning prayers from one for a few days, and then use the other for a few days. The morning prayer in the Baronius press missal is nice because it includes the litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, but the morning prayer in St. Andrew daily missal includes the Angelus, and also a commemoration of that days' particular saint to look up and ask for their intercession. Having different morning prayers (and evening prayers, if you like) keeps things from getting too routine. For evening prayers I use a short form, because I'm usually very tired in the evenings. 

    You can also find different visual aids for the various Rosary mysteries, so that you don't always look at the same one. I have an old set of Tan books visual aids for the Rosary, but I think that Tan no longer offers this for sale. 

    You can also ask for Our lady's help in knowing what to do about this situation, but perhaps you've already done that. 


    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #11 on: September 25, 2024, 10:55:44 AM »
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  • Better to persevere in stability rather than change things up, and to only change things up when really necessary. If you can, continue with what you are doing, only try to be more fervent. Just try it for another couple months and see if you still need change.

    Änσnymσus

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #12 on: September 25, 2024, 04:01:32 PM »
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  • Better to persevere in stability rather than change things up, and to only change things up when really necessary. If you can, continue with what you are doing, only try to be more fervent. Just try it for another couple months and see if you still need change.
    You can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results

    Offline Miseremini

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #13 on: September 25, 2024, 04:05:53 PM »
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  • Your problem is you have become both stagnant and overwhelmed at the same time....stagnant in the repetition of the same prayers day after day and overwhelmed by trying to do it all while knowing there is much you're not doing.
    Holy mother church is designed to keep things simple and fresh and the faithful followed her lead for centuries up to Vat II.  Since then people have forgotten how to pray with the Church.
     
    The Church's  Liturgical year,
     Advent,
    Lent,
    Easter
     Pentecost
     and time after Pentecost.
     
    The Church's monthly dedications, 
    1, Holy Infancy 
    2 Holy Trinity/Holy Family 
    3  St Joseph
     4 Holy Ghost/ Lent
    5 Blessed Virgin
    6 Sacred Heart
    7 Precious Blood
    8 Most Pure Heart of Mary
    9 Holy Cross
    10  Holy Angels
    11 Poor Souls in Purgatory
    12 Immaculate Conception/Advent
     
    The Church's daily dedications.
    The Holy Trinity
    The Holy Ghost/ Poor Souls in Purgatory
    St Michael and the Holy Angels
    St. Joseph
    Blessed Sacrament
    The Passion/ Sorrowful Mother
    The Blessed Virgin Mary
     
    It is so easy to follow the church's plan as above that you will find you are praying less but with more fervour and devotion and you'll never become stagnant, as everyday is different and every month and season is different. Within this framework you choose which of the multitude of prayers/devotions you feel attached to...some a litany, some a chaplet, some a favourite prayer or even a sacrifice in their honour, all the while keeping that specific dedication in mind throughout the day.  By the end of the month you're on to a different set of devotions, no chance for your mind to wonder.  There is a time and place for everything...you don't have to do everything all the time.
     
    Of course you make your morning offering, intention to gain all indulgences throughout the day and any special intention you have and your night prayers, which leaves you time for your rosary according to the Liturgical season and any special intention that arises unexpectedly.
     
    It will take you months to get this set into your routine but I guarantee you'll never become stagnant or overwhelmed again and your devotion and reverence will increase by leaps and bounds.
    By the time you get married and have a family it will be second nature and you'll teach your children how to pray and not just say prayers.
     
    The biggest help I can offer is... get yourself a Father Lasance "My Prayer Book"  and in the mean time here is a link to his book starting with the above mentioned dedications.
     
    https://archive.org/details/MyPrayerBookHappinessInGoodness/page/161/mode/2up
     


    "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and them that hate Him flee from before His Holy Face"  Psalm 67:2[/b]


    Offline songbird

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    Re: Reducing prayer life?
    « Reply #14 on: September 25, 2024, 04:59:17 PM »
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  • I started saying 3 rosaries a day in 2006.  I will say this, +Fr. Leblanc encouraged me.  He said he is not boasting that he says 3 rosaries a day.

    I can say that every time I pick up my rosary I get distractions.  It is certain to me that demons don't like what I am doing.  I get yucky feelings.  I ask Our LADY to help me and my guardian angel.  I prefer to say a rosary in the morning in bed.  Then a short morning offering.  Then my husband and I have a rosary together after breakfast.  I like saying the Sorrowful with my husband. I get very distracted with the Sorrowful and with him it helps my distractions.  Then I like going around the house looking at our statues, pictures and crucifixes.  when I can I like rosary outside, if I can, or short walking in front of the house.

    I say the Little Office of Our Lady and night prayers.  I like reading catholic material.  I sure do not like the yucky thoughts that come to me.  I am older and I must take Eve. Prime Rose oil for those feelings to stay away( age 72).

    When I pray I also think of those who need prayer, be they priests religious, family, poor souls etc.  That helps me, because I know there are those who hurt and need conversion.  I never vowed to say 3 rosaries, but I did tell Our Lord, it is a goal.

    Bless you, for pleasing The Holy Trinity and Our Lady!