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Author Topic: Should you name every person you know when praying  (Read 1458 times)

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Offline Malleus

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Should you name every person you know when praying
« on: March 15, 2015, 07:08:51 PM »
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  • I personally know probably around 150 people and I wonder if I have to name them all when I pray for the conversion of sinners. There will always be some people outside your household who mean something to you and you wish would convert, but if i name only my parents and siblings, i feel i neglect those others, and if i name only my parents, sibling and those other certain ones, i feel i neglect the rest, so then i feel like i should name them all so as to not leave anyone out, but then this becomes a little bothersome to do each day, so then i get back to thinking if simply saying "for the conversion of sinners" would be enough and sufficient.

    Would God and Our Lady really not convert someone you know simply because you didn't name the person in your prayers? Would naming the person or not really make a difference and decide whether the person will end up converting or not?


    Offline Matto

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #1 on: March 15, 2015, 07:13:12 PM »
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  • Quote from: Malleus
    so then i get back to thinking if simply saying "for the conversion of sinners" would be enough and sufficient.

    Would God and Our Lady really not convert someone you know simply because you didn't name the person in your prayers? Would naming the person or not really make a difference and decide whether the person will end up converting or not?

    I think it is enough to say for the conversion of sinners. The good God knows who you know and who you would most like to convert so you don't have to name them specifically each and every time you pray.
    R.I.P.
    Please pray for the repose of my soul.


    Offline songbird

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #2 on: March 15, 2015, 07:41:52 PM »
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  • I strive to say 3 rosaries a day.  Not that I do, I try.

    First Joyful mysteries rosary:  For all clergy, living and dead and religious/seminarians.

    2nd Sorrowful:  For all those in need of conversion/those in agony, purgatory

    3rd Joyful: For all our family members living and dead and friends.

    that is an idea.

    Offline Malleus

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #3 on: March 15, 2015, 08:47:01 PM »
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  • Quote from: songbird
    I strive to say 3 rosaries a day.  Not that I do, I try.

    First Joyful mysteries rosary:  For all clergy, living and dead and religious/seminarians.

    2nd Sorrowful:  For all those in need of conversion/those in agony, purgatory

    3rd Joyful: For all our family members living and dead and friends.

    that is an idea.


    When you say 3 rosaries, do you mean 150 Hail Marys?

    And why 2 joyful and 1 sorrowful?

    Offline PG

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #4 on: March 15, 2015, 09:43:59 PM »
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  • Malleus - If all of these 150 people you mention really mean something to you, it may be meritorious for you find a way to pray for them all personally.  If that means you have to pray for 10 per day and cycle through them over a 15 day period, then that could work(although there may be another better way to cycle).  Another idea would be to do all 150 on sundays or fridays, and the rest of the week do efficient and fewer more all encompassing prayers.  

    I would sometimes split my intentions over morning and evening prayers when my intentions would grow in numbers.  Because, all of these things that I pray for really mean something to me.  However, for me, it works best for me to keep my intercessions limited and combine where I can.  Matto's advice works.  I do that with certain prayers/times, and I wouldn't think of doing it any other way.  But, it varies.  It all depends on how much you have to give/sacrifice.  

    Mt 18: 12-13 might be useful to read.  Christ rejoices over the one lost/found sheep than the ninety-nine that hadn't gone astray.  So, again, if you are moved by each of the 150, consider it from that angle.  They all are worth it.
    "A secure mind is like a continual feast" - Proverbs xv: 15


    Offline songbird

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #5 on: March 15, 2015, 10:32:54 PM »
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  • So, sorry, I meant Glorious mystries.

    Offline poche

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #6 on: March 16, 2015, 10:43:51 PM »
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  • God knows who you are praying for whether you name them of not. Please pray for me.

    Offline 1st Mansion Tenant

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #7 on: March 17, 2015, 01:25:16 AM »
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  • I used to do the same thing, but the list got so long that it was totally unmanageable.
    Then I felt guilty. Now I just ask Him to convert/bless those for whom I habitually pray. If a certain person sticks out in my mind, I will add separate, more specific prayers for that person.  


    Offline poche

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #8 on: March 17, 2015, 03:34:47 AM »
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  • One night I was training someone from another property. As part of the training I had to leave this person alone. I decided to pray the rosary and offer it up for someone who was dying. It was around 1:30am. After I got off work that morning I went to another church for the daily mass. I was expecting to go to a day of reflection but that was scheduled for another day and I was mistaken. Before mass started the priest came out and said, "I have an announcement. A parishoner of ours just died last night at 1:30am."

    Offline cassini

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #9 on: March 17, 2015, 03:29:15 PM »
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  • Quote from: poche
    God knows who you are praying for whether you name them of not. Please pray for me.


    Great thread Malleus, I agree poche

    When you get to my age (72) and even younger, you often forget who asked you to pray for them and who you promised to pray for. At such times I usually say 'O God I forgot, but you don't, you know who I mean, who I promised and who asked me to pray for them.' I am fully confident God knows who they are and allocates the prayers accordingly.

    At other times I pray for my relatives, My dad, brother, uncles and aunts and one first cousin. I go through them one by one, picturing them (all dead now) in my mind so I never forget them and what they meant to me as a little boy. Again I tell God to tell them I am praying for them and haven't forgotten them.

    Other times I remember two men I worked with 50 years ago, now both long dead. I name them to the Lord and ask Him to tell John and Bob I have just said a prayer for them. I fear no other on earth says a prayer for them.

    Then there are the prayers we Catholics say for everybody in the whole world, dead and alive. That is what is so good about Catholicism.

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #10 on: March 17, 2015, 05:06:44 PM »
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  • God knows those to whom we intend to send our prayers.  I simply add, after a relatively-short list of specific names, "and for all those for whom I generally intend to pray, for all those to whom I have offered my prayers, for all of my benefactors and friends, for all those whom I have hurt by my sins and for those who have sinned against me."  I do this in the context of having offered all of my merits and prayers in general to Our Lady according to the philosophy of St. Louis de Montfort.  I trust her to distribute the merits of my prayers as God would desire that they be distributed.  Otherwise, one can be overwhelmed with scrupulosity and even neurosis.  Plus there's the angst of trying to figure out how much to distribute to each person.  This way we put the entire values of our merits, such as they are, in Our Lady's hands, to distribute accordingly.  Our Blessed Mother will handle everything perfectly for us.

    Of course, we don't really have any merits that aren't communicated to us from Our Lord anyway.  It's like a parent who gives his kids a little allowance money, and then they save the allowance money to buy some gift for their parents.  That money comes from the parents in the first place, and the parents have far more than what the kids give back, but it's all about the heart and the intent.

    So one of the many secondary benefits of consecration to Our Lady is that we offload this particular worry and concern from our hearts.  I ask her to distribute the merits of these prayers as SHE desires.  Otherwise I can get carried away with wondering whether I should pray more for souls in Purgatory or for the conversion of sinners or for whatever else.  Our Lady knows best.


    Offline Miseremini

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    Should you name every person you know when praying
    « Reply #11 on: March 17, 2015, 05:57:57 PM »
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  • I only pray for my immediate family by name, then for all my teachers, classmates, (even though many are dead) benefactors, ancestors, friends, relatives, descendents, neighbours and all those who have no one to pray for them.

    When praying for the conversion of sinners it's for the conversion of me and my family and for all those who have influence and authority over us. (that covers everybody from the media to neighbours to the government)

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