I am too tired to focus in prayer, what can I do?

Q: Dear Dan, I have a question regarding the rosary that I’m hoping you can help me with. I love to pray the rosary and typically I’m able to meditate on the mysteries. Sometimes, I find myself not being able to sleep, but tired enough that I’m not able to effectively focus on the mysteries. In that situation, like last night, I focused my mind on each word, it was almost like praying against a white background, while I just focused on each word of the rosary with my intent on being able to draw my heart to God and away from distractions as much as I can. Is this an acceptable way to offer up the rosary?

Thank you for your blog. I am a quadriplegic and don’t have access to any sort of formal spiritual direction, so your blog has been a very welcome addition to my regular reading. God bless you.

A: Dear Friend, your question was moving to me. I am grateful that this apostolate has been a blessing to you. It is amazing how many people we come across who have very limited access to assistance in their spiritual journey. Your situation is a perfect example of the importance of providing this kind of material. With my admiration, here are a few thoughts.

Too Tired to Focus in Prayer

It might give you comfort to know that this is a universal problem. St. Therese of Lisieux suffered with this problem. Here’s a beautiful reflection of her sentiments on this topic from her Story of a Soul:

O Jesus, Your little bird is happy to be weak and little. What would become of it if it were big? Never would it have the boldness to appear in Your presence, to fall asleep in front of You. Yes, this is still one of the weaknesses of the little bird: when it wants to fix its gaze upon the Divine Sun, and when the clouds prevent it from seeing a single ray of that Sun, in spite of itself, its little eyes close, its little head is hidden beneath its wing, and the poor little thing falls asleep, believing all the time that it is fixing its gaze upon its Dear Star. When it awakens, it doesn’t feel desolate; its little heart is at peace and it begins once again its work of love. It calls upon the angels and saints who rise like eagles before the consuming Fire, and since this is the object of the little bird’s desire the eagles take pity on it, protecting and defending it, and putting to flight at the same time the vultures who want to devour it. These vultures are the demons whom the little bird doesn’t fear, for it is not destined to be their prey but the prey of the Eagle whom it contemplates in the center of the Sun of Love.

As someone who suffers from chronic pain and a very challenging sleep disorder, I understand what it means to be tired during prayer – so much so that I have fallen asleep while standing up during Mass (yes, you do fall down when that happens if you don’t catch yourself quickly enough)! That said, I have also taken aggressive measures regarding diet, medication, and sleep pattern modification. There is no excuse when we fail to do all that is within our power to mitigate challenges we face. However, when all of our good efforts fail or fall short, when our bodies fail us as they will all of us eventually, we recognize, as did St. Therese, that God is merciful and He understands the challenges we face and the weak vessels that we are. In this light, we can wake up and bring our heart and mind back into focus recognizing that we are loved and cherished and that the effort we have put forth to worship Him is reciprocated with love and tenderness.

The Battle of Prayer

Praying the Rosary one word at a time is an excellent way to work to turn our hearts to Him and to our honoring of Mary! There have been times when I have had to pray my vocal prayers with a measure of determined but gentle force in order to keep my mind and heart engaged. This doesn’t sound all that contemplative but these are times when we are wrestling ourselves and our weaknesses to Him and not times of ease and delight. The key here is to avoid getting frustrated. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#572) desribes this challenge in terms of a “battle”

Prayer is a gift of grace but it always presupposes a determined response on our part because those who pray “battle” against themselves, their surroundings, and espectially the Tempter who does all he can to turn them away from prayer. The battle of prayer is inseparable from progress in the spiritual life…

Whatever you are feeling is what you are feeling, whatever you can do is what you can do, no need to lament or allow anxiety to rule you. Simply turn back to Him a thousand times if you must. Remember that a glance toward Him will bring a response of loving grace. I have no doubt that even the smallest acts of devotion, if they are all we can offer, are of great significance in the kingdom of heaven.

An hour of prayer where we struggle and fight to focus on mere minutes or even seconds of attention to Him can be more meritorious than an hour of tranquil unafflicted devotion.

What is a novena?

Q: Dear Father John, I have a question for your blog! I think I don’t really know what is a novena? How did it appear in the church and why? I know “neuvaine” means 9, but why 9 days before the feast/saint you are praying? Why would I  pray a novena…?

A: This question is right on time! One of the Church’s most popular novenas is the Novena to the Divine Mercy, which starts on Good Friday. Maybe a few thoughts regarding the issues you raise can help all of us live it more deeply. We’ll take your questions one at a time: What’s a novena? Where did novenas come from? Why would anyone pray a novena?

What is a novena?

A novena is a formalized vocal prayer extended over a specific amount of time. Remember, vocal prayer is the kind of prayer where we use other people’s words to address God and to lift our hearts and minds to him. The “Our Father” is a vocal prayer, for example. St. Francis of Assisi’s famous “Make me an instrument of your peace…” prayer is a vocal prayer. You don’t have to say these prayers out loud to make them “vocal,” rather, you just have to give “voice” to (“voice” and “vocal” both come from the same Latin root: voco, vocare, which means to speak out or to call) the words of the prayer. We can recite the words of a vocal prayer in the silence of our hearts, or audibly. In either case, however, vocal prayers give us a channel for the desires and thoughts of our souls.

When we use this kind of prayer, we align our minds and hearts with the meaning of the words, giving God praise, renewing our faith and trust, asking him for things we need or desire, or all of the above. A good vocal prayer helps us connect with God. It also reinforces our Christian convictions: by giving words to good desires and expressions of love for God, we actually exercise those desires and that love, and when we exercise them they grow.

A novena is a vocal prayer, or series of vocal prayers, that you commit to praying over an extended period of time. These prayers are usually linked to a specific devotion (for instance, devotion to a particular saint) or liturgical celebration (a novena for Pentecost, for example). They are also very often linked to a specific intention that we are praying for – you can offer a novena as a way to petition God for a special grace, like the healing of a sick person or the conversion of someone who is far away from God. The words of the novena will reflect all of these factors. They will remind you of the meaning of the liturgical celebration, the virtues of a saint, or the goodness of God. And the combination of prayers will also, usually, give you a place to insert your personal petition.

It’s important to remember, however, that novenas are not magic formulas. They are prayers. They are one way we can enter into conversation with God.

Where did novenas come from?

The most common period of time during which we pray novenas is nine days. The word “novena” actually comes from the Latin for “nine.” The nine-day period of prayer has its origin in the Book of Acts. After Jesus’ Ascension into heaven, the Apostles, the Blessed Virgin, and some of Christ’s other followers all “joined in continuous prayer” (Acts 1:14) for nine days, until the dramatic coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. We know it was nine days, because the Ascension happened forty days after the Resurrection (cf. Acts 1:3), and Pentecost was always celebrated fifty days after the Passover. The Resurrection happened the day following the Passover, so we can do the math: 50-40-1=9. This period in which the fledgling Church “joined in continuous prayer” in anticipation of the promised coming of the Holy Spirit is the first “novena.” Through the centuries, the strict period of nine days has taken various forms, including the nine First Fridays devotion recommended by our Lord to St, Margaret Mary and linked to the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Sometimes you even find local traditions of thirty-day or three-day “novenas.”

Why would anyone pray a novena?

In general, we pray novenas for the same reason that we pray at all: because God deserves our praise, and because we need his grace. Novenas are prayers, and all the benefits that prayer always brings are also brought by novenas. This particular form of prayer, however, has some special characteristics.

First, they provide a channel for strong spiritual sentiments or desires. Sometimes, our souls are so full of sorrow, or anxiety, or hope, or thirst for holiness that it is hard for us to find the words to express ourselves. Novenas give us a vehicle for prayerful expression. A novena of prayer can be a powerful way to mourn the loss of a loved one, for example – a novena of Masses can be a beautiful way to commend their soul to God’s mercy. In a crisis, a novena can channel our apprehension in a positive way: entrusting our deeply felt needs to God through the intercession of a saint, for example. Novenas put clear parameters around deep spiritual sentiments, enabling us to have confidence that we are keeping them in harmony with God and his will. In this way, they provide true comfort to our souls; they assure us that we are “doing our part,” so to speak, in response to particular needs of our own or of others.

Second, they help us stay in synch with our spiritual family, the Church. By joining in the Novena of the Divine Mercy (from Good Friday to Divine Mercy Sunday), for example, we unite ourselves to millions of other Catholics all over the world who are engaged in the same prayer. By praying a novena before a major liturgical celebration like Christmas or Pentecost, we can prepare our souls to engage in that celebration more fruitfully, less superficially.

I hope these observations have helped you understand a little bit better this long-standing devotion in the Church. And maybe it will even motivate you to try it out for yourself. I would like to invite our other readers to share their favorite novenas, along with any relevant experiences they may have had through praying them.

Catechism – Vocal Prayer – 2703

…God seeks worshippers in Spirit and in Truth, and consequently living prayer that rises from the depths of the soul. He also wants the external expression that associates the body with interior prayer, for it renders him that perfect homage which is his due.

Catechism – Vocal Prayer – 2702

The need to involve the senses in interior prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. We are body and spirit, and we experience the need to translate our feelings externally. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication.

When is prayer not prayer at all?

Q: Dear Dan, I read your post about praying at the speed of light. I agree, however, one of the commentators seems to be attempting to dull the point that we must be attentive when we pray for it to be real prayer? They said that it is only our intent that matters. If our intent is all that matters, then what if we regularly intend to pray and be attentive to God but never or rarely are, in fact, attentive to God. Is this really prayer? I understand that God is a God of mercy and that he does take these things into account (our intent) and helps us but it seems to me that we should work hard to be attentive and to love him in practice, not just in our intent. If our intent doesn’t result in a change in our practice, then our intent is suspect – at least in my mind. What do you think?

A: Great question! Why don’t we let St. Teresa of Avila answer this for us? She was designated as a Doctor of the Church because of her profound life of holiness and her teachings on prayer and the interior life. What she has to say about this is very simple and straightforward:

Since vocal prayer is prayer, it must be accompanied by reflection. A prayer in which a person is not aware of whom he is speaking to, what he is asking, who it is who is asking and of whom, I do not call prayer; however much the lips move. Sometimes it will be so without this reflection provided that the soul has these reflections at other times. Nonetheless, anyone who has the habit of speaking before God’s majesty as though he were speaking to a slave, without being careful to see how he is speaking, but saying whatever comes to his head and whatever he has learned from saying at others times, in my opinion is not praying. Please God, may no Christian pray in this way. (Interior Castle 1:1)

Jesus also made a distinction between prayer that is not really prayer and worship that is not really worship, etc. We need to be careful not to seek to transform the “narrow path to life,” into a wide path to destruction.