"Dozing" off while sitting in silence before the Blessed Sacrament bad or wasted time?

[AltarSoldier]

sometimes when I am before the Blessed Sacrament I don’t have much to say. I keep it very simple. I believe our Lord knows all of my wants and all of my needs before I present them.

And when I am before the Blessed Sacrament I have periods where I just sit in my Pew as comfortably as I can and just look at our Lord in the monstrance. I just want to keep him company and in my finite mind at least try to maintain a level of awe and gratitude

sometimes I will close my eyes and bow my head in meditation, my conscious says some prayers of adoration and petition and I imagine holy images but I find that even for a few moments my mind wanders and I kind of drifted off for a few seconds. I don’t what to feel like I’m disrespecting Jesus. Does anyone have any tips to further enhance my experience and time before the Blessed Sacrament or is it not a big deal?

 

[porthos11]

sometimes when I am before the Blessed Sacrament I don’t have much to say. I keep it very simple. I believe our Lord knows all of my wants and all of my needs before I present them.

And when I am before the Blessed Sacrament I have periods where I just sit in my Pew as comfortably as I can and just look at our Lord in the monstrance. I just want to keep him company and in my finite mind at least try to maintain a level of awe and gratitude

sometimes I will close my eyes and bow my head in meditation, my conscious says some prayers of adoration and petition and I imagine holy images but I find that even for a few moments my mind wanders and I kind of drifted off for a few seconds. I don’t what to feel like I’m disrespecting Jesus. Does anyone have any tips to further enhance my experience and time before the Blessed Sacrament or is it not a big deal?

Call it “resting in the Spirit”, to put a new spin on the charismatic concept.

(No, I don’t use the term “slain” in the Spirit).

 

[AlbMagno]

Sometimes I do this involuntarily also. Seeing the Consecrated Host, or the Tabernacle is sometimes hypnotic. i don’t know if it is just suggestion or a contemplative experience.

I don’t mind it but I sometimes feel bad because everyone always say “pray and discern before the Holy Sacrament” but I just keep staring at Him, I don’t work too much with Him for my discernment

 

[HomeschoolDad]

It must be just me, but lately, I find myself nodding off during the sermon at Sunday Mass. So people won’t be scandalized by thinking that I find the sermon boring, I feign an eyeache, take off my glasses, and rub my eyes, to try and wake myself up. I know people sitting near me must think I’ve got something “wrong” with me. It’s not voluntary. It passes. Must be age — or maybe how cold they keep the church! It feels like they’re running AC even during the winter (floor vents along the end of the pews blasting cold air).

 

[Dan_Defender]

I find that even for a few moments my mind wanders and I kind of drifted off for a few seconds.

This happens to others too, not just you. What is important is to snap out of it and focus on Jesus. Just say: Jesus, forgive me and help me focus on you.

 

[po18guy]

…I have periods where I just sit in my Pew as comfortably as I can…

Aha! An idea: Try kneeling! It hurts? I have received the grace to kneel, even though I’ve had knee surgery and two lumbar spine surgeries.

When and if it becomes painful, offer that pain up. Bond yourself to Christ on the Cross. Unbearable? Then, sit and you will be more awake than before and perhaps more cognizant of both God’s grace and mercy.

This is one case in which sacrifice might just merit reward.

 

[TheLittleLady]

A sweet nun I knew was known for filling in those overnight hours at Adoration. The next person coming in would often find Sister asleep. She’d wake up, smile and say “I was taking a little nap with Jesus”.

 

[OddBird]

I don’t mind it but I sometimes feel bad because everyone always say “pray and discern before the Holy Sacrament” but I just keep staring at Him

Saint Jean-Marie Vianney tells this story about an old man whom he saw daily spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament. One day he asked him what he was talking about with the Lord. The old man replied : “Nothing at all, Father. I look at Him, and He looks at me”. And saint Jean-Marie Vianney concludes : “Amen.”

 

[KD8TZC]

I remember a few years back that I thought I had to always be “talking” to God when I was in adoration. Then someone reminded me that we need to take time to listen.

Along the way, I came across a quote from children’s book from Winnie the Pooh that I think sums it up really well…

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
—Winnie the Pooh

 

[Catholic361]

Interesting quote

 

[Jessie]

St Theresa of Lisieux used to fall asleep! If it’s good enough for a doctor of the Church…
[St. Therese of Lisieux] had a problem in her mental prayer: she used to fall asleep! … But she wasn’t overly upset by this weakness: I think how little children please their parents just as much when they are asleep as when they are awake; I think how doctors put patients to sleep in order to do operations. And finally, I think how “the Lord sees our weakness, he remembers that we are but dust” (Autobiography, manuscript A)

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Dozing off is going to happen sometimes. Archbishop Sheen, who did an hour of adoration every day, told a story about falling asleep once. There is also a person at one parish with an adoration chapel that I visit sometimes, who is a very holy person but one night she had the last shift at adoration in the evening and she was very visibly nodding off, as in falling way over in her seat and then coming to with a start.

I would recommend if it is happening to you too frequently, and you can’t go at an earlier time (or a later time if you are going super early in the morning), have some coffee or a wake-up type drink before you visit the Lord.

I’ve also seen people get up and move around in the bigger chapels, like do the Stations of the Cross if that’s possible in there. Some chapels are too small so one might change position rather than walk around.

 

[Camehome4john6]

Where else would you feel more comfortable falling asleep than in the presence of your Savior?

 

[HomeschoolDad]

I don’t think you’d enjoy this. They are these long slotted vents that blast cold air straight up. The church is a historic landmark and evidently had to be retro-fitted for modern HVAC without disrupting the architecture, hence the floor vents.

I guess cold air is healthier than warm air, though. We live in a warm climate anyway. I am not terribly enthusiastic about large gatherings of people this time of year, what with everything that is going around, and Lord only knows where this coronavirus thing is going to end up.

I would recommend if it is happening to you too frequently, and you can’t go at an earlier time (or a later time if you are going super early in the morning), have some coffee or a wake-up type drink before you visit the Lord.

Not sure if you were addressing me as well, but I desperately want a cup of hot, strong coffee around that time. But it would break the communion fast. I start getting drowsy around dusk anymore. Must be age.

 

[Margaret_Ann]

That happened to me last month when I was starting the Five First Saturdays again. I had to fight my way through every Our Father and Haol Mary. It took me 2.5 hours to pray ONE Rosary.

 

[CRV]

When lying on the beach, the heat from the sun tends to relax one and usually it is very easy to nod off. But if one does, one is still absorbing the suns’ rays. It is the same with Adoration - it is like basking in the Son’s rays of grace, so nodding off does not mean you are not benefiting from being in His presence.