Focus problem when reading the Rosary

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SMGS127

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Hey all,

I really need help if you guys could aid me. I have severe ADHD, and it has made the Rosary one of the toughest devotionals for me to accomplish. I feel like, whenever I pray it, I can’t actually pray it, because, although I’m saying the words, I can’t keep my attention on the topic I’m supposed to be meditating on for more than one bead, if that. I’ll pray beforehand for help with focus, and I’ll try really hard to force my attention on it, and still, invariably, on every decade, I wind up thinking about something in my life or something completely irrelevant (and sometimes even scandalous thoughts that I’m not even aware I’m slipping into!)

I know that, by making the effort, I am still doing a good deed by praying it, but I can’t help but feel I can’t be as good a Catholic as I could be if I could keep my prayers and devotionals meaningful! Heck, when I pray at night or before Mass, I can’t even keep my thoughts from straying. Sometimes it just makes me want to break down and cry at my inability to focus on God or His Blessed Mother or Heaven or anything :(. I struggle with feelings of worthlessness a lot anyway from having comorbid BPD (borderline), and this just compounds on that to make me feel like I just can’t even succeed at doing good for the person I love the most (Christ) :(.

Please help me :(. Is there anything I can do that would be more amenable to my condition?..

~ SMGS
 
First, an inability to accomplish an optional devotion does not make you a bad person.

Second, I have been greatly helped in my distraction by using a Scriptural Rosary which has a one- or two-line reading for each Hail Mary. Here is a page with links to each set for the mysteries. [version.

It is well worth persevering as you will get better at it if you pray the Rosary each day. You may need to change versions every so often, but if you pray it every day, you might not.

And don’t forget to read Scripture a bit each day also.*audio *](Audio Rosary - Rosary MP3)
 
You are most certainly not alone. Centuries ago, St. Teresa of Jesus wrote about the problems faced by people with “minds like wild horses.” 👋
Her advice was – don’t give up. The goal (union with God) is worth whatever labor is required, no matter how discouraging. God has His reasons for permitting this.
 
You do know htat it is not compulsory to say the Rosary, don’t you? Wise priests are fond of saying ‘Pray as you can, not how you can’t’’.

The important thing is the praying, not the method.
 
Have you tried following along from an ipod or app on your phone? I have an app on my phone and when I go to my hour of Adoration at the Chapel, I plug in my ear buds and pray the scriptural rosary this way.

It seems to help me stay in the “moment” and when my mind strays, I call upon the Holy Spirit to help me stay the course. I also try to start my hour by asking the Holy Spirit to help me stay the course.

We’re human and our mind wanders.

Pray as you can.
 
SMGS127 said:
Hey all,

I really need help if you guys could aid me. I have severe ADHD, and it has made the Rosary one of the toughest devotionals for me to accomplish. I feel like, whenever I pray it, I can’t actually pray it, because, although I’m saying the words, I can’t keep my attention on the topic I’m supposed to be meditating on for more than one bead, if that. I’ll pray beforehand for help with focus, and I’ll try really hard to force my attention on it, and still, invariably, on every decade, I wind up thinking about something in my life or something completely irrelevant (and sometimes even scandalous thoughts that I’m not even aware I’m slipping into!)

I know that, by making the effort, I am still doing a good deed by praying it, but I can’t help but feel I can’t be as good a Catholic as I could be if I could keep my prayers and devotionals meaningful! Heck, when I pray at night or before Mass, I can’t even keep my thoughts from straying. Sometimes it just makes me want to break down and cry at my inability to focus on God or His Blessed Mother or Heaven or anything :(. I struggle with feelings of worthlessness a lot anyway from having comorbid BPD (borderline), and this just compounds on that to make me feel like I just can’t even succeed at doing good for the person I love the most (Christ) :(.

Please help me :(. Is there anything I can do that would be more amenable to my condition?..

~ SMGS
Click to expand...
Most (if not all) of us have a hard time concentrating and staying focused when we pray. EWTN’s Mother Angelica talked about it on one of her shows she used to have. You could try getting an audio rosary and just letting it play such as The Holy Rosary in Prayer and Song with Dana.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51hIazoBDdL.SX300.jpg

The Rosary with Dana & Fr. Kevin Scallon

Here is some of it on YouTube: Rosary Sorrowful mysteries part 2 (Tues&Friday)
 
paperwight66 said:
You do know htat it is not compulsory to say the Rosary, don’t you? Wise priests are fond of saying ‘Pray as you can, not how you can’t’’.

The important thing is the praying, not the method.
Click to expand...
This is great advice, the rosary may not work for everyone. there are other methods of praying that may work better for you.
St Ignatius offers several ways we can pray and meditate on Christ. One of my favorites (i have focus issues as well) is to pick a part of Jesus’ life from the gospels and imagine yourself there. immerse yourself in that moment of his life and teachings. i think its called Ignatian Contemplation.

if there are any Jesuits reading this they may can offer you some book titles to look into for these other prayer options…
 
I have been adapting Lectio Divina to rosary prayers.

This means that each decade will be something like this:
  • read (or listen to the mystery)
  • meditate (think about what you just read, I tend to imagine as if I were there, picture in my mind the events, Mary, Jesus,…)
  • pray (I remember my intentions, my struggles and take them to God)
  • contemplate (Here I try not to think, probably I focus on my feelings on this mystery, whether happiness, sorrow, or peace)
The most important thing is to not lose myself in the annunciation of the mystery. It is very common for me to find myself in the middle of the decade and realise that I don’t know actually what mystery I am praying. So maximum alert whenever I hear something like: “first glorious mystery…”
 
SMGS127 said:
Hey all,

I really need help if you guys could aid me. I have severe ADHD, and it has made the Rosary one of the toughest devotionals for me to accomplish. I feel like, whenever I pray it, I can’t actually pray it, because, although I’m saying the words, I can’t keep my attention on the topic I’m supposed to be meditating on for more than one bead, if that. I’ll pray beforehand for help with focus, and I’ll try really hard to force my attention on it, and still, invariably, on every decade, I wind up thinking about something in my life or something completely irrelevant (and sometimes even scandalous thoughts that I’m not even aware I’m slipping into!)

I know that, by making the effort, I am still doing a good deed by praying it, but I can’t help but feel I can’t be as good a Catholic as I could be if I could keep my prayers and devotionals meaningful! Heck, when I pray at night or before Mass, I can’t even keep my thoughts from straying. Sometimes it just makes me want to break down and cry at my inability to focus on God or His Blessed Mother or Heaven or anything :(. I struggle with feelings of worthlessness a lot anyway from having comorbid BPD (borderline), and this just compounds on that to make me feel like I just can’t even succeed at doing good for the person I love the most (Christ) :(.

Please help me :(. Is there anything I can do that would be more amenable to my condition?..

~ SMGS
Click to expand...
A daily Rosary is a discipline even for those of us who do not have ADHD, which (discipline) imho, is one of the reasons this particular devotion is so very powerful. I once read an article by a wonderful priest entitled “The Prayer of Futility,” who said we are never in a position to judge our own prayer as that is for God alone. It is the sincere effort that is most efficacious and since your struggle appears greater than normal, I suspect the rewards for your faithfulness will be greater as well. 👍 to the poster who suggested the scriptural rosary. I personally like the feel of a book in my hands as the physicality of it keeps me focused.

Be blessed!
 
Just another thought that might aid with the Rosary and your prayer life in general. Have you ever tried Lectio Divina? The 4th level is Contemplatio which is simply resting in God’s presence (after the other steps of the Divine Reading) in silence without words or struggle.
 
agnes_therese said:
You are most certainly not alone. Centuries ago, St. Teresa of Jesus wrote about the problems faced by people with “minds like wild horses.” 👋
Her advice was – don’t give up. The goal (union with God) is worth whatever labor is required, no matter how discouraging. God has His reasons for permitting this.
Click to expand...
I like that quote :). I really try, but yes, it does get discouraging. I was hoping over time I could train myself to focus, but it’s been no avail, and lately it’s been getting harder to motivate myself to do it as a result.
paperwight66 said:
You do know htat it is not compulsory to say the Rosary, don’t you? Wise priests are fond of saying ‘Pray as you can, not how you can’t’’.

The important thing is the praying, not the method.
Click to expand...
I tried stopping the Rosary and trying other prayers, but when I did, I felt such an evil influence in my life after only a week I immediately went back to it. It’s a lot of work though, and it makes me feel bad whenever I finish because of how poorly I pray it.
dee_burk said:
This is great advice, the rosary may not work for everyone. there are other methods of praying that may work better for you.
St Ignatius offers several ways we can pray and meditate on Christ. One of my favorites (i have focus issues as well) is to pick a part of Jesus’ life from the gospels and imagine yourself there. immerse yourself in that moment of his life and teachings. i think its called Ignatian Contemplation.

if there are any Jesuits reading this they may can offer you some book titles to look into for these other prayer options…
Click to expand...
I’ll look into Ignatian Contemplation. I definitely want to do something to show Christ my devotion; I just want it to be something where I feel I’m giving myself to Him through vs. something where I feel I’m unable to keep myself from zoning out during.

To all others: thank you for your help and I will look into the links you have given me. Please don’t hesitate to continue to provide me advice. Any way I can worship Christ better I would love to know.
 
SMGS127 said:
It’s a lot of work though, and it makes me feel bad whenever I finish because of how poorly I pray it.
Click to expand...
Honestly, meditation is hard. I imagine it takes years to get it down. I know I often catch my mind drifting toward my own life when I am praying the rosary. If you are worried about how focused your prayer is… you are on the right track. 👍 Keep praying.
 
Firstly, I would like to point out that God sees your good intentions. He knows that you’re trying. He is not disappointed in you. I think a lot of people set the bar so high with expectations that God has for them, and it’s really not like that.

Another thing, you don’t necessarily have to pray all 10 beads on a decade in order to have a valid Rosary when you pray on your own time. Baby steps good sir. It is much better to have 4 good Hail Marys in concentration on a mystery than 10 where on 6 of them you are thinking about what happened on this week’s episode of American Horror Story or whatever else the whippersnappers watch in this generation :rolleyes:

I will definitely pray for you, and keep on fighting the good fight.
 
Gospel_of_Chaos said:
Firstly, I would like to point out that God sees your good intentions. He knows that you’re trying. He is not disappointed in you. I think a lot of people set the bar so high with expectations that God has for them, and it’s really not like that.

Another thing, you don’t necessarily have to pray all 10 beads on a decade in order to have a valid Rosary when you pray on your own time. Baby steps good sir. It is much better to have 4 good Hail Marys in concentration on a mystery than 10 where on 6 of them you are thinking about what happened on this week’s episode of American Horror Story or whatever else the whippersnappers watch in this generation :rolleyes:

I will definitely pray for you, and keep on fighting the good fight.
Click to expand...
Perhaps this might be the way to do it. Start with only one bead for each mystery. Once you’ve accomplished focusing for that long, add another bead. If you work up to it slowly, that might help you a bit.
 
SMGS127 said:
Hey all,

I really need help if you guys could aid me. I have severe ADHD, and it has made the Rosary one of the toughest devotionals for me to accomplish. I feel like, whenever I pray it, I can’t actually pray it, because, although I’m saying the words, I can’t keep my attention on the topic I’m supposed to be meditating on for more than one bead, if that. I’ll pray beforehand for help with focus, and I’ll try really hard to force my attention on it, and still, invariably, on every decade, I wind up thinking about something in my life or something completely irrelevant (and sometimes even scandalous thoughts that I’m not even aware I’m slipping into!)

I know that, by making the effort, I am still doing a good deed by praying it, but I can’t help but feel I can’t be as good a Catholic as I could be if I could keep my prayers and devotionals meaningful! Heck, when I pray at night or before Mass, I can’t even keep my thoughts from straying. Sometimes it just makes me want to break down and cry at my inability to focus on God or His Blessed Mother or Heaven or anything :(. I struggle with feelings of worthlessness a lot anyway from having comorbid BPD (borderline), and this just compounds on that to make me feel like I just can’t even succeed at doing good for the person I love the most (Christ) :(.

Please help me :(. Is there anything I can do that would be more amenable to my condition?..

~ SMGS
Click to expand...
Saint Padre Pio once said that if he had to restart a Rosary every time he got distracted he would never finish a Rosary in his lifetime.
Don’t worry about it.
 
Perhaps you can also take the prayer to be more physical. You could create your own prayer garden or walk in your yard or house, and physically move from one stone to the next for each Hail Mary. There are labyrinth prayer gardens for meditation and I believe they work on the same concept- you can immerse yourself physically as well as mentally. It is very, very hard to capture our thoughts! One of my favorite fictitious characters is Dame Frevisse, a 13th century nun, who likened her thoughts during the offices to an escaping butterfly. You are in good company 🙂
 
savedbygrace71 said:
Perhaps you can also take the prayer to be more physical. You could create your own prayer garden or walk in your yard or house, and physically move from one stone to the next for each Hail Mary. There are labyrinth prayer gardens for meditation and I believe they work on the same concept- you can immerse yourself physically as well as mentally. It is very, very hard to capture our thoughts! One of my favorite fictitious characters is Dame Frevisse, a 13th century nun, who likened her thoughts during the offices to an escaping butterfly. You are in good company 🙂
Click to expand...
I wish I had that in my backyard…
 
I have an app for my phone that is the scriptural rosary. I can listen along with it, and my brain loses focus less. I may never be able to pray it effectively on my own, but I am making baby steps towards it.

I hope you find the right solution for you. I hate the days my mind won’t stop wandering enough to even pray.
 
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