How long does it take you to memorize a new prayer?

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jennstall

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I’m asking this because I noticed in the thread on praying after receiving the Eucharist in the Sacraments forum that there were several suggestions for different prayers. I’m a revert of about 7 weeks or so and I have such a tough time memorizing new prayers. The only prayer I knew solid when I came back was the Our Father. I had to refresh myself on the Hail Mary. During Mass I remember many of the responses, but for some of the longers pieces – like the Creed and the Glory – I have to follow along in the missal.

Weirdly, I also need to read along with the prayer if I’m leading a decade of the rosary even though I can say them all just fine if I’m praying by myself or someone else is leading. One time I forgot the words of the Our Father while I was leading. I think it must be fear of the spotlight LOL

I carry a teeny little prayer book with me, but I’m really hoping that some of this stuff will eventually stick in my head with enough repetition because sometimes it takes too long for me to whip the prayer book out of my purse. Does anyone else take forever before they’ve got a prayer completely memorized?

And I do just a lot of conversational prayer to just in case anyone is suggesting I do that instead. I like to have a variety of different ways to pray, including reciting verbally or mentally prayers written by people holier than myself 😉
 
I’m not a fan of rote prayer, so I don’t know.

I know the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be, so I guess I could get through a Rosary (except I would need help with the mysteries). I know the traditional meal (grace) prayer. That’s about it.

I am making an effort to memorize an Act of Contrition, however. I feel so “cheap” when I have to read it following Confession.
 
I’m still memorizing the old ones… 😉

Rote memorization is still the best method.

And pray to Jesus to stick the prayers in your head. Can’t hurt to ask. 😃
 
The Barrister:
And pray to Jesus to stick the prayers in your head. Can’t hurt to ask. 😃
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🙂 I should have thought of that.

I need to memorize an Act of Contrition too. Right now I’m still coasting on the “I’ve been away from the Church for 22 years” excuse to get the priest to walk me through it after absolution. LOL
 
jennstall said:
🙂 I should have thought of that.
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Hey, welcome back then! You sound like your spirit is ON FIRE!
I am a re-vert as well and have struggled with memorizing prayers. I like the idea of asking for it to stick as well. The enemy does not want it to stick so he crams our heads so full of nonsense and doubt. I bet asking for God to help will work.
 
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jennstall:
Weirdly, I also need to read along with the prayer if I’m leading a decade of the rosary even though I can say them all just fine if I’m praying by myself or someone else is leading. One time I forgot the words of the Our Father while I was leading. I think it must be fear of the spotlight LOL
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Hi Jenn,
I’m so glad that you shared this…about 15 years ago the same thing happened to me and I have never led a Rosary since without a booklet! And, I pray many Rosaries a day (it’s an apostolate for me) so I certainly know how to…
And I do just a lot of conversational prayer to just in case anyone is suggesting I do that instead. I like to have a variety of different ways to pray, including reciting verbally or mentally prayers written by people holier than myself 😉
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I just basically do as you do and sometimes in great elation or deep thanksgiving there are no words so I pray silently in tongues.
I think God wants what is in our hearts… Sometimes we need to say written or memorized prayers because we can’t think or are distracted…or that’s how we choose to express ourselves. IMO, All are correct.
In Christ, Annunciata:)
 
jrabs, I really think that is going to be the thing to do. I’m going to start praying the intent to remember the words to prayers when I pray the rosary tonight 🙂

Annunciata, sometimes I pray the rosary with a group of people and one of the guys in that group will just take over your decade if you hesitate for even a second so I’ll never lead without my little booklet LOL

I often pray the Jesus prayer when I’m at a loss for my own words, but it’ll be great to expand my repertoire. I find it meaningful to just meditate on the words of particular prayers and some of them really strike my heart. Now if only they will strike my memory!
 
i grew up baptist, where every prayer is ‘spontaneous’. so it was kind of a new thing for me when i became catholic to memorize prayers.

it took me 5 YEARS to learn the freakin dinner prayer. it just wouldn’t stick. i learned all the bits to the rosary after praying it every day for 3 weeks. the hail holy queen part was the hardest, but i eventually got it. i just carried a little book until then.

i think sometimes it’s better if we have to use a memory aid, as it keeps our minds on what we’re saying, rather than just ‘running through it’ from memory. then again, you can concentrate on really ‘meaning it’ if you have it memorized, as long as you force yourself to think about it.

anyway, i wouldn’t stress about not being able to rememeber them quickly. and i agree, from having been baptist, it’s GREAT to have other prayers to pray, to help you pray, and think, outside the little box of your place in space and time.
 
The stories shared by previous posters are so familiar! As a convert, I love the Church’s many prayers. I remember getting rather frustrated with myself in the beginning because I would try and try and the prayers just wouldn’t stick! (As opposed to my husband, who was a cradle Catholic.) Once I stopped trying, however, and just started praying, I had far less trouble. Now when I want to memorize a new prayer, I just say it once a day. The rhythm of the prayer gets into my mind pretty quickly, and the words soon follow. I’m always surprised how smoothly this works!

(P.S. I too froze once during a public rosary–and I too have carried my rosary card from then on!)
 
I keep a little notebook in my purse where I’ve jotted down prayers I’ve heard and would like to use – so I now have good collection to use. The jotting the prayers down slowly by hand, using good, readable printing, is a great start for me toward memorization. Using the prayer often is important. I’ve surprised myself more than once by praying a prayer aloud and then realizing, I didn’t know that I knew that one. My biggest problem is, when prayers have similar wording to other prayers, I wind up bouncing back and forth between versions. How often I’ve gotten almost half way through the creed in the Rosary before I realize that I’m reciting the Nicene creed, not the Apostles’:o
 
Just to make you smile my daughter (I’m not bragging, it’s just cute ok!) learnt the Lord’s Prayer in three days (she’s 3 years) she messes up a bit now and then, but whenever we go to Mass she now joins in and sings it, but afterwards loudly says,‘Shall we sing it again?’ Always makes a few folks smile…😃 . God Bless you xx
 
Being serious now, I have been Catholic all my life and there are some prayers I don’t remember, like I can never memorise the ‘Hail Holy Queen’ so I keep my guide to the rosary and read it out. I don’t think God our Father will mind one bit, it’s the praying that matters!!
 
I heard this unusual advice a while back on a different board: Try memorizing backwards i.e. start by memorizing the last sentence of the prayer, and gradually working toward the next to last sentence and so forth. That way, you will always be moving **into **familiar territory rather than out of it. Strangely enough, it seems to work for me. I don’t know if it would for everyone, though.
 
I have been praying the LOTH for 4 years and still do not have morning and evening gospel canticles memorized. My breakthrough came when I tried to learn the Our Father in Spanish, and my teacher told me to pray it, not to memorize it. So that is now the advice I give to parents and catechists in our programs. Pray with the children, do not sit them down on a chair with a book and expect them to memorize meaningless words. First, teach the prayer and its meaning, where it comes from in the Bible, why Jesus and the Church gave us the prayer. They are not expected to pass a test on rote memorization of prayers before first communion, but they are expected to be able to pray together the rosary prayers, creed, and Mass responses. They may take a card with the act of Contrition into their first confession, which saves a lot of stress (and wet pants).
 
Well, I have no mastered the Hail Mary in Latin. It’s only taken me two weeks. :rolleyes:

I like the idea someone mentioned of writing down favorite prayers in an notebook. I have a small prayer book that I got in a bookshop, but it is missing some of the prayers I want to say and has too many prayers that I just don’t care about so I’m going to go through the Saint’s Prayer book I bought the other day and copy out my favorites.

Thanks all!
 
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