I tried praying the rosary and fell promptly asleep

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TrueLight

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I have heard many people talk about how powerful praying the rosary is. And you all know of my struggles with Mary. So tonight I tried praying the rosary. I have a rosary guide App on my iPhone with all the words as well as a picture guide.

I fell asleep.

What am I missing? Is it faith?

Should I be kneeling when I say the rosary? I was actually lying on my side.

Any tips for beginners?

How has praying the rosary changed your life?

Thanks.
 
TrueLight said:
Should I be kneeling when I say the rosary? I was actually lying on my side.

Thanks.
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Kneeling or sitting upright or standing. Kneeling is preferred. You can say it anywhere and you don’t have to say it all at once. You can say one decade at a time and pick out 5 different spots during the day and give it just a few minutes each. You might find someone to say it with can help.
 
Start by a short prayer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, asking Them to listen to you pray. Acknowledge Their presence, and ask Them for grace to pray the Rosary well.

Pray only 1 decade for a couple of weeks, not the whole Rosary. It’s ok. Pray it with great love and effort, though.

When you start a particular mystery, ponder that mystery, that portion in the life of Christ through the eyes of Mary. And perhaps, after you self-announce the mystery and relive that moment for a couple of seconds…turn each mystery into a slightly self-examing question: Do I bring the joy of Christ to others when I visit them? Do I carry the crosses that God gives me well? Am I ready to die for the love of God? Do I make efforts, with the grace of God, to Transfigure ordinary events into events that have supernatural consequences? Etc.

These few seconds of reflection and self-examination might help you strengthen your focus and resolve.

And remember…the Rosary is actually DESIGNED for the naturally distractible nature of children of God. It’s designed to make us turn again and again back to God, reflecting our own weak nature.

So we turn back to God 50 or so times during a Rosary. This is good practice for us in the rest of our lives, turning hundreds and thousands of ordinary moments in the rest of our day, back to God, in conversation with Him.

Does that help?

Don’t worry…start small, start with the help of God, and realize that the Rosary is designed to get us into the habit of turning back to God. He knows we’re just little children. It’s we who forget.

God bless your efforts.
 
Mary is not a destination. She’s a guide. She will take you right to her son.

Use actual beads if you can. Reading prayers off an iPhone could be pretty dry. If you haven’t already, try to commit the prayers to memory. That will help you get past the mechanics of the prayers so you can get to the good stuff - simultaneous contemplation of the mysteries.

If you know the biblical accounts of the mysteries, you’ll have plenty of things to contemplate as you pray. If not, I’ve found scriptural rosaries to be very helpful. These involve reading short pieces of scripture before each Hail Mary. That helps you learn the stories and give you lots of things to contemplate. There are good on-line scriptural rosaries, such as at rosaryarmy.com. Some prefer a meditation rather than scripture snippets, and there are a variety of them also.

I also recommend saying the prayers and readings/meditations out loud. For me, anyway, actually saying the prayers is completely different from just reading them. It makes them my own and really draws me in.

God be with you on your journey. I was nervous and uncertain all the way up to the day of the Easter vigil. But all that disappeared the instant I was a Catholic. I’ve never had a second thought or regret.
 
Don’t worry. Just continue to pray the rosary… every day if possible. If you pray it in groups it multiplies your graces. e.g. If you pray a rosary with 2 other people, it is as if you’ve prayed three rosaries yourself.
It is also my understanding that if you fall asleep while praying the rosary, the angels will finish it for you. I think it is a wonderful way to drift off to sleep as you are speaking to your Blessed Mother. Think about it a mother is happy when her child falls asleep while in her arms.
 
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VitoMarcone said:
Don’t worry. Just continue to pray the rosary… every day if possible. If you pray it in groups it multiplies your graces. e.g. If you pray a rosary with 2 other people, it is as if you’ve prayed three rosaries yourself.
It is also my understanding that if you fall asleep while praying the rosary, the angels will finish it for you. I think it is a wonderful way to drift off to sleep as you are speaking to your Blessed Mother. Think about it a mother is happy when her child falls asleep while in her arms.
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Touche’. What better way to fall asleep than on the lap of Our Mother.

This is a calming, meditative, empathetic experience. It is normal to feel restful, and sometimes, engergized!

As all posters before me have said,“Don’t worry.” You’ll grow, AND change in this devotion.

Glennonite
 
TrueLight said:
I have heard many people talk about how powerful praying the rosary is. And you all know of my struggles with Mary. So tonight I tried praying the rosary. I have a rosary guide App on my iPhone with all the words as well as a picture guide.

I fell asleep.

What am I missing? Is it faith?

Should I be kneeling when I say the rosary? I was actually lying on my side.

Any tips for beginners?

How has praying the rosary changed your life?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
LOL…
Try cayenne pepper … my brother uses it to keep from falling asleep on long monotonous drives. Hes only had one fender bender.

… more seriously … try meditating on a particular aspect of Jesus life … or pray thinking of specific people that you know … that would benefit from having Our Father in heaven’s kingdom come and His will be done in their life … as it is in heaven … pray that he give that person their daily bread … and that he lead them not into temptation … and that he deliver that person from evil… Pray specifically for loved ones and people that you really cant stand and … moms with two year olds.
Hope that helps.
 
TrueLight said:
I have heard many people talk about how powerful praying the rosary is. And you all know of my struggles with Mary. So tonight I tried praying the rosary. I have a rosary guide App on my iPhone with all the words as well as a picture guide.

I fell asleep.

What am I missing? Is it faith?

Should I be kneeling when I say the rosary? I was actually lying on my side.

Any tips for beginners?

How has praying the rosary changed your life?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi, TL…just additional comments…you have nothing to worry about, you are just beginning…i have fallen asleep myself, but when I wake up suddenly, I would try to continue where I left off…

My suggestion initially is to sit in a quiet corner, pause a few seconds and say your intention/s for praying the rosay…

At each mystery, read a scripture passage related to that mystery…the Internet should be able to provide you one…and while praying the Hail Marys…try to contemplate of that event in life of Jesus.

Pretty soon, you will be on your way in no time at all.

On the group section of this site, there is a rosary prayer group which you may seek and join.
 
After years of saying the Rosary I finally realized that saying the Rosary was so soothing to my soul that I could fall asleep easily. Like some have advised, try just a decade at a time. I usually say at least 10 - 15 Rosaries daily. I’m retired so its easier to get it done. The night time Rosaries are wonderful because they prepare me for the rest I need.

The discipline will come with time. Be patient and persistant.
 
Its happened to me before also. Like everyone else said, dont worry about it. I had to adjust my schedule to were I am not praying it right before I go to bed. I have abdopted the Compline from the Divine Hours for that. Dont lay down either, I fell asleep doing that. Get in a good meditative posture (there are a few of them, not just the typical “Buddhist” cross leg style) since it is a meditative prayer. Take your time also, its not a prayer to just run through. Say the prayers slow, and get emerged into the fullness of it.👍
 
TrueLight said:
I have heard many people talk about how powerful praying the rosary is. And you all know of my struggles with Mary. So tonight I tried praying the rosary. I have a rosary guide App on my iPhone with all the words as well as a picture guide.

I fell asleep.

What am I missing? Is it faith?

Should I be kneeling when I say the rosary? I was actually lying on my side.

Any tips for beginners?

How has praying the rosary changed your life?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hello TrueLight,

First I would encourage you not to get discouraged or beat yourself up (not saying you are, but just in case! 🙂 ).

Second, I would advise that you not say your Rosary while lying down. Many people tend to drift off because the prayers are repititious and comforting and relaxing.

Our minds tend to wander as well (we are human after all) and many of us experience this (I would say it happens all the time - we do have “busy” minds) but when that happens, just gently get back on tract by visualizing the Biblical scene that you are meditating on, and it is OK to sit in a chair or sit in bed while praying. It’s harder to drift off into sleep that way.

Another suggestion is that one can say the Rosary while walking outside by yourself. It is lovely to pray while enjoying God’s beautiful nature and being by yourself with just Him.

Blessings,
 
I love falling asleep while saying the Rosary. That way if I die during the night, I will have Jesus’ name on my lips and in my thoughts as my last reflection from this life.

And when I wake up, the beads will be in my hands.

I also say the rosary while in the supermarket checkout line. Really long lines seem to disappear very quickly. Maybe I should pray more quietly … JUST KIDDING!

But it does seem that, even praying silently, the lines don’t even let me say one decade before the clerk processes the other customers and it is my turn.
 
1voice said:
LOL…
Try cayenne pepper … my brother uses it to keep from falling asleep on long monotonous drives. Hes only had one fender bender.

… more seriously … try meditating on a particular aspect of Jesus life …
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Funnily enough that’s exactly what you’re supposed to be doing during the Rosary. Those mysteres aren’t just there to break up the monotony 🙂

OP, meditative prayer can be very relaxing. If you want to avoid falling asleep perhaps try to kneel or stand (?) for the first couple of attempts.
 
I agree that saying any prayer while lying down can lead to a restful sleep! Not a bad thing, but not a good thing if you want to pray.

I prefer to pace or to pray as I walk, take the dog out for a long walk, on the bus to work etc. The movement keeps me focused. Also, if one can go to a Church to pray before the Altar or the Reserved Sacrament or an image of the Mother of God - that is a good thing too.

St Louis de Montfort’s suggestions on saying the Rosary are all excellent, but the one particular method he advocates, adding some words reflecting the Mysteries to each Hail Mary, is the best and he said so too.

If one is doing five decades a day, then one can divide them up throughout the day and do a “good job” of saying the prayers slowly while reflecting on the Mysteries.

The same can be done for more decades. In fact, the Rosary was once prayed in this way with decades for each of the Hours of the Office by way of sanctifying time.

But if one does pray the Rosary over the course of a day, one might find that one is all eager to do discursive meditation in the morning with the initial enthusiasm waning as we get tired.

Before bed it is good to say a remaining one or two decades simply repeating the Hail Mary before our home shrine, relaxing before our Mother and giving our lives to her so she can give them to her Son, purified and sanctified by her intercession and heavenly protection.

And THEN we can fall asleep! What a sleep that is!!

Alex
 
If you work a long, hard day and get anywhere close to being in a horizontal position - - - you’re going to be prone to fall asleep!

Say the rosary at a different time of day when you are more awake or active; say it during lunch break.

Don’t lay down! LOL!
 
My biblr study tearcher said god is working with us if we fall asleep praying, or somthing like that. BTW he will be on EWTN sometime in the summer.
 
Don’t worry, when you fall asleep praying the Holy Rosary, your Guardian Angel will finish it for you 🙂
 
I have fallen asleep praying the Holy Rosary so many times I couldn’t even begin to put a number to it. I have very vivid memories of seeing my father sleeping with a rosary in his hands, and he has been gone for 27 years. Try it during the day, and then fall asleep with it too. God Bless you on your journey.
 
If I’m lying down, it can be very easy for me to fall asleep whatever I am doing. 🙂
 
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