What to Make of Pain During Prayer?

[JmLee]

Hello,
A friend of mine came to me with a problem that I am unsure of how to help. Over the past few months she has been undergoing a trial of faith. Aside from her intellectual issues with the faith what is particularly odd is that each time she goes to pray she experiences a deep interior pain. This is especially prevalent during times of mental prayer. She seems very unsure of where this is coming from and cannot discover a source. It moves her to become very emotional, often to tears. We have discussed how she has issues stuffing her emotions and trying not to feel them. Obviously that falls into the realm of a psychological issue which is probably best dealt with by a therapist. I was wondering if anyone has experienced something similar to what she has felt in prayer and had any insight into what might be the cause. My own experiences of interior pain during prayer have lasted for a time and then departed and have been due to either sin and disobedience in my life or a short purification from God. Neither of these seems to be the case. It appears to me that perhaps this is due to some deep wound in her heart but I hesitate to say that is the case. Has anyone else experienced this or have some insight into what might be causing it?
Thanks for your insight.

 

[AKDee]

I have experienced emotional prayer, but not one that caused me physical pain. Perhaps she has a serious matter causing separation between the Lord and herself and the Lord is trying to make her aware of it. If she is Catholic, she should speak to a priest for guidance. If not then perhaps a Christian counselor or her pastor at whatever church she is a part of. Barring all that, praying on why she feels this pain might allow it to be revealed to her by the spirit. I will pray for your friend.

 

[Mintaka]

Do you mean a sensation like physical pain, or do you mean painful emotions?

There are a lot of people who cry when they pray, even frequently. St. Ignatius Loyola often had this “gift of tears” near the end of his life, for example. There was a while when I used to cry every time I went to Mass, for a less exalted example. These kinds of tears can come from sorrow and repentance or from joy.

But of course one can also cry frequently for mundane psychological reasons, or because your body wants to cry out the yucky stuff that is sitting around in the tear ducts.

One simple test is this: does your friend feel peace or feel better after she cries, or does she feel worse and more disturbed? (Human embarrassment aside.) If she feels better, it is probably nothing to worry about, whatever is causing it. She should just stock up on boxes of tissues and make sure she has privacy at prayer time.

If she feels worse after crying, like really sick at heart, then she should talk to a priest and/or counselor. She could be having bad memories or feelings bugging her, or she could be getting some spiritual harassment, or it could be extreme repentance, or hormones or low blood sugar or lack of electrolytes could be shaking her up. There could be a lot going on, if a good cry doesn’t help. She will want to think about her daily routine, like if she does something saddening right before prayer time. She might also see if holy water helps.

 

[Vic_Taltrees_UK]

This might be a variation on what I have posted about:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=1010929

43 years ago I had things that needed putting right but they weren’t a barrier to my spiritual functioning, at all.

The only problem was when those around me misconstrued what I was going though when functioning spiritually.

Feeling sad is a gift. So, we don’t need to feel sad about feeling sad.

As for “intellectual issues” and “stuffing feelings” perhaps God will help with those in various ways in due course.

Perhaps the gift of sadness is God’s way of evangelising her.