Difficulties in Prayer with St. Thérèse: CarmelCast Episode 66

If you found this episode helpful, you'll probably also enjoy our episode on interior silence: https://youtu.be/pz4FeqhyOZU God bless you all!

ST.TERESA OF LISIEUX: “I should be distressed that I drop off to sleep during my prayers... But I don’t feel at all distressed. I know that children are just as dear to their parents whether they are asleep or awake, and I know that doctors put their patients to sleep before they operate. I’d never before heard it said that one’s faults did not distress God, and I was overwhelmed with joy when I did receive this assurance. It gave me patience to endure this life of exile. It was, too, the echo of my inmost thoughts. For a long time I had realized that Our Lord was more tender than a mother – and how well I know the depths of tenderness in more than one mother’s heart! I know that a mother is always ready to forgive the misbehavior of her child.”

It's lovely to watch a calm video that isn't gimmicky. Thank you. God bless you. When I pray a storm of negativity comes at me from inside my own head, things like not being worthy, that even God doesn't want you, that it's pointless to plead because nobody is listening, that you aren't important enough to be heard by God and even that I'm delusional and inventing God because I can't deal with my own insignificance. I don't know if it's my own subconscious or the devil but it seems relentless sometimes. In the end I had to stop those contemplative silences and just pray the Rosary, but even with the Rosary sometimes the storm comes.

This is comforting to someone who struggles in prayer

ST. TERESA OF AVILA: “Don’t think that if you had a great deal of time you would spend more of it in prayer. Get rid of that idea! God gives more in a moment than in a long period of time, for His actions are not measured by time at all. Know that even when you are in the kitchen, our Lord is moving among the pots and pans!”

I have ADHD and get distracted during prayer especially during the Rosary. I persevere and I still think those prayers are valuable. ❤️🙏🏻❤️

"As worthy as a grain of sand. Yet held precious in Your hand. You raised me up, above the clabber. In all creation I call you my Father"

It's nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling to stay awake!!! Good talk ... thanks!

ST. TERESA OF LISIEUX: “I cannot bring myself to hunt through books for beautiful prayers. There are so many of them that I get a headache. Besides, each prayer seems lovelier than the next. I cannot possibly say them all and do not know which to choose. I behave like a child who cannot read: I tell God what I want and He always understands. For me, prayer is an upward leap of the heart, an untroubled glance towards heaven, a cry of gratitude and love which I utter from the depths of sorrow as well as from the heights of joy...”

When I pray the rosary I also watch cleaning videos or gardening videos on silent. It keeps me focused visually, calms my mind away from thinking, and I can focus on praying. Or I pray the rosary while driving. I’m concentrating my thoughts and focusing on the prayers. If I’m alone I sing the prayer out loud, especially the seven sorrows of Mary. I’m in the car and can cry and scream at the pain of Our Blessed Mother. The contemplation is truly heartbreaking. Thank you so much for this talk, it validates my commitment to prayer. When I get distracted, I just start over. ❤️‍🩹🥀

Thank you both! I am a lifelong Catholic that for some reason, never said the Rosary often. Even in my Catholic school days it wasn't often utilized. Eight years ago I made the vow to Our Lady of Sorrows to say a daily Rosary. You will both smile in that now I'm finally ready for the readings of the saints mentioned in this video... The dryness of the soul is heart wrenching once experienced, but through it the entire Rosary is felt emotionally. And, rather like having said a particular prayer for decades, it somehow becomes new as layers are peeled away. The Little Way is astonishing in its depth and complexity if we allow for it to be so.

I needed this. Thank you. Im very Benedictine in my practices and I frequently mutter prayers while doing non-verbal work. Recently I was admonished by a devote Marian for not doing all my prayers kneeling in perfect concentration. The quality and intention (direction of who it benefits) of my work is my offering up to God and I needed this reminder that we aren’t all the same or in the same phase of prayer. ....Especially with the tendons in my knees failing.

I have this issue before mass when I am trying to say the rosary. People chat and talk (not whispering - regular talking) when they come into church. It’s not social time. It’s time to be still in the presence of God, prepare for mass. Drives me nuts.

This was like sitting at the table with my own personal spiritual guides✝️

I have been stuggling with prayer, and suddenly this episodr popped up and addressed all my questions. Thank you for this wonderful.teaching. it seems to be specially tailored for me.🙏

I have severe issues focusing; even in prayer I will get up and wash dishes etc. it’s refreshing to know it’s not that bad as long as we get back to it.

Beloved Mary, grateful for this gift.

Very practical and also very edifying. Found this particularly helpful this week during time in a recent Eucharistic Adoration. An elderly man was "praying out loud" in church. I could hear bits and pieces of prayers "full of grace...for the sake of his....defend us in..." fading in and out. Rather than being a distraction it became, in a way, delightful for me! As if Our Lord was letting me "listen in" on this soul's heartfelt prayer to him. Thank you for helping me with your timely video!

Father Marc has such a lovely, kind and gentle way of explaining the vagaries of prayer. He is both practical and yet observant of the discipline of prayer. His teaching allows us to accept our own humanness and not to succumb to guilt all the time. His idea of “showing up” is radical in its simplicity and humanity. I find his teaching refreshing because it’s so loving. So much Catholic dogma isn’t kind, it’s so harsh and rigid. This was a beautiful conversation.

What a joy to find this channel praised be jesus