Help for the Prayerfully Distracted Mind

Janele Hoerner shares her own experience and what she has learned from St. Teresa of Avila to help those battling distractions during prayer.  

I feel I had more time to formally pray when my children were all under school age since we had naps and early bedtimes. Now with teenagers and babies and almost every age in between, our house never feels that quiet still that we once had. Fitting in any sort of quiet prayer is a fight between the body begging for sleep and the will to keep true to my own life of prayerful contemplation. 

I feel I am continually distracted by all the things that need done in the house, the baby getting teeth or waking up in the middle of the night, our teenagers fighting their bodies' need for sleep, the large dinners that need to be prepared for only a weeknight dinner, my husband turning on the TV, and the countless other things in between.  

I have tried staying up late, waking up in the early hours of the morning, and staying up all night just to pray and clean and still to no avail. It seemed I could only find time to pray while moving. I felt like the more I surrendered my life over to Christ, the busier I became and the less I was able to fit in what I felt brought me the most peace: quiet contemplation. I was becoming visibly distraught and frustrated a few years ago and knew a change was necessary in order to combat my continual distractions from the type of prayer I thought I desired.  

I began to look at the lives of the saints to find any ideas on how to help this trial of mine and to feel less alone. I found that St. Teresa of Avila wrote of distracting thoughts often. She compares those distracting thoughts to wild horses and silly wonderings:

Once aware of a distraction do not give it undue attention; rather quietly bring yourself back into the Lord’s presence. (quoted on carmelitesistersocd.com)

Reading this from a 16th-century saint has brought me great comfort over the years. Since she was struggling with these issues so many years ago, I felt I should not believe that I am only experiencing this because of our current technological advancements in society.  

Still, I was distracted so much that I just could not take it. I was becoming so frustrated by praying simple prayers and not being able to get through them without those extra thoughts popping in. My frustrations were becoming so very distracting to me that I would become consumed in tears. I could not even bring myself back to the prayers that I was distracted from because they would be over before I even realized it was happening. After beginning to say the Rosary with our children, before I knew it my family was on the Hail Holy Queen and all I could remember after the opening prayer was the diaper I changed, the toddler I wrangled, the book I took from two fighting children, and the Rosary I caught as it was whipped across the room. I felt so disappointed and wanted to find a way to combat this struggle of mine. 

At night I began listening to various podcasts and nothing really seemed to fit. I wanted something of more depth with less speaking since there was so much going on in our house during the day. I started to listen to Gregorian chant. It was so different from anything I had heard before and sounded so heavenly and divine. I found that it helped me stay focused more on the prayers because I had to attentively listen to the words, which led me to not be able to think of other things at the same time.  

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Praying in a different language was the answer to my prayers. #CatholicMom

I wanted to learn these prayers for myself in the language of the Church, but I had no idea how because I had no training in Latin. After much time looking around, I found a very detailed YouTube video that broke down every single word. It was easy to understand with repetition. My kids and I would break down a single line of prayer a week until we could fully recite it. It took time, patience, and complete determination.  

Now when we pray the Rosary in Latin, I am not nearly as distracted because I am forced to focus on each word as well as the mediations. Praying in a different language was the answer to my prayers. It was something I never wanted to do and something that was completely out of my comfort zone, but it has brought me closer to God than I ever expected. I hope it can do the same for you if you are struggling.

Learn the Our Father and Haily Mary in Latin from this video: 

Copyright 2024 Janele Hoerner
Images: Canva