Nightmares after Rosary

[Amylisa]

Hi,

I have been dealing with something off and on for a few years now.  Often when I have really gotten back into praying the Rosary every day, I have nightmares. This past week I began also praying the Seven Sorrows Rosary because I felt led to.  Now most every night I've been having nightmares, waking up tired and shook up. 

I have prayed the Blood of Christ upon myself, I have prayed the St. Michael prayer, I have asked Our Lady's protection, but it keeps happening. 

Have any of you guys dealt with something similar?  I think it's simply an attack of some kind, right?

[beatitude]

It could be a spiritual attack. There may also be a psychological aspect - you're expecting to have a nightmare now, and that will make one more likely to happen, especially if you're dwelling on the possibility right before you go to bed. I don't want to make any assumptions here, but I'm also wondering if you're facing any particular difficulties or stresses in your life right now? Exams, challenging things happening? Often when I've increased the amount of prayer in my day, it's because I've been facing problems of some kind and I needed more strength and comfort. I sometimes had disrupted sleep or uneasy dreams during those times not because of the prayer, but because of the situation that led me to pray more.

[Egeria]

Don't worry, it's quite normal! I would also not see it as some kind of attack.

I can't comment on the rosary specifically, but when we start entering into a more regular life of prayer, and specifically the sort of prayer that leads us to silence, this can loosen up various things in our subconcsious that then make themselves felt. They sometimes do this in dreams, and sometimes also in mood changes or sudden desires. Usually we just need to persevere and work through them, although it could also be that they are raising things you need to look at. If you have a spiritual director, or a confessor who is knowledgeable about the spiritual life, then it would be good to discuss it with him or her. And if it is really bad, then it would be particularly good to find someone to discuss it with. But it is a perfectly recognisable phenomenon and not something to worry about unduly.

[Charbel]

Just as an added possibility to what has been said above, as something similar I have experienced in my faith, sometimes satan invokes these types of things as a fear factor to make you think "When I pray the Rosary, I have nightmares. Therefore I will not pray the Rosary so the nightmares will subside". It doesn't always work in his favor though and he's just being counterproductive lol. My grandma says it's like the evil one "pokes" you and that it's a good thing because it shows that you are getting closer to our Lord which satan definitely dislikes and will do anything to make it stop. I also think these types of things are related to stress and the devil tries to use that in his favor. But I agree with beatitude and Egeria on this and if you dismiss them then they will likely go away  Also Saint Raphael is the patron against nightmares so you can ask his intercession before going to sleep. In my experience, he has always helped!

[OnlySunshine]

Do you have anxiety?  I know I used to get anxiety attacks at night which felt a great deal like nightmares.  There are also such things as "night terrors" which are associated with anxiety attacks.  If you are having anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy might be of good help as it helped me.  If therapy alone does not help, there are medications you can use, but they are very addictive, so therapy is a good idea to try first.

[Marescor]

I have something to ask and say. Ever since I made my first holy Communion I always hung up my rosary in my room right. Every single night I would have nightmares and then once I took it down for some reason and I didn't have anymore nightmares and every time there is a dream catcher up then I have nightmares too. Then one night I got holy water and poured it on myself because I thought maybe it will help me get better so I went to sleep and had a very bad nightmare. Some people say that means I'm like a witch could that be possible??

[Lilllabettt]

10 hours ago, Marescor said:

I have something to ask and say. Ever since I made my first holy Communion I always hung up my rosary in my room right. Every single night I would have nightmares and then once I took it down for some reason and I didn't have anymore nightmares and every time there is a dream catcher up then I have nightmares too. Then one night I got holy water and poured it on myself because I thought maybe it will help me get better so I went to sleep and had a very bad nightmare. Some people say that means I'm like a witch could that be possible??

Do you practice witchcraft? No?  You are not a witch. "Witch" is not an ontological status. Harry Potter misleads on this. 

If you ruminate just before bed on the Rosary, or holy water, and whether they are going to give you nightmares, you will induce nightmares.  Take the Rosary and holy water out of your bedroom. Use them frequently in situations when you are unlikely to fall asleep.  That will help break the association. 

With the right pushes, the presence of a Turkey sandwich can give you nightmares. There's nothing supernatural about it. 

 

 

[Seven77]

On 4/29/2019 at 3:56 PM, Lilllabettt said:

With the right pushes, the presence of a Turkey sandwich can give you nightmares. There's nothing supernatural about it. 

 

I would suggest to keep using holy water, keep  praying the rosary, receive the Eucharist in the state of grace (make good confessions),  and lose the dream catcher. Another thing--- you know what helped me when I started to change my life and to begin to really pray?  Praying a prayer of protection before going to bed, such as this one written by St. Augustine:

 Lord Jesus Christ, Whose unwearied eye neither slumbers nor sleeps, but continually watches in defense of thy servants; take me and mine, I beseech thee, into thy protection, and grant, that whilst my body is asleep, my soul may be awake to Thee, and that I may hereafter behold Thee in that blessed and heavenly country, where thou, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, rulest eternally, and where all the angels, with the blessed saints, are citizens forever. Amen.