Don’t let the dog return to its vomit We claim in Jesus’s Holy Name and through the Holy Mother that you will continue to be protected and make it safely through this trial.
Sometimes God wants us to overcome by not overcoming. The victory is just keeping in their slugging. I expect to be in their slugging away on my deathbed. You know when St Gemma Galgani was dying the devil came along as a great snake and curled around her just before her death. A wonderful way to go. What a soldier. Keep on slugging away.
DeGaulle is right. You only take flak when you are over the target. You must be right over the target and gaining ground. Short little prayers I think are very helpful when I am in spiritual turmoil. At those moments itd hard to concentrate. "Sacred Heart of Jesus I place all my trust in Thee" is a good one. "Oh Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to thee." Lots of great little prayers like that from the tradition of the Church.
One good thing about the battle is that after a while you get to recognise the devils in action. I was tempted a lot today by a very nasty remark someone made to me several moths ago. I felt anger and resentment rising in me as I kept recalling it. Then I understood these memories were not coming from nowhere; it was the devils doing. So when the memory came I prayed for the poor guy and kept forgiving him. The memories went away at once. The devil knows when he is digging himself a hole.
Praying. I have recently (last night again) been experiencing a weighted sense of melancholy in the wee hours. I often wake up between 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. This is new to me. Meditating on Christ, Mary, Saints, praying is of some help. I'll lay awake upwards of 2 hours. But last night husband heard me up. He asked, "Are you having trouble breathing?" I replied no. He said I'd been breathing in a loud and labored way (not snoring) just prior. He shouldn't have been able to hear that (he's hard of hearing, I'd been sleeping in our guest room). {shrugs} It's medical or spiritual? I'm healthy, so...
Three pm is the Hour of Divine Mercy Three am is the devil’s wicked copycat So you are being awakened to do reparations to God It happens to me fairly often
Thank you for your prayers. Very strange that your husband heard your labored breathing. You are probably feeling anxious, and perhaps your husband may have been alerted through your prayers. I think we are all feeling very unsettled; such troubling times. It can be overwhelming to deal with our own personal problems, as well as all of the confusion taking place within our Church. Our faith is our refuge, and our Church is in terrible trouble. I know in my heart that Jesus will take care of it, but it is such a challenge not to worry. I keep praying for the graces that I need to see my family through these dark days. I have had many sleepless nights myself, and like you, I pray to the saints, and also to my Guardian Angel for peace of mind.
This is quite usual. This is also why we have Vigils in the middle of the Night. Also special prayers of protection going to bed at night in the Office of the Church. THey say 3 Am is the hour when the devil is at his most powerful. It may also be where weare most weak, perhpas because of our body clock. But you know I think in a paradox it is also when our own prayers are at the most pwerful It might have something you know when Our Lord was in the Garden of Gethsemane. If you recall this is when Satan came to tempt Him and the Angel of Consolation was sent from heaven to help Him. He reproached the Apostles for sleeping and not staying awake with Him. I think the Lord sent a powerful prayer for help back then that echoesdown theages the Chirsitans everywhere. So we are woken, like the Apostles to lend aid. Prayer is not limited in time. So we travel back to Gethsemane to help out. Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem.
Anyway its quite normal. I wake around then pretty well every night.I'd be surprised if I didn;t. I sometimes check the clock, its surprising how accurate it is, pretty well always right on the button 3am.
Traditional prayer times for the Daily Office always took advantage of this (previously) well known phenomenon. https://www-sciencealert-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.sciencealert.com/humans-used-to-sleep-in-two-shifts-maybe-we-should-again/ Humans Used to Sleep in Two Shifts, And Maybe We Should Do It Again Humans Used to Sleep in Two Shifts, And Maybe We Should Do It Again By Melinda Jackson and Siobhan Banks April 04, 2018 Around a third of the population have trouble sleeping, including difficulties maintaining sleep throughout the night. While nighttime awakenings are distressing for most sufferers, there is some evidence from our recent past that suggests this period of wakefulness occurring between two separate sleep periods was the norm. Throughout history, there have been numerous accounts of segmented sleep, from medical texts, to court records and diaries, and even in African and South American tribes, with a common reference to "first" and "second" sleep. In Charles Dickens' Barnaby Rudge (1840), he writes: "He knew this, even in the horror with which he started from his first sleep, and threw up the window to dispel it by the presence of some object, beyond the room, which had not been, as it were, the witness of his dream." Anthropologists have found evidence that during preindustrial Europe, bi-modal sleeping was considered the norm. Sleep onset was determined not by a set bedtime, but by whether there were things to do. Historian A. Roger Ekirch's book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past describes how households at this time retired a couple of hours after dusk, woke a few hours later for one to two hours, and then had a second sleep until dawn. During this waking period, people would relax, ponder their dreams, or have sex. Some would engage in activities like sewing, chopping wood, or reading, relying on the light of the moon or oil lamps. Ekirch found references to the first and second sleep started to disappear during the late 17th century. This is thought to have started in the upper classes in Northern Europe and filtered down to the rest of Western society over the next 200 years. Interestingly, the appearance of sleep maintenance insomnia in the literature in the late 19th century coincides with the period where accounts of split sleep start to disappear. Thus, modern society may place unnecessary pressure on individuals that they must obtain a night of continuous consolidated sleep every night, adding to the anxiety about sleep and perpetuating the problem. Biological basis Less dramatic forms of bi-phasic sleep are evident in today's society, for example in cultures that take an afternoon siesta. Our body clock lends itself to such a schedule, having a reduction in alertness in the early afternoon (the so-called 'post-lunch dip'). In the early 1990s, psychiatrist Thomas Wehr conducted a laboratory experiment in which he exposed a group of people to a short photoperiod – that is, they were left in darkness for 14 hours every day instead of the typical 8 hours – for a month. (simpleinsomnia/Flickr) It took some time for their sleep to regulate, but by the fourth week, a distinct two-phase sleep pattern emerged. They slept first for 4 hours, then woke for 1 to 3 hours before falling into a second 4-hour sleep. This finding suggests bi-phasic sleep is a natural process with a biological basis. Pros and cons Today's society often doesn't allow for this type of flexibility, thus, we have to conform to today's sleep/wake schedules. It is generally thought a continuous 7 to 9-hour unbroken sleep is probably best for feeling refreshed. Such a schedule may not suit our circadian rhythms, however, as we desynchronise with the external 24-hour light/dark cycle. To successfully maintain a split sleep schedule, you have to get the timing right – that is, commencing sleep when there is a strong drive for sleep, and during a low circadian point, in order to fall asleep quickly and maintain sleep. Some of the key advantages of a split sleep schedule include the flexibility it allows with work and family time (where this flexibility is afforded). Some individuals in modern society have adopted this type of schedule as it provides two periods of increased activity, creativity, and alertness across the day, rather than having a long wake period where sleepiness builds up across the day and productivity wanes. In support of this, there is growing evidence suggesting naps can have important benefits for memory and learning, increasing our alertness and improving mood states. Some believe sleep disorders, like sleep maintenance insomnia, are rooted in the body's natural preference for split sleep. Therefore, split sleep schedules may be a more natural rhythm for some people. Implications for shift work Split sleep schedules have recently begun to emerge as a potential alternative to continuous night shift work. Working at night has the combined problems of prolonged wakefulness (often working 8 to 12-hour shifts) and circadian misalignment (working at a time of night when you would normally be asleep). Shift workers frequently complain of fatigue and reduced productivity at work, and they are at increased risk for chronic disease such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Some industries have employed schedules with shorter but more frequent sleep opportunities, on the premise that the drive for sleep will be less with reduced time. For example, 6 hours on/6 hours off, 4 hours on/8 hours off, and 8 hours on/8 hours off, limiting time on shift and reducing extended periods of wakefulness. Split sleep/work schedules divide the day into multiple work/rest cycles so employees work multiple short shifts, broken up with short off-duty periods every 24 hours. Split-shift schedules that maintain adequate sleep time per 24 hours may be beneficial for sleep, performance, and safety. A number of recent studies have found split sleep provides comparable benefits for performance to one big sleep, if the total sleep time per 24 hours was maintained (at around 7 to 8 hours total sleep time per 24 hours). However, as might be expected, performance and safety can still be impaired if wake up and start work times are in the early hours of the morning. And we don't know if these schedules afford any benefits for health and reduce the risk for chronic disease. While the challenges of night shift work cannot be eliminated, the advantage of some split shift schedules is that all workers get at least some opportunity to sleep at night and do not have to sustain alertness for longer than 6 to 8 hours. Although we aspire to have consolidated sleep, this may not suit everyone's body clock or work schedule. It might, in fact, be a throwback to a bi-model sleep pattern from our pre-industrial ancestors, and could perhaps work well in a modern industrial setting. A version of this story was first published in June 2016. Melinda Jackson, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University and Siobhan Banks, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia.
Yes, this has happened to me as well. Unbelievable! When I wake up and see 3am I start praying. It's funny, but with me, it seems to happen in cycles. It will happen every night for a couple of weeks, then suddenly stop. Scary stuff.
A Blessing: Our help is in the name of the Lord. R. Who has made heaven and earth. V. The Lord be with you. R. And with thy spirit. Let us pray. O GOD, by whose word all things are sanctified. pour forth Thy blessing upon Sanctus and grant according to Thy law and will, That he may receive from Thee, through the invocation of Thy Holy Name health of body and peace of soul. Through Christ our Lord. R. Amen. I believe it is OK to acknowledge our fears, it is humble and honest. To acknowledge truth is powerful. In the prayer of St Padre Pio 'Stay with Me Lord' he acknowledges these human traits. Stay with Me Lord Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You. Stay with me Lord, because I am weak, and I need Your strength, so that I may not fall so often. Stay with me Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervour. Stay with me Lord, for You are my light, and without you, I am in darkness. Stay with me Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You. Stay with me Lord, for I desire to love you very much, and always be in Your Company. Stay with me Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You. Stay with me Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late, and the day is coming to a close, and life passes, death, judgement, eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile. Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognise You as Your disciples did at the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to you, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your presence, oh yes, I ask this of You. Stay with me Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen. So May it Be.
