By Cynthia Aralu

Hello everyone! Pray the Rosary!

I have thinking that it is possible that my charism is prayer. I do not know this for sure but I have a strong belief of this.

Maybe 2 or 3 nights ago, I had a dream in which I was lying in bed and I thought I was awake. An intrusive impure thought attempted to come into my mind, but I immediately began praying out loud against it like I normally do when I am awake. I do not fully remember the words I said. I think I prayed for God to strengthen my will, fortify/cleanse my thoughts…, and I am certain that I ended the prayer with “May the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.”, which is new. I only say that when praying the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I felt my head tighten as though I was having a “tension headache” when I began praying and it stopped while I prayed. I wondered when the tension headache began if I was really awake since the “tension headache” was familiar, and occurs whenever I am having a “bad dream”. I woke up and realized I had been dreaming.

The night before this/early hours of 17Jul, I was reciting prayers in my dream, almost as though I was learning to say the words, first, “Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us”, and then, “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have Mercy on Us” My memory is vague on the prayer to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. I believe I said them again, this time starting with, “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus…” and then “Our Lady of Perpetual Help…”. I do not pray to Mary under the title, “Our Lady of Perpetual Help”, although I have been praying to Mary lately under the title of “Our Lady of Succour” after learning about an apparition in Sciacca. I don’t know if the titles are linked. Later that day, I flipped open my bible which I do not use and so do not go through (I use my e-bible instead) and found a prayer card to Our Lady of Perpetual Help which I had placed there earlier in the year but forgot about. I had brought the prayer card with me from my travel to Nigeria back in January, because it is Mary and I love Mary; that and my bible from my childhood. I had the bible and prayer card blessed months after bringing it back. I don’t remember when. Anyway, I flipped over the prayer card and said the prayer there and have been saying it ever since.

A night before this, I awoke to myself praying out loud, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner and on the whole world”. I basically realized the words coming out of my mouth on waking up.

Nights before this, I awoke to my fingers moving as though moving along the beads of a Rosary.

I think it is great that while sleeping, I am praying to God or that my body remembers the movements of my prayer or devotion. I like the thought of prayer being a constant part of my life.

Have you ever thought about charisms? This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about Charisms:

“799 Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.

800 Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ, provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms. ²⁵³

801 It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and submitted to the Church’s shepherds. “Their office [is] not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good,” ²⁵⁴ so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together “for the common good.”

I just love that God is glorified even when I am sleeping and I love the thought that I could be helping people through my prayers. I am also grateful to God for protecting me.

On a final note, pray the Rosary!

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Let it be, until we meet again or “Ka ọ dị” as it is said in Igbo.