What Aquinas writes about dreams is something we have all observed, and it calls for closer consideration: “those things which have occupied a man’s thoughts and affections while awake recur to his imagination while asleep.” This implies that our nighttime dreams are not wholly beyond our sway. Indeed, it grounds a very practical approach to improving our dreams.
The point here is not to attempt what is impossible, namely, somehow to dictate what we dream when asleep. Rather, accepting that dreams are to a great extent beyond our control is a good opportunity to reflect on the human condition, and even embrace it in humility. Aquinas also suggests that our dreams might occasion some insight into ourselves, whether about our desires or our bodily dispositions.
Of particular importance is that we are not directly responsible for what occurs in our dreams due to the lack of free judgment. For this reason, there is no place for scrupulosity regarding what we ‘do’ in our dreams.
Yet all this said, it makes great sense that we consider how we might strive to bring even dreams more under the gentle and life-giving sway of right reason. Aquinas notes two things that are often confirmed by experience. First, what is on our mind right before going to sleep has a more proximate effect on our dreaming. And second, thoughts accompanied by passion or desire tend especially to leave a kind of “trace and inclination” in the soul, making it more likely that such thoughts will affect our dreams.
We can be intentional then about the final moments before sleep regarding both what images we call to mind and how we respond ‘affectively’ to them. For example, if the image of the Good Shepherd holding a lamb is particularly moving for us, then we can call this image to mind precisely to enter into it and ‘feel’ it. Or perhaps, we imagine ourselves as an infant in the arms of our mother or father; or ourselves holding our beloved child. Or, we are walking in a field at sunrise, perhaps with a friend.
Chastity and fidelity to our vocation, while certainly not the only challenge regarding our dreams, can be a significant one. Here we might be creative according to our state in life. For spouses when apart from one another, a chaste remembrance of your beloved, and then a choice to ‘feel’ how much you love, cherish, and respect him or her, might be the perfect bedtime practice, especially in combination with thoughts that raise our gaze to higher things. Indeed, such a practice will also often be in order when spouses are together.
For the unmarried, final moments before sleep are a great opportunity to call to mind our deepest commitments. Life itself is an exercise in putting first things first, of seeking to direct our heart toward the things that are above, and toward all other things because of and in light of the things that are above. What thoughts and images most inspire and move us, reminding us of who we want to be? It is these that we call to mind, and in which we choose to invest our heart. And prepare for sleep.
In this way the moments before sleep set us on a good trajectory. And even if, as can surely happen, our dreams go a very different way, we have nothing to fear. We continue in good cheer to choose the trajectory toward becoming our more true selves.
Early in our family life we started to wish each other good night by saying, “Rest with the angels!” That very wish itself can be productive of wonderful images, in both wisher and recipient. I certainly cannot say that sleep in our home has always been what we have wished, whether in children or adults. But keep wishing we will. And by the grace of God, I trust our simple efforts will have genuine fruits both in our sleep and far, far beyond. ~ ~ ~
NEW PODCAST MORNING AND BEDTIME RITUALS IN THE HOME. Simple routines can make all the difference. Join Sofia and me in discussing principles and concrete practices for starting and ending our days well. Enjoy and share our other podcasts HERE.
Husband, father, and professor of Philosophy. LifeCraft springs from one conviction: there is an ancient wisdom about how to live the good life in our homes, with our families; and it is worth our time to hearken to it. Let’s rediscover it together. Learn more.
Those are excellent suggestions. I’ve also found that doing St. Ignatius’ Examen before bed to be a helpful way to review my day with grace and set my course for the next day in a good direction. We put our children to bed with, “Good night, good night, far flies the light but still God’s love with flame above! Good night, good night!” However, I think it would be lovely to add, “rest with the angels” as one final parting word of benediction! Thank you for the suggestion!
And thank you, Amy, for sharing that lovely formulation!
Thank you for the wonderful words of wisdom!
When our children were little, at bedtime we would pray together;
“In peace I shall lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord make me secure. Psalm 4 verse 8”.
Hopefully, this single scripture verse we recited nightly took root in their young hearts and memories as an awareness of God’s loving presence with them always.
Surely it did! And will bear fruit with echoes in eternity.
I love the office of Compline in the Book of Common Prayer. That is my bedtime ritual – in my jammies, in bed, the last thing I do before lights out. To me it feels like a grown-up version of “Now I lay me down to sleep” which I was taught to say as a child.
When my own children were little, we said bedtime prayers together and I made the sign of the cross on their foreheads as a blessing. Sometimes they reached up and blessed me back. Happy memories.
Happy indeed! And I’m sure the ‘blessings’ are being passed on!
Pure gold. Thanks, John.
Thank you Anthony!
I’ll add a cancer patient’s perpective. Since being diagnosed, I’ve had great difficulty sleeping through the night. Somewhere between 1:30 & 3:30 am, I awaken for no apparent reason and find it difficult to resume sleep. All kinds of thoughts come to mind, daily details that don’t matter, and, of course, the notion that death is always at my elbow. Priests have noted the importance of trusting Christ as both my Savior and the ultimate healer, as well as that this time of night is Satan’s time. So, before going to sleep, I add a prayer. It’s simply a recitiation of the Surrender Novena. When I pray it, sleep comes more easily and, if awakened at the odd hour, Satan’s smoke doesn’t stop me from resuming my sleep.
Thank you for sharing, Bob. Wow. The rich seriousness of life just becomes more and more apparent. God bless you, Bob, especially in the night.
I know this too well. The chemo itself often keeps me from sleep. I have learned, like you through the Surrender Novena, to rest into the long hours as though called to Adoration. I pray whatever verses come to mind. Rarely can I manage the control for a Rosary but I pray the simple Holy Names, and I love You, Save Souls as often as I can control my thoughts. God bless you, sirs.
And God be with you in your fidelity in suffering!
I also often wake at night (though I don’t know of any medical reasons). I do, however, also have trouble with the Rosary, as my mind starts to race. I have found a Rosary podcast that really helps me focus more and relax better.
Many years ago now, I had the good fortune of listening to Fr James Brent O.P., speak to a group of Catholic men on fatherhood. My greatest take away that day was the challenge he put forth to all us men to start blessing our children and wives with holy water each evening before retiring to bed. Our youngest Brendan is now a freshman in a public school setting he gets blessed every morning before stepping out the door. I will always be grateful that I had the good fortune to hear this wonderful priest call us fathers to take complete charge of imparting Gods blessings on our Loved Ones!
That is a wonderful part of a nightly (and morning!) ritual.
Very interesting. I would be curious to know what inspired this reflection. Although I agree with the words of the Angelic Doctor, I have never spent very much time thinking about my dreams. Perhaps I am in the minority when it comes to that.
Thanks for asking. I was very struck by Aquinas’s words when I first read them, in part because I did wonder just how much they would be true to my experience. I can share that I’ve been striving for some time to assure that my last images are good ones. The results are, I’d say, satisfying, but not stupendous. I still find myself sometimes wondering: where did that bad dream come from? So, my own experience is that good practices here make a difference, but my dreams are still a prompt to humility and trust. In sum, however, I do think that rituals of ending the day are an important mirror to good rituals of beginning it, and so are key aspects of an intentional life.
I added the ‘rest with the angels’ to my Goodnight after prayers with Iris this evening. She smiled and nodded as if it made perfect sense.
I love it! Children often see things very clearly!
My husband prays this over me every night before bed-
Commission of the Care of Soul and Body
Into Thy hands, Mary, I commend the body and soul of (name) I ask thee to provide for him/her and to protect him/her. I ask thee to protect him/her from the evil one. I ask thee enlighten his/her mind, strengthen his/her will, and refrain his/her appetites by grace. Our Lady and St. Michael, call down from Heaven the legions of angels under your command to protect him/her; I ask of you all the things I ask of his/her guardian angel. Guardian angel of (name), under thy intellectual and volitional protection I place his/her body. I ask thee to illumine his/her mind and refrain his/her appetites. I ask thee to strengthen his/her cognitive power, his/her memory and his/her imagination. Help him/her to remember the things he/she should and not remember the things he/she should not. Help him/her to associate the things he/she should and not to associate the things he/she should not. Give him/her good clear images in his/her imagination. I ask thee to drive away all the demons that might affect him/her while he/she sleeps. Help him/her to sleep and if thou should deem it prudent direct his/her dreams. Help him/her to arise refreshed. Amen