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Most parents know the heart-stopping sound of your child crying or screaming in the middle of the night after having a bad dream. When it comes to nightmares, you sometimes don’t even know what exactly is going to trigger them or if there is a combination of something that scared them during the day and a developmental leap happening, either separately or at the same time.
For one of our little ones, the Grinch movie was enough to make bedtime difficult. For another child, even the farthest sound of fireworks or thunder is enough to send them flying out of bed, into our room and into our bed.
Personally, my heart doesn’t stop racing even after our child goes to bed and I struggle to get back to sleep. It is a good opportunity to not only offer up the lack of sleep for the salvation of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, but it also makes the entire next day an opportunity to grow in the virtues of patience and charity.
There are some saints available to call for backup, however, if and/or when your child has a bad dream.
The Blessed Virgin Mary: Our Lady is my first “call” whenever anything happens. Especially at nighttime, when my children need some extra love, I go to the “Mother of all mothers” for guidance, reassurance of my own and to ask her to comfort their little souls.
St. Joseph: In a dream, the Angel Gabriel advised St. Joseph that Mary would have a son that would save the world from sin and then another angel appeared to St. Joseph in another dream to warn him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to flee Herod. Therefore, St. Joseph is the perfect saint to intercede for bad dreams! Plus, he is the “Terror of Demons” and God trusted him to lead and protect the Holy Family.
Guardian Angel: Your child’s Guardian Angel, as all Guardian Angels were created specifically by God for one person to protect them in this life and to get them to heaven. Since that job sounds very familiar to the job of parents, except we have many other jobs and the ONLY job of the Guardian Angel is your child, definitely ask them to intercede.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina: Did you know that St. Pio of Pietrelcina, also known as Padre Pio, slept very little? According to Rev. John A Schug, O.F.M., Capuchin’s book Padre Pio, this wonderful saint devoted so many hours in his days to prayer, Mass, confession and blessings that he slept very little. Not to mention the fact that demons would often attack Padre Pio at night, not only with temptations but also with physical assaults. Often, Padre Pio would wake with bruises and cuts from the demonic assaults he would endure.
St. John Bosco: Another wonderful saint to “call for help” when you need some heavenly help is St. John Bosco, who is a patron saint of youth and especially school children and boys. In the book Forty Dreams Of St. John Bosco: From St. John Bosco’s Biographical Memoirs, St. Bosco had a dream once where he saw a vision of hell. At the end of the dream, he was asked by an unnamed guide to touch the outermost layer of hell. He did it for a split second and he said that it was the most excruciating pain that he ever felt. When he woke up, there was a burn mark on the palm of his hand.
St. Michael the Archangel: In Revelation, we learn that St. Michael the Archangel battled Satan and cast him into hell. It is believed that the evil one’s battle cry was “I will not serve God.” On the contrary, St. Michael’s battle cry was “I WILL serve God” or Serviam in Latin. As a defender against evil, we can surely turn to St. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God” to defend us, our children and our homes against all negative and evil influences.
Bonus Saints and an Extra Tip:
St. Benedict of Nursia is another wonderful saint to ask for his intercession for general spiritual protection and peace not only for yourself, but for your home as well.
St. Joan of Arc’s story inspires us to have courage in all the battles we face, and children can look up to her and ask for spiritual protection and the strength to fight all battles.
St. Joseph of Cupertino is another patron saint of students. While he is a great saint, he was not educated and is especially a great saint for students who may have difficulty with lessons which may make them nervous and perhaps even disrupt their sleep.
If you have not had your home blessed by a priest, consider it. Even if your child does not struggle with sleep, when we had our home blessed by our priest, it was beautiful and brought so much peace, calm and reassurance that our home was blessed. I think it is safe to say that everyone can use a good night’s rest!
Christina Frye is a lifelong Rhode Islander, wife, mother and founder of Catholic Mom Rhode Island, www.CatholicMomRI.com.
