Does my guardian angel finish praying the Rosary if I fall asleep?

A very popular pious tradition states that, "If you fall asleep praying the Rosary, your guardian angel will finish it for you." It is a comforting thought, especially if you tend to fall asleep every time you start to pray the Rosary.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. 'Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.'"

Guardian angels are servants and messengers of God who are assigned to us at the beginning of our life to protect and guard us, leading us to Everlasting Life. Their primary mission is to ensure that we choose the path that leads to Heaven.

The Rosary is a powerful devotional prayer that can help us along that pathway. When prayed with faith and love, the Rosary can transform our lives. However, sometimes we will begin praying the Rosary (especially at bedtime) and fall asleep. Will our guardian angel pick up where we left off? 

While it's true that guardian angels will do whatever it takes to get us to Heaven, they are still created spirits and are unaware of our thoughts, unless we intentionally reveal them. They have not been given special access to our thoughts, whereby they force themselves into our mind. Only God is able to know exactly what is going on in our mind, as he is the creator and sustainer of us all. As a result, if we want our guardian angel to finish our Rosary, we need to ask him to do it. 

Angels spend their existence praising God and enjoying the beatific vision and so adding the Rosary to their prayers is no burden. In fact, they could pray the Rosary much better than we could ever do on earth!

At the same time, this isn't something we should abuse, entirely giving up the Rosary because we want our guardian angel to pray it for us. The act of praying the Rosary is often what transforms us and conforms our will to God's will. It is a discipline that has many benefits, so we shouldn't abandon it just because we are lazy.

The next time you lie down to pray the Rosary, keep in mind that your guardian angel can finish it for you (and will gladly do it), but you need to reveal that desire to your guardian angel and ask him for help.