The Rosary

 

 

Back

 

 

 

Click on Picture

To learn more about the Rosary

 

"Through His Word, God speaks to man. By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to Him to whom we are speaking in prayer: 'Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but on the fervor of our souls.' (St. John Chrysostom, Ecloga de oratione 2: PG 63, 585.)" CCC 2700

 


I will deal briefly here with the assertion that praying the Rosary constitutes vain repetition, since that was an issue with me when I first began considering Catholicism. The Reverends Rumble and Carty give an excellent rebuttal to such objections, and I will quote it in its entirety here:

"Christ said 'Use not vain repetitions as do the heathen, who think in their much speaking to be heard.' Vain repetition in the manner of heathens is forbidden, but not useful repetition, which is not in the manner of the heathens. Vain repetition relies mechanically upon the mere number of prayers or formulas uttered. But Catholics do not rely on the mere repetition of prayers, nor upon their multiplication, but on the intrinsic worth of each prayer and upon the fervor and earnestness with which each prayer is said. [Any prayer that is devoid of sincerity is indeed, vain.] Two prayers said well, one immediately after the other, are as good as the same two prayers said well with twenty-four hours between them. Time is nothing to God, in whose sight 1000 years are but as a day. He does not mind whether there be two seconds between our prayers or two years; the prayers themselves are just as pleasing to Him. If you take the principle [behind the objections to the Rosary] and push it to its full conclusion, you could say the Our Father but once in your life. If you said it once a year, it would be repetition. How often may you say it? Once a month? Once a week? Once a day? If daily, what would be wrong with saying it hourly? If you have just concluded one Our Father, why may you not begin it again at once? Does it suddenly become an evil prayer?"

If the objections against the Rosary are to prevail, then these questions beg to be answered. It is not repetition that Jesus condemns, but vain repetition. Would the unceasing praises of the angels, singing "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come," be considered vain repetition?