Some non-Catholics contend that Catholics involve themselves in the sort of “vain repetition” in prayer that Jesus warns about, for example, in Matthew 6:7: “In praying do not heap up empty phrases (some translations read, ‘vain repetitions’) as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words.”
How should a Catholic respond, particularly when praying the Rosary or similar repeated prayers?
“Vain,” or useless, prayer is the key here. Matthew 6:7 echoes Elijah’s showdown with prophets of Ba’al in 1 Kings 18:26-29. Elijah mocks them because he knows their hours of repeated prayers are useless – there was no one to answer. This was typical of pagan worship in Jesus’ time too. The Gentiles believed they had to repeat their prayers over and over, both to appease their gods, and for their gods to even hear and answer them at all.
Jesus’ point about vain repetitions is that prayer to “gods” who are not gods at all is always vain. But he also has a message for our prayer life too: the words we address to God must come from the heart, not simply “empty phrases” or thoughtless prayer.
Repeated prayer itself is certainly not bad. Scripture is packed with such prayers – many of them recited in the actual presence of God. Consider Revelation 4:8: “the four living creatures … day and night … never cease to sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures sing these praises, the twenty-four elders around God’s throne in Heaven also “fall down before him … singing, ‘Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created.’”
The Great Hallel, Psalm 136, recited at every Passover and many other solemn occasions, has a repetitive framework integral to the Psalm itself, and also repeats the phrase, “for his steadfast love endures for ever,” 26 times.
Similarly, the great fiery furnace prayer of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3:35-65 repeats the phrase, “Bless the Lord … sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever” 31 times. God not only hears their repetitive prayer and rescues them, but converts King Nebuchadnezzar in the process.
In Luke 18:3-9, Jesus uses the parable of the persistent widow and unjust judge to teach his disciples that they “ought always to pray and not lose heart.” This widow “kept coming” to the judge, saying the same thing: “Vindicate me against my adversary” – essentially a repeated prayer. Jesus then confirms that God will quickly answer those “who cry to him day and night” repeatedly asking for his help.
In Mark 14:33-39 Jesus himself repeated his own prayers: “remove this chalice from me; yet not what I will, but what you will … And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.”
Scripture clearly teaches that not only is repetitive prayer permitted and encouraged, it is answered. Repeated prayers are exactly what go on “day and night” in God’s presence.
Let’s look briefly at the Rosary, because some object to its content, as well as its repetition. It includes three main prayers. The Our Father: the very prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew 6:5-13 above. The Glory Be: a prayer giving praise to the Trinity: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit …”
And finally, we have the Hail Mary, a Scriptural prayer that recites the very words of the angel and Elizabeth to Mary in Luke 1:28-43: “Hail, [Mary] full of grace … the Lord is with you! … “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” The prayer finishes with a petition of intercession, asking Mary, the Mother of God, to “pray for us sinners.”
Some find this last part objectionable on two counts. First, how can Mary be the Mother of the eternal God? This is a timely question, as we have just celebrated the great Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, on Jan. 1.
Catholic doctrine states Mary is the mother of the second person of the Trinity, Jesus. She is not the source of Jesus’ divinity, any more than any mother is the source of the spiritual soul of her child. But as a mother, Mary is mother of a whole person, body and soul, not just of a human nature. If Mary is the mother of the person, Jesus, and if Jesus is God, the divine second person of the Trinity, then Mary can rightly be called the Mother of God. This does not make her divine, it simply makes her a mother.
Perhaps the clearest evidence of this title comes straight from Scripture. “Filled with the holy Spirit,” Elizabeth calls Mary, “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). Some might point out that “Lord” is not the same as God. But the context of Luke 1 makes it clear that Elizabeth is using the word “Lord” to mean God, something Old Testament Jews did all the time. Over and over in this chapter, Mary, Zechariah, and Elizabeth all use “Lord” in this same way. For example, in Luke 1:38, Mary would answer God by saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.”
All the major Protestant reformers acknowledged this title as well. For example, Martin Luther would write: “she (Mary) was made the Mother of God.”
A second objection concerns intercession by saints in heaven. “There is one mediator between God and men … Jesus (1 Tim 2:5). Go directly to Jesus, many insist.
But Jesus has the authority to share his mediation with us, just as he gave his disciples authority to cast out demons and heal in his name in Luke 10, or to forgive sins in John 20:21-23. Who would hesitate to ask a friend on earth to pray for them? Why not the saints, alive in heaven (Lk 20:37-38)? “The prayer of a righteous man has great power.” (Jas 5:16)
Revelation 5:8-14 gives us beautiful insight into exactly this process: prayers of the faithful are brought into Jesus’ presence in heaven: “The twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each … with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Note that the saints don’t actually answer the prayers addressed to them, they simply bring them to God on our behalf.
But the stunning earthly evidence that this heavenly intercession does indeed happen is the hundreds of extensively documented medical miracles that have been gathered by the Church as part of the canonization process of every saint – as confirmation that they truly are in heaven and interceding for us with Jesus (see my earlier column on the canonization of saints for a more detailed discussion of the intercession of the Saints).
Ultimately, it is never “vain repetition” to talk with God or to prayerfully quote sacred Scripture in any form – whether we speak once, or repeatedly, as in Psalm 136 or the Rosary.
