Did Christ condemn repetition of prayers like praying the Rosary? The answer is No. In the often quoted passage in Matthew 6:7, Christ says: “But in praying, do not multiply words, as the Gentiles do; for they think that by saying a great deal, they will be heard.” Here the Saviour was referring to the practice of the pagans who sought by prolonged empty gabbling and speech-making to compel the deities to do their bidding. Commenting on this passage, St. Augustine says: “Truly much speaking’ comes from the Gentiles, who give more attention to the elegant delivering of their prayers than to the cleansing of their souls.” Far from condemning repetitions in prayer, Christ Himself repeated thrice in the Garden of Gethsemani the self-same prayer: “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; yet not as I will, but as thou willest” (Mt 26:39). It was in response to the repeated prayers of the blind men (Mt 20:30-31) that Jesus granted them the gift of sight. In one of the most beautiful of the Psalms there is the recurrent antiphon: “Praise the Lord for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever (Ps 135). Indeed the Apocalypse tells us that the angels of God in heaven never weary of repeating day and night the prayer or canticle: “Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was , and who is, and who is coming” (Rev 4:8). Doesn’t the rosary involve monotonous repetition? Not when said properly. While we say each decade we should meditate upon the particular mystery or event being commemorated. Hence meditation is the heart of the rosary. It is only through the meditation upon the life of Christ that we really come to know Him and to make Him a viral influence in our lives. In this devotion of Rosary, Jesus and Mary invite us to relive with them their joys, sorrows and glories thus share with them the great experiences of the Incarnation and Redemption. Thus do we enter more intimately into the very life of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, which is but the extension of the Incarnation in time and space.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 07:05:39 +0000
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