I tried to pray the Rosary. I'm guilty of vain repetition

[Moonboots]

But not for the reason you were probably expecting after reading the title. I’m trying out Catholic “things” to see if my call to - one day, possibly - become Catholic is genuine. So, of course, the Rosary is high up on the list. Lutherans could be accused of vain repetition in our Divine Services, and I’ve made heavy use out of the Jesus Prayer and Orthodox Prayer Rope for years, so of course repeating prayers isn’t the issue, as we know what vain repetition really is. I’m guilty of real vain repetition while praying the Rosary because (I realized) that I’m repeating the Hail Mary not truly believing that she can even hear us. I essentially don’t believe the words after the first half of the prayer. I’m not sure how to overcome this.

There are some awesome pieces of advice in this thread and I hope you prayerfully take them to heart. I also want to say I’m impressed by your zeal to jump into something that is so extremely “Catholic” - that’s something many Protestants won’t even do out of curiosity.

I’m going to take a slightly different path than everyone so far in my advice to you, and though it may slow your roll on praying the Rosary, I would hope for it to be efficacious in understanding the Rosary more completely in the future, when the time comes.

My advice is this: Pray to Jesus to open your heart and your sense of reason to how He wants you to view and interact with His mother. Ask Him for the guidance to understand His mother’s role in the life of the Church, both on earth and in heaven.

The folks in this thread have provided many tracts that will speak to the reasonableness of the saints in heaven (of which we consider Mary to be the greatest) being aware of and praying for our conditions here on earth. Seek the practices and explanations of the Church Fathers and Doctors on this point. Seek to understand how not asking for the intercession of Mary and the saints is, historically, a fairly recent development, and was not considered an illicit practice by any Christian until the last few centuries. Ask yourself why that is.

But above all, while the skepticism is still latent under the hood, ask Christ for that wisdom as you read and understand these things. It may take a week, a year, or a decade, but I’m certain that if you keep seeking in the same manner you appear to be in this thread, you’ll be led to truth on this matter, and all of a sudden the family of those you can pray with and ask to pray for you becomes a lot larger than you had ever imagined.

When I pray my Rosary this evening, I’ll offer your understanding of this prayer, and the intercession of the saints in general, as one of my intentions.

Be well,

DK

EDIT: With that being said, there’s certainly no harm in continuing to read about the mysteries and reflect on them, even if you aren’t yet believing that Mary can hear your prayers and intercede on your behalf.

 

[Jennifer132]

I would hold off on the rosary until you can accept the doctrine of the communion of saints. Go through your Bible and mark all the scriptures that talk about the body of Christ, that is the Church. Do we really have one body in heaven and one on earth, or are all Christians connected because they are part of one body? Then go through and mark all the verses that exhort us to pray for one another. If we are one body, it will follow that the saints pray for us, as they are now perfect and will follow the exhortations of scripture perfectly as well. Hebrews 12 suggests that we are surrounded by witnesses, and if we go back to Hebrews 11, we see just who those witnesses are-Abraham, Gideon, Rahab, and the rest of the saints. A witness must have someone to bear witness to, that is, they are talking to God about us. In Revelation we also see a picture of those in heaven praying for us. In the gospels we also see a warning from Jesus that suggests that children have angels who are continually offering prayers on their behalf to God. I started doing the rosary a few months ago (I am also considering conversion). For me, the Scriptural Rosary and use of pictures to meditate on as I go is the only way I can really enter into the prayers. Try reading Edward Sri’s book on the New Rosary in Scripture.

 

[Markie_Boy]

I am a newer Catholic convert. I don’t yet pray the Rosary, or to saints. It just does not fit where I am yet, and it’s not mandatory or essential.

Keep seeking truth, and if the Lord wants you there, you will be there. We are not all called to be the same in all things.

There are certain things like a fixed age for 1st Communion and Confirmation that totally go against true spirituality. We don’t know when someone will come to faith nor can we tell them when it’s their time.

It’s our job to teach, encourage, and love them to that place.

I didn’t think I’d end up Catholic, but here I am.

 

[paperwight66]

Unless you were praying to be seen by people, it was not vain.

This is how some denominations take the bible out of context in order to contradict the Catholic Church.

Some even go so far as to say the Lord’s Prayer is a vain repetition.

You can find evidence of the communion of saints in the bible and in early church tradition.

Well, actually, ‘vain’ here does not mean putting on a act in front of others, or bragging, but it means ‘useless’, ‘meaningless’ as in, ‘all his efforts were in vain’.

It’s not about whether anyone else was present.

 

[mattp0625]

Well, actually, ‘vain’ here does not mean putting on a act in front of others, or bragging, but it means ‘useless’, ‘meaningless’ as in, ‘all his efforts were in vain’.

It’s not about whether anyone else was present.

I put it into the context of the previous two verses in Matthew 6

 

[Vico]

But not for the reason you were probably expecting after reading the title. I’m trying out Catholic “things” to see if my call to - one day, possibly - become Catholic is genuine. So, of course, the Rosary is high up on the list. Lutherans could be accused of vain repetition in our Divine Services, and I’ve made heavy use out of the Jesus Prayer and Orthodox Prayer Rope for years, so of course repeating prayers isn’t the issue, as we know what vain repetition really is. I’m guilty of real vain repetition while praying the Rosary because (I realized) that I’m repeating the Hail Mary not truly believing that she can even hear us. I essentially don’t believe the words after the first half of the prayer. I’m not sure how to overcome this.

The teaching is that God makes the prayers know to the saints that have died.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part II, second part, Question 83

Article 4. Whether we ought to pray to God alone?

Objection 1. It would seem that we ought to pray to God alone. Prayer is an act of religion, as stated above (Article 3). But God alone is to be worshiped by religion. Therefore we should pray to God alone.

Objection 2. Further, it is useless to pray to one who is ignorant of the prayer. But it belongs to God alone to know one’s prayer, both because frequently prayer is uttered by an interior act which God alone knows, rather than by words, according to the saying of the Apostle (1 Corinthians 14:15), “I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the understanding”: and again because, as Augustine says (De Cura pro mortuis xiii) the “dead, even the saints, know not what the living, even their own children, are doing.” Therefore we ought to pray to God alone.

Objection 3. Further, if we pray to any of the saints, this is only because they are united to God. Now some yet living in this world, or even some who are in Purgatory, are closely united to God by grace, and yet we do not pray to them. Therefore neither should we pray to the saints who are in Paradise.

On the contrary, It is written (Job 5:1), “Call . . . if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints.”

I answer that, Prayer is offered to a person in two ways: first, as to be fulfilled by him, secondly, as to be obtained through him. On the first way we offer prayer to God alone, since all our prayers ought to be directed to the acquisition of grace and glory, which God alone gives, according to Psalm 83:12, “The Lord will give grace and glory.” But in the second way we pray to the saints, whether angels or men, not that God may through them know our petitions, but that our prayers may be effective through their prayers and merits. Hence it is written (Apocalypse 8:4) that “the smoke of the incense,” namely “the prayers of the saints ascended up before God.” This is also clear from the very style employed by the Church in praying: since we beseech the Blessed Trinity “to have mercy on us,” while we ask any of the saints “to pray for us.”

Reply to Objection 1. To Him alone do we offer religious worship when praying, from Whom we seek to obtain what we pray for, because by so doing we confess that He is the Author of our goods: but not to those whom we call upon as our advocates in God’s presence.

Reply to Objection 2. The dead, if we consider their natural condition, do not know what takes place in this world, especially the interior movements of the heart. Nevertheless, according to Gregory (Moral. xii, 21), whatever it is fitting the blessed should know about what happens to us, even as regards the interior movements of the heart, is made known to them in the Word: and it is most becoming to their exalted position that they should know the petitions we make to them by word or thought; and consequently the petitions which we raise to them are known to them through Divine manifestation.

Reply to Objection 3. Those who are in this world or in Purgatory, do not yet enjoy the vision of the Word, so as to be able to know what we think or say. Wherefore we do not seek their assistance by praying to them, but ask it of the living by speaking to them.