No, that is not a concern because as long as you are saying the prayers with a prayerful attitude and are meditating on the words of the prayer then it doesn’t matter how many times you repeat the prayer. How many times could someone repeat the fact that they love you until you got tired of hearing it? Most people would NEVER tire of hearing it! Unless it was apparent that the sentiment was not behind the words being spoken… The only time a prayer is in danger of being a “vain repetition” is when it is said thoughtlessly. That scripture is not simply talking about the activity of repeating the prayers. It is talking about those prayers that are said thoughtlessly without a prayerful attitude and love of God and those other Saints to whom we may be speaking. And as the person stated in the question, they are meditating on prayer intentions while saying the rosary. We should strive to learn the meditations that are prescribed for this particular devotion, but as long as the prayers are being offered up for some intention they will not be wasted. I had this very same concern when I was in RCIA and that was how the priest explained it for me.
You are absolutely right to quote the fact that the Rosary without contemplation is like a “body without a soul.” But my whole point is simply that if a person is in fact meditating on a worthy intention or mystery, it is not wasted prayer–that is a form of contemplation. It would be very good to learn the mysteries, but in the meantime you don’t always have the resources handy to follow along with the mysteries as you pray and there is nothing wrong with contemplating on another worthy intention while you say it. I prayed the Rosary many times this way before I learned it completely and I reaped many spiritual benefits and blessings from this.
Your point is well taken, but please note that I did not assert that it was wrong completely–here is what I said:
Not necessarily wrong, but it can be, potentially, problematic.
Then I went on to cite the admonitions against ‘mechanical repetition’. That’s all.
My response to you, was simply reiterating the above. The key word there, is ‘potentially’. Yes, the poster did say he was meditating on intentions, and occasionally, on the sorrowful mysteries–but within that rather vague description, was a fair amount of room for interpretation, which I felt warranted to bring that point up, and to reitierate, in response to your blanket approval, which seemed to nullify the propiety of bringing up the admonition:
No, there is nothing wrong with praying the Rosary that way.
What way? It’s not clear if intentions are
always prayed with the recitation, nor alwlays with meditation on the mysteries–and so it could be ‘
potentially, problematic’.
That said, again, your point is well taken–for even a well recited rosary, with all the mystieries pronounced before each decade, could still fall within the admonition against mechanical repitition, if done thoughtlessly–perhaps, arguably even more so, than praying without contemplating the mysteries, where a solemn atitude, and thoughtful, prayerful contemplation are present.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum.
S 3903)