Vain repitition

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McatholicN

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What exactly is vain repitition? How sinful is it? I worry that I may be committing if I’m not fully focused while praying the rosary.
 
the scripture passage you recall is about praying as the pagans do by “vain repetition” if meaningless words and syllables addressed to a mythical, non-existent god. It has nothing whatever to do with Christian prayer, including the rosary.
 
Mt 6:7 is rendered differently in different translations.
KJV uses “Vain Repetitions”
The RSV says “do not heap up empty phrases”
The Douay Rheims says, “speak not much”
The Greek Word here in is:
Battologeo
  1. to stammer
  2. to repeat the same things over and over, to use many idle words, to babble, prate. Some suppose the word derived from Battus, a king of Cyrene, who is said to have stuttered; others from Battus, an author of tedious and wordy poems.
In the case of the OP, I think that you are OK if your thoughts wander a bit. Prayer is used for many things. Certainly to praise God but also to help us to grow in our holiness. In this sense you may be praying the rosary and your mind wander a bit only to be recalled by the very act of praying. Such mental wandering might be into things of little import, but it might also lead to some excellent intimation from the Lord that helps you in some way.

Peace
James
 
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