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Answer: Here is a part of the answer I gave concerning Roman
Catholic's using vain repetitions in their prayers:
In another answer I told of the confusion in the Roman Catholic Church over
the doctrine of the Virgin Mary and the Rosary. I made it very clear from Scripture
that we are not to pray to Mary, or for that matter to any of the saints. You
might think, well, how could you be in the Roman Catholic Church even to worship
or as a witness, when they sometimes pray to Mary? I would say if I were there
to be a witness, I would not pray to Mary, but pray to God the Father through
Jesus the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is what I would do silently
when the Rosary or other prayers were being made to Mary, or the other saints.
Unless I was the leader of prayer, then why not pray to the Father in the name
of the Lord Jesus. If you got into trouble for doing this, then you would know
what St. Paul felt like when he was persecuted. By the way, the Roman Catholic
Church is not the only one that believes in getting help from Mary or the saints.
That could be a discussion for another question or article.
The Rosary was popularized by Alan de la Roche (1428-1475), a Breton Dominican.
“The historical development of the Rosary begins with the desert fathers and
their need to find a system to ease their laborious and repetitive prayer life.
It is generally agreed by scholars that a system for counting repetitive prayers
began with the Hindus some nine centuries before Christ. Prayer counters such
as rocks, sticks or notches in wood were employed to ensure that the proper
number of prayers were recited…” (HCFM: Rosary : Explanation & History)
What does Jesus say, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the
heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew
6:7)
Many times through out the Rosary you are instructed to say for example, “Say
three ‘Hail Marys' or Say ten 'Hail Marys' and so on. Also after the Rosary
you are instructed to pray: “HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, Mother of Mercy, our life, our
sweetness and our hope! To thee we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee
do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping valley of tears. Turn the, most
gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after our exile, show
unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Mary!
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises
of Christ…
I believe praying in such a way is wrong, and Roman Catholic should pray directly
to our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to pray for them and all others who pray using vain repetitions, and
who pray to Mary instead of to God.
Thanks for the question, I have gone into more detail on several of the answers
about Roman Catholics on the Bible Discussion page if you want to read more. Also, feel free to write again if you want to discuss this question or
others more. God bless you!
You might enjoy reading these discussion questions. Praying over and over the same thing, Is it wrong to say the Rosary, and Is repetitive prayer against God's will?
In Christian love,
Gary T. Panell
The Scripture used in this discussion is taken from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible.
For more information e-mail me at
To view other questions visit our Interactive Bible Study Page or read some of our Christian Literature at Bible-Christian.org
Keywords: repetitive prayer, Rosary, praying to Mary