The Rosary
Last update: 5 April, 2009
Some non-Catholic Christians object to the Rosary on the grounds that it is repetition, which Jesus condemned in Matthew 6:7. It is true that Jesus condemns VAIN repetition. Notice who Jesus is speaking about in Matthew 6:7, He is speaking about "HEATHENS" (or Gentiles), who pray to false gods. The heathens prayers cannot be heard because the gods they are praying to do not exist. Does repetition make ALL prayers vain? The Bible Itself contains several instances of repetition, such as:
In Daniel 3:57-88 the phrase "...Bless the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all for ever." is repeated 32 times.
In Daniel 3:89 and 90 the phrase "...because His mercy endureth for ever and ever." is repeated twice.
In Psalm 135 the phrase "For His mercy endureth for ever" is repeated 27 times.
In Matthew 20:31 Jesus granted sight in response to the repeated prayers of the blind man.
In Matthew 21:15 the children were repeating in the temple "Hosanna to the son of David". Notice what Jesus said about this. He quoted Psalm 8:3: "Out of the mouths of infants and sucklings thou hast perfected praise". Jesus actually said that repetition can be "perfected praise", at least in some instances.
In Matthew 26:44 Jesus repeats the same prayer three times during His agony in the Garden.
In Mark 11:9-10 we read: "Those preceeding Him as well as those following kept crying out (i.e. repeating): 'Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the Kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!'"
In Revelation 4:8 the four living creatures "rested not day and night, saying 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come.'"
And lets not forget the "7-11" type songs (7 words repeated 11 times) that many Christians, non-Catholics included, sing during their worship services. Are these songs vain because they contain repetition?
Clearly not ALL repetition is vain. Webster provides four definitions of "vain":
1: having no real value : idle, worthless
2: marked by futility or ineffectualness : unsuccessful, useless
3: archaic : foolish, silly
4: having or showing undue or excessive pride in one's appearance or achievements : conceited
A closer look at Matthew 6:7, and the fact that there is repetition in the Bible Itself, shows it is not repetition itself that Jesus condemned. What Jesus did condemn is worthless, useless, thoughtless prayer. Gentiles (or heathens) believed that the mere number of prayers, with no thought or feeling involved, were important. Catholics believe the worth of the prayer, including the thought and feeling involved in saying it, is important, and that two prayers said well, one immediately after the other, are just as good as the same two prayers said a day, week, or month apart.
Is the Rosary worthless, useless, thoughtless repetition? Lets find out.
In essence, praying the Rosary is simply praying the Gospel, and the Gospel is not vain. There are two parts to praying the Rosary: a vocal part and a mental part. The vocal part consists of 4 main prayers. Some cultures add other prayers, but there are 4 prayers that are required as a minimum. These prayers are: 1 - the "Apostles Creed", 2 - The "Our Father", 3 - the "Hail Mary", and 4 - the "Glory Be".
The "Apostles’ Creed" is so called not because it was composed by the Apostles themselves (although there is evidence that it might have been), but because it expresses their teachings. The original form of the creed came into general use around A.D. 125, and the present form dates from the 400s. It reads this way:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day He rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven where He sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from where He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
This prayer contains the basic beliefs of the Church, so it can hardly be considered a vain or worthless prayer.
The "Our Father" was given to us by Jesus Christ Himself, and no faithful Christian would dare say it is a vain or worthless prayer.
The "Hail Mary" is probably the most problematic prayer for non-Catholic Christians, but a careful examination of it shows that it shouldn't be. The words of the "Hail Mary" are as follows:
Hail, Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The first part of the "Hail Mary" ("Hail [Mary], full of Grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women") are the words used by the Angel Gabriel in saluting the Blessed Virgin in Luke, I, 28.
The middle part ("and blessed is the fruit of thy womb [Jesus]"), is borrowed from the Divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth in Luke 1:42.
The last part ("Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.") is simply a petition asking Mary to pray for us, admitting we are sinners who are desperately in need of prayer. Christians, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, have no trouble asking others here on earth to pray for them, why do some of them have a problem asking the Mother of Jesus, who is in Heaven, to pray for them?
Some Protestants object to saying "Holy Mary" because they claim Mary was a sinner like the rest of us. But Mary was a Christian (the first Christian, actually, the first to accept Jesus; cf. Luke 1:45), and the Bible describes Christians in general as holy. In fact, they are called saints, which means "holy ones" (Eph. 1:1, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2). Furthermore, as the mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Mary was certainly a very holy woman. Also, let's not forget the greeting of the Archangel Gabriel: "Hail, full of grace...blessed art thou among women". The word "angel" means "messenger". Angels are God's messengers, they only say what God instructs them to say. Therefore, for God to say that Mary is "full of grace" and call her "blessed among women" certainly means that she is special to God.
Some non-Catholic Christians have a problem with the "Mother of God" part, but the title "Mother of God" is Biblical. It comes from the Divinely inspired greeting of St. Elizabeth in Luke 1:43, when she says "And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?". The term "mother of my Lord" is a synonym for "mother of God". The title "Mother of God" doesn’t mean Mary is older than God; it means the person who was born of her (Jesus) is a divine person. Jesus is one person with two natures, one divine and the other human. The denial that Mary had God in her womb is a heresy known as Nestorianism, which has been condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431, and which the Reformers and Protestant Bible scholars have always rejected.
Another problem non-Catholics have with the last line is they believe such a request denies the teaching of 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The interecession of the Saints is covered in another paper, but a few words need to be said about it here. In the preceding four verses (1 Tim. 2:1-4), Paul instructs Christians to pray for each other, meaning it cannot interfere with Christ’s mediatorship: "I urge that prayers, supplications, petitions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone. . . . This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior."
We know this exhortation to pray for others applies to the saints in heaven who, as Revelation 5:8 reveals, intercede for us by offering our prayers to God: "The twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints". In praying the Hail Mary Catholics do not replace Jesus with Mary, we simply ask her to intercede with Jesus for us. Rememeber, Jesus performed His first miracle at the request of His Mother (John 2:1-11).
In summary, the "Hail Mary" is simply a Bible-based prayer that includes a request for prayer at the end, which is also Biblical, there is nothing vain or worthless about it.
The "Glory Be" (also called a Doxology) is simply a short verse praising God. What could possibly be vain or worthless about praising God? There are many Doxologys, St. Paul uses them often, such as in Romans 11:36, Galatians 1:5, and Ephesians 3:21. The form used in the Rosary ("Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.") has been in use since about the seventh century.
Some cultures add the following prayer after the "Glory Be":
Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the power of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
This prayer is simply a plea that Jesus will forgive us and lead us all into heaven, and can hardly be considered a vain or worthless prayer.
So, the vocal part of the Rosary, the prayers, are Biblical, and therefore are NOT vain or worthless. Now lets look at the mental part.
The proper way to recite the Rosary is to say the vocal prayers mentioned above while meditating on certain "mysteries" taken from the Gospels. The term "mystery", as used by the inspired writers of the New Testament, does not imply something which is incomprehensible, it simply means a revealed truth which surpasses the powers of natural reason. The mysteries of the Rosary are divided into four sets of five:
The Joyful Mysteries: the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), the Visitation (Luke 1:39-56), the Nativity (Luke 2:1-20), the Presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:22-38), and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 3:41-52). These Mysteries are normally said on Mondays and Saturdays.
The Luminous Mysteries: the Baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:13-17), the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12), Proclamation of the Kingdom (Mark 1:14-15, 2:3-13), the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), and the Last Supper and Institution of the Eucharist (Matthew 26:26-32). These Mysteries are normally said on Thursdays.
The Sorrowful Mysteries: the Agony in the Garden (Luke 22:39-46), the Scourging (Mark 15:6-15), the Crowning with Thorns (John 19:1-8), the Carrying of the Cross (John 19:16-22), and the Crucifixion (John 19:25-30). These Mysteries are normally said on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Glorious Mysteries: the Resurrection (Matthew 28:1-10), the Ascension (Acts 1:6-11), the Decent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) (Acts 2:1-13), the Assumption of Mary (Revelation 12:1-3, 13-18), and the Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and the Universe (Revelation 12:1-5). These Mysteries are normally said on Sundays and Wednesdays.
NOTE: The suggested days for saying each set of Mysteries are just that, suggestions. One is free to say any set of Mysteries on any day one chooses.
All of these Mysteries, with the exception of the last two Glorious Mysteries, are explicitly mentioned in the Bible, so there is no need to prove they are Biblical in origin. The last two Glorious Mysteries are closely related, and although not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, they are not contrary to the Bible, and are in fact mentioned implicitly. It is beyond the scope of this paper to prove the Biblical validity of these two Mysteries, which would involve delving into the Old Testament and learning about "types", that is, a person, place, thing, or event in the Old Testament that foreshadows something greater in the New Testament. A couple of examples are Mary as the new Eve, and also Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant. For those who are interested, Scott Hahn does an excellent job of investigating and explaining these things in his book "Hail, Holy Queen". A few points about these Mysteries do need to be mentioned here however:
1 - The Assumption of Mary does NOT mean that Mary took herself body and soul into Heaven under her own power, it was God who brought her into Heaven. This is not as far fetched as it sounds, there are instances in the Bible of God taking others body and soul into Heaven: Enoch in Genesis 5:24, Elijah in 2 Kings 2:11, and Enoch again in Hebrews 11:5. The possibility of a bodily assumption before the Second Coming is suggested by Matthew 27:52–53: "[T]he tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Did all these Old Testament saints die and have to be buried all over again? There is no record of that, but it is recorded by early Church writers that they were assumed into heaven, or at least into that temporary state of rest and happiness often called "paradise," where the righteous people from the Old Testament era waited until Christ’s resurrection (cf. Luke 16:22, 23:43; Heb. 11:1–40; 1 Pet. 4:6), after which they were brought into the eternal bliss of heaven. If God assumed these people into Heaven, is it likely that He would refuse to assume the Mother of His Beloved Son into Heaven?
2 - The belief in the Assumption and Queenship of Mary goes back to the Apostles themselves. The beginning of the concept of Mary's Queenship is found in the Annunciation narrative. The Angel tells her that her son [Jesus] will be King over the House of Jacob forever, so she, as His Mother, would be a Queen.
3 - In the early years of Christianity cities and Churches competed with one another to be the final resting places of the remains of the Apostles and great martyrs in order to venerate (NOT worship) them. Think how important a Church would become if it could obtain the bones, or even the smallest part of a bone, of Jesus' Mother, yet no one has EVER claimed to have such a relic. This could only happen if one of two things occured: 1 - they "lost" her body, which is highly unlikely considering her importance to the early Christians, or 2 - there is no body.
4 - Jesus is the King of Heaven and of the Universe, they are His Kingdom. In Biblical days the Queen of a Kingdom was the Kings mother, therefore it is not so outrageous that Mary would be the Queen of Heaven and the Universe.
5 - While it is true that the Bible does not explicitly mention the Assumption of Mary or her Coronation, we must remember that the Bible is not a book about Mary, it is a book about her Son, Jesus Christ.
6 - In his radio message to Fatima, Bendito seja, Pope Pius XII gave solid theological justifications for the Queenship of Mary:
"He, the Son of God, reflects on His heavenly Mother the glory, the majesty, and the dominion of His kingship, for, having been cooperator, she remains forever associated to Him, with a practically unlimited power, in the distribution of the graces which flow from the Redemption. Jesus is King throughout all eternity by nature and by right of conquest: through Him, with Him, and subordinate to Him, Mary is Queen by grace, by divine relationship, by right of conquest, and by singular choice [of the Father]. And her kingdom is as vast as that of her Son and God, since nothing is excluded from her dominion".
One important point needs to be emphasised here: Mary is Queen "through Him [Jesus], with Him, and subordinate to Him". Catholics do not believe she has more power than God. She can do nothing on her own, she and Jesus work together as a unit.
If said properly there is nothing vain or worthless about the Rosary. History has shown that it is a powerful prayer that has the ability to draw those who say it closer to Jesus, whether they be Catholic or non-Catholic.
SOURCES
Douay Rheims Bible
The Biblical Basis for the Catholic Faith, by John Salza
Where Is That In The Bible, by Patrick Madrid
Answer Me This!, by Patrick Madrid
The Teachings of the Church Fathers, by John R. Willis, S.J.
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs, by David W. Bercot
Virgin and Statue Worship Quizes to a Street Preacher, by Fr. Charles M. Carty and Rev. Dr. L. Rumble, M.S.C.
Which Came First, the Bible or the Church?, a CD by Matthew Arnold
Apologetics for the Scripturally Challenged, a CD by John Martignoni
This Is The Faith, by Canon Francis Ripley
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Hail, Holy Queen, by Scott Hahn