An argument that is often brought up against Catholics praying the rosary, or any chaplet devotion is, why are you repeating yourself? Doesn’t Scripture, and Jesus say, “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7) In some translations “many words” are worded, “because of their vain repetitions,” as translated from the Greek βατταλογήσητε (Romanised: battalagesete) (Boer Sr, 2012). However, there is some confusion about the interpretation of these words spoken by Jesus.

Jesus is not against repetitive prayer – In Luke 18:1-8 for example, Jesus speaks of the lesson of the persistent widow who keeps approaching the judge to render her justice. He then goes on to say, “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?” (Luke 18: 7)

The vain repetitions and babbles that Jesus are admonishing about are in reference to how the pagans in their practices, recite a whole string of deities’ names in the hope that at least one of these would hear the prayer and grant it to them. These pagans did this in the hope that it would force a response from one of the deities as they pitted each deity against the other, and made such-and-such deity jealous of another (cf. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, n.d.) For the pagans, it was necessary to appease the pagan gods through sacrifices, so the people could live normal lives, and not have these deities make sport of them. These gods were also seen as vain, selfish, immoral, cruel  – thus the need to butter them up by mentioning them in prayers (Staples, 2022).

As a response to this mindless and idle listing of these deities, Jesus teaches us a way to pray in the Pater Noster. The words addressed to Abba Father are mindful, intentional, and living. We are in fact encouraged to repeat these prayers as the words, “give us this day, our daily bread” imply.  The prayer to Our Father is meant to be said often and on a daily basis. The Church, building on this wisdom, then offers us prayers like the Hail Mary and the Glory Be, and devotions like the Rosary, which use the words of Scripture, to lead us into a deeper reflection and contemplation of the life and ministry of Jesus. Of course, we can choose to speed through them, and make the recitation of these prayers a mere obligatory exercise, but the invitation is to truly pray so as to allow ourselves to be transformed interiorly and become closer with God our Father. The purpose of having devotions in the first place is lost, when we merely mumble through these prayers without allowing these words to resonate, and without being aware that these words need to lead us into a more extensive exegesis and excavation of ourselves in our relationship with the Holy Trinity, Mother Mary, and the Saints, and following that with our neighbours.

Well and good, so what’s the Church’s take about Intercessory Prayer?

To pray a Prayer of Intercession is to engage in petition, and that which leads us to pray like Jesus Himself did. Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of God our Father, and likewise we are called to follow his example in interceding and praying for others (CCC. 2634). As Romans 8: 34 says, “It is Christ [Jesus] who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.”

The beauty of our Faith, is that we are not alone in our journey. Being part of the Communion of Saints, allows us to call on the aid of the Saints to help us in our need. Mother Mary, the saints in Church Triumphant, the souls in Purgatory in the Church Suffering, and ourselves present on Earth in the Church Militant act as secondary intercessors for ourselves and for others. (Burke. Cardinal, 2021). CCC. 2635 states, “’In intercession, he who prays looks ‘not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,’ even to the point of praying for those who do him harm.’”

In Scripture, we read of numerous examples of the power of Intercession at work. In 2 Maccabees 3: 13-40,  Heliodorus had a plan to annex the Temple of God, and to rob it of its contents, but the High Priest, and the population humbled themselves and raised their hands in supplication to God to act on their behalf. What happened next, was that the Lord God sent an intervention in the form of a divine rider on a “richly caparisoned horse” who was flanked by two other incredibly and “remarkably strong, strikingly handsome, and splendidly attired” (2 Maccabees 3: 25-26) young men. These then proceeded to pummel Heliodorus senseless. This account does not stop there, but goes on to talk about how the High Priest discerning that he might be accused of foul play, started to pray for Heliodorus. Once again, the same men appeared to him and proclaimed, ‘“Be very grateful to the high priest Onias,” they told him. “It is for his sake that the Lord has spared your life.”’ (2 Maccabees 3:33)

Understanding the importance of engaging in meaningful prayer, and praying for someone else, how do we go about interceding for someone?

We can draw a salient example from Mother Mary herself at the Wedding of Cana. When the hosts ran out of wine, she simply approached Jesus in confidence and stated her request unambiguously and straightforwardly – “They have no wine” (John 2:3). Watch what Mother Mary does next. She turns to the servers and says, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5). She does not tell Jesus how to go about providing the provision shortfall, but proceeds to the next step in faith that Jesus will handle the request in an awesome and amazing way in accordance to His expertise as God. In short, she does not attempt to micromanage and control the Intercessory process.

There are so many times reflected in our prayer, when we unconsciously limit the blessings of God by dictating to God how things should be done –

  • Lord, I would like to pray for So-and-so. So-and-so is not doing too well and is feeling lonely. (How do we know that he/she is feeling lonely?)
  • Please send companions to so-and-so. (Is that something that So-and-so wants?)
  • Please heal So-and-so so that So-and-so can come back to serve in Ministry. (Is this in according to the Will of God? Is it for our own selfish desire that we want So-and-so to be healed, so he/she can help out in the Ministry again?)
  • Help So-and-so get a job, any job (Is this what is really in the best interest of the person? What if this any job, is a job that makes So-and-so terribly miserable, and actually is not what God really intends for him/her, but as an answer to your prayer, has put So-and-so in a humdrum job, because it is literally “any job”?)
  • Please help So-and-so get married. (Is this what would be the best for him/her?)

Our good intentions may not necessarily be in the best interest of the person whom we are praying for, and may in fact severely limit his or her blessings because we are asking God to do things accordingly to how we want it. Rather than how He wants it done.

Thus, because we are affirmed in Matthew 6: 32-33 “Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you beside.”; and in Psalm 139: 4 “Even before a word is on my tongue, Lord you know it all.” We have the assurance that it is not necessary to come before God with these lengthy petitions, as He already knows.

Nevertheless, the bringing up of a request, or a name whom the Holy Spirit has revealed is an act of faith, which is why we intercede and petition on behalf of ourselves and others. This prayer is our conversation with God our Father, and changes us interiorly by bringing about the graces of humility – it takes humility to converse about the difficult things, and to ask for something, and also changes our disposition to bond us closer to God our Father. So we are in fact encouraged to pray – “I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority…” (1 Timothy 1-2), and Jesus and Mother Mary have shown us the way to pray – by moving away from selfish, vain, meaningless, and verbose prayer, and moving towards presenting our requests in simplicity and with child-like trust, that He who is our Maker, and our Father, will for sure take care of things in accordance to what is best for us.

By the Grace of God,

Brian Bartholomew Tan

References

Burke. Cardinal. R. L. (2021). Christ and the Church: Triumphant, Suffering, and Militant. Cardinal Raymond Burke. Retrieved January 26, 2023 from https://www.cardinalburke.com/presentations/christ-and-the-church

Boer Sr, P. A. (2012). A Catholic Interlinear New Testament Polyglot: Volume I: The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles in Latin, English, and Greek. Veritatis Splendor Publications.

Catechism of the Catholic Church. (n.d.). Liberia Editrice Vaticana. Retrieved from https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM

Staples, T. (2022). Since When is it Vain to Pray the Rosary. Catholic Answers. Retrieved January 26, 2023 from https://www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/do-catholics-pray-vain-repetitions

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (n.d.). Commentary on Matthew 6:7. United States Conference of catholic Bishops. Retrieved January 26, 2023 from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/6