Absurdity of likening the Rosary to a Pagan Prayer.

Oftentimes Catholics are accused of being Pagan on account of praying the Rosary. They hold that, first, the Prayer of the Rosary is repetitious, an act similar, according to them, to that of the prophets of Baal who kept saying, “O Baal, answer us.”(see 1 kings 18:26). Secondly, they claim that Christ condemned the use of “phrases” in prayers. (See Matt. 6:7). To the first error, we answer, that the act of repeating a sentence in prayer doesn’t make it pagan. In Matt. 26:44, it was recorded that Jesus Christ, in the garden of Gethsemane, “prayed the third time saying the same thing again.” The Tax Collector in luke 18:13, kept beating his breast, saying, “be merciful unto me, a poor sinner.” What would they say about the four living creatures ( in Rev. 4:8), who never ceased to sing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” The second error stems from a gross misinterpretation of the aforesaid passage, a problem very common among protestants. In Matt. 6:7, Jesus said, “In prayer, do not heap up empty phrases( babble) like the gentiles (Pagans) do…” Surely, our accusers wouldn’t call The Angelic Salutation, “Hail Mary, full of grace…” an empty phrase; neither would they dare to point out a defect in Our Lord’s Prayer. These prayers and other faultless ones( glory be to the father, etc.) make up the Rosary. On the contrary, the above passage, condemns a particular form of prayer common among protestants and some post-conciliar catholics, which consists of long empty words, bizzare phrases and babblings (or what the call “speaking in tongues”). The Rosary, through the meditation of its mysteries, gives us an insight on the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ and on the actions of our blessed Mother. This prayer, offers a perfect worship to the Triune God and stands as a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Bishop Hugh Doyle,on the efficacy of the rosary said, “No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the rosary: either they will give up sin, or they give up sin or they will give up the rosary.”

O Lady, Queen of All Saints, Pray for Us.