Catholic Prayers & Matthew 6:7: Vain Repetition?

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Matthew 6:7 (KJV)

This verse is often utilized by critics of Catholicism to condemn Catholic devotional practices and methods of prayer. They deem devotions like the Rosary, which employs the repetition of such prayers as the "Hail Mary" and the "Our Father", to be in direct opposition to the message of this verse. (Some will even go so far as to condemn formulaic, recited prayer of any sort.) Is the Rosary, as well as the Divine Mercy Chaplet or the Jesus Prayer, in violation of Christ's command?

1. KNOWING REPETITION IN ITSELF IS NOT BEING CONDEMNED

The argument will sometimes proceed along the following lines. "Jesus teaches us to call God our Father. What kind of child talks to their father with formulaic repetition? That's not a real relationship!" (This example comes from personal experience in a conversation I had, as a non-denominational Christian said something basically to this effect in describing his criticism of the Catholic faith.)

Aside from the fact that this is not even Jesus' immediate concern in his admonition (explained in the following section), a fine question might be asked to those with such scruples: "If it's improper to speak to our Heavenly Father, whom we were merely adopted by, with repetitious prayers, why is it that Jesus, His only Begotten, prayed to Him in such a manner?" Consider the following passage from Matthew's Gospel (26:36-46):

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and agitated. Then he said to them, “I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and stay awake with me.” And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not stay awake with me one hour? Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again he went away for the second time and prayed, “My Father, who if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.”

If Christ came back the first time to his disciples to find them sleeping and asked "could you not keep watch with me an hour?", that would certainly seem to indicate that he himself was praying for an hour. Yet, an hour's worth of text is not recorded from his prayer. "Father, if it is at all possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not my will, but thy will be done." His next prayer follows this same structure -- it's formulaic. Then, finally, in verse 44, it says Jesus went back again a third time, "saying the same thing." Some translations that aren't even Catholic (such as the ESV) render it as "saying the same words." Not only is there a formulaic pattern to his prayer, but the Lord Christ is repeating himself in his prayer to the Father. This is repetitious prayer.

There's really no way around it; Christ himself used repetitious prayer in preparation for his Passion. Obviously, this is not the only way He ever addressed His Heavenly Father (and it's not the only way Catholics approach God in prayer, either!), but the fact He used this method at all should inform any honest reader that such form of prayer is not in itself bad, else the Savior would never have made use of it.

Christ not only used it himself, but the righteous figure in one of his parables is also seen using repetitious prayer. In Luke 18-9-14, in the parable of Pharisee and the Publican, whereas the former figure thanks God for his being more righteous than sinners (presuming himself to be righteous at all in the first place), the latter strikes his breast and says "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Some translations render the phrase as "he kept beating his breast, saying 'Lord,...'" It's the word "kept" -- he kept making the same action, while saying the same thing. This is repetitious prayer.

Also, if repetitious prayer is truly unpleasing to God, let's just throw Psalm 136 out of the Bible. 

Some will even condemn reciting any prayers at all. Furthermore, we know from early Christian texts such as the Didache (1st century) and the treatises of Tertullian (2nd century) and Cyprian (3rd Century) that the Lord's Prayer was in fact recited in Early Christian communities. The style of repeating a set of phrases as a means of prayer is evident even in first century Christianity, indicating that these early Christians did not understand Christ's words of condemnation the same way many critics of Catholicism interpret them. Evidently, there's no offense in using a formulaic prayer and reciting it, and even repeating it.

[The Didache, paragraph 8 ; Tertullian, On Prayer, chapter 2 ; Cyprian On the Lord's Prayer, paragraph 3]

2. THE ERROR OF THE PAGANS EXPLAINED

What often gets missed in Jesus' words by anti-Catholic critics is the *signifier* in his sentence. Notice that Our Lord does not say "do not use repetitions", but that he says "do not use vain repetitions." Or, utilizing a different translation, he does not say "do not heap up phrases," but rather says, "do not heap up empty phrases." These qualifiers suggest a meaninglessness within the petitions being made -- an insincerity, a lack of engagement. This is actually akin to taking God's name in vain -- invoking it when you don't really mean it.

Christ continues, "for they think they will be heard on account of their many words." He contrasts this with how God hears our prayers, saying "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Mt. 6:8)

What's the logical inference out of Christ's words? He's condemning using meaningless prayers over and over again, as if they can somehow win God's ear over and thus make known our request to Him. "[Y]our Father knows what you need before you ask him" is something for the Christian to know that the pagan doesn't know, because the pagan believes he has to sequentially spew out prayers in order to get God's attention. But God doesn't work that way.

If you believe that you can "introduce" yourself and your concerns to God through your many prayers, you do not believe God to be omniscient and deny the fact that He knows you better than you know yourself.

If you believe that you can "win God over" through your many prayers, you rob God of His sovereignty and omnipotence, and ultimately set yourself higher than the Divinity you're addressing.

And to think that you have to do any of these things in order for Him to answer you, it follows that you do not believe He loves and cares for you personally, and it means you lack true faith. You act as if God owes you something, and this mentality is strictly condemned in Romans 3 &4.

Compare this mentality with that of the prayer that Christ introduces immediately after condemning the pagans, the Our Father: this prayer affirms God's sovereignty ("Lead us not into temptation"). The prayer expresses a humility towards God ("Thy will be done; forgive us our trespasses"), and the essence of its formula is one that simply demands trust in God's faithfulness, and not trust in one's own self. ("Give us this day our daily bread.") The Lord's prayer is one rooted in filial trust and humility; elements which the heathens' prayers did not contain.

This humility is also what made the Publican's prayer pleasing to God, and not the prayer of the Pharisee. The Pharisee, even though his prayer was more "conversational," ultimately trusted in himself, in his own righteousness. The Publican was in touch with his own depravity, and knew his only hope was in the mercy of God, and his simple utterance of "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" led to his justification.

The state of the heart is ultimately what is at the heart of Christ's teaching. Repetitions in and of themselves are not the issue. No Catholic should pray the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Jesus Prayer, or a Novena with the attitude that God won't grant them their requests until they say the proper amount of words and prayers. God's interested in quality, not necessarily quantity.  They can commit themselves to a certain amount of prayers as an act of faith, obedience and/or self-giving, but not as if they can somehow exert control over God and bend His will to their needs. The Rosary in particular is, primarily, a meditation -- which means that it doesn't even come close to violating Christ's intended instruction. 

If one wants to see an illustration of what Christ is actually condemning, one should turn to 1 Kings 18:20-40, which describes the contest between the Lord's prophet Elijah and 450 of Baal's prophets. The prophets repeat their cry "O Baal, answer us!", danced around and even bled themselves, all trying to get their false god's attention. This lead's Elijah to mock them, and his mockery itself implies that their god truly isn't all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful. "... perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." And, when the children of Israel recognize once again who the one true God really is, they acknowledge Him with a repetition: "The Lord is indeed God; the Lord is indeed God." (v. 39)

So there's nothing wrong with formulaic prayer, repetitive prayer or any sort of sincere act of faith -- the signifier is the word "sincere." Christ condemns prayer that just exhibits a mere babbling on, that flows from a detached heart, and that wishes to just get something out of God rather than honor Him and God and as Father. The issue, again, isn't quantity, but quality. God never sleeps, and He is faithful to remember those who love Him. If Catholic devotions that utilize repetitious, formulaic prayers are conscious of and reverent of God and produce good fruit in one's walk with Him, no violation of Christ's command has occurred. It isn't what you ask, or how many times you ask, or in what way you ask, it's the heart in which you ask.