if the catholics compiled the bible including matthew 6:7 why do they pray the rosery?

1. In Matthew 6:7, Jesus is NOT condemning repeating yourself in prayer. If He was, He would not have taught His disciples the "Our Father" prayer beginning two verses later!

2. What Jesus was condemning was vain, or POINTLESS, repetition. In other words, babbling on and on without engaging in the prayer, because you think that you just have to say a lot to get God to change His mind. That is NOT what Catholics do. We engage in prayer. We don't babble.

3. And yes, it was Catholics who compiled, verified, canonized, copied and distributed the Bible for hundreds of years before the protestants ever even thought about splitting from the Church.

We pray the rosary because it's a meditative prayer where we meditate on the "mysteries" of the rosary (events in the life of Mary and Jesus) and it helps bring us closer to Christ. And because we understand that the point of Matt. 6:7 is VAIN or empty phrases and not "repetition".

In fact, most translations do NOT even use the word "repetition". The Greek word is "Battologeo", which comes from "Battos," a stammerer, someone who stutters, which is meaningless syllables - not repetition. It's just as easy to pray vain or empty free form phrase (that don't repeat) as easily as one could pray empty repetitive verses from the Bible. The important thing is NOT whether a phrase is repeated but that it Is sincere.

And that become obvious when you take Matt. 6:7 in context with the rest of the Bible. In Revelation 4:8 Angels offer prayers day and night without ceasing: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" Another repetitious prayer pleasing to God is contained in Psalm 136: "For his steadfast love endures for ever." This phrase is repeated over twenty-five times. Finally, Matthew 26:44 tells us that Jesus himself prayed the same prayer three times in the garden in Gethsemane. So obviously the problem is not with repeating prayers.

The meaning you think so important is less so than the meaning Catholics take from it. You emphasize repetition and Catholics "vain". Some translations do not have a period after speaking and have some references to pagans. Perhaps yours split it into two sentences.

Easy enough to do as there are no punctuation marks or spaces between words in the originals or the existing copies.

Are you trying to say that there is some parallel between Mat 6:7 and the Rosary prayer?

Only extreme prejudice could make anyone discern such an error as to think that anyone prays the Rosary in vain. Why would they? God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Number one, it's not a Vain repetition.

Number two, when I pray it silently before Mass or in my car, how is it that I am much heard for all my speaking?

Number three, the Bible itself says the Bible is deliberately incomplete.

Now what?

The heathen were polytheistic and while praying, would include every god they could think of in order not to offend a god by neglecting said god. It is important to keep in mind that the Jews were an island of monotheists in a sea of polytheists. Since there was only one God, Baal, Isis, Melkart, etc., could be considered as one because they were all false. It's kind of like when a person says, "Every Tom, Dick and Harry ...," and that person really knows no one named Tom, Dick or Harry.

Early Christians did not pray the rosary, but in the monastic tradition of the desert fathers, there was repetitious prayer. The "Jesus Prayer" for instance, is a good example of it.

It fulfilled the other part of the bible where it exhorts Christians to "pray always"

You cannot use one part of the bible against another part, can you? Everything in the bible is harmonious, is it not?

Are you one of those Christians that walks around with wrist bands with catchy sayings or phrases encouraging you to engage in prayer and ask Christ to intervene in your life.

Some of these wrist bands have written on them "PUSH".

I guess it means.... 'Pray Until Something Happens'.

Do they only pray when they want something or as if God has an obligation to do something for them to prove that He is in fact listening.

I guess it's perfectly fine to pray with expectant faith when you are in need, but there is more to prayer than just the things you need.

In the Catholic tradition there are four forms of prayer:

1. Praise/Adoration - In this form of prayer Christians praise the greatness of God and affirm that reliance on Him for all things and that without Him we cannot do anything. In scripture the Psalms are most well known for prayers of this form.

2. Sorrow - In prayers of sorry we acknowledge our sins and shortcomings and come to God with a contrite heart, seeking His forgiveness and mercy. The 'Act of Contrition' said before Absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is an example of a prayer of sorrow.

3. Thanksgiving - This is simply a prayer of thanks. You may be grateful for good health, good results in an exam, that God has helped you through a personal struggle, etc. There are no limits to what a Christian may be thankful for. The 'Grace before meals' prayer is an example of a prayer of thanksgiving.

4. Intercession - The Communion of Saints also hear our prayers and they pray for us in Heaven; they intercede for us. It is the Lord who ultimately hears and answers our prayers but that doesn't mean we can't have others praying for us, just as you would ask a friend or family member to pray for you for a particular need. The 'Hail Mary' is a prayer of intercession; we ask the Blessed Virgin to pray for us ( "Pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death...").

So as you can see there can be more than one thing to pray for or more than one reason to pray. The important thing is that you put purpose into your prayer.

But to "Pray until something happens".

Why should we stop praying "until" something happens".

Why not just pray until you have nothing left to thank for.

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

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Ignorant mans traditions, same argeument Jesus had with Pharisees about washing hands to eat, Plus Jesus was very plain whatsoever you ask in My Name, mother Mary is dead and can not hear our prayers, only Jesus alot of false doctrine in Catholosim.

What can I tell ya..religion *sigh*