Vain and Repititious Praise

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A Protestant friend once asked me
"How is Praise & Worship song like a Machine gun?"
"um, How?" I says
"Fifty Rounds without stopping" (O:

I must admit two things, with the first being I find Praise & Worship music rather boring and unfitting of music to glorify God (and I don't really dig that it's creeping into the Catholic church too). My second confession is that I now say a heck of a lot of Rosaries per day.

With the recent addition of pain associated with my illness, as well as my new extended drive time, it is safe to say I average about 3-4 rosaries per day (Saying a Rosary does not magically make the pain stop, but helps me focus on the One who endured greater pain . . .and for me). Naturally this lead me to ponder on that silly "Vain and Repetitious" bromide that reveals the bigotry and ignorance of our Protestant brethren when used, reminding me of the 20 minutes of Praise & Worship music I had to endure before service would start, back when I was an evangelical Christian.

While I do sometimes drift off while saying a rosary , especially at bedtime, I do try to meditate on each mystery as I go through my beads (which is why I prefer the audio version of the Scriptural rosary while driving).

P&W tunes are usually aimed at stirring up an emotion rather than pondering on any deep truth, and in that show that they are aimed at the people in the church, not the Creator of the Church. Worse are the comments I have overheard of folks preffering this song to that, or that leader to this, . . . .and don't get me started on Worship leaders who allow the audience to applaud and praise them (I did see a leader once who did chastise the clappers while reminding them who they were suppose to be worshiping).

This my friends, is Vanity upon vanity, and that the modern churches allow this American Idol style liturgy, is one of the many reasons I knew I was finally in Christ's church when I became Catholic.

How is saying the Holy Rosary or Devine Mercy chaplet considered vain and repetitious prayer (especially as both are prayers for others), but singing songs like "Shout to the Lord" or "Awesome God" for 20 verses not?

Ugh! this of course just another effective tactic by our friend Screwtape, to help keep God's people apart, which shows how much we should, and need to be together!


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