Matthew 6:7

And in praying use not vain repetitions, as the Gentiles do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

(3) The third area of abuse of the sacred privilege of prayer is in the matter of vain, empty repetitions. The customs of Gentiles in regard to this abuse were well known. Water wheels, wind chimes, endless chanting over and over of prescribed words are old and widely observed characteristics of pagan prayers; and these have continued down the centuries until these very times. About 1960, Life Magazine printed numerous samples of such "rote" prayers in an article on the Far East. One such example was the following:

Hail, Jewel in the lotus flower; Hail, Jewel in the lotus flower; Hail, Jewel in the lotus flower ..., etc.

Of all such repetitious exercises, Christ said, "Use not!" Any person familiar with the Rosary cannot fail to wonder how such a thing could be observed among the followers of Christ; that is, if considered in the light of Jesus' words in this passage.

They think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. This not only condemns rote, repetitious prayers, but also limits the amount of speaking in prayer. How often and how outrageously this divine injunction is violated, and sometimes by the very best of people! A classical example was the harangue of Cardinal Cushing on the occasion of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. Mislabeled "a prayer," it ran on and on for 17 minutes and 30 seconds. Even that was exceeded by Aimie Semple McPherson whose 31 minutes and 10 seconds of "prayer" before the Democratic convention that nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt the first time must have set some kind of record at Chicago in 1932. The scandalous length of such prayers was rebuked on that occasion by the humorist Will Rogers who immediately followed her and quipped, "Well, I didn't know anybody could think up that much to impress the Lord in favor of a Democrat? This remark touched off a full-fledged demonstration!