Jesus said, “In praying, don’t use vain repetitions” (Mt 6:7). Do you think he was referring to prayers like the rosary?

Yes, I do. You see, the instructions that Jesus gave to his disciples provide us with an authoritative answer. “When praying, do not say the same things over and over again, just as the people of the nations do,” he said, “for they imagine they will get a hearing for their use of many words.” (Matthew 6:7) So Jesus specifically told his followers to avoid repeating set formulas in their prayers.

‘But didn’t Jesus teach his disciples to repeat the Our Father, which is part of the rosary?’ someone may ask. It is to be acknowledged that Jesus provided a model prayer, which has come to be known as the Our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer. We should note, however, that he did so immediately after giving the above warning against saying “the same things over and over again.” That Jesus did not intend for the model prayer to be repeated by rote is also evident from differences in his expressions in the two recorded instances in which he taught his disciples to pray. (Matthew 6:9-15; Luke 11:2-4) The ideas Jesus expressed on those occasions were similar, but his words were not the same. This leads us to the conclusion that Jesus was simply providing models or examples of how his followers can pray and of what they can appropriately pray for. Most important, his words indicated who should be the recipient of prayer.

The Rosary is not vain repetition, it is meaningful repetition. It is a meditation on Jesus. We call ourselves Christian which means we follow Christ's example. We have to know the example we are following so we meditate on his words and actions. As we pray the Rosary we think about the different mysteries of the Rosary (words and actions of Jesus). It is a very powerful thing to slow down and give God quality time and try to listen as well. The idea of a set of prayers like the Rosary is very helpful for this as it causes us to slow down, think about Jesus and listen

You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be enticed to serve them.”—Exodus 20:4, 5.

“What agreement does God’s temple have with idols? . . . Quit touching the unclean thing.”—2 Corinthians 6:16, 17.

It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”—Matthew 4:10.

Dunno, I think I agree with chi girl that he meant don't pray mindlessly. I can think of a good reason to do the rosary though. It's very like saying a Mantra and I often use it for meditation (although I don't say the rosary, but I do use the beads.. Same principal.. lacks the belief in beard man :D).

When we have a conversation with another person -- do we repeat a phrase over and over again? Or do we share with them in a narrative form. Telling them about our days' activities.

I'm not Roman Catholic so I'm not familiar with the Rosary. But what would be the point in repeating Anything over and over again. It was heard and understood the first / maybe a 2nd time.

The term "vain repetitions" is literally "babbling" in koine Greek. The Psalms have prayers where things are repeated multiple times, so we know Jesus wasn't referring to mere repetition.

Babbling prayer refers to what we see in a lot of evangelical and fundamentalist prayer times as in, "Jesus we just ask you right now we just ask you to right now bless sister Bertha and we just ask and pray and ask just right now for you to just bless her."

The Rosary is a meditation and does not involve babbling. It is ordered.

Jesus repeated himself 3times while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. So it is wrong for Him to pray that way...

The verse is clear... it is against the VAIN.. you know what is vain??

No.

Hence the word "vain"

There is nothing wrong with repetition in itself.

Jesus Himself, being a pious Jew, would have used repetition every day praying the same Psalms and Jewish prayers.

Christianity (and by extension, Catholicism) did not exist during the time that Jesus supposedly existed.

God is after our genuine hearts.

When our prayers come from our honest heart and seek His heart - He hears no matter what form.

Saying the Rosery is no different from saying the Lords Prayer. If our heart is invested- open and earnest- He hears us:)