Public prayer

October is the month of the Holy Rosary.  A few members of our parish take the opportunity to hold an outdoor Rosary Rally at a prominent intersection in our town.  Our pastor asked that everybody attend at noon on Saturday.  He said it is important that we be seen.   A question arose concerning whether such rallies held in the public square violate Jesus’ admonition in Matthew 6.

 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward.”  Matthew 6:5  RSVCE

The next verse says, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”  A footnote in the RSVCE says, This does not, of course, exclude public worship but ostentatious prayer. Merriam Webster defines ostentatious as attracting or seeking to attract attention, admiration, or envy often by gaudiness or obviousness.

Why is the Rosary Rally held in public view?  The warning in Matthew 6 seems to be directed to those who wish to attract attention to themselves.  I doubt that any of those saying the Rosary in public are doing it for their own aggrandizement.  Yet, why not then pray the Rosary in the church in front of the Blessed Sacrament?  There must be some purpose to praying in view of the public.  

Praying the Rosary in front of an abortion clinic in an effort to dissuade a woman from killing her unborn baby is a situation where being seen would be necessary.  Obviously not every instance of praying in public is prohibited by Matthew 6.  We need to read this passage in context.  The culpability of the person praying in public depends on intent.  Jesus was condemning men who were seeking praise for themselves.  

Getting back to our parish Rosary Rally, it seems those in attendance need to understand their reason for being there.  Is it possible some may come only hoping to be seen by their friends or neighbors?  It’s possible.  Our motivation can be disordered at times.  Is the rosary more efficacious prayed on a public street corner than in the church?  Does Matthew 6 say otherwise?  Is the answer yet to be seen?

Our rally had about a dozen people in attendance, including two priests.  They displayed a large banner from an organization called America Needs Fatima that says, “Pray the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary asking God to save America.”  The photo on the banner is the Our Lady of Fatima statue.  It is likely that most spectators passing by were non-Catholic.  If the rally somehow inspires someone to investigate the rosary prayer, that would be wonderful.  I fear it is more likely to reinforce the false protestant belief that we Catholics worship Mary more than Jesus.

Public displays of worship certainly have a place in our Catholic faith.  We have large open-air Masses on special occasions, Eucharistic processions of the Blessed Sacrament, even the Easter Vigil Mass begins outdoors in public view.  In those events, the larger numbers make individual identification less likely thus diminishing the opportunity for any hypocritical behavior.  Perhaps the most critical point here is that we not question the motives of others and continue praying, no matter where we are.