Mantras, Rosary May Help the Heart, Study Shows

Reuters Health via Yahoo ^ | Friday December 21 10:31 AM ET | Charnicia E. Huggins

[Pharmboy]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The rhythmic chanting used when saying the rosary prayer or performing a yoga mantra seems to have a calming effect on the heart, study findings suggest.

``The rosary might be viewed as a health practice as well as a religious practice,'' according to study lead author Dr. Luciano Bernardi, of the University of Pavia in Italy and his colleagues.

To investigate, the researchers measured the breathing rates of 23 adults while they either prayed the rosary in the original Latin or recited a yoga mantra. The rosary is a repetition 50 times of the Ave Maria, or the Hail Mary prayer, with the whole 50 repeated three times. For comparison, the researchers also measured the study participants' respiration during free talking, and during spontaneous and controlled slow breathing exercises.

When the participants breathed spontaneously, their respiratory rate was about 14 breaths per minute, which slowed down to almost 8 breaths per minute when they engaged in regular conversation, the investigators report in the December 22/29th issue of the British Medical Journal. During recitation of the Ave Maria or the yoga mantra, however, their respiratory rate was about 6 breaths per minute.

A slow respiration rate of 6 breaths per minute ``has generally favourable effects on cardiovascular and respiratory function,'' the researchers note.

Furthermore, breathing rate was irregularly reduced during free talking, but was significantly more regular during recitation of the Ave Maria and the yoga mantra, similar to during the 6 minutes of controlled respiration, Bernardi's team reports. This indicates ``that these methods could stabilize the respiratory rate as effectively as precisely timed control,'' the authors write.

What's more, recitation of both the Ave Maria and the yoga mantra similarly synchronized all the heart rhythms, the investigators found.

The similar effects produced by the two seemingly different cultural practices may not be merely coincidental. In fact, Bernardi and colleagues suggest, the two practices may have similar origins.

It is known that the rosary is related to the Christian religion, but it was actually introduced by the crusaders ``who learnt a similar technique from the Arabs who in turn learned it from the Indian and Tibetan masters of yoga,'' Bernardi told Reuters Health.

``So it may be that recitation of Mantras, which originally was conceived as a health practice, and the Rosary, which is essentially a religious practice in Europe, could have the same background,'' he explained.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2001;323:1446-1449

[Fiddlstix]

Bump

[LadyDoc]

This is a biased study. What is being discussed here is the psychology of quiet. When one quiets one's thoughts, it allows God to speak.

Mantras, and the rosary are a mechanical way to quiet distractions. But so is quietly sitting with a Bible in front of you, reading and pondering a verse or a story, letting the words into our heart. FOr that matter, pumping iron, jogging, or knitting lets us quiet distractions to get into our inner selves. (I frequently play piano for this).

The state of quiet is good for the body, since it quiets stress.

Spiritually, however, these things are a world apart. If one merely says "mantras" or "the rosary (i.e. words only)" or rushes through bible verses, they are merely words. They relax, but we only find ourselves. We may as well knit, for then we'd have an afghan afterward. There is a danger that pure "relaxation" leads only to egotism/pride.

However, if we are searching for the Lord in our hearts, being quiet in the presence of God and listening to his word will be the aim. So we can pray the rosary, or knit, or cook and find his presence.(see Brother Lawrence book practicing the presence of God).

[patent]

bump

[Pharmboy]

Yes--nothing to disagree with you about. The mantra-style may just be a way to "focus" the quietude.

[Brian Kopp DPM]

Sorry, I thought your post was a precursor to an attack on the Rosary, as the scripture verse you posted is usually used as a proof text (taken out of context, of course) against the Rosary.

BTW, when I said, "evangelical and charismatic" I was referring to both evangelical protestant and Catholic pentecostal, so it was not an attack on evangelicals.

I use the phrase "pentecostal" when referring to protestant pentecostal. I use the phrase "charismatic" when referring to the pentecostal movement in the Catholic church.

I have seen "charismatic" Catholics deride the Rosary too. Thus the broad statement.

[floriduh voter]

Yeah, but I have already been accused of practicing witchcraft on the Bethlehem Star thread because I have esp and I opined that maybe the Wise Men did too. If they were truly Wise Men, chances are, they had esp. Watch out for that one freeper over there. She may stop by here and condemn you for mantras or the rosary. My response is post 88 over there. Merry Christmas.

[Brian Kopp DPM]

Feeling a bit sensitive today

You gotta admit, given the treatment of all things Catholic on Free Republic, we have a right to be defensive.

are you just in the mood to bash evangelicals?

I have been an "evangelical" and I still use that form of prayer I was referring to in my post at times. I have a hard time with those who accuse us of vain repetition when their own forms are no more nor less the same. This is a hot button issue for me, so my apologies for over-reacting.

[anniegetyourgun]

Got it.

[tiki]

About vain repetition. What is it? What prayer is wholly unique to the Lord who created everything. What word, what phrase has God not heard before? What is new under the sun?

In Rev. 4:8-11 it says:
And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within and day and night they never cease to sing,
"Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty. Who was and is and is to come!"

Is that vain repetition?

So you tell me what is vain repetition? Is all repetition vain? Even that of the angels?

[big'ol_freeper]

Rosary

Rosary - Scripture

---

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you.

Luke 1:28 "And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace" (NAB: "highly favored one") [kecharitomene]! The Lord is with you." 

Kecharitomene: favored by grace; suggests a permanent state of being "highly favored," thus "full of grace." God is infinite goodness. Mary is perfect created goodness, to the limit of her finite being.

Blessed art thou among women

Luke 1:41-42a "When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women..."

Luke 1:48 "For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed."

"Among all women": this Hebraicism suggests that Mary is the greatest of women. This must include Eve, whom God created immaculate, i.e. free of sin. Mary's preservation from sin by God's grace, both at her conception  and throughout life, is what makes her greater than Eve, who fell from the grace in which God created her.

Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus

Luke 1:42b "and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

Jesus is Mary's fruit. Good fruit does not come from anything but a good tree (Mt. 7:17-18)! The all-holy Son of God could not be the fruit of any other tree than the Immaculate Virgin.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Luke 1:43 "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord [Kyrios] should come to me?

Kyrios - the Greek word used by the Jews in the Septuagint Bible (Greek translation) for Yahweh, the Divine Name of God. Thus, Elizabeth is actually saying: How is it that the mother of my God should come to me. Jesus is a single person, a Divine Person, the 2nd Person of the Most Holy Trinity. To be mother of the Person Jesus is to be mother of a Person who is God. The Church gave the title Mother of God to Mary in 431 AD in order to condemn opinions of that day which denied the unity of the two natures of Christ in the Person of the Word. 

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Luke 2:35 "...and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

John 2:5 "His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you."

Mary sees a need and appeals to Her Son to satisfy it. He does.

 

The Power of Intercessory Prayer:

The saints of the Old Law and the New Law, the 12 Patriarchs and the 12 Apostles, intercede for those on earth.

James 5:16b "the fervent prayer of a righteous man is very powerful."

Rev. 5:8 "When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

The angels, too, mediate our prayers. This is taught explicitly in the Jewish book of Tobit (Tob. 12:12) accepted by Christians as inspired until Luther on his own authority rejected it. It remains part of the Catholic Bible.

Tobit 12:12   I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord; and I did the same thing when you used to bury the dead.

Rev. 8:3 "Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne."

 

Vain repetition is mindless babbling not repeated prayer

The purpose of the different beads on the rosary is to count the various prayers as they are said. Unlike the Moslem prayer beads and the mantras of Buddhism, the prayers of the rosary are meant to occupy our whole being, body and soul, in meditating on the truths of the Faith. Simply to repeat prayers is not the vain repetition condemned by Christ (Mt 6:7), since He Himself repeats His prayer in the Garden three times (Mt 26:39, 42, 44) and the Psalms (inspired by the Holy Spirit) are often very repetitive (Ps 119 has 176 verses and Ps. 136 repeats the same phrase 26 times).

Matthew 6:7  In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Psalm 136:1-26 
Praise the LORD, who is so good;
God's love endures forever;
[2] Praise the God of gods;
God's love endures forever;
. . .
[26] Praise the God of heaven,
God's love endures forever.

Matthew 26:39  He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will."

Matthew 26:42 Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!"

Matthew 26:44 He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

The Church believes that it is necessary for a Christian to meditate (prayerfully think about) the will of God, the life and teachings of Jesus, the price He paid for our salvation, and so on. Unless we do this we will begin to take these great gifts for granted and ultimately fall away from the Lord. Every Christian must meditate in some way in order to preserve the gift of salvation (James 1:22-25). Many Catholic and non-Catholic Christians prayerfully read and apply Scripture to their lives - that too is meditation.

The rosary is an aid to meditation. As one prays the rosary, the hands, the lips, and to a certain extent the mind, are occupied with the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be. At the same time one is supposed to meditate on one of 15 mysteries, from the Annunciation through the Passion, to the Glorification. By means of the rosary we learn what makes true holiness ("let it be done to me according to thy word"), about the great gift of salvation ("It is finished!") and the great rewards God has in store for us ("He is Risen"). Even Mary's own rewards (Assumption and Glorification) anticipate and teach us about our own sharing in the reign of Christ.

The faithful recitation of the rosary according to this pattern has been found by Catholics to be the door to greater gifts of prayer and holiness, as shown by the many canonized saints who have practiced and recommended the rosary, as does the Church.

---

Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL

[tiki]

think they will be heard for their many words.

But what about this part of the sentence? I think this is saying that when you talk to God...talk to God. Don't talk to yourself, don't try to impress God or man with many fancy words but open your heart. Be honest and open. Sometimes repetition can take your mind off of your own self-centeredness and put it on God so that you can truly ponder God and His place in your life and your heart.

I don't think the words have a thing to do with it, it is the heartfelt communication with God that He wants from you. In other words it's the sentiment not the speech.

[Dumb_Ox]

The rosary is a repetition 50 times of the Ave Maria, or the Hail Mary prayer, with the whole 50 repeated three times.

There are some other prayers in the Rosary, too. Plus it's supposed to be a meditation on the Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. My heart sure isn't relaxed when meditating upon the Sorrowful Mysteries.

[Slyfox]

The rosary was also called the 'poor man's psalter'. Interesting that it has always been based on scripture. I have read where Mary, in an apparition, has complained that some people tend to say the rosary without meditating on the essentials of the faith, for which the rosary was intended. Fifteen minutes a day of thinking about the death of Our Lord produces much fruit.

[tangerine]

Seems to me this study says that one can define vain vs. non-vain ("in vain"), by measuring the effect a given activity (repetition of this or that) has on the physiology of the individual (namely the breath rate or heart rate) engaging in the activity.

In other words, if the objective is to calm oneself and thus to be receptive to the devine, yet the individual's stress rate goes up while engaging in one activity or another, then that activity must be said to be "in vain"...and another activity should be chosen and another, until the objective is met.

[Matchett-PI]

"This must include Eve, whom God created immaculate, i.e. free of sin. Mary's preservation from sin by God's grace, both at her conception and throughout life, is what makes her greater than Eve, who fell from the grace in which God created her."

It is a lie to teach that any human being, other than Jesus (the God-Man), was, or is, sinless.

"ALL have sinned....". It doesn't say, "except Mary".

But then ... to those who want to believe that a human being has God's authority to _add_ doctrine to Scripture ... that is just a minor detail.

[Cap'n Crunch]

A BIG Rosary Bump

[MarkWar]

>I don't think the words have a thing to do with it, it is the heartfelt communication with God that He wants from you.

I think it's important to separate accepted New Age wishy-washy beliefs from simple observations of Scripture.

Luke 11:1-4 --

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

Jesus didn't teach the disiples to "think good thoughts" or to just think "deeply" about God. He didn't tell them to "quiet their thoughts" and "look for God in their hearts." He taught them to SAY the words.

I'm sure all those other things are good. It's good to think deep thoughts. It's good to "look for God in your heart" (whatever that means). But I'm also sure that if Jesus said to speak words out loud when we pray, then we should speak words out loud when we pray.

Mark W.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Luke 1:28 "And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."

This would be impossible if Mary were touched by any sin, since every sin diminishes grace. No other human is referred to in this manner in Scripture.

But then ... to those who want to believe that a human being has God's authority to _add_ doctrine to Scripture ... that is just a minor detail.

I assume you hold this opinion of Luther for adding the word "alone" to Romans 3:28 and his attempts to discard James, Esther and Revelation and the actions of others who choose to freely edit those parts of Sacred Scripture that did not fit their new doctrines and opinions.

[Rum Tum Tugger]

Feeling a bit sensitive today or are you just in the mood to bash evangelicals?

Classic example of the pot calling the kettle black.

[tiki]

Oh come on now! Thoughts are just words in your head, unspoken but God doesn't need them to be spoken aloud, He knows.

So do we just repeat The Lord's prayer? Out loud? or do we just repeat scriptural prayer or do we actually get in the frame of mind to talk to God about anything. If we are to pray unceasingly and it has to be out loud.... Think about it.

I think that you just want to be contradictory and you don't have a clue what you are talking about. There is nothing New Age about the Rosary. There is nothing unscriptural about the Rosary.

You know what, if vocal prayer is the most important thing and speaking lovingly to God is wrong then he'll just have to forgive me because when I read that the greatest commandment is to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself, I think that worshipping God is all about the condition of your heart. It was the Pharisees that insisted that all the rules be followed when their own hearts were rotted and Jesus pointed that out.