The Problem of the Mysteries of Light

The chaplet of JP2

“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.” .
-St. Francis de Sales

The Rosary is one of the most iconic prayers of the Catholic Church. We Catholics may receive a set of Rosary beads, at our Baptism, even if we are baptized as babies, then at First Holy Communion, and at the reception of other Sacraments, a Rosary is often a gift received and given. Thus, over the years, many of us have a few rosaries that we may or may not use, some lying in drawers or carried with us in our pockets, but the Rosary is very much part of Catholic life and Catholic identity.

“The Rosary is the Bible on a String” - Father Ronan Murphy

It’s very easy to walk into a Church, pull out the Rosary from a pocket or purse and say a few decades or the whole thing, we grow up on it and we grow up with it. It feels like Our Lady is always there with us. The slogan by Fr. Peyton "The family that prays together stays together" has been stolen and rephrased into various other forms by commercials, but the truth is verifiable. It’s not the family that eats together, nor the family that laughs together, or whatever else; it is the family that prays together, that stays together, and in particular, the family that prays the rosary together, that stays together.

“Those who say the Rosary daily and wear the Brown Scapular and who do a little more, will go straight to Heaven.”
-St. Alphonsus Ligouri

Yet, why does the rosary have this timeless appeal, even with Catholics who don’t practice the Faith anymore. I once watched a video of a lady who liked collecting rosaries, she had rosaries that belonged to her late parents, grandma, an uncle who was a priest, some were gifts, some she had purchased. She showcased them on a video and seemed to treasure them. She confessed to not being a practicing Catholic, but she loved keeping those rosaries, perhaps, Our Lady will still call her back through those blessed rosaries that she clings to.

Besides its appeal, what causes the Rosary to be so powerful that we credit it as the reason behind the victories of the Battle of Vienna and the Battle of Lepanto? Perhaps it really is from Heaven and not a prayer that developed over time. I believe that the Rosary was given by Our Lady to St. Dominic, in the form we pray it today. The 1962 missal says, that the Apostles Creed and the Three Hail Mary’s and other prayers not being part of the Rosary proper, but are pious devotions, and I don’t really have a way to verify that, so I’ll just leave it at that. However, coming back to its heavenly origin, I can think about all the statues and paintings in various churches that have the habit rosary displayed on saints like St. Anthony, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, among many others. The Rosary beads that they wear and the books that they wrote, speak of the same Rosary that we Catholics pray today, I couldn’t find any development of the Rosary, except the unsubstantiated claim that it developed. If anyone has concrete information, please share it in the comments section.

(Notice, the quotes in this article are from varying time periods, but the saints who said these words are referring to one and the same Rosary.)

Statues representing John of the Cross and Teresa of Ávila in Beas de Segura

“Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the most Holy Rosary. ”
-Pope Pius IX

The Holy Rosary, as some of us like to say is the Gospel on a string. When prayed with the family, or even alone, it always brings many blessings with it. Besides the 15 promises of Our Lady, the Holy Rosary is a most indulgenced prayer. You can receive a plenary indulgence (daily), by reciting the Rosary.

• In a church or public oratory 

• In a family group, religious community, or pious association 

• Privately or in common before the Blessed Sacrament 

• With the Pope, when his recitation is broadcast live by radio or television 

To gain a plenary indulgence¹, the following conditions must be met:

• The person should make a Confession (up to 8 days prior to praying), attend Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion on the day, and pray for the intention of the Pope.

• He should Recite a third part of the Rosary, but recite all five decades continuously

• Accompany the vocal recitation with pious meditation on the mysteries

• In public recitation, announce the mysteries in the customary manner 

If any of these conditions are not met, a partial indulgence is granted So, even if you don’t get a plenary indulgence, you do get a partial indulgence. Thus, you can’t come away empty handed when you pray the Rosary, properly. It is a source of many graces. I would think (not encouraging bad prayer) that even a badly prayed Rosary, is sort of like touching the hem of Christ’s garments, grace flows from Him and grace flows from meditation on His life, through the Rosary. Imagine what graces flow, when you make the effort to pray it well!

“The rosary is a treasure of graces”
-Pope Paul V (reign: 1605-1621)

“The rosary is the scourge of the devil”
-Pope Adrian VI (reign 1522-1523)

Many of us, and I am guilty of this too, like to collect rosaries from shrines or places of pilgrimage, and so we have a little collection of rosaries that we treasure and use. The rosary is a most beloved prayer, for us Catholics, it’s second to the Holy Mass in the way we Catholics are attached to it. Many of us like to say that we are daily Mass goers or that we pray the family rosary daily. It is a quintessential Catholic thing. Even when we die, we Catholics, have the Rosary wrapped around our hands, whether we have prayed it or not during our lives. It’s like our loved ones would at least have us appear before the Judge, with His Mother’s Rosary in our hands - a final appeal to His mercy.

If someone loves the Rosary, you might not be able to wrestle it out of their hands. They will give you their money, but not their precious beads (my mom’s rosary has plastic beads, the type given for free, she values it as precious). I’m quite sure, she’s not giving that Rosary away for anything, it’s the prayers that make it precious, not the material of the beads. (Some of my most precious rosaries are the wooden ones that I was allowed to hold on to during my radiation treatment and during hours of chemo. The glow-in-the-dark one that I tied to my hospital bed after surgery, so that I could locate it even in the dark, is still very special to me. These beads helped me pray and gave me, and the patients around me, Hope)

The Rosary is easily identifiable even by non-Catholics. It has become intertwined in Catholic life, much like the Scapular and the Angelus. We might not attend a Mass everyday, but we can certainly pray the Rosary everyday, at any time of the day, we can wear the Scapular, and recite the Angelus three times a day. So, no wonder among all the things that the modernists changed or took away, they couldn’t easily take away the Rosary.

"If you persevere in reciting the Rosary, this will be a most probable sign of your eternal salvation."

Blessed Alan de la Roche

But, has anyone tried to take away the Rosary from Catholics?

The same bishop, Annibale Bugini, who proposed the changes to the liturgy also proposed changes to the rosary. Below is an extract from his book, detailing his proposed changes to the rosary.

source: The Reform of the Liturgy, pages 876-877 by Annibale Bugnini

Pope Paul VI, however, did not approve these changes and the rosary remained unchanged, until the publication of the Apostolic Letter "Rosarium Virginis Mariae," by Pope John Paul II. in 2002. In this letter, JP2 introduces new mysteries to the Holy Rosary. However, JP2 himself was inspired by a Maltese priest Fr. George Preca², who discerned that the Church needed to focus on the public and sacramental ministry of Christ, and so he came up with a set of 5 new mysteries for the Rosary. He called these the “Mysteries of Light.” These were published by him in a leaflet in 1973. Pope John Paul II’s reflections on the "mysteries of light" are remarkably similar³ to Fr. Preca’s mysteries, as can be seen below:

source: ocarm.org

These new mysteries were intended to complement the traditional Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary, providing a fuller meditation on the life of Christ.

As for their optional nature, John Paul II encouraged the faithful to incorporate these mysteries into their Rosary prayers, but he did not mandate them. This means that while they enrich the prayer experience, it is up to individual preference whether to include them.

So, what is the problem with these mysteries?

Firstly, I used to love praying these mysteries and I still think one can pray these as a separate chaplet, but the problem arises when these new mysteries are confused with the original Rosary. No, I’m not splitting hairs here.

When JP2 introduced these mysteries, he merely gave them as an option, but they have eagerly been adopted everywhere and become so important that they are now prayed on Thursdays instead of the Joyful mysteries. Thursday was traditionally dedicated to contemplating the Incarnation. When the new mysteries “topple” the original Rosary, that becomes a problem. The modernists generally play a replacing game, so when they can’t take away the Rosary, they give you something else in its place. So, now you actually replace the Rosary with a chaplet, but call it the Rosary. (this has been the case with the Mass, the Catechism, the Little Office of Our Lady, the Divine Office, and everything Catholic. Catholic prayers were all replaced in the guise of being updated or made new.)

The Luminous mysteries are not part of the Rosary that was given by Our Lady, she didn’t forget to give us these mysteries; on the contrary, she gave us the Rosary precisely to fight the Albigensian heresy. With the Luminous mysteries being prayed on Thursday, the Incarnation takes a back seat to miracles and signs. The greater miracle is pushed to the Saturday, which now replaces the Resurrection mysteries. the whole Rosary is thrown into confusion and the chronological events of Our Lord’s life are made disconnected, interchangeable, and thus meaningless.

While earlier, we would pray two sets of Rosaries during the week, in a chronological order - Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious. Starting on Thursday, we now begin with His teachings and miracles followed by His Passion, then follows His birth and finally His Resurrection. How does such a disorderly manner of praying and meditating give honor to God? What happens to children, when they cannot see the chronological events of Christ’s Life, in the correct order? Does it in any way damage their Faith, seeing that the adults don’t really care about the order of Christ’s Life? Is the Faith of children strengthened at family prayer time, or does it allow doubts to creep in, when we pray in such a disconnected manner?

The other problem is with the very mysteries themselves; the aim seems to be to sideline Our Lady, while still showing her as present at Cana. I’ve seen a lot of books trying to make the Rosary more Christological or Christ-centered, as if Our Lady was trying to somehow get all the attention. The whole point of the Rosary is Christ, if someone can’t see it, I doubt they know anything about the Rosary. The Ave is not about Mary, it is about God becoming incarnate, this is the hammer. This angelic salutation shakes hell because of Christ. Mary is the channel through which Christ entered the world, if anyone doesn’t want her, they can forget about growing closer to Christ.

The sidelining of Our Lady is so bad that even my search today for an image of the Rosary was incredibly difficult. I couldn’t find a free image of the Rosary, with a Marian centerpiece. It was either a Rosary without a centerpiece, or with a Benedict medal or some other medal. The creator, the author of the Rosary — Our Lady seemed side-lined, almost as if she was suddenly a distraction. As if the Rosary can’t even bear her image on her signature work of prayer. So, I had to click a pic of my own Rosary beads.

The Rosary was given, to St. Dominic, by Our Lady, (who is the seat of wisdom), can anyone make her prayers and meditations better? It should make us wonder, Our Lady is known as the destroyer of heresies, she is the one who crushes the head of the devil; if she gave us a prayer, it should be powerful enough to perform miracles. The battles of Lepanto and Vienna alone prove the power of the Rosary. These were won largely because Catholics had faith and prayed the Rosary. It’s also surprising how people think that the Rosary developed over time, but they cannot provide proof for their proposal. These same people will gladly accept the chaplet of Sr. Faustina as given from heaven, but doubt the heavenly origins of the Rosary. Why accept one and not the other?

My personal problem is with the third Luminous mystery, on the preaching of the Kingdom of God. This mystery is difficult to meditate on, because there is no particular event to meditate on. It is vague to say the least. A prayer that becomes ambiguous doesn’t help us meditate. As it is meditation is difficult, add to it a prayer that is vague, how does that benefit the soul? Take up the books of Dom Proper Gueranger, St. Francis de Sales, Dom Vitalis Lahodey, St. Alphonsus Liguori, Fr. Gabriel Of St Mary Magdalen, etc. their prayers are very clear and provide good guidance into mental prayer and contemplation. For that reason, I am not so keen anymore on praying the Luminous mysteries in the manner suggested by JP2. I would much rather take a parable or a miracle and use it as material to meditate on, during time set aside for mental prayer.

I compared the Luminous mysteries to the two most difficult mysteries to meditate on, (for me), the 4th and 5th Joyful mystery. When I ask myself why am I meditating on the Presentation of the Christ child in the Temple, I can see that the Holy Family holds in very high esteem the Laws of God. Their humility and obedience to fulfil the Laws of God, are the virtues that I am called to imitate. Also, this Child, is the Lord most high, entering His Temple — something the Jews had been waiting for, for a long long time. In this Child, we meditate on God Incarnate — His coming in the flesh is beyond our comprehension, we can only contemplate this mystery.

Similarly, the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple teaches me about the Divinity of the Christ Child. He was always God, even from the moment of His Conception, and He always knew that He was God. This mystery destroys the arguments of foolish people who think that Christ was just a good teacher. He is God, and yet, He is obedient to His parents. His zeal for the house of God is there even when he is a twelve year old boy. These divinely given mysteries were given for a reason. They teach us to contemplate Christ with the magnifying glass of Mary’s heart.

"No prayer is more meritorious for the soul and more glorious for Jesus and Mary than a well recited Rosary. "

- Saint Louis de Montfort

Another problem with the chaplet of JP2, is that it is usually presented, to Catholics, as the mysteries that complete the Rosary. However, when Heaven sends you something, you don’t add to it, nor do you remove what Heaven sent. With the Luminous mysteries, if you pray them as a separate chaplet, that’s great, but don’t confuse them as the Rosary. To them is not attached the promises and graces that are attached to the Rosary. Take as an example attending Holy Mass. Attending Mass on a weekday is good right? But can you attend Mass everyday of the week and skip Sunday Mass, without committing a mortal sin? Of course not.

Is it a mortal sin to skip a weekday Mass? If it’s not a day of obligation, it’s not a sin. So, not praying the original Rosary but praying the Luminous mysteries are not the same thing. The prayer might still get you graces, but not the ones attached to the original.

Take another example: one person in my Bible study class asked the priest, is it OK to skip meat on another day and eat it on Friday? Well no, that is not in keeping with the Precepts of the Church. This is not being legalistic, it is just being respectful and not changing what God has ordained. Christ died on Good Friday, and the Church mandates that we honor this day with abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year. The days are not interchangeable, so how can the mysteries of Our Lord’s life be interchangeable?

Even up until 1917, when Our Lady appeared at Fatima, she said pray the Rosary, pray my Psalter. She gave us the Fatima prayer at the end of each decade, but no new mysteries. Why? Perhaps because of the Trinitarian symbolism in the three mysteries - Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious. Perhaps, it’s because the Gospel message is about the Incarnation, Passion-Death, and Resurrection of Christ. The Gospel is about the Life of Christ Himself, more than His teachings and miracles.

If you look up the Gospel accounts themselves, you will notice that the Evangelists are in a hurry to bring us to Christ, His Passion, Death and Resurrection. The Gospel is not a book or a story, the Gospel is Jesus Christ, Himself.

St. Mark begins His Gospel account in such a hurry, that he begins with the Baptism of Christ, not even narrating the infancy of Christ.

 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  [Mark 1:1]

St. John is so focused on the Person of Christ that he goes beyond time, to the “origin” of Christ in eternity.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [John 1:1]

The Gospel is about Jesus Christ — God Incarnate. The only reason, St. John mentions 7 signs in his Gospel account is because he wants us to believe. A sign points to something and that’s how St. John looks at the miracles of Jesus — as signposts pointing to His Divinity:

But these are written, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: and that believing, you may have life in his name.
[John 20:31]

But there are also many other things which Jesus did; which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to contain the books that should be written.  [John 21:25]

The Holy Rosary is about contemplating the face of Jesus Christ. It is like sitting at His feet, like Mary, the sister of Lazarus. It’s not about completing a story, it’s about getting close to the Person of Jesus Christ. He worked signs and wonders only to prove to the Jews that He was their Messiah, but His greatest works were not the signs and miracles, they were His Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection. While there is merit in pondering His works and teachings, He is greater than His works. Perhaps, one might continue to use the Luminous mysteries for meditation, but if you are strapped for time, choose what Heaven has given, pray the Rosary that Our Lady gave to St. Dominic.

The Rosary is known as the battering ram against hell. If you add weight to this most powerful weapon, perhaps, you might not be able to yield it to its full potential. Pray the Rosary everyday, pray it with confidence, pray it with your families.

Mediatrix of all graces. Pray for us.

“You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.”
Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

Footnotes:

1. http://www.liturgialatina.org/raccolta/indulgences.htm

2. https://taylormarshall.com/2017/02/malta-matrimony-luminous-mysteries-and-st-george-preca.html

3. https://ocarm.org/en/item/3415-st-george-preca-the-new-rosary-mysteries