Humor: Rosarii Custodes: On the Use of the Holy Rosary Prior to the Luminous Mysteries
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    This is funny and clever.

    Source: https://remnantnewspaper.com/web/index.php/articles/item/5511-rosarii-custodes

    Rosarii Custodes: On the Use of the Holy Rosary Prior to the Luminous Mysteries

    Guardians of the Rosary, the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome constitute the visible principle and foundation of the unity of their particular Churches. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through the regulation of the Rosary, they govern the particular Churches entrusted to them.

    In order to promote the concord and unity of the Church, with paternal solicitude towards those who in any region adhere to Rosary forms antecedent to the addition of the Luminous Mysteries added by Pope John Paul II, my Venerable Predecessor, Benedict XVI, granted and regulated the faculty to continue to pray the traditional form of the Rosary. In this way he intended “to facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier form of the Rosary.”

    At this time, I now desire, with this Apostolic Letter, to press on ever more in the constant search for ecclesial communion. Therefore, I have considered it appropriate to establish the following:

    Art. 1. The Luminous Mysteries promulgated by Pope John Paul II are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Church.

    Art. 2. It belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole spiritual life of the particular Church entrusted to him, to regulate the prayers of the Rosary of his diocese. Therefore, it is his exclusive competence to authorize the use of the traditional Mysteries of the Rosary in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See.

    Art. 3. The bishop of the diocese in which until now there exist one or more groups that pray according to the traditional Rosary prior to the additions of Pope John Paul II:

    1. is to determine that these groups do not deny the validity and the legitimacy of the Luminous Mysteries, dictated by the Magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff;
    2. is to designate one or more locations where the faithful adherents of these groups may gather for the recitation of the traditional Rosary (not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes);
    3. to establish at the designated locations the days on which traditional Rosaries are permitted using the fifteen Mysteries revealed by the Blessed Mother. In these traditional Rosaries, the prayers are offered in the vernacular language, using translations of the prayers approved by the Episcopal Conferences;
    4. to appoint a priest who, as delegate of the bishop, is entrusted with these traditional Rosaries and with the pastoral care of these groups of the faithful. This priest should be suited for this responsibility, skilled in the use of the Rosary antecedent to the additions of Pope John Paul II. This priest should have at heart not only the correct recitation of the Rosary, but also the pastoral and spiritual care of the faithful;
    5. to verify that the parishes canonically erected for the benefit of these faithful attached to the traditional Rosary are effective for their spiritual growth, and to determine whether or not to retain them;
    6. to take care not to authorize the establishment of new traditional Rosary groups.
    Art. 4. Priests ordained after the publication of the present Motu Proprio, who wish to recite the Rosary in its tradition form, should submit a formal request to the diocesan Bishop who shall consult the Apostolic See before granting this authorization.

    Art. 5. Priests who already recite the Rosary according to the traditional Mysteries should request from the diocesan Bishop the authorization to continue to enjoy this faculty.

    Art. 6. Previous Marian apparitions and locutions, the writings of Saints and Mystics and Popes, norms, instructions, permissions, and customs that do not conform to the provisions of the present Motu Proprio are abrogated. Everything that I have declared in this Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu Proprio, I order to be observed in all its parts, anything else to the contrary notwithstanding, even if worthy of particular mention.
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Yes, Mark, it is funny

    Do you understand the Remnant's point?
  • francis
    Posts: 10,825
    /purple/ Francis May be clever but he is not funny? /endpurple/

    ...and is certainly very very far from wise
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • Appreciate an attempt to lighten the discussions

    However I am aware that there are efforts going on to add yet more sets of mysteries to the Holy Rosary... I counted to ten new sets before I had to run away
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    Adding more mysteries may be a good thing to rosary enthusiasts but insufferable to those not fond of the devotion. As a friend says, the rosary...is 15 decades long, and that was a few years ago before any additions. However, it is a private devotion and no one is required to pray it.
  • "Rosary enthusiasts" come in two kinds, maybe three.

    1) Those who believe that 15 mysteries come in three groups: Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious. These persons sometimes attach significance to a popular title for the rosary: Our Lady's Psalter.

    2) Those who believe that the Luminous Mysteries are an absolute blessing, and that Pope John Paul II improved the rosary by adding them.

    3) Those who think a rosary can not be prayed properly without a Scripture reading or a free-flowing commentary before each decade. These are distinct from those who announce the virtue attached to each mystery.

    Private devotion it may be, but hardly of no consequence.
    Thanked by 2tomjaw CCooze
  • Jeffrey Quick
    Posts: 2,086
    The official confirmation that there are 200 Hails in Our Lady's Psalter is preliminary to the revision of the Hours to include Psalms 151-200. Psalm 169, a psalm of David Haas, is particularly deep.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    When those "Luminous" mysteries were added, I joked with a friend that next there would be the mundane mysteries:

    1. Mary does the dishes
    2. St. Elizabeth goes shopping
    3. St. Joseph sweeps the kitchen
    4. Mary darns Joseph's socks
    5. St. Joseph takes out the trash.

    Where will it end?

    Hardly serious, but it seems to me the luminous mysteries don't have the same level of significance as the original glorious. sorrowful, and joyful mysteries. What was the point in adding them?
  • SalieriSalieri
    Posts: 3,177
    What was the point in adding them?

    It completes the Vat2 Trifecta: New Mass, New Office, New Rosary.

    (AND I know people who consider that those of us who don't pray the Luminous Mysteries to be schismatic. I have been accused of such.)
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    It isn't an eastern devotion so I don't pray most of it. I joined a group in Texas many years ago and they assigned a decade for members to pray. They are good folks who do good work so I agreed to do that much but no more. Although the devotion itself is not particularly appealing since it has no cultural context for me, I don't mind doing the one decade daily. It can't hurt.
    Thanked by 1Salieri
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    There's heft to the choice of the first, fourth and fifth Luminous Mysteries. I could see the second and fourth replaced and a reordering and refocusing:

    1. The Theophany [not only the Baptism of the Lord - it's the first complete manifestation to mankind of the Holy and Undivided Trinity]

    2. *The Feeding of the Multitude* [also can be connected in the "I AM" revelations in the Gospel of John]

    3. The Transfiguration of the Lord

    4. *The Raising of Lazarus* [the last of the Signs in the Gospel of John - the Miracle at Cana being the first, which I assume Pope John Paul II chose primarily for its express Marian connection in a Marian devotion]

    - OR -

    *The Entrance of the Lord in Jerusalem* [the manifestation of the Kingship of Christ]

    5. The Last Supper [not only the institution of the Eucharist: there are many deep layers for contemplation].
  • CatherineS
    Posts: 690
    i'm a rosary minimalist myself, usually preferring to skip lengthy evocative meditations or sentimental readings. I learned from some no-nonsense elderly ladies who prayed every day before Mass.
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    I remember Pope Benedict indicating he had difficulty with that devotion. It isn't effective for every one. I can't stay focused on it.
  • francis
    Posts: 10,825
    Rosary - SEE - THINK - PRAY

    SEE the mystery in your minds eye
    THINK on the mystery with your intellect
    PRAY the prayers on your lips while continuing to SEE and THINK

    (similar as to CatherineS)

    And don't listen to anyone that tells you not to pray the rosary during Mass. That is heresy.
  • MarkB
    Posts: 1,084
    SEE the mystery in your minds eye


    I can't do this. I have learned that I have aphantasia. I cannot imagine. Nope. Can't do it. I "see" nothing when I close my eyes and attempt to imagine. Just blackness. I went my whole childhood and much of my young adulthood believing that what people meant by "imagine" was to think abstractly about something: that to visualize or imagine something was to think abstractly about its dimensions and visual characteristics. Little did I know that apparently many people have the ability to conjure up internal visual experiences at will that do not relate to what is in the real world.

    That's probably why the rosary has little appeal for me.
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    Having 20 mysteries of the Rosary may seem a lot, but the oldest known manuscript about the "Marian psalter", copied by Cistercian nuns in Germany in 1300, gave 98 clauses to be said with the Ave Marias, to recall aspects of the life of Jesus.

    Around 1409 the student and penitent Dominic of Prussia learned about the Rosary from his spiritual father Adolf of Essen, prior of the Charterhouse at Trier. Later, Dominic published a larger set of "clauses" for recitation with the Rosary, with 150 items.

    Because the "mysteries" were so numerous, the number was reduced to fifteen fairly soon: that is, the common listing and their order is evidenced as early as the 1480s in Ulm and Barcelona; in the latter city they were depicted in an engraving.

    source: Introduction to Mariology by Fr. Manfred Hauke, chapter 10
  • francis
    Posts: 10,825
    @MarkB

    You can view each mystery from this painting as you pray the rosary.
    mysteries.jpg
    3157 x 3658 - 3M
    Thanked by 3MarkB a_f_hawkins Drake
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,980
    The eastern church fathers tell us not to visualize or imagine when we pray. Their thought is the devil can lead us astray through it.
    Thanked by 1MarkB
  • Elmar
    Posts: 506
    What was the point in adding them?
    It completes the Vat2 Trifecta: New Mass, New Office, New Rosary.
    There is some inconsistency: instead of adding something, the New Rosary should have the redundant repetitions cut away, like reducing the decades to a maximum of three 'Hail Mary' per mystery!

    [This wins the title POST OF THE DAY.--admin]
  • KARU27
    Posts: 184
    Redundant?
    You mean "useless repetitions", right?
  • Elmar! - shhhhhh !!
    Thanked by 1tomjaw
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,890
    the oldest known manuscript about the "Marian psalter", copied by Cistercian nuns in Germany in 1300, gave 98 clauses to be said with the Ave Marias, to recall aspects of the life of Jesus.


    This is fascinating. I'd love to know what those clauses were. Chonak, does that book list them? Or simply state that they exist?
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,216
    The footnote for that information is this:

    See Bogusław Kochaniewicz, "Origine e storie del Rosario", in Stefano M. Cecchin, ed., Contemplare Cristo con Maria: Atti della Giornata di studio sulla Lettera apostolica Rosarium Virginis Mariae di Giovanni Paolo II: Roma, 3 maggio 2003, Vatican City: Pontificia Academia Mariana Internationalis, 2003, 23-26.

    Apparently the manuscript was mentioned in a paper delivered at a Mariological conference in Rome in 2003, so if you can locate a copy of the proceedings, that may lead to further info.

    In the meantime, here is another article on the early development of the Rosary:
    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=4728
  • tandrews
    Posts: 174
    Can't wait to see the Anglican-use versions of the mysteries soon!
    Thanked by 2CharlesW tomjaw
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,093
    The Mysteries of Tea at the Vicarage?

    1. Fine china or bone?
    2. Milk or sugar?
    3. Intermezzo: Americans asking for lemon and ice
    4. Jam: homemade or bought?
    5. Finale: getting the guests to leave