www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Pope to add 'luminous' mysteries to the Rosary

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I know this has direct bearing only on our Latin brothers (and those of us who choose to privately pray the rosary) but I thought it may be of interest to some here.

Any thoughts? For instance, I think it's beautiful that one of the new meditations will be on the Theophany.

- Henri

The article is short so I copied the whole thing along with the link:

http://www.ewtn.com/news/index.htm

POPE TO ADD NEW MYSTERIES TO THE ROSARY
VATICAN, Oct 14, 02 (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II will release an apostolic letter on devotion to the Virgin Mary on October 16-- the anniversary of his election to the pontificate-- according to informed Vatican sources.
Leaks from the Vatican, in anticipation of the document's release, suggest that the Pope will introduce five new mysteries to the Rosary. The five new mysteries, the "luminous mysteries," will focus on the public life of Jesus Christ, Vatican sources say. They will be: the Baptism in the Jordan, the temptation in the desert, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfigurations, and the entry into Jerusalem.
The Rosary is a traditional Marian devotion, popularized at first by St. Bernard, later by the Dominican order, and still later by St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort. The Rosary is composed of five joyful mysteries (which are recited on Mondays and Thursdays), five sorrowful mysteries (recited on Tuesdays and Saturdays), and five glorious mysteries (Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.) The five new mysteries would reportedly be used on Saturdays.

Interesting.

One might even take the view that these Mysteries have a rather Eastern face. Many Eastern Catholics pray the Rosary. These Mysteries reflect several of our major feasts, as well as some major themes (Temptation in the Desert--> Monastic vows) etc.

It will be interesting to see how this news is received!

Sharon

What a wonderful misteries he has chosen!

it is, in fact, an Ecumenical rosary

You know, I thought the same thing. With the exception of the "Proclamation of the Kingdom", every one of those mysteries is either a major feast or a particular Sunday on the Syrian calendar. Pretty nifty for the likes of me.

wow I never thought I was see the day that a new set of mysteries would be added! I think it is wonderful. And yes very ecumenical too.

Dear Henri,

Yes, of course, this is only news for those who practice the Latin Rosary and only peripherally for those who do the Byzantine Rosary .

The Pope himself regularly prays 25 decades of the Rosary daily. I take it these mysteries have been part of his personal devotions for some time.

The old Rosary confraternities used the basic "One Our Father and ten Hail Mary's" as a devotional unit to honour many mysteries such as 12 decades for the 12 Apostles, nine decades for the nine choirs of Angels, 14 or 15 decades for the Stations of the Cross (if you add the Resurrection at the end which the Byzantine Way of the Cross does . . .).

Initially, the fifth Joyful Mystery of Christ teaching in the Temple was a way to link up with Christ's later preaching before the Agony in the Garden.

The Luminous Mysteries (that would logically follow the Joyful Mysteries if one were doing them all together) provide a great and deep link between the two.

The Pope has always promoted the use of other Mysteries in praying the Psalter of the Mother of God and I've seen varied meditations for seven days and for thirty days.

The best way to pray the Rosary (Latin or Byzantine) is to include a word or words, in our case, after the "Christ the Saviour," to indicate the Mystery being celebrated.

This holds our attention to the "icon" of the Mystery.

I have a Byzantine Rosary or a prayer rope of 150 woollen knots separated every ten knots by a red bead.

For me, the number 10 signifies the Ten Commandments or the Ark of the Covenant.

In praying 10 "Hail Mary's" we celebrate the Mother of God as the Ark of the New Covenant.

May the Orthodox Saints who had great devotion to the Rosary/Prayer Rule of the Mother of God, Sts. Seraphim of Sarov, Seraphim Zvezdinsky, Seraphim Vyritsky et al. pray unto God for us!

Alex

The text of John Paul's new Apostolic Letter can be found on the Zenit news page:

http://www.zenit.org/english/

The new mysteries are:

(1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

Dave Ignatius DTBrown@aol.com

Dear Dave,

I've prayed these mysteries yesterday and I can attest to the fact that they truly do deepen one's awareness of the Incarnation and Mission of our Saviour in the world!

Many years to the Pope of the Rosary and of the Cross, His Holiness Pope John Paul II!

Sto Liat!

Alex

Here you go....

Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae [vatican.va]

David

Dear David,

Sto liat to you too, Big Guy!

(That's "May you live to be a hundred years" in Polish - I know you don't like using a language other than English ).

Alex

Dear Friends,

I've read through the Apostolic Letter on the Rosary, and what is nice about it is the Pope's reference to the Jesus Prayer of the Eastern Church and its connection with the Rosary.

Although the Pope says that the Rosary developed in the West, it is interesting to note that, as it is said in the book on Staretz Zechariah: An Early Soviet Saint, Orthodox teachers have maintained that the "Rule of the Mother of God" was first revealed to Eastern Monks in the 8th century!

But, apart from that oversight , the Letter by His Holiness is absolutely beautiful and deeply meaningful!!

His emphasis on the Mysteries of Light are definitely within our Byzantine Bailiwick and he has written about them so well!

I heartily recommend that everyone read this anniversary Letter by the Pope, whether one is in communion with him or not . . .

Ad Multos Annos to His Holiness the Pope as he begins his 25th year of his Pontificate!

Alex

What a wonderful way for the Holy Father to open his 25th year! THis is so exciting. I've yet to add these Luminous Mysteries to my prayer cycle, but from what I've heard from Alex here and friends elsewhere, they are bound to add so much to one's prayer life!

I am a bit unnerved, though, at some of the opposition I've come across already from our traditionalist brethren, those both in and outside our communion, on this recent addition. Some are just irked a bit on the disruption of the symmetry of the former Three Mysteries with the 150 Psalms, while others are, well, freaking out over this "modern" addition to the Rosary. I've had to hold my tongue (and fingers) more than once in an effort to not make matters worse with an outburst. Please pray for me and my tempestuous, argumentative nature!

In Christ,
mikey.

Dear Mikey,

Well, traditionalists cannot really be against these additional five mysteries.

For those who do the full Rosary daily, what is another five decades?

Traditionalists balk at more prayer? Perhaps they're not as traditional as they think they are . . .

Symmetry? These decades bring even greater symmetry to the Rosary. The Pope's critics should try them first and then open their mouths.

If the Rosary is the Psalter of the Virgin Mary - which it most certainly is - the 20 decades, including the luminous Mysteries, remind one of the 20 Kathismata of the Byzantine Psalter!

The critics of the Pope can really all go to, well, Hades - to put yet another Byzantine spin on it.

Alex

I just think this is yet another sign that JP II, however great he may be, has a control problem. I think it is very egotistical to change the rosary. Imagine if some Eastern patriarch decided to edit the Akathistos hymn... "now we'll have 36 stanzas instead of 24." or something like that.

Praying more is just fine, but there was really no need to make this change. It seems that some prelates like change just because it's change. I prefer to accept changes when change is needed.

In Christ,

anastasios

Alex,

You've pretty much said everything that sprang to my mind when I first heard these objections.

One thing that I don't get is that these "traditionalist" folks are against the "trimming" down of things (i.e. the Mass) and are now against the adding of things. It's like they live in a Spirtual Stasis Booth or something like that. It's the one thing that really turned me off when I was attending the traditional Latin Mass (and, consequently, sent me packing Eastward!).

anastasios,

One would think that given today's increasing secular and at best agnostic climate, these additions would move us all to evangelize those who have lost their way and those who are groping in darkness. These new Luminous Mysteries have at their core the theme of evangelization.