The Luminous Mysteries

At a gathering last night, during a discussion of the Rosary, I mentioned off hand that I do not pray the "Luminous Mysteries" in my daily prayer of the Rosary. One of those present responded that "[these mysteries] were good enough for Pope John Paul II." Since I did not have a chance to respond to that, I wanted to write this blog entry.

At the outset, let me say that I am not criticizing the person that asked me about this. I am also not criticizing anyone who chooses to include the Luminous Mysteries in their daily Rosary (as simply praying the Rosary is more important than how we pray it). However, I think that many people, particularly those who are trying to return to the Traditions of the Church, have not considered these sorts of innovations to be as pernicious as they are.

Let us begin by remembering how we received the Holy Rosary: Our Blessed Mother gave the Holy Rosary, including the three sets of mysteries - Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious - to St. Dominic. The Holy Rosary has divine origins. As such, it is more elevated than other pious devotions and practices. Therefore, it is not to be tampered with except by those who receive some additional revelation. This actually happened at Fatima, when our Blessed Mother gave the three children the Fatima Prayer, which is typically added after each Gloria Patri for of the five decades.

Apart from its divine origin, the Rosary has a practical aspect to it. The laity, unlike priests and religious, cannot be expected to participate fully in the prayer of the Divine Office, which includes weekly recitation of the 150 Psalms (or at least it did in the past - now there is a four week cycle and it is called The Liturgy of the Hours instead). Therefore, the Rosary includes 150 Ave Marias to parallel the 150 Psalms [NB: The Rosary is considered to be the praying of all three sets of Mysteries at once for a total of 150 Aves. We generally accept (and the Church concedes) that the daily recitation includes praying 50 Aves.]

Moreover, the Church has traditionally included a propsed cycle for the praying of the Mysteries. The cycle is Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious - Christ's early life, death, and resurrection. So, we have Monday - Joyful, Tuesday - Sorrowful, Wednesday - Glorious, Thursday - Joyful, Friday - Sorrowful, Saturday - Glorious. On Sundays, traditionally, the Mysteries are set according to the season. So, during Lent we pray the Sorrowful, during Easter and the time after Pentecost the Glorious, during Advent and the time after Epiphany the Joyful.

So, there are several reasons for the exclusion of the Luminous Mysteries: they are not of divine origin, as is the rest of the Rosary; they throw off the number of Aves, which disrupts the continuity with the weekly Psalter; and they change the tempo of the Mysteries through the week, as their inclusion on Thursday changes the arrangement of the other Mysteries.

Are the Luminous Mysteries bad? Of course not! We should definitely consider and meditate upon the Baptism of the Lord, the first miracle at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist. Assuredly, these mysteries were set out by Pope Bl. John Paul II, which is a compelling argument for their inclusion. However, for those seeking to return to the Traditions of the Church, we could consider a devotional practice that is influenced by the traditional devotional practice of those who came before.

As I said at the outset, there is nothing wrong with praying the Luminous Mysteries, just as there is nothing wrong with excluding them for the reasons set out above. As for me, I will not include them, but I will from time to time meditate on these important events in the life of our Lord.