In order to provide an authoritative answer to the question in this topic, we need to understand the Teresian charism, because St Teresa had already established the reform when she met John, who was planning to leave the Ancient Observance (“Calced” Carmelites) and enter the Carthusians. She convinced him to join her and another interested O.Carm. friar in establishing a similar reform for the friars.
Nowhere in the Teresian Constitutions is there a mandate to pray the rosary. The devotion is certainly permitted. St Teresa mentions the rosary as an aid to mental prayer, reminding the nuns (and us, too) that when we recite the Hours or pray the rosary, we need “to consider whom we are going to speak with, and who we are, so as to know how to speak with Him”. But her mention of the rosary, beyond that, is limited to a reference to her childhood, an incident with another person, and two mystical experiences.
St John of the Cross mentions the rosary only once in his collected works, in the Ascent of Mount Carmel: Book Three, Chapter 35, nn. 7-8; here he discusses vain attachment to statues, paintings of saints, etc.
- Although on this subject of statues you may have some objection caused by lack of a clear understanding of the nakedness and spiritual poverty demanded for perfection, at least you will not be able to defend through your objections the imperfection commonly found in the use of rosaries. You will hardly meet anyone who does not have some weakness in this matter. They want the rosary to be made in one style rather than another, or that it be of this color or that metal rather than another, or of this or that particular design. One rosary is no more influential with God than is another. His answer to the rosary prayer is not dependent on the kind of rosary used. The prayer he hears is that of a simple and pure heart that is concerned only about pleasing God and does not bother about the kind of rosary used unless in regard to indulgences.
- Our vain covetousness is such that it clings to everything. It is like the wood borer that gnaws at what is sound and performs its task in both good and bad objects. What else is your motive in carrying around an overdecorated rosary with the desire that it be this kind rather than another and in wanting to choose this statue instead of that other, if not the joy you find in the instrument? And in your concern about their preciousness and artistry, you neglect to consider their faculty for awakening divine love in you…
Therefore, in terms of the Constitutions of St Teresa’s reform, we know that the rosary as an exercise of community prayer was not prescribed. Yet, the rosary is an important part of the habit for Discalced Carmelite friars and nuns, not necessarily worn like costume jewelry. Perhaps it is best to say, based on the testimony we have from friars and nuns over the centuries, that the devotional practice of praying the rosary depends upon each individual. And since we have no record of St John of the Cross counseling one of his directees to pray the rosary, it may have been an intensely personal devotion for him.
