Is it okay to pray the rosary without the mysteries?

[Te_Deum]

Surely it’s safe to assume, that although there was no formal set of mysteries for the fifteen decades, the devoted sons and daughters of Mary would have still meditated on the mysteries of the life, death, resurrection and glory of Our Lord and Saviour and His Blessed Mother.

After all some form of mysteries must have been in existence for Pope Saint Pius the Fifth to “codify” as it were.

 

[GloriousOrder]

I dare say the Rosary is not the Rosary without meditations. It doesn’t particularly matter when the mysteries were added… they are what they are now, thanks to many popes who have guided the Church. The only thing that keeps me from totally neglecting the rosary is, in fact, the contemplation of the divine action in human history.

 

[FreeSpirit1]

While this is true in a sense, the Rosary is a certain method of prayer. Part of it is the meditations on the mysteries. To pray a Rosary is to say all the prayers of the Rosary and to meditate on the mysteries.

Not meditating on the mysteries is just praying a bunch of Hail Marys, Our Fathers, and Glory Bes, it is not (technically) the Rosary.

You got it, bro!

If one needs help finding help to meditate the mysteries, one can find the Joyful mysteries here: rosary-center.org/joyful.htm

More links to most questions about the Rosary here:
rosary-center.org/howto.htm

 

[adelestacey]

I am glad I found this question as it is something I have also wondered about. I love the rosary but I find that if I try to pray it alone I just can not hole all the mysteries in my mind and lose track of the prayers so I dedicate the rosary and ask the Holy Spirit to help me and to understand my humanity in gettting muddled.
St Therese of Liseuix found the Rosary very difficult for the same reasons but still said it as it was a compulsory part of her religious life - she is a saint who had the same problems so I think if the intention is good then God understands our weakness.
There is a good on line rosary and there is a rosary CD I found which is a helpful way of praying it with others.

 

[Te_Deum]

For those who have trouble with the rosary, there is always Saint Louis’s Second Method which involves saying a word relevant to the particular mystery being meditated on after the ‘Jesus’ in the Ave.

At the 1st Decade . . . . . “Jesus incarnate”;
At the 2nd " . . . . . “Jesus sanctifying”;
At the 3rd " . . . . . “Jesus born in poverty”;
At the 4th " . . . . . “Jesus sacrificed”;
At the 5th " . . . . . “Jesus, Saint among Saints”;
At the 6th " . . . . . “Jesus in His agony”;
At the 7th " . . . . . “Jesus scourged”;
At the 8th " . . . . . “Jesus crowned with thorns”;
At the 9th " . . . . . “Jesus carrying His Cross”;
At the 10th " . . . . . “Jesus crucified”;
At the 11th " . . . . . “Jesus risen from the dead”;
At the 12th " . . . . . “Jesus ascending to Heaven”;
At the 13th" . . . . . “Jesus filling Thee with the Holy Spirit”;
At the 14th " “Jesus raising Thee up”;
At the 15th " . . . . . “Jesus crowning Thee.”

 

[Rainman498]

Meditating on the mysteries is the point of praying the Rosary.

 

[toastmachines]

Though I pray the Rosary during the day with the meditations, if I am having trouble falling asleep, at times I mentally recite the Aves.

 

[Roman_Catechism]

There’s nothing wrong with praying fifty Hail Marys, five Our Fathers, and Five Glory Be’s. But when you “pray the Rosary” without meditating on the mysteries, that is all that you’re doing. You’re not praying the devotion of the Holy Rosary.

 

[Corki]

There’s nothing wrong with praying fifty Hail Marys, five Our Fathers, and Five Glory Be’s. But when you “pray the Rosary” without meditating on the mysteries, that is all that you’re doing. You’re not praying the devotion of the Holy Rosary.

No, it’s still the Rosary but it’s the Rosary as a personal devotion, not the indulgenced prayer.

 

[creole54]

I also, for 50 years, had no idea that there were mysteries attached to the rosary, and I attended two different Catholic schools. Now at my age I can barely remember my PIN number at the bank, so memorizing all those mysteries in the correct order is a real challenge. Sometimes I pray the rosary using a little booklet, but sometimes I still pray it the ‘old fashioned’ way. I’m certainly not about to feel bad about it.

For anyone interested, there is a wonderful little book called The Scriptural Rosary published by Christianica Center. Before each Ave and Pater it gives a particular scripture verse to read prior to saying the prayer. That’s over 150 bible verses. But it’s a wonderful little devotional book that really helps bring the mysteries of the rosary to life.

 

[fred_conty]

I think it better, since we are making comparisons, to do the reverse.
Thinking of the mysteries and ommitting the prayers.
Just put yourself in the scene of each mystery with Jesus, or Mary, and appreciate what
is taking place with heartfelt love.

 

[FreeSpirit1]

No, it’s still the Rosary but it’s the Rosary as a personal devotion, not the indulgenced prayer.

Hi Corki,

I like your answer, but could you please explain what you mean by ‘indulgenced prayer’? How many ‘days’ is the indulgence for ? What are your sources, if any?

 

[FreeSpirit1]

I also, for 50 years, had no idea that there were mysteries attached to the rosary, and I attended two different Catholic schools. Now at my age I can barely remember my PIN number at the bank, so memorizing all those mysteries in the correct order is a real challenge. Sometimes I pray the rosary using a little booklet, but sometimes I still pray it the ‘old fashioned’ way. I’m certainly not about to feel bad about it.

For anyone interested, there is a wonderful little book called The Scriptural Rosary published by Christianica Center. Before each Ave and Pater it gives a particular scripture verse to read prior to saying the prayer. That’s over 150 bible verses. But it’s a wonderful little devotional book that really helps bring the mysteries of the rosary to life.

Thank you so much for that reference! Here it is again:

"The Scriptural Rosary"
published by Christianica Center

​

I will be posting a url when I find one! Thanks again

 

[FreeSpirit1]

I also, for 50 years, had no idea that there were mysteries attached to the rosary, and I attended two different Catholic schools. Now at my age I can barely remember my PIN number at the bank, so memorizing all those mysteries in the correct order is a real challenge. Sometimes I pray the rosary using a little booklet, but sometimes I still pray it the ‘old fashioned’ way. I’m certainly not about to feel bad about it.

For anyone interested, there is a wonderful little book called The Scriptural Rosary published by Christianica Center. Before each Ave and Pater it gives a particular scripture verse to read prior to saying the prayer. That’s over 150 bible verses. But it’s a wonderful little devotional book that really helps bring the mysteries of the rosary to life.

Greetings Creole54,

Thank you so much, I want to kiss you! :dancing:
AMAZING! I found a

[sign]
FREE (internet) website with prayers for all 4 sets of Rosary mysteries! (totaling 20 mysteries).

Make sure to scroll down at the *BOTTOM *of the PAGE:

scripturalrosary.org/BeginningPrayers.html

[/sign]

For those interested in print on paper, they provide a Scriptural Rosary book, pocket

size, with all 20 mysteries, for 6$, including shipping and handling!

This is an amazing offer!

scripturalrosary.org/scriptural_rosary_books.html

 

[Corki]

Hi Corki,

I like your answer, but could you please explain what you mean by ‘indulgenced prayer’? How many ‘days’ is the indulgence for ? What are your sources, if any?

Indulgences are no longer counted as days. They are either partial or plenary. Saying the rosary carries a plenary indulgence, if the follwing conditions are met (bold mine):

Plenary Indulgence for the Holy Rosary

A plenary indulgences is granted, if the Rosary is recited in a church or public oratory or in a family group, a religious Community or pious Association: **a partial indulgence is granted in other circumstances.**A plenary indulgence can be gained, once a day, by praying the Rosary, privately or in common, before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed or in the tabernacle. (This is true owing to the plenary indulgence attached to a practice of Eucharistic adoration that is at least one half hour in length, according to the Enchiridion).
The gaining of the plenary indulgence is regulated by the following norms:

The recitation of a third part only of the Rosary suffices; but the five decades must be recited continuously.
The vocal recitation **must be accompanied by pious meditation on the mysteries. **In public recitation the mysteries must be announced in the manner customary in the place; for private recitation, however, it suffices if the recitation is accompanied by meditation on the mysteries.

I do stand corrected on one point. It seems that even without meditating on the mysteries, the Rosary still earns a partial indulgence.

Here is one reference

catholiccompany.com/content/Information-about-the-Rosary.cfm

This site gives the specific reference as the Enchiridion of Indulgences, numbers35 &48.

dominican-liturgy.blogspot.com/2008/10/rosary-blessings-and-indulgences.html

Here is a link to the 1968 Enchiridion of Indulgences.

ourladyswarriors.org/indulge/

 

[Mrs_Sally]

It’s not a rosary without the mysteries. We can certainly pray as many Our Fathers and Hail Marys as we want, and we can certainly pray with whatever intentions or contemplating whatever part of the Christian story we want. The rosary isn’t a required prayer of the church, but it has always been taught with the mysteries.

 

[FreeSpirit1]

Greetings fellow Rosary buddies!

For those wanting to go deeper into the Rosary prayer, this url link is a wonderful Catholic Answers Forum post with many, many links to free downloadable mp3 Rosaries, to accompany you when you pray the Rosary. Check it out:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=2914080#post2914080

Thanks so much Miserissima!

 

[mattkubes]

It’s not a rosary without the mysteries. We can certainly pray as many Our Fathers and Hail Marys as we want, and we can certainly pray with whatever intentions or contemplating whatever part of the Christian story we want. The rosary isn’t a required prayer of the church, but it has always been taught with the mysteries.

It hasn’t always been taught in the form that we have today though. We use a form that was standardized in the 16th century. Take a look at this slightly older version with a meditation for each bead:

preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/BVM/HortulusRosarium.html

But I still use the standardized form (i.e. no Luminous Mysteries ).

 

[Te_Deum]

If you just want to pray some Paters, Aves and Glorias, pray the chaplet of Our Lady’s crown.

 

[FreeSpirit1]

It hasn’t always been taught in the form that we have today though. We use a form that was standardized in the 16th century. Take a look at this slightly older version with a meditation for each bead:

preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/BVM/HortulusRosarium.html

But I still use the standardized form (i.e. no Luminous Mysteries ).

Good link! Thanks mattkubes