Is it okay to pray the rosary without the mysteries?

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The rosary is a private devotion, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to say it.

I have developed my own “rosary” based on the Examen prayer from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.

As my first spiritual director used to say-
“Pray as you can, not as you can’t! ***What matters is that you pray!!” ***😃
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followingtheway said:
What are your thoughts?
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St Louis Marie De Grignion says in his great book ‘The Secret of the Rosary’, that saying the prayers without meditating on the mysteries is like having a body without a soul. It’s not ‘wrong’ but as much of the benefit of the reason is being ‘taught at the school of Mary’ someone who prayed the Rosary without meditating on the mysteries is very much missing out. One could even make the argument that if one prays the Rosary without the mysteries one isn’t really praying the Rosary at all merely praying the ‘Angelic Psalter’.
 
You can but it is far more meritorious to pray and meditate on the mysteries.
 
Must admit, I only found out there were such things as the *specific * mysteries to be reflected on after checking it out on the internet about a year ago! Talked to my Mum, she said something like “what? Oh, wouldn’t worry about that…” :whistle:
 
The Rosary, a contemplative prayer
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  1. The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension, it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: “Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of the admonition of Christ: ‘In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt 6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed”.
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Didn’t that Fatima children get in trouble with the Angel for saying a shorthand rosary?
 
Pardon my ignorance but without the mysteries how could you call it a Rosary? Wouln’t it become a new devotion?
 
Mystic_Banana said:
Must admit, I only found out there were such things as the *specific * mysteries to be reflected on after checking it out on the internet about a year ago! Talked to my Mum, she said something like “what? Oh, wouldn’t worry about that…” :whistle:
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Learned to say the rosary 50+ years ago and only found out about the mysteries about 10 years ago. Mom and Dad certainly never mentioned them and I don’t recall all the relatives we recited the rosary with mentioning them either.
 
Phemie said:
Learned to say the rosary 50+ years ago and only found out about the mysteries about 10 years ago. Mom and Dad certainly never mentioned them and I don’t recall all the relatives we recited the rosary with mentioning them either.
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Wow, just wow :eek:
 
Since the mysteries themselves are a fairly late addition to the Rosary, I would say there isn’t anything wrong with praying the Rosary without the mysteries. However, the indulgence attached to praying the Rosary requires meditation on the mysteries as one of the conditions.
 
If you are asking for an opinion, then I would say that it is contrary to what the Rosary is meant to be, to pray without contemplation on any aspect of the life of Christ and his Mother. If you have prayed it without knowing what the mysteries are all these years, I suppose your ignorance is innocent enough, but at some point I suspect that you were contemplating the gospel you heard at Mass or some passage of scripture. Keep in mind that those who aren’t Catholic consider the Rosary as vain repetition. Although it is repetitious in form, it is never vain if you are praying with contemplation - it’s a skill you acquire, not one that comes easily without practice.
 
TrueLight said:
How late?
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16th Century. The practice of praying the Our Fathers and Hail Marys (and even Kyries) on beads started sometime in the 12th century with the structure of the prayer evolving through the 15th C. St Dominic, to whom Mary gave the Rosary, died in 1221 but the mysteries were added by later Dominicans.
 
Corki said:
16th Century. The practice of praying the Our Fathers and Hail Marys (and even Kyries) on beads started sometime in the 12th century with the structure of the prayer evolving through the 15th C. St Dominic, to whom Mary gave the Rosary, died in 1221 but the mysteries were added by later Dominicans.
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Thanks.
 
I too learned to pray the rosary over 50 years ago and all my education has been in Catholic schools, We prayed the rosary in the classroom every morning through high school and never once did the Sisters (or Brothers) mention the Mysteries. It wasn’t until I’d been an adult for a number of years that I heard people regularly saying the rosary with the Mysteries.
 
I suppose that its worth mentioning that praying the Rosary without meditatin on the mysteries is really just praying what St Marie Louis De Grignion called ‘The Angelic Psalter’ which is praiseworthy enough but it is not The Holy Rosary. The Holy Rosary consists of both the prayers and the meditations.
 
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