Dear Friends,
Certainly, the 150 Hail Mary’s of the Rosary call to mind the 150 Psalms of David.
However, that is not the only relationship between the Rosary and the Psalter.
In fact, the Psalter itself was a musical instrument of ten strings. This is why the Rosary is divided into decades. One decade by itself is a “psalter” and relates directly to it.
Now, the fact is that the Ven. Pope John Paul II did not indicate whether he expected people to pray another five decades to make up 20 decades or not (if he did give such an indication, I would like to know where). The only thing we can say for certainty is that he suggested the possibility of praying the Mysteries of Light instead of another set of Mysteries, especially on Thursdays. Pope John Paul II was borrowing the tradition of the Maltese Bl. Father Preca in doing this.
But let’s look at the traditional criticism that to increase the Rosary to 20 decades is to efface the symbolism of the 150 psalms.
In fact, where do we ever read in the life of a Catholic saint who was devoted to the Rosary that he or she limited themselves to 15 decades only? St Padre Pio, for example, prayed 20 - 30 full 15-decade rosaries a day. St John Matha did 45 decades daily. St Louis de Montfort in his True Devotion to Mary suggested that the Slaves of Jesus through Mary always do another “six or seven decades in honour of the years you believe our Lady to have lived on earth” (i.e. either the Brigittine or Franciscan Crown chaplets).
During the time of the persecution of the Catholic Church in Britain and Ireland, the Recusant Catholics widely promoted the Confraternity of the Rosary. They also refused to limit themselves to 15 decades daily. In one Confraternity’s set of rules we read that one could say nine decades to honour the nine choirs of Angels, five decades for the Five Wounds of our Lord, seven decades for the seven Bloodsheddings, twelve decades for the 12 Apostles, another seven for the seven joys and sorrows of St Joseph etc.
I think it is clear that the format of 1 Our Father followed by ten Hail Mary’s, in effect, a true Psalter (also called a “decima”) reflecting its ten strings is the unchangeable pattern established in the Rosary or Psalter of our Lady. There were many sets of mysteries/saints one could honour using this set form of prayer. We also know that throughout Catholic history, men especially only carried the decade/decima rosary with them, hung from their belts. It was this that was called “the Rosary.” Then there is the 18-decade Rosary of the Brigittine Order from the visions of St Brigitte of Sweden. Perhaps she wasn’t a traditional Catholic either . . .
As for the Popes and Saints that referred to the symbolism of the number 150 (in fact, it was not “150” but, as St Louis de Montfort wrote, “153” taken from the number of fish caught by the Apostles after the Resurrection of Christ as noted in the final verses of the Gospel of John), which of them would have protested against the addition of another five decades to the Rosary? Which Pope or Saint would have been against Catholics praying another 50 decades to reflect on our Lord’s Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding at Cana in Galilee, the Beatitudes and teaching ministry of our Lord, the Transfiguration and the Last Supper? Do we seriously believe that the historic Catholic Church throughout the ages would have looked with anything but enthusiastic approval on Catholics who would pray 20 decades of the Rosary daily, with meditations on the mysteries?!
Pope John Paul II did not come from the comfortable environment of North America and western Europe. He came from Eastern Europe, like my family.
He knew that what kept people faithful to the Catholic Church was PRAYER and then MORE PRAYER. And that devotion to the Most Holy Mother of God - which was seriously on the wane in the West before he became Pope and restored it to its rightful place - was crucial to our prayer life and our focus on the Divine Incarnation of our Lord, God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
This is why I find the arguments of “traditional” Catholics to be so very silly in this regard. If they were traditional, they would be out there promoting twenty and more decades of the Rosary daily. Forgive me, but let’s get a grip on!
Pope John Paul II himself often prayed 25 and more decades of the Rosary in public. When a blasphemous movie was aired in Rome, he not only protested against it, but asked people to join him in St Peter’s Square to say the Rosary - 35 decades, one after another, if memory serves me correctly.
I will get off my soap-box now. I’ve found that a good way to celebrate the Rosary is by including the “theme tags” after the word “Jesus” as recommended by St Louis de Montfort i.e. “Jesus being Scourged” etc. Since the Rosary was also intended as a substitute for the Daily Office, one may say two or three decades seven or eight times throughout the day or else five decades seven times a day if one has time.
Also, on Wednesdays and Fridays especially, one can do a variation of the 20 decades via the Way of the Cross - 14 decades for the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross and seven decades, inserted after the 11th Station, in honour of the Seven Words spoken by Christ on the Cross. (OK, that makes 21 decades, sorry . . .).
As an Eastern Catholic, however, 20 decades poses no problem symbolically as well since our 150 psalms are divided into 20 “kathismata” or sections that are prayed throughout the week.
But enough on all this symbolism. What was the figure the theologians arrived at for the number of angels on the head of a pin?
Alex
But sometimes I wonder about my head.