The Rosary- 15 decades

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simonjosiah1

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Hi all,

I’m reading the book “Secrets of the Rosary” which I’m really enjoying. Just a quick question…

St Louis De montfort in the book talks about the rosary being 15 decades, I was always taught that one rosary was five decades.

So when our lady appeared at fatima (and lourdes) and told us to do the rosary every day, was she talking about the 5 decades or the 15?
 
One rosary is five decades, yes- I think the fifteen decades would be referring to the three “original” sets of mysteries, which are five decades each.
 
The whole rosary is 15 decades. This is focussing on all of the original Mysteries.

5 decades is when you focus on only 1 of the 3 big sections–joyful, sorrowful, or glorious.

In the '90s St Pope John Paul II added another optional big section, the luminous mysteries.

The Rosary was 15 decades as a replacement for the 150 Psalms (decade, 10 × 15)
 
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So when our lady asked us to say the rosary everyday was she asking us to say the full 3 : sorrowful, joyful and glorious?
 
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If she said 5 decades, that means at least 5 mysteries.

No doubt it is better to do 15 decades, though, but from what I heard of Fatima the request was for at least 5.
 
The full rosary is 20 decades.
But people use the term rosary for any grouping of the 4 sets of mysteries.
The book you are reading was written long before Pope St JPII added another set of msyteries to complete the timeline of the life of Christ.
 
well I don’t do the luminous because our lady didn’t ask us to do them. (that’s just my opinon)
 
OH boy.
That JPII is not a saint is not good enough for you?

The Luminous mysteries complete the timeline of the life of Christ.
Which is the whole point of the rosary… Meditation on the life of Christ.
You know, when Mary made little “Stations” behind her home in Ephesus, she did not include any that referred to herself. Those were added LATER.
Just something to think about.
 
Fascinating. What a humble, pure woman. I wish I could be more like her.
 
pianistclare said:
OH boy.

That JPII is not a saint is not good enough for you?

The Luminous mysteries complete the timeline of the life of Christ.

Which is the whole point of the rosary… Meditation on the life of Christ.

You know, when Mary made little “Stations” behind her home in Ephesus, she did not include any that referred to herself. Those were added LATER.

Just something to think about.
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If I may back up the Luminous Mysteries, because of a biased favorite of mine 😉 Namely the Wedding Feast at Cana. Also, the Eucharistic Presence. I cannot see why not. In fact, the Guardian Angel of Fatima was prostrated before the Blessed Sacrament.

Maybe Mary didn’t like the Luminous Mystery because Jesus said: “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not come yet.” And Mary had to do the effort (i.e. supervising) the servants saying, “Do all that He tells you.” Oh, wait a minute. Mary telling the servants to do all that Christ tells them for that water might turned into wine? Jesus first public miracle! Well, Mary’s Apparitions are just that. She lives out the Luminous Mystery by visiting Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Champion Wisconsin, and may other places.

She doesn’t have to tell us to pray the Luminous Mystery, because she lives it. And ask us as well. The Mysteries to be lived. That’s why about to the Conclusion of a Mystery we ask that we may live these Mysteries of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We should be living out the Mysteries everyday, not just praying them. Even the children of Fatima offered sacrifices for the poor souls while praying for them: both/and approach.

Saint Louis De Montfort lived the Mysteries out in his own life as well. Pray and live the Rosary - All Mysteries, everyday. As best as you can. Praying for poor sinners.
 
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simonjosiah1 said:
Hi all,

I’m reading the book “Secrets of the Rosary” which I’m really enjoying. Just a quick question…

St Louis De montfort in the book talks about the rosary being 15 decades, I was always taught that one rosary was five decades.

So when our lady appeared at fatima (and lourdes) and told us to do the rosary every day, was she talking about the 5 decades or the 15?
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I literally just finished reading “Secret of the Rosary” 10 minutes ago…what an amazing work that I wish I would have read a while ago. “True Devotion to Mary” is also very good and I just ordered “The Secret of Mary”. St. Louis de Montfort is an amazing saint. Definitely makes me want to pray my daily rosary more faithfully and reverently and more free from distraction.

Regarding your question (looks like it has already been answered)…a full rosary is the 15 (now 20 with Luminous) decades. However, it appears like 5 decades a day is generally accepted as fulfilling Our Lady’s request at Fatima.
 
But you know, Our Lady has asked us to listen to the Holy Father. The Luminous Mysteries were added after Fatima by Pope St. John Paul II. They reflect on Our Lord’s Baptism at the Jordan, The wedding Feast are Cana where He performed His first miracle at the request of Our Lady, the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God ( so His ministry), The Transfiguration, and The Institution of the Eucharist, where He left us His body and blood, soul and divinity to bring into our very selves. This was His way of staying with us and in us. I am sure that if Fatima had happened after The Holy Father added the Luminous mysteries she would have asked for them to be prayed. One can only benefit from meditation on more aspects of Our Lord’s life, especially such pivotal moments that involved Our Lady and the entire church so closely.
 
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I don’t like doing the Luminous either, mostly because I want to do all 15 and 20 decades is too much for me. The Luminous Mysteries are also harder for me to meditate on.
 
pianistclare said:
OH boy.

That JPII is not a saint is not good enough for you?
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I think that reply is a little unfair. If someone says they only pray the 3 sets of mysteries, because that is what Our Lady asked, then fair enough, that is their choice.

Personally I pray all 4 sets of mysteries, but if someone wishes to omit the Luminous Mysteries they are entitled to do so. There should be no issue with that choice.
 
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Many people know parts of the Rosary’s development but, I have found, most do not know the entirety of the history. Here is the cliffnotes version:

In 1214, the five decade rosary was given to St. Dominic by our Lady in Prouille, France. It had already been a common practice to say groupings of 50 or 150 Hail Marys, similar to the Orthodox tradition of spritual directors to prescribe the Jesus Prayer in groupings of 100. The saying of the 150 Hail Marys was already considered the Angelic Psalter and stayed distinct from the Rosary for some time. We know that it was simply a five decade rosary because the Carthusian monk who is attributed with introducing meditation while praying the rosary, Dominic of Prussia (1382-1460), specifically states that there are only 50 Hail Marys in the prayer. It is some time between Dominic of Prussia and 1514, when Pope Pius V officially solidified the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries through a papal bull that the Rosary and the Angelic Psalter became synonymous. It is of importance to note that this is the same authority with which Pope John Paul II created the Luminous Mysteries. To deny JPII’s authority to do so, denies Pope Pius V’s authority, thus eliminating the first three mysteries. Mary did pray the (then) current form of the three mystery Rosary at Fatima. It would be interesting to see if the next apparition of Our Lady of the Rosary would also pray the Luminous Mysteries.
 
Of course, but the implication was that they are not legit. They are and worthy of our consideration.
I like what someone else said: Mary lived them. That’s should be enough for anyone!
God bless you.
 
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I don’t think he implied that at all. People can of course pray the four sets of mysteries, but we should not jump to criticise people who choose to just pray the original 3 sets, nor should we assume their motivations for doing so.
 
Kei said:
In the '90s St Pope John Paul II added another optional big section, the luminous mysteries.
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Emphasis added with the quote.

This post shows that JPII made it optional, it is a personal devotion and no one way is correct. I personally enjoy all the mysteries, but I will not criticize anyone else for how they chose to pray.
 
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The luminous mysteries are optional.
I don’t like to pray them, as they mess up the Rosary being Mary’s Psalter. 15 decades= 15 × 10=150, as it has been for almost a thousand years.
In the devotional book I have, various Luminous mysteries are contemplated in the Finding in the Temple.
 
The rosary itself is a devotion that can be prayed many ways. I will never see why MORE prayers is not a good thing.
 
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