The Rosary and 5 decades

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The book I referenced is “The Secret of The Rosary” by Saint Louis-Marie de Montfort, which is still widely sold on Catholic websites. Saint Louis de Montfort is making the traditional claim that Mother Mary has promised to be of great help to relieve us of our sins which we will pay for after death. He states plainly that one should say all mysteries daily and offers advice for those who “don’t have time”. His instruction was for the everyday catholic and not just seminarians and the religious. The Rosary is a very serious time of prayer for both supernatural and temporal reasons. Father Romano Guardini also has a great book on the Rosary. I hope you give either a read. Pax Christi.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
In the days of the Fatima children, a full rosary was considered 15 decades. Children said only 5 decades (I believe the word was “terco”, meaning one-third) and were expected to work up to saying the full 15 as adults. The Fatima children said the 5-decade rosary. So if we want to pray like them then we too can use the 5-decade rosary (And can say it as many times as we want to make 15 or 20 decades).

Regarding traditional indulgences for the Rosary, the 1866 English translation of the Raccolta (the compendium of indulgences for the Church) indicates that the full Rosary is 15 decades, but the indulgences associated with it, including plenaries, are available for saying only “the third part” of it, in other words 5 decades. Furthermore, it notes that at least one of the indulgences for saying “the third part” goes back to 1726.

Raccolta - Most Holy Mary

So I’m not sure how far back you want to go with your “tradition”, but it seems pretty clear that saying 5 decades daily, or several times a week, while meditating on the mysteries, is a practice that the Church has promoted for at least 300 years approximately. (Under the latest Manual of Indulgences, the Church still provides indulgences, including plenaries under certain conditions, for saying five decades.)

You’re always free to say more if you want. I know elderly retired people who say four or five rosaries a day. I work all day for a living and I sometimes want to pray other prayers as well, so one or at most two is generally my limit.

Also, if you want to say the Rosary like St. Bernadette at Lourdes, you can say the six-decade Brigittine rosary because that’s the one she (and Our Lady) used there.
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Thank you for all this information. I almost always learn something new or am reminded of a detail that I’d forgotten. In this case, it’s both. 😇
 
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I’ve read St. Louis de Montfort.

I still think you are on a wrong track with the way you’re talking about Mary and prayers in this thread, and I don’t think you’re getting that from St. Louis de Montfort. But I’ve said enough on the subject. Good evening.
 
I don’t see how a lay person can possibly comply fully with the devotional requests of every private revelation or writings of saints…
We have to discern what we are called to pray, perhaps under the direction of a spiritual director.
I have a 50 hour work week, plus a very active small child, and other secular obligations…at present I’ve committed to the 5 decade Rosary and Vespers each night, plus some other special prayers particularly to St Joseph… and I add the St Joseph Rosary at least once per week.
You read here that you’re supposed to go to Daily Mass. You read there that you’re supposed to participate in the liturgy of the hours. You read here that you’re supposed to pray the chaplet of divine mercy. Then you read there that you’re supposed to pray 15 decades of the Rosary. Then you read that it’s highly recommended you add this litany and that litany… and so on and so on. Before you know it you might be looking at 5+ hours of prayer a day. What happens to your job? Your screaming child?
No… all of “you MUST fully participate in THIS devotion THIS way” business isn’t helpful.
 
And, if the OP seems to insist that we “must” pray 15 decades, what about the 5 decades St. John Paul II added? Why would you ignore them? So are you “insisting” we pray 20 decades a day to please Mary?
In short, your argument doesn’t hold water. It is a personal opinion. Many people can hardly find the time to pray 5 decades daily, and their struggle to do so is nothing short of heroic.
I suggest you rest your case and stop judging others.
 
Life is about prayer. It is the deepest form of communication with the supernatural, which is what our faith is based on. There are pleasing modes of prayer and there are insufficient. This is the reason for instruction.
 
You’re right, there are those who have insufficient prayer lives. They should be made to understand that they have committed themselves to a faith that is demanding. God wants us to call on Him and his Saints in heaven as much as we can. In a Christ-centered society this is the highest priority. Of all the Catholics I know, the ones overseas or recent immigrants are much more prayerful than American Catholics I know. The Rosary is 200 Hail Mary’s. That is official instruction of the Church. That holds more water than it seems you are willing to carry, key word willing.
 
Limoncello4021 said:
Many people can hardly find the time to pray 5 decades daily, and their struggle to do so is nothing short of heroic.
I suggest you rest your case and stop judging others.
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Well, exactly. I used to struggle with just 5 decades, which frequently took nearly an hour, if I tried to meditate rather than just rattling off the Hail Marys.

Even at 20 minutes per 5, which is how the parish rosary group gallops through them, that would be over an hour and unrealistic.
 
Speeding through the Rosary is tantamount to sin as is speeding through any prayer. As St. Augustine told us “wrong is wrong even when everyone is doing it”. Prayer is the least about how much time it takes. In a society where time is money there will never be time for prayer. You have to make time. Get up an hour early and say your prayers. Say a decade before a meal or on a walk. I can say 5 decades of the rosary walking to mass in about 25 mins in latin and walking slowly. Once you get into a mode of prayer and discover what your pitfalls are you learn what you need to specifically work on. I don’t find comfort in the lack of prayer many catholic adults seem to have and be quite comfortable with. No one is going to give you time to pray, you have to make it. Prayer is a lifestyle, there is nothing unrealistic about it.
 
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ExtraordinaryGrace said:
t find comfort in the lack of prayer many catholic adults seem to have and be quite comfortable with. No one is going to give you time to pray, you have to make it. Prayer is a lifestyle, there is nothing unrealistic
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Indeed, but the rosary is an optional devotion, and many pray in other ways.
 
I did that quite naturally but the chain couldn’t hold. Repeating beads puts a lot more stress on the rosary which is why they are made with 15-20 decades. Oddly I was reminded of the 15 decade rosary while watching a period series that had a catholic cast. The women were all wearing rosaries of many decades wrapped around their bodies.
 
Chain rosaries seem to be built for the specific purpose of falling apart. Mine is rope.
 
Even if that were true, why do you think it is necessary to use a rosary with enough beads and not use the 5 decade one and repeat as many people do?
 
paperwight said:
Well, exactly. I used to struggle with just 5 decades, which frequently took nearly an hour, if I tried to meditate rather than just rattling off the Hail Marys.
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I’ve found that for me to properly say a 5-decade Rosary, with meditation, with me adding my intentions at the beginning, and with a couple of extra prayers I like to say at the end, takes 35 to 40 minutes, even when I recite the prayers fairly quickly. it’s not something you just toss off in 15 minutes. If I am praying a scriptural rosary or doing a lot of heavy meditation, it can easily go for 45-50 minutes.
 
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I used a 5 decade rosary and it broke not before long. The fact that there are rosaries with more decades means that one should have the proper size. 200 Hail Mary’s were too much for the chain of my rosary and it was advertised as “strong and durable”.
 
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ExtraordinaryGrace said:
Prayer is a lifestyle, there is nothing unrealistic about it.
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I am wondering if you have a full time job or are in school full time? You speak as if people have the luxury of time and are not using it to say a 15 decade rosary, when in fact, many people here are adults with adult obligations. It is not helpful or charitable for you to be judging people by your own personal standards. Things that saints say are not Church dogma or doctrine. Most people that are regular readers of this site are faithful Catholics with lives to lead, jobs to do and families to take care of. It does no good for you to admonish people, and in fact it does nothing to draw people closer to God.
 
Not that it is in any way any of your business, but yes, I did pray so cut out the nosy admonishment.
 
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