[Question]{.underline}: Should we recite the luminous mysteries of the rosary?
[Answer]{.underline}: It was in his Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae of October 16, 2002, that Pope John-Paul II attempted to modify the rosary, amongst other things by adding in five additional mysteries, called the mysteries of light to distinguish them from the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries.
Unfortunately, this letter, that pretends to promote the rosary, is tainted by naturalism throughout, and considers the rosary as a psychological experience similar to the prayers and meditations of non-Catholic religions. Hence the importance of the “anthropological significance of the rosary” (§25), making understood the mystery of man. Amongst the “improvements” to the rosary proposed in this vein is the addition of the mysteries of light, especially chosen so as not to give offense to Protestants, namely all fully described in the Gospels and none of them explicitly mentioning the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is in line with the pope’s avowed intention of making the rosary more “Christocentric,” which means in practice that it becomes less explicitly Marian.
The five “significant,” “luminous,” “moments” (§21) that he chooses are Christ’s baptism in the Jordan river, His self-manifestation at Cana, His proclamation of the Kingdom of God and call to conversion, His Transfiguration, and the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. They are all beautiful events taken from the Gospels, and much appreciated as manifestations of Jesus’s goodness, in which He shows Himself, His power, His mercy, or His kingdom. However, it is very interesting to note that none of them has a direct rapport with the mystery of the Redemption, the institution of the Holy Eucharist alone having an indirect relationship inasmuch as it is the foundation of its unbloody renewal. The introduction of these mysteries is, then, an effort to water down the traditional focus on the essential mysteries of the Redemption, as contained in the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries.
However, it is no accident that the traditional mysteries of the rosary are entirely focused on the mystery of the Redemption, prepared in the joyful mysteries, accomplished in the sorrowful mysteries, and applied in the glorious mysteries. If Tradition has handed them down to us in this manner, it is because these are the mysteries that our souls need to meditate on for eternal salvation. In one of his yearly encyclicals on the rosary, Pope Leo XIII explains this: “The Rosary offers an easy way to penetrate the chief mysteries of the Christian religion and to impress them on the mind … in an orderly pattern the chief mysteries of our religion follow one another… First come the mysteries in which the Word was made flesh and Mary, the inviolate Virgin and Mother, performed her maternal duties for him with a holy joy; then come the sorrows, the agony and death of the suffering Christ, the price at which the salvation of our race was accomplished; finally follow the mysteries full of his glory” (Magnae Dei Matris, Sept. 8, 1892).
The reason for this change of orientation is to turn attention little by little away from the Redemption as a purchasing of the souls of sinners, buying us back from our sins by making satisfaction to the offense given to God. The modern theology of the Paschal Mystery thinks that this is not necessary, that God is not so childish as to require payment for sins, and that consequently all we need to reflect on is the manifestation of God’s love or glory or kindness, for “each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, §21).
The end result of the recitation of these luminous mysteries will be a dessication of the rosary, its losing its specifically Marian focus, turning one’s attention away from the union with Christ’s act of Redemption by which alone we can be saved from our sins. Little by little it will become empty and sterile and will not be prayed. Consequently, we ought to refuse this optional “improvement,” but rather stick to the hard and tried Tradition of the Chuch that has sanctified so many generations of saints. Although it is not in itself a sin to recite these mysteries of light with modern Catholics, we certainly ought to discourage their recitation, and avoid purchasing or making available any pamphlets or booklets that present the mysteries of light.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.