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The Rosary modified
On Wednesday, October 16, Pope John Paul II published the
apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae by which he decreed the Year of
the Rosary, to run from October 2002 to October 2003. He also proposed five new
mysteries to the meditation of the faithful. This long document calls for a few
comments.
Firstly, it is heartening to see
the pope strive to restore to honor the praying of the rosary. It has fallen
into disuse and even contempt, especially among ecclesiastics, a fact which led,
to give one example from among thousands, to the dismissal of seminarians for
the habitual recitation of the rosary. No word could be too scornful for
stigmatizing this fetishism from another age. It has to be said, though, that
this prayer has remained in high esteem among many pious Catholics.
The papal letter represents first
of all a welcome exhortation to recite the rosary, but it also dwells lengthily
on the method for reciting it well. It passes in review the different mysteries
and concludes by suggesting two special intentions: peace and the family. These
passages contain beautiful meditations and judicious advice, such as the need
for families to pray the rosary together and for reflecting on the interior life
of the Blessed Virgin in order to imitate her in contemplating the mysteries of
the rosary. Still, at the risk of seeming incorrigible, we must point out
difficulties with the letter on several planes.
A Vatican II appropriation
Firstly, we are more than surprised by the affirmation
that "the rosary is, in some sense, a prayer-commentary on the final chapter
of the Vatican II Constitution Lumen Gentium, a chapter which discusses
the wondrous presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ" (§2),
for it is well-known that this chapter is in fact the result of a sustained
attack against the privileges of the Virgin Mary, in particular against her
title of Mediatrix. Initially it had been intended to treat of the Blessed
Virgin Mary at the Council in a separate schema prepared by the Preparatory
Commission. At the moment of discussions in the Council hall, the modernists
vigorously attacked this schema, for it represented a major obstacle to
ecumenism with the Protestants.[1] It was decided
to reject the schema and to reduce it to a chapter of the Constitution on the
Church, avoiding thereby everything that bothered its most virulent opponents
and yet allowing some suitable part to remain to the Queen of Heaven. Let us add
that more than a hundred bishops, among whom were Bishop Rendeiro and Cardinal
Cerejeira, asked that, in the newly constituted chapter, the rosary be mentioned
among the practices and pious exercises in honor of the most Holy Virgin. The
Theological Commission refused. These facts explain our astonishment.
A false pacifism
Another difficulty is found in the presentation of one of
the prayer intentions proposed by the pope. It is true that "the rosary has
many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as a prayer for peace."
But, with all due respect to the pope’s words, this presentation is simplistic.
If one considers in fact the history and development of the rosary, it becomes
immediately evident that this marvelous prayer is linked to the Church’s combat
against all her enemies. The history of its placement in the liturgical calendar
follows the successes of the Christian armies: against the Albigenses at the
time of St. Dominic, against Islam under St. Pius V, who had recruited the
prayers of all the rosary confraternities of Christendom, by the victory of
Lepanto on October 7, 1571. In honor of that event, a feast of Our Lady of
Victories was instituted, which was changed by Gregory XIII into the Feast of
Holy Mary of the Rosary. Clement XI inscribed the feast in the calendar of the
universal Church in thanksgiving for the victory that Prince Eugene of Savoy had
just gained at Peterwardein (today Petrovaradin, suburb of Novi Sad, Serbia) on
August 5, 1716, against the Turks. Leo X declared that it was instituted to
oppose all pernicious heresiarchs and heresies, and Jules III called it the
glory of the Church. Finally, Leo XIII, who devoted twelve encyclicals to the
holy rosary, did not hesitate to recall these facts frequently, and to call this
prayer "like a most powerful warlike weapon for combating the enemies of the
Faith,"[2] affirming that
"it is clearly
evident that this form of prayer is particularly pleasing to the Blessed Virgin,
and that it is especially suitable as a means of defense for the Church and all
Christians."[3]
The source of this simplification can be found in a sort
of pacifism according to which there are no more enemies to fight. This stance
follows from the idea of religious liberty and from the politics of ecumenism
and interreligious harmony which are in vogue today, and from a spirit that aims
"to make this world more beautiful, more just, more closely conformed to
God’s plan."[4] It is clear that we must
avoid bellicosity and pointless confrontation, and that we must seek the will of
God for the world, but it is equally clear on the one hand that numerous,
divers, and organized forces have it in for the Church, and on the other that
beauty and justice in the world can only be obtained by conversion to Our Lord,
which neither ecumenism nor interreligious dialogue seeks. The sense of fighting
for the Faith, for one’s own and for that of others, is a constant in the
Church’s history. We must seek peace in every way, but pacifism is incapable of
giving it. Leo XIII is explicit on this point in his encyclicals on the holy
rosary.
The new "Luminous" Mysteries
We come to the point that constitutes the principal
difficulty: the addition of five "mysteries of light." It is true that,
in itself, the choice of the mysteries of the rosary is not untouchable; in
itself, the form of the rosary could equally be different. But in fact, the
mysteries that are meditated and the form which we know have been established
over centuries of usage, confirmed by the office of Our Lady of the Rosary, and
sanctioned by the immemorial practice of the Church. As Pope Leo XIII reminds
us, this prayer was called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin by several Roman
Pontiffs5 from the 150 Aves that
correspond to the 150 Psalms, as, indeed, is acknowledged in the Letter
Rosarium Virginis Mariae §19. To decree that henceforth the rosary will
comprise 200 Aves will efface this symbolism. In this there is an attack
against tradition written with a little t, but by the very fact troubles
Christian life and piety. The pope was entirely free to create a new chaplet.
Whether in the form of a corona (the Latin word for chaplet) or in the
form of a rosary, there are dozens of devotions to the Blessed Virgin, like the
chaplet of St. Brigit, or of St. Joseph, or of the Holy Trinity, or of the
Precious Blood, etc. To give an example, the chaplet of the Seven Dolors
of Our Lady, proper to the Servite Order which is consecrated to the
contemplation of our Lady’s sufferings, is composed of seven series of seven
Aves, to which are added four others in order to total the 53 of
the ordinary rosary. It would have been easy enough to add to this list a
chaplet of John Paul II comprising the Mysteries of Light. In this regard,
consider the story of the psalms themselves. In the fourth century St. Jerome
had been asked to revise the old Latin translation, which was linguistically
defective. The saint refused in the name of tradition, and proceeded merely to
make a few minor corrections because he did not want to alter a version which
had already entered men’s memories. Yet it was scarcely a hundred years old. He
later proceeded to make his own, excellent translation which remains to us as
testimony to his genius.
After the extrinsic argument from tradition, we come to
the consideration of the five "mysteries of light" or luminous mysteries
to be inserted between the joyful mysteries and the sorrowful mysteries, and
which are meant to be a meditation on Our Lord’s public life. Here is the
enumeration of the mysteries as found in the Apostolic Letter:
-
[Christ’s] Baptism in the Jordan,
-
his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana,
-
his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call
to conversion,
-
his Transfiguration, and finally,
-
his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental
expression of the Paschal Mystery (§21).
Let us note first of all that the central mystery, the
"proclamation of the Kingdom of God," is not an precise historic event like
the other mysteries of the rosary, but a general aspect of the preaching of the
gospel, which makes its meditation difficult. As Leo XIII says,
It is not dogmas of faith or
doctrinal principles that the rosary offers to our meditation, but rather events
to contemplate with one’s eyes and to remember, and these events presented with
their circumstances of person, place, and time are thereby the better impressed
upon our souls.[5]
This fact is moreover recognized by the Letter (cf.
§29), whence a certain illogicality. Moreover, the proclamation of the Kingdom
of God is one of the central themes of the Council, for which the Kingdom is
humanity taken as a whole. Furthermore, the fifth mystery refers to the "Paschal
mystery," a traditional theological concept that has been reinterpreted by the
new theology to signify a novel appreciation of the mystery of Redemption. These mysteries thus appear more or
less imbued with the conciliar coloring which has invested them with a new
meaning.
Let us conclude by recognizing what is evident, that the
Christian soul cannot but profit from meditating on all the actions of Our Lord,
and that the wedding feast at Cana or the institution of the Blessed Sacrament
plunge the soul into the marvels of divine charity. Nonetheless, they could have
been included in the new chaplet of John Paul II instead of upsetting tradition.
In the wake of
Dei Verbum
This addition of the new mysteries has an expressly
humanistic connotation, a reflection of John Paul II’s thinking. The pope
explains himself in the Apostolic Letter:
In the light of what has been said so far on the mysteries
of Christ, it is not difficult to go deeper into this anthropological
significance of the rosary, which is far deeper than may appear at first
sight. Anyone who contemplates Christ through the various stages of his life
cannot fail to perceive in him the truth about man. This is the great
affirmation of the Second Vatican Council which I have so often discussed in my
own teaching since the encyclical letter Redemptor Hominis: "It is
only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man is seen in
its true light."[6] The rosary helps to open
up the way to this light. Following in the path of Christ, in whom man’s path is
"recapitulated,"[7] revealed and
redeemed, believers come face to face with the image of the true man.
Contemplating Christ’s birth, they learn of the sanctity of life; seeing the
household of Nazareth, they learn the original truth of the family according to
God’s plan; listening to the Master in the mysteries of his public ministry,
they find the light which leads them to enter the Kingdom of God; and following
him on the way to Calvary, they learn the meaning of salvific suffering.
Finally, contemplating Christ and his Blessed Mother in glory, they see the goal
towards which each of us is called, if we allow ourselves to be healed and
transformed by the Holy Spirit. It could be said that each mystery of the
rosary, carefully meditated, sheds light on the mystery of man. (§25)
Conclusion
Here we find the fundamental novelty of the Council:
Divine revelation is no longer the revelation to man of the supernatural mystery
of God, but "by revealing the Father and by being revealed by him, the Christ
ultimately reveals man to himself."[8] In
conclusion, it seems that we can state that this novelty fits the pattern of
preceding reforms: integrate elements of the Church’s tradition into the new
thinking of Vatican II. While wanting to honor the Virgin Mary and restore the
rosary to its place of honor, the pope tends to give it a new twist and a
different spirit than the one Tradition has bequeathed to us. Still, and
precisely in order to try to maintain this prayer in the place and form in which
it has come down to us from antiquity, we welcome the Year of the rosary that
the pope has given to Christendom, and throughout the year we shall study all
the Church documents and teaching which show its richness, grandeur, virtue,
power, and beauty. We place this initiative under the patronage of the Queen of
the Most Holy Rosary.
Translated from the SSPX's
international news bulletin, DICI, #63, October 26, 2002
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