People have asked me about the validity and value of the Luminous Mysteries.
First of all, the rosary is not doctrine, but practice, and part of our tradition of piety, which can be changed. Changes are valid.
Second, a saint, John Paul II, added the Luminous Mysteries. These have value. The more I have meditated on these, the clearer Christ becomes in His Person.
I taught them with the original document when these first came out. Here is the link to that document.
http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/JP2ROSAR.HTM
I have come to love the Luminous Mysteries, which reflect on the Mysteries of Christology, in some of the most moving of the manifestations of love in the life on earth of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
My rosary meditation (would someone like to help me publish that?) does not include the Luminous Mysteries as it was written years and years before the new ones were promulgated.
Mary leads us to Christ.
The rosary leads us to Christ through Mary.
Read the document for a beautiful understanding of the need for the Mysteries of Light now, more than ever. From the text:
19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the Psalter.
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light:“While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”, it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's traditional format, is meant to give it fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.
If you want a beautiful rosary, I highly recommend this site. My son bought me this one below for Mother's Day one year.
https://www.etsy.com/people/tiggawild
And one footnote from the above document:
11 It is well-known and bears repeating that private revelations are not the same as public revelation, which is binding on the whole Church. It is the task of the Magisterium to discern and recognize the authenticity and value of private revelations for the piety of the faithful.
And one footnote from the above document:
11 It is well-known and bears repeating that private revelations are not the same as public revelation, which is binding on the whole Church. It is the task of the Magisterium to discern and recognize the authenticity and value of private revelations for the piety of the faithful.
