What Are The Luminous Mysteries? - Questions with Father #40 w/ Fr. Pezzutti 

In the Old Testament, God told Moses to speak to a huge rock and that the rock would then give forth water to the Israelites in the desert. Moses, whose faith momentarily faltered, hit the rock 2 times with his rod and water came forth. However, God reprimanded and punished Moses for this. Why? Because of his lack of faith and lack of obedience in fulfilling His will exactly. He hit the rock 2 times instead of speaking to it. Small detail…big consequence. Moral of the story: When God tells us to do something, we better do it EXACTLY the way He wants it done. The exact same thing applies to the Mother of God. If the Mother of God says to pray the Rosary this particular way (15 decades), then we better pray it EXACTLY as she said. @johncunniff4693 wrote a comment here and brought up some good questions. He says this: “Furthermore, the rosary is NOT, and has never been, some sacrosanct singular devotion set in stone in its format as if it came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments.” Ok. Fair enough. True, The Rosary, or Our Lady’s Psalter as she herself called it, is not part of the Deposit of Faith or Dogma. We will concede that. But actually, one of the greatest Marian saints, St. Louis de Montfort, seems to almost word for word disagree with @johncunniff4693. While describing how our Lady taught the Rosary to St. Dominic, St. Louis de Montfort writes: “This miraculous way in which the devotion to the Holy Rosary was established is something of a parallel to the way in which Almighty God gave His law to the world on Mount Sinai and obviously proves its value and importance.” In this statement you can see how holy, sacred, and special the Rosary is for St. Louis de Montfort. Of course, the Rosary is not Dogma but it is something very, very close, such that we should treat it with the utmost reverence and respect. @johncunniff4693 goes on to say: “The fundamental fact here is that there is nothing about the holy rosary, as a private revelation, that a Catholic is obligated to accept…” He also says: “So why did John Paul Il add these and on what authority? Well he was the pope, and it was, and is, optional.” Now, I have to admit that, although there are some good points brought up in @johncunniff4693’s comment, the not quite disrespectful but certainly too nonchalant tone regarding the Holy Rosary (given by the Mother of God herself) was a bit jarring. The tone of this response certainly gave me the impression that, for him, the Rosary is just like some old dusty thing in the sacristy that we can change at any time! No problem! Change it! But, this is not the attitude we should have to sacred things, especially the Rosary. In fact, this kind of attitude destroys the sense of the sacred. This attitude is what destroyed the sacredness in the Holy Mass. And what justifies this too nonchalant attitude for @johncunniff4693? The Rosary is not Dogma. So, if something in our holy Catholic religion is not Dogma, then it’s up for grabs…even if comes from the Mother of God herself… That sounds like the protestants: “Where is that in the Bible?” No, our Catholic heritage, even things which fall under the ‘t' of Catholic tradition are sacred and should not be easily changed. Gregorian Chant? Sacramentals? Church architecture? Vestments? An enormous part of the crisis in the Church after Vatican II has to do with changing many ancient traditions which are not Dogma. And here we are talking about something that tradition teaches us comes from the Mother of God herself! Should the pope just change the design of the Brown Scapular or the Green Scapular or the Miraculous Medal? All of those sacramentals come directly from Our Lady, and none of them are Dogma or “obligatory”. If we take such a nonchalant attitude, then the popes can change anything at will…which is unfortunately what they are doing! No, popes must gravely respect “Tradition” and “tradition”, and in fact they always have regarding the Rosary until Pope John Paul II. So, to just think it is “easy” or “no problem” to change the rosary is just not right and definitely merits the Holy Office’s ancient “offensive to pious ears” label. :) @johncunniff4693 says: “There were previously well-known and practiced variations of what we call the rosary now. The Brigittine rosary is one. It was the rosary prayed by St. Theresa of Avila and it contains 6 decades (18 total). Now, there is a confusion here in terminology. What @johncunniff4693 calls the Brigittine rosary, I would call the Brigittine Chaplet. Yes, as I said in the podcast there are all kinds of Chaplets and Chaplets are very similar to the Rosary in that they use beads and the repetition of prayers: The Chaplet of the Precious Blood, the Chaplet of the 12 privileges of our Lady, the Chaplet of the 7 sorrows, the Chaplet of the 7 joys of our Lady, and yes the Chaplet of St. Bridgett. Just look in the Raccolta and you will find many, many Chaplets. But a Chaplet is not THE Rosary. There is only 1 Rosary from Heaven and 1 Rosary from our Lady: the Angelic Psalter, the Psalter of our Lady, the 15 decade Rosary. The next statement of @johncunniff4693 is the most mysterious and I will admit that I can find nothing about it. He says “Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette at Lourdes with a 6 decade rosary.” I had never heard of it before, and so I researched it and asked other priests about it, but we came up with nothing. Sources on the internet are very vague and sketchy. The internet says some statues of our Lady of Lourdes at the Shrine have a 6 decade Rosary. Maybe…but is that enough proof? So, if @johncunniff4693 has some more credible proof from the statements of St. Bernadette or something, I would be grateful to be able to read about it. I do know for a fact that the Brigittine Chaplet has 6 decades and is very similar to the traditional Rosary. However, in the Brigittine Rosary the Glory Be is not prayed after the decade but instead the Apostles’ Creed is prayed. But, in Lourdes our Lady prayed the Glory Be together with St. Bernadette during the Rosary not the Apostles’ Creed, so they were not praying the Brigittine Chaplet (“rosary”). This is a fact because our Lady did not pray the Our Father or the Hail Mary with St. Bernadett, but ONLY the Glory Be. That shows that our Lady of Lourdes was praying the 15-decade traditional Rosary and not the Brigittine Chaplet of 6 decades. I’ll end with a quote from Pope Leo XIII who wrote 12 encyclicals on the most holy Rosary. “Moreover, we may well believe that the Queen of Heaven herself has granted a special efficacy to this mode of supplication (Rosary), for it was by her command and counsel that the devotion was begun and spread abroad by the holy Patriarch Dominic as a most potent weapon against the enemies of the Church.”

Can you do also a video about Divine Mercy? Thank you. God bless.

Thank you for clearing up the why and reasons to stick with the rosary as only the Blessed Virgin Mary gave it.

Aren’t the 153 prayers of the rosary set up to mirror the psalms?

Awesome revelation. Sspx is the way to go. Ave Maria Gratia Plena......amen 🙏😊

I don't agree with Fr. Pezzutti. If we draw from our understanding of the character of our Lady through scripture and tradition, I believe that including the Luminous Mysteries wouldn't diminish or put her in the background as Fr. Pezzutti suggested. Her pivotal role in the plan of salvation is to lead us to her Son, a purpose fulfilled by the mentioned mystery. In my personal view, she might even welcome this supplementary mystery with joy, given her deep love for her Son. The impression I get from this discussion is that you're creating a separation between Our Lady and the Lord, which is a more concerning matter than the inclusion of the Luminous Mysteries.

Why indeed...the elephant in the room that we dance around but never really talk about. So many "whys" since V2. The answer to them all is exactly what Father touched upon. Disturbing the ancient traditions. That's what the treachery of V2 was all about. Infecting the Church with a malignant terminal sickness. We are sick and not allowed to address nor even acknowledge the true cause.

Just beautiful, the truth is so beautiful thanks SSPX!!!!

“Improving….”. This word is used quite often by the Modernist Priests and a lot of Catholics who believe the Church should “evolve” and to “progress” to accommodate the “evolving” world. Also, Our Lady’s “Psalter” is exactly that- her mysteries. The Lord has not “asked” that we “change” anything at all! The Popes are men and can and do err. God bless Father! I will day three Aves for him!

Mary wasn't in the garden when Jesus' agony in the garden. The Rosary is really about Jesus. She leads us to Jesus by meditating His life. Why the division? "What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. What you lose on earth, will be loose in heaven." St. John Paul II is/was a Pope. The vicar of Christ. Pope John Paul became a Saint because of how many young souls he saved. A demonic possession was revealed by an exorcist that they hated St. John Paul II. I think the reason he added the Luminous is because of the current times. There's gay marriage now. How to repair this sin, pray the 2nd Luminous. In short, just pray. Pray a lot.

We met Fr Pezzutti at the Angelus Press Conference and loved his talk on his experience as a priest. Thank you Father!! I agree totally with you that we should stick with how Our Lady told us to pray the Rosary - 15 decades!!

God bless all here ...Slàinte from marxist governed Ireland...🙏🙏🙏☘🇮🇪👍💥

Thank you very much for this discussion about the Luminous Mysteries. After 55 years in the Novus Ordo, I’m attending the TLM at the SSPX mission, one hour from my home. I remember the Luminous Mysteries were introduced in October, after World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. I did try praying those but it didn’t feel natural. It’s funny how these mysteries were “expected” to be prayed, even though as you said, JP2 said they were “optional.” Also, according to his encyclical (I think, although I never read it), these new mysteries were to be meditated on Thursdays. This really messed up the rhythm of the week: Mon. = Joyful; Tues. = Sorrowful; Wed. = Glorious; Thurs. = Joyful; Fri. = Sorrowful; Sat. = Glorious; Sundays depended on the time on the Liturgical Calendar. And then they said Sat. was now the Joyful mysteries. It didn’t seem right at all. I feel your discussion vindicated me not wanting to make the Luminous Mysteries part of my rosary devotion. Just like the Traditional Latin Mass, the rosary needed no improvement.

JMJ+ Why didn't JPII consecrate Russia to Our Lady's Immaculate Heart? Thank you both for this talk. GOD bless and Mary keep us all.

By the Rosary Our Lady leads us through the Gospels. Every one of the 15 mysteries is present in the New Testament-whose main character is Our Lord the Christ-already, and 12/15 are directly focused on events in His time in the world. The Christ centered and Marian parts of the devotion cooperate perfectly. It’s already extremely Christological! It always seemed silly to me that there was an apparent need to make it more so for the sake of so-called ecumenism.

Thanks for this great explanation of why we shouldn’t pray the Luminous Mysteries. It’s done well and very respectful as always.

What a blessing this talk was....AND ALL THE WAY TO THE VERY END. I will share and hope MANY will learn and understand. Our Blessed Mother did not need correcting or amending of her gift to all. Thank you both for every minute and word. God bless you both adundantly and all who listen and share🕊

This is a very good talk. I was raised in the NO and did read JP II's encyclical on the Rosary. I am sad to say that I even gave a talk on it. Listening to Fr Pezzutti, my eyes have been open. Thankfully I did not use some of the options that he promoted. I really need to re-educate myself by reading Pope Leo XIII's encyclical. Thank you so much!!!!

A thorough explanation on why the Luminous Mysteries are not part of the traditional Rosary, and why I do not include them in the recitation or rotation. The Rosary is a distinctly Marian Devotion.

This is so disappointing. Once again, tradition with a small 't' is treated as if it were Tradition with a capital 'T' even as lip service is given to the distinction. The fundamental fact here is that there is nothing about the holy rosary, as a private revelation, that a Catholic is obligated to accept. The same is true of any private revelation. No Catholic is obligated to accept that our Lady appeared at Fatima, Lourdes, La Salette or even that she appeared to St. Dominic! I think you are foolish not to, but that is a different question. You are NOT obligated to do so. The rosary is a gift given to us to increase our holiness, not a tool to use to pick up stones to throw at other Catholics because they find spiritual value in things different from ourselves. Furthermore, the rosary is NOT, and has never been, some sacrosanct singular devotion set in stone in its format as if it came down from Mount Sinai with the 10 Commandments. There were previously well-known and practiced variations of what we call the rosary now. The Brigittine rosary is one. It was the rosary prayed by St. Theresa of Avila and it contains 6 decades (18 total). Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette at Lourdes with a 6 decade rosary. The Fatima prayers were obviously added to the rosary relatively recently (in Church time) and for good reason. Does that mean the rosary was somehow deficient before then?! Certainly not. Clearly, variations are not frowned upon by heaven. Even the Hail Mary itself has changed over time. Until relatively recently (again, in Church time) the Hail Mary did not commonly include "Holy Mary, Mother of God..."). So why did John Paul II add these and on what authority. Well he was the pope, and it was, and is, optional. I don't find value in them, but if someone else does, why should I (or anyone else, even a priest or the entire Society) object? If someone finds spiritual aid in contemplating these, concerning a devotion that stems from private revelation, what value is there in tearing that down? I also see no value in allowing our peace to be disturbed by things that other people find value in that are perfectly acceptable to Catholic theology. Finally, I can't help but notice that every amount of attention paid to navel gazing about these Luminous mysteries distracts attention away from the actual heresies coming from current day Rome. Its all so very disappointing.

Excellent discussion, thank you.

Thank God for Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who stood by Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith , taking the wheel of our battered ship and steering us through the storm of deception ......🙏🙏🙏

Very interesting explanation of why to say with Traditional Rosary. Thank you so much to both you. God Bless

SSPX is basically correct on everything. Even the hard stuff that sometimes is hard for me to swallow.

The new Rosary is not Our Lady’s Psalter. She related this title to the number of the psalms. Totally lost now.

Thank you Fr Pezzutti & Andrew for a great discussion about this ‘novel’ addition to the Rosary. I now clearly understand why the Joyful, Sorrowful, & Glorious Mysteries that have been prayed unchanged until 2001 should remain just that - untouched and honored like our Blessed Mother’s request. Ave Maria🙏

If the JP2 really loved our Lady, he wouldn’t have tampered with our Queen’s gift. It was his subtle modernists work. Thank you for the program topic Mr. Andrew and Rev. Fr.

JMJ+ What about Stations? It's not just during Holy Week that many of us pray this devotion to JESUS and HIS' Passion?

Cardinal Bugnini wanted to change the Rosary and approached Pope Paul VI about it. The Pope replied that it would be imprudent to do such a thing because so many Catholics would be scandalized by it.

Amazing. Over the past few days I was wondering if it a good idea to restart a rosary group, of new residents in my apt bldg. I was about to pin up a small notice/invitation to join me in praying the rosary once a week as, many yrs ago, such a wonderful group we had had; including few non Catholics. HOWEVER, I decided to wait, I felt I absolutely did not have the right spirit operating for this project. Perhaps my guardian angel brought to my mind the external anti-catholic atmosphere that surrounds me. & now this. Amazing.

I was always felt the Luminous Mysteries were kind of clunky compared to the traditional ones.

Thank you for this podcast. Thank you Father, and Andrew. I now have a much better understanding about the Luminous mystery.

I pray for an SSPX Mass near me someday

The Luminous also disrupt the cycle of each set of mysteries 2x per week, plus Sunday for the season of the year. It's another modernist attempt to break up the calendar and disorient us. Just say no to JP2!

Why do we add three Hail Mary’s to Our Lady’s Psalter? Was there 153 Psalms or 150? In Father’s own words: “you destroy the idea of this divine office or the Psalter of the faithful and is really contentious to tradition”. @56:49

Great break down. Cana at least reflects our Mother’s influence. I don’t consider any of these modern Popes saints. They all knew about the abuse. You can’t be a Saint knowing that and just moving the problems around. Thank you.

What is given from Heaven is perfect. Man cannot improve Heavenly perfection.

The idea that we can do what we like with "small 't' tradition" because it's only "small 't' tradition" is part of the problem.

Great show Andrew. Thank you, Father, I am very grateful for clarification on the luminous mysteries. We are so blessed to have you as our priest here in Oregon!

Why do so many modern Catholics *not* follow the other suggestions JP II made in this encyclical but insist that the luminous mysteries are somehow the correct way to pray the rosary?

Just pray

Thank God for our SSPX priest

Thank you

Thank you for answering this question. Luminous mysteries never felt right. Going against what Our Lady gave us settles it.

Father, I didn't know this that we should not! Thank you for educating us and I agree with you.

I truly appreciate this channel. thank you for your work. I wish we had an SSPX near me. We must drive 2 hours.

Great video! Very informative. I don't pray the Luminous Mysteries, but it's wonderful the way Father gives concrete reasons not to. I have a question. I heard someone say that when they are in a group and people start praying the Luminous Mysteries, they will pray them but think of it as a chaplet. Then later on in the day pray the traditional Rosary mystery of the day, because they didn't count the Luminous as their Rosary for the day. What does Father think of this?

I downloaded a Dominican version of the Rosary and lost it with my cell phone. Have the SSPX recorded a 15 decade Rosary for us to follow.

excellent. It is my understanding that Pope Paul VI "suggested" we pray the novus ordo mass in 1969.

I'm curious about Fr. Pezzutti's claim about the accessibility and promotion of Scripture in Catholic history. I've heard Catholic apologists for years defend against Protestant and Muslims (primarily) who argue that Catholic authorities have historically limited the faithful's access to Scripture. In reply to this objection, I've heard Catholic apologists (such as those at Catholic Answers) argue that the Church has always encouraged the faithful to read Scirpture. For instance, I've heard some quote St. Jerome saying "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ." Though I cannot find the source for this quotation, if accurate, then it seems to count as evidence in favour of the claim that Catholics have been encouraged in strong terms from the earliest centuries to read Scripture for themselves. Are there any Traditional sources on lay access to the Scriptures? Is the Church really opposed to the faithful reading Scripture on their own without the magisterial teaching of the Church assisting them, such as in the Mass? Should Catholics read Scripture alone? What about scriptural prayer such as Lectio Divina?

The last 5 minutes explains everything- thanks

Hello father how are you, very interesting talk very well done. At first I was a little annoyed so I stopped to pray to our ady and then listened more carefully and it was much more insightful. I consider myself a traditionalist but not hardcore I fought for the Latin Mass, however I also attend the new Mass, daily, and I say the Luminous Mysteries.. I need to disagree a little bit, with love and humility, these mysteries are very deep reflection, and do cover our lady,! Do the sorrowful mysteries cover our lady? Yes they do on a very deep level, and I think this is what Pope John Paul was trying to do, in addition to your insightful understanding of ecumenism.. I wish he would of added the magi into the rosary, . however I would love to discuss this further if you can post your email thank you and God bless..

Excellent talk! Father Pezzutti and Andrew makes the points easy to understand.

Which episode of the Crisis series dealt with issues surrounding the idea of the Paschal Mysteries and Vatican II?

What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven

Beautiful, thanks!

Also in the New way of the rosary the middle prayer of the" O my Jesus , forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell , lead all souls to Heaven especially those, most in need of Thy mercy. has been omitted --why ??

I read Pope John Paul's encyclical years ago. What stuck in my mind that he linked the Rosary to an ill defined, nebulous Middle Ages with no anchoring the rosary to St.Dominic or later writings or any other historical context. At Assisi, didn't JP II , at the last minute, decided not to have her pilgrim statue processed in the opening ceremony?

Thank you Fr. Pezzuti! 🙏

Thank You for all Your podcasts. I would have three questions: 1 Is there a consensus among traditional theologians that Rosary was given to St. Dominic by Our Lady? There seems to be some controversy much before Vatican II. New Advent Encyclopedia has a lengthy article on the subject which concludes thus:"These facts agree ill with the supposition that it took its rise in a definite revelation and was jealously watched over from the beginning by one of the most learned and influential of the religious orders. No doubt can exist that the immense diffusion of the Rosary and its confraternities in modern times and the vast influence it has exercised for good are mainly due to the labours and the prayers of the sons of St. Dominic, but the historical evidence serves plainly to show that their interest in the subject was only awakened in the last years of the fifteenth century." If Rosary wasn't given to St. Dominic, but rather evolved through Tradition, would it be that revolutionary for a pope to add new 5 mysteries, especially since pope John Paul II himself acknowledged that it doesn't have the same level of authority as other 15 mysteries? 2 How would we approach the fact that Luminous mysteries were started by Fr. Gregory Preca much before the Council? Fr. Preca seems to be holy and fully orthodox priest. 3 Couldn't we apply principles of SSPX regarding Pian Holy week towards Luminous mysteries and conclude that, while it might be doubts regarding how prudent the introduction was, it isn't in itself unacceptable and that we can't say that it is wrong to pray them (while it might be better to stick to old ones) since there is no danger to the faith?

Thank you for clarifying this topic!

@ 5:00 the 15 mysteries came through tradition? We don't even know if they came from Mary herself? So on what authority do you say a person should not recite Luminous mysteries? Do you think our Blessed Mother would be upset if I meditate on the Institution of the Eucharist (5th Luminous Mystery) while reciting 10 Hail Marys, Our Father, and Glory Be? 14:30 is the claim that the Luminous Mysteries were added seemingly arbitrarily. Lets see if they relate to our current times: 1) Baptism of Jesus - Current Christian and even massive amount of Catholics question weather Baptism is required for Salvation. 2) Wedding Fest at Cana - We live at a time of unprecedented amount of divorces and annulments 3) Proclamation of the Kingdom: - Evangelization is the Fruit of this mystery. Catholics have fallen asleep and need to wake up and start evangelizing. 4) Transfiguration - Because in current times there is more questioning whether Jesus was God. The Transfiguration was Peter, James and John witnessing Jesus' Divinity in a special way. 5) Institution of The Eucharist - We live in times where more than 75% of "Catholics" don't believe Jesus is present in the Eucharist.

The luminous mysteries are optional not obligatory. Why the SSPX are making an issue over this completely evades me . George Precca was praying these before vat 2. The third, read the sermon on the mount.

Never had a chance to meet Fr. Pezzutti in person but glad to see him here.

Please! My friends, what are you doing? All mysteries are about our Lord Jesus, without exception. The. Mysteries of light continue in the same vein. Our Lady is alway peripheral to our Lord Jesus. She is the moon, He is the Sun.

Disagree. The tradition of the rosary and as it was given to st. Dominic is not clear and are not dogmatically given to St Dominic. Stick to the tradition but including meditation on these aspects of Jesus life is not something to avoid. We have numerous chaplets and rosaries which are modified and changed in a number of ways.

Wow- how arrogant!