The rosary is a quintessential devotional prayer for Catholic laity and even for some religious, and has been for over seven hundred years. While at first glance, the repetition of Ave Marias can give the impression of the multiplication of words at the expense of genuine devotion, anyone who prays the rosary will tell you that the important activity is not the recitation of the words, but the meditation on the mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ. Busying the lips with familiar words allows the spirit to be freed up to attend to consideration of the meaning of Christ’s presence and action, how His very being communicates God’s love and our salvation.
This is in interesting contrast to a different type of devotion to the Word of God, also edifying in its way. At some point after the invention of the printing press, someone had the idea to set the words of Jesus in red. Most of us have seen such versions of the gospel. What stands out are the teachings of the Lord, and of course these can no more be neglected by Christians than the mysteries of His life.
It happens that the past century and a half have seen the rise of a view of Jesus of Nazareth that exalts Him as a great teacher of wisdom, without admitting to the traditional Christian claims of His divinity. While it would be an unfair exaggeration to say that ‘red-letter’ gospel editions are the cause of this emphasis on Christ as mere human teacher, they certainly offer support to the idea that what really counts are the teachings. The signs performed by Jesus, so important especially in John’s gospel, are muted along with the rest of the narrative material.
Yet the authority of Jesus is dependent on just these signs. De-emphasizing Christ’s mystery has the effect of undermining the legitimacy of the very teachings that the red-letter edition is meant to underline. Jesus Himself pointed to the necessity of the signs: “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works [that I do], that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” [John 10: 38]
Hence the importance of meditation on the mysteries of the rosary. Seen in this light, the addition of the Luminous Mysteries by St. John Paul II appears even more providential. Just those sorts of legitimating moments in the life of Christ are added, particularly the Baptism, the Wedding at Cana and the Transfiguration. These mysteries of light ‘illuminate’ the mind to ‘know and understand’ that Christ was indeed sent by God the Father. In turn, this illumination makes it possible for us to accept the ‘hard’ sayings [John 6: 60] and to grow in holiness, growing up to be true ‘spiritual’ men and women, not merely wise in the teachings of the wise, but sanctified in the Truth.