Someone else wrote:
What seems to you to be rote is actually a rhythmic means of focusing one's contemplation. This is what the Rosary does--it frees the mind to meditate--or contemplate.
I replied:
What you are describing sounds like a "mantra". And yes, I know what it is to recite the rosary since I did it for about 30 years. Not knowing your age or experience,let me take us back to pre-Vatican days to get a flavor of the rosary that I was taught.
Citations from "Our Faith and the Facts" Imprimatur: George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago, March 2, 1925.
Questions and answers:
Q. Can a person who says his rosary in the car gain all the indulgences without touching the beads, by simply carrying them in his pocket?
A. No.
Q. Are indulgences lost if several beads of the rosary are lost, or the cross?
A. The indulgences are on the beads; (emphasis added) when several beads are lost, it is allowed to put new ones in their place without affecting the indulgences.
Q. If a friend uses my beads, must they be blessed again for me?
A. Your friend gains no indulgences from your beads. If used without your permission, the beads retain the blessing for you. If you lent them to have your friend gain the indulgences, all the indulgences ceased. If lent merely to oblige a friend, the beads retain all indulgences.
Q. If I put a new crucifix on my rosary, does that affect the indulgences?
A. No. The blessing for the indulgences is attached to the beads.
So, please forgive me if I am skeptical of the rosary, but perhaps we have different views, developed by a different Church. I come out of a time of Catholic training where superstition ruled and the Scapular, Rosary and Medals were not much more than magic charms, and when you add the concept of it being a "mantra", I only become more concerned about the nature and history of the rosary. This is part of the reason that I am suspicious of those who return the Church to Pre-Vatican times. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is completely and utterly untrue. I am a lifelong Catholic and I have never been taught any of the things you claim. These devotions have never been "magic charms" as you say. That is insulting. Your claims come straight out of a Protestant playbook. They are simply untrue.
Superstition is ritual (tradition) which has forgotten its meaning. Informed Catholics know the meaning of their practices.
Citations from "Our Faith and the Facts" Imprimatur: George Cardinal Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago, March 2, 1925.
Questions and answers:
Q. Can a person who says his rosary in the car gain all the indulgences without touching the beads, by simply carrying them in his pocket?
A. No.
The car was still a relatively recent invention in 1925. Most people didn't have cars to say their rosaries in. No one would have thought to ask a question like that at that time. Nice try though, a twist on the dates for the traditionalists' benefit. I almost didn't catch that. Who was the source on that, Jack Chick?