The Pope hasn’t lost touch with the Church.
The proble is that the Church has lost touch.
NurseCarmen is a recovering Catholic
Hmmm.
If it’s all right to paint with the broad stroke:
Then I assume it’s equally acceptable to reply:
Not at all. The problem is that you have lost touch with the Church.
A gratuitous assertion is equally gratuitously denied.
- Rick
Huh? 
Just a wild guess:
David Simmons is an older person himself (his profile says he’s retired) and resents the implication that advanced age = dementia.
Bing!
But “resents” is too strong a term. I’m a “sticks and stones may break my bones etc., etc., etc.” advocate. I just want to make sure that no one necessarily equates the Pope’s age with and perceived wobbles in behavior. I own and read from time to time the Pope’s book Crossing The Threshold of Hope which was written when he was a lot younger. I didn’t think he showed all that much then either.
Make that Bingo! Chalk up another one to advanced age.
It’s well and good that the Pope added another set of mysteries to the rosary, but what I really want him to do is start discouraging that awful little prayer that the little old ladies at my church always tack on to the end. I was never taught it in Catholic school. It goes something along the lines of “save us from the fires of hell…” if I remember correctly. It’s distracting from what we’re supposed to be meditating on.
“Save us from the fires of hell?”
They add that? How? That’s NOT part of the Rosary! In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that in a Catholic prayer.
It’s the “Fatima” prayer, tacked on after each decade by some groups.
At the end of the rosary, there are a number of prayers that have been “tacked on” as a series of intercessions. It tends to be a regional phenomenon, where some people believe it is “part of” the prayer (since they have always heard it said that way) and others are brought up short when they first hear any of these “additions.” For example, when I left my parish to go to a college prep school with guys from all over the Detroit area, I was surprised to find many/most of them ending the rosary with
which we had never said at our parish.
You are right, Tom – and you’ve even provided an example of it. I was myself surprised that at your parish the Salve, Regina Mater was not a standard part.
At the Catholic middle school I attended, the end-of-decade add-ons were: “Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy/ In life and in death shelter us Great Lady” and “Blessed Marcelin Champagnat/Pray for us” (Marcelin was the order’s founder. He has since made it to Saint).
So it’s not just adjusted to the day of the week, it’s also customizable…
Mind you, our parish did include that prayer at separate services in May and on December 8, we just never included it as part of the rosary.
Not only do we end the mysteries with the Hail Holy Queen, but with the Prayer After the Rosary:
And sometimes continuing:
It’s a matter of local tradition.
- Rick
I always liked the three mysteries, symbolizing to me the Trinity. (Okay, I look for symbolism too much, I admit it) Adding the 4th set of mysteries is not mandatory - whether I will or not is to be seen. As my priest says, “Devotions have historically been organic in origin, grown from the piety of the faithful, and not from authority. That is the way it should be.”
StG