Requirements of the Fifty-Four-Day Rosary

This novena presumes a fifteen-mystery rosary, but there has never been any strict requirement to meditate on any particular mysteries. So you may use the luminous mysteries if you desire, but this does not have to prolong the novena beyond its usual length.

Actually, if you were to examine for example the meditations of St. Louis de Monfort or Bl. Alan de la Roche on the rosary, you would find that they consider many themes beyond the traditional fifteen mysteries. That is why the Church’s indulgences for the rosary do not require any particular mysteries to be used.

The Ven. Paul VI, in his letter Marialis Cultus, gives great freedom in which mysteries may be considered in praying the rosary, and so we are never limited, especially when praying alone, to the mysteries traditionally given. For this novena, it suffices to pray three novenas in petition and three in thanksgiving, whichever mysteries you meditate upon.