The Holy Rosary (Thursdays) The Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Today Holy Rosary
Channel: AveMaria
Date: 2022-10-20

When Catholics pray the Holy Rosary, we are actually meditating on various events in the life of Jesus Christ while moving from bead to bead. These meditations are traditionally called “mysteries” and were first developed by Saint Dominic in 1214.

All throughout his long and storied pontificate, Pope Saint John Paul II had an enormous devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Most Holy Rosary. In 2002 the pope added the Luminous Mysteries to the rosary, and in his apostolic letter, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae,” explained the fittingness of these “mysteries of light.”

When reflecting on these mysteries, Saint John Paul II considered a gap not covered by the three traditional groups. He wrote in 2002 in his encyclical Rosarium Virginis Mariae, “I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden it to include the mysteries of Christ’s public ministry between his Baptism and his Passion.”

John Paul II wanted the Rosary to become a “‘compendium of the Gospel,’” where it included “a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light).” These were proposed as follows:

1) The Baptism in the Jordan
2) The wedding feast of Cana
3) The proclamation of the kingdom of God
4) The Transfiguration
5) The institution of the Eucharist