History Of The Rosary
Luminous Mystery Rosary
Of Pope John Paul II
"Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying:
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me,
walketh not in darkness,
but shall have the light of life."
-John 8:12
Pope John Paul II updated the Rosary recently with the Luminous Mystery Rosary . This is a major event in history of the rosary.
In 2002, Pope John Paul II wrote a letter to all Catholics regarding the Rosary.
In this letter, which was entitled The Most Holy Rosary, Pope John Paul II announced
the addition of the Luminous Mysteries to the Rosary history in addition to the traditional
mysteries of the rosary...
The Luminous Mystery Rosary or the Mysteries of Light, as they are also called, focus on the public life of Jesus,
the years He was preaching spanning the time between His Baptism and His death.
They are called the Mysteries of Light because Jesus is the light of the World.
Jesus as the light is mentioned several times in St. John's Gospel.
"And the light shineth in darkness: and the darkness did not comprehend it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness,
to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him. He was
not the light, but was to give testimony of the light. That was the true light,
which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world." -John 1:5-9
"While I am in the world, I am the light of the world" -John 9:5
Pope John Paul II felt that it was important to add these mysteries to the history
of the rosary because
there was a gap between the childhood of Jesus that is meditated upon during
the Joyful Mysteries and the suffering and death of Jesus that is meditated
upon during the Sorrowful Mysteries.
He also added them to revive interest in the
Rosary which in his words illustrate an "ocean of joy and of light, of suffering
and of glory" in the lives of Jesus and Mary.
The Luminous Mystery Rosary is as follows...
Just like the other mysteries, you can meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus
with His mother, Mary mother of God.
It was Mary who asked Jesus to perform His first miracle at the wedding at Cana.
When the bride and groom ran out of wine, Mary went and told Jesus. She told the servants to,
"Do whatever he tells you" -John 2:5.
Because of Mary's prompting, Jesus turned water into wine at this wedding.
According to Pope John Paul II, this event, in the history of the rosary, is the foundation to all
the Mysteries of Light because the role Mary played as "intercessor" at the wedding continues
throughout the other four rosary mysteries.
Return to our Luminous Mysteries page
Return to our History of the Rosary page
