The Mysteries of Light

Those who take time to pray a Rosary today, will most likely meditate upon the Luminous Mysteries pictured in the icons above. Saint John Paul II called them the “Mysteries of Light.”

In his 2002 Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, the late Holy Father introduced these mysteries in order to give the Rosary “fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory.”

The truth that Christ is the “light of the world” (John 8:12) emerges during His public ministry, and so St. John Paul II suggested that we meditate upon five specific moments—Christ’s Baptism in the Jordan, His “self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana,” His proclamation of the Kingdom of God, His Transfiguration, and His institution of the Eucharist—with Mary’s help.

“Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the very person of Jesus,” the sainted pontiff wrote. They guide us back to the light of Christ’s life and they illuminate the message He gave and still gives: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

In Rosarium Virginis Mariae, St. John Paul II asks: “How could one possibly follow in the footsteps of Christ the Revealer, in the mysteries of light, without resolving to bear witness to his ‘Beatitudes’ in daily life?” In the gallery pictured above, we pray that pilgrims to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine resolve to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, as John Paul II did, witnessing to the light of the truth.   

Please join us here in the coming weeks as we continue to explore the themes of our permanent exhibit. As you learn more, prayerfully consider a pilgrimage to see these themes come to life yourself.

St. John Paul II, Pray for Us!