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).
