The Pilgrim's Way: Mysteries Of Light

As we prepare for the feast of Saint John Paul II, we invite you to continue on this pilgrimage through our permanent exhibit, A Gift of Love: The Life of Saint John Paul II. We hope you will walk through each of the nine galleries with us, so that you can get a taste of the spiritual and informational journey that awaits you here at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

This week we will explore the seventh gallery: The Mysteries of Light. This gallery gives pilgrims the opportunity to take a step back from the accomplishments of St. John Paul II, in order understand the spiritual life that inspired everything he did.

The late Holy Father’s spirituality was especially nourished by a devotion to Mary, who showed him and shows all of us the way to her Son. She reveals so much about Jesus through the mysteries of the Rosary, and so St. John Paul II introduced the "Mysteries of Light" in 2002. 

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).

Fifth Luminous Mystery: The Institution Of The Eucharist

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."

Matthew 26:26

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "By celebrating the Last Supper with his Apostles in the course of the Passover meal, Jesus gave the Jewish Passover its definitive meaning. Jesus’ passing over to his Father by his Death and Resurrection, the new Passover, is anticipated in the Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates the final Passover of the Church in the glory of the Kingdom" (CCC, 1340).

While meditating on the institution of the Eucharist, a true gift of love, say one Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s, and a Glory Be.

We are near the end of the month of the Holy Rosary, and we have now come to the end of our prayer. Conclude by reciting the Hail Holy Queen and by making a Sign of the Cross (see "How to Pray the Rosary" if you are unfamiliar with any of the prayers).

Fourth Luminous Mystery: The Transfiguration

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light.

Matthew 17:1-2

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “For a moment Jesus discloses his divine glory, confirming Peter's confession. He also reveals that he will have to go by the way of the cross at Jerusalem in order to ‘enter into his glory’ (Luke 24:26)” (CCC, 555).

While meditating on the Transfiguration, say one Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s, and a Glory Be (see "How to Pray the Rosary" if you are unfamiliar with any of these prayers).

Third Luminous Mystery: Proclamation Of The Kingdom

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.

Mark 1:15

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “Everyone is called to enter the Kingdom. First announced to the children of Israel, this messianic kingdom is intended to accept men of all nations” (CCC, 543).

While meditating on the proclamation of the Kingdom of God, say one Our Father, ten Hail Mary’s, and a Glory Be (see "How to Pray the Rosary" if you are unfamiliar with any of these prayers).

Second Luminous Mystery: The Wedding Feast Of Cana

On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

John 2:1-5

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "On the threshold of his public life Jesus performs his first sign at his mother's request - during a wedding feast: The Church attaches great importance to Jesus' presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence" (CCC, 1613).

While meditating on the wedding feast of Cana, say one Our Father, ten Hail Mary's, and a Glory Be (see "How to Pray the Rosary" if you are unfamiliar with any of these prayers).

Saint John XXIII, Pray For Us!

Our thoughts turn to all the lands of this earth. We see all mankind striving for a better future. We see the awakening of a mysterious force, and this permits us to hope that men will be drawn by a right conscience and a sense of duty to advance the real interests of human society. That this goal may be realized in the fullest sense—that is, with the triumph of the kingdom of truth, justice, peace, and charity—We exhort all Our children in Christ to be "of one heart and one soul" and to pour out ardent prayers in October to our Queen in heaven and our loving Mother, reflecting upon the words of the Apostle: "In all things we suffer tribulation, but we are not distressed; we are sore pressed, but we are not destitute; we endure persecution, but we are not forsaken; we are cast down, but we do not perish; always bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodily frame."

-Saint John XXIII, 1959

Oh St. John XXIII, please pray for us on this day of your feast, that we may hope in the triumph of the Kingdom of God.