Mysteries of Light: Pope John Paul II on the Luminous Mysteries

Mysteries of Light: Pope John Paul II on the Luminous Mysteries

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.”

Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – “luminous” mysteries – during this phase of Christ’s life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

We’ve created a visual scriptural rosary page down below to help you meditate on these sacred mysteries!