APOSTOLIC
LETTER - ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE - OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II TO
THE BISHOPS, CLERGY AND FAITHFUL - ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY
INTRODUCTION
1. The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which gradually took form in the second
millennium under the guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer loved by
countless Saints and encouraged by the Magisterium. Simple yet profound,
it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great
significance, destined to bring forth a harvest of holiness. It blends easily
into the spiritual journey of the Christian life, which, after two thousand
years, has lost none of the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by
the Spirit of God to “set out into the deep” (duc in altum!) in order once
more to proclaim, and even cry out, before the world that Jesus Christ is
Lord and Saviour, “the way, and the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), “the goal
of human history and the point on which the desires of history and civilization
turn”.1
The Rosary, though clearly Marian in character, is at heart a Christocentric
prayer. In the sobriety of its elements, it has all the depth of the Gospel
message in its entirety, of which it can be said to be a compendium.2 It
is an echo of the prayerof Mary, her perennial Magnificat for the work of
the redemptive Incarnation which began in her virginal womb. With the Rosary,
the Christian people sits at the school of Mary and is led to contemplate
the beauty on the face of Christ and to experience the depths of his love.
Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as though from the
very hands of the Mother of the Redeemer.
The Popes and the Rosary
2. Numerous predecessors of mine attributed great importance to this prayer.
Worthy of special note in this regard is Pope Leo XIII who on 1 September
1883 promulgated the Encyclical Supremi Apostolatus Officio,3 a document
of great worth, the first of his many statements about this prayer, in which
he proposed the Rosary as an effective spiritual weapon against the evils
afflicting society. Among the more recent Popes who, from the time of the
Second Vatican Council, have distinguished themselves in promoting the Rosary
I would mention Blessed John XXIII4 and above all Pope Paul VI, who in his
Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus emphasized, in the spirit of the Second
Vatican Council, the Rosary's evangelical character and its Christocentric
inspiration. I myself have often encouraged the frequent recitation of the
Rosary. From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in
my spiritual life. I was powerfully reminded of this during my recent visit
to Poland, and in particular at the Shrine of Kalwaria. The Rosary has accompanied
me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted
any number of concerns; in it I have always found comfort. Twenty-four years
ago, on 29 October 1978, scarcely two weeks after my election to the See
of Peter, I frankly admitted: “The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvellous
prayer! Marvellous in its simplicity and its depth. [...]. It can be said
that the Rosary is, in some sense, a prayer-commentary on the final chapter
of the Vatican II Constitution Lumen Gentium, a chapter which discusses the
wondrous presence of the Mother of God in the mystery of Christ and the Church.
Against the background of the words Ave Maria the principal events of the
life of Jesus Christ pass before the eyes of the soul. They take shape in
the complete series of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries, and
they put us in living communion with Jesus through – we might say – the heart
of his Mother. At the same time our heart can embrace in the decades of the
Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations,
the Church, and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbour,
especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple
prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life”.5
With these words, dear brothers and sisters, I set the first year of my Pontificate
within the daily rhythm of the Rosary. Today, as I begin the twenty-fifth
year of my service as the Successor of Peter, I wish to do the same. How
many graces have I received in these years from the Blessed Virgin through
the Rosary: Magnificat anima mea Dominum! I wish to lift up my thanks to
the Lord in the words of his Most Holy Mother, under whose protection I have
placed my Petrine ministry: Totus Tuus!
October 2002 – October 2003: The Year of the Rosary
3. Therefore, in continuity with my reflection in the Apostolic Letter Novo
Millennio Ineunte, in which, after the experience of the Jubilee, I invited
the people of God to “start afresh from Christ”,6 I have felt drawn to offer
a reflection on the Rosary, as a kind of Marian complement to that Letter
and an exhortation to contemplate the face of Christ in union with, and at
the school of, his Most Holy Mother. To recite the Rosary is nothing other
than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ. As a way of highlighting
this invitation, prompted by the forthcoming 120th anniversary of the aforementioned
Encyclical of Leo XIII, I desire that during the course of this year the
Rosary should be especially emphasized and promoted in the various Christian
communities. I therefore proclaim the year from October 2002 to October 2003
the Year of the Rosary.
I leave this pastoral proposal to the initiative of each ecclesial community.
It is not my intention to encumber but rather to complete and consolidate
pastoral programmes of the Particular Churches. I am confident that the proposal
will find a ready and generous reception. The Rosary, reclaimed in its full
meaning, goes to the very heart of Christian life; it offers a familiar yet
fruitful spiritual and educational opportunity for personal contemplation,
the formation of the People of God, and the new evangelization. I am pleased
to reaffirm this also in the joyful remembrance of another anniversary: the
fortieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council
on October 11, 1962, the “great grace” disposed by the Spirit of God for
the Church in our time.7
Objections to the Rosary
4. The timeliness of this proposal is evident from a number of considerations.
First, the urgent need to counter a certain crisis of the Rosary, which in
the present historical and theological context can risk being wrongly devalued,
and therefore no longer taught to the younger generation. There are some
who think that the centrality of the Liturgy, rightly stressed by the Second
Vatican Ecumenical Council, necessarily entails giving lesser importance
to the Rosary. Yet, as Pope Paul VI made clear, not only does this prayer
not conflict with the Liturgy, it sustains it, since it serves as an excellent
introduction and a faithful echo of the Liturgy, enabling people to participate
fully and interiorly in it and to reap its fruits in their daily lives.
Perhaps too, there are some who fear that the Rosary is somehow unecumenical
because of its distinctly Marian character. Yet the Rosary clearly belongs
to the kind of veneration of the Mother of God described by the Council:
a devotion directed to the Christological centre of the Christian faith,
in such a way that “when the Mother is honoured, the Son ... is duly known,
loved and glorified”.8 If properly revitalized, the Rosary is an aid and
certainly not a hindrance to ecumenism!
A path of contemplation
5. But the most important reason for strongly encouraging the practice of
the Rosary is that it represents a most effective means of fostering among
the faithful that commitment to the contemplation of the Christian mystery
which I have proposed in the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte as a
genuine “training in holiness”: “What is needed is a Christian life distinguished
above all in the art of prayer”.9 Inasmuch as contemporary culture, even
amid so many indications to the contrary, has witnessed the flowering of
a new call for spirituality, due also to the influence of other religions,
it is more urgent than ever that our Christian communities should become
“genuine schools of prayer”.10
The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian
contemplation. Developed in the West, it is a typically meditative prayer,
corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer”
which took root in the soil of the Christian East.
Prayer for peace and for the family
6. A number of historical circumstances also make a revival of the Rosary
quite timely. First of all, the need to implore from God the gift of peace.
The Rosary has many times been proposed by my predecessors and myself as
a prayer for peace. At the start of a millennium which began with the terrifying
attacks of 11 September 2001, a millennium which witnesses every day innumerous
parts of the world fresh scenes of bloodshed and violence, to rediscover
the Rosary means to immerse oneself in contemplation of the mystery of Christ
who “is our peace”, since he made “the two of us one, and broke down the
dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14). Consequently, one cannot recite the
Rosary without feeling caught up in a clear commitment to advancing peace,
especially in the land of Jesus, still so sorely afflicted and so close to
the heart of every Christian.
A similar need for commitment and prayer arises in relation to another critical
contemporary issue: the family, the primary cell of society, increasingly
menaced by forces of disintegration on both the ideological and practical
planes, so as to make us fear for the future of this fundamental and indispensable
institution and, with it, for the future of society as a whole. The revival
of the Rosary in Christian families, within the context of a broader pastoral
ministry to the family, will be an effective aid to countering the devastating
effects of this crisis typical of our age.
“Behold, your Mother!” (Jn 19:27)
7. Many signs indicate that still today the Blessed Virgin desires to exercise
through this same prayer that maternal concern to which the dying Redeemer
entrusted, in the person of the beloved disciple, all the sons and daughters
of the Church: “Woman, behold your son!” (Jn19:26). Well-known are the occasions
in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries on which the Mother of Christ
made her presence felt and her voice heard, in order to exhort the People
of God to this form of contemplative prayer. I would mention in particular,
on account of their great influence on the lives of Christians and the authoritative
recognition they have received from the Church, the apparitions of Lourdes
and of Fatima;11 these shrines continue to be visited by great numbers of
pilgrims seeking comfort and hope.
Following the witnesses
8. It would be impossible to name all the many Saints who discovered in the
Rosary a genuine path to growth in holiness. We need but mention Saint Louis
Marie Grignion de Montfort, the author of an excellent work on the Rosary,12
and, closer to ourselves, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, whom I recently had the
joy of canonizing. As a true apostle of the Rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo
had a special charism. His path to holiness rested on an inspiration heard
in the depths of his heart: “Whoever spreads the Rosary is saved!”.13 As
a result, he felt called to build a Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary in Pompei, against the background of the ruins of the ancient city,
which scarcely heard the proclamation of Christ before being buried in 79
A.D. during an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, only to emerge centuries later
from its ashes as a witness to the lights and shadows of classical civilization.
By his whole life's work and especially by the practice of the “Fifteen Saturdays”,
Bartolo Longo promoted the Christocentric and contemplative heart of the
Rosary, and received great encouragement and support from Leo XIII, the “Pope
of the Rosary”.
CHAPTER I
CONTEMPLATING CHRIST WITH MARY
A face radiant as the sun
9. “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun”
(Mt 17:2). The Gospel scene of Christ's transfiguration, in which the three
Apostles Peter, James and John appear entranced by the beauty of the Redeemer,
can be seen as an icon of Christian contemplation. To look upon the face
of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings
of his human life, and then to grasp the divine splendour definitively revealed
in the Risen Lord, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father: this
is the task of every follower of Christ and therefore the task of each one
of us. In contemplating Christ's face we become open to receiving the mystery
of Trinitarian life, experiencing ever anew the love of the Father and delighting
in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul's words can then be applied to
us: “Beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into his likeness,
from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is
the Spirit” (2Cor 3:18).
Mary, model of contemplation
10. The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique
way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was
formed, receiving from her a human resemblance which points to an even greater
spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation
of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already
turned to him at the Annunciation, when she conceived him by the power of
the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense his presence
and to picture his features. When at last she gave birth to him in Bethlehem,
her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on the face of her Son, as she “wrapped
him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger” (Lk2:7).
Thereafter Mary's gaze, ever filled with adoration and wonder, would never
leave him. At times it would be a questioning look, as in the episode of
the finding in the Temple: “Son, why have you treated us so?” (Lk 2:48);
it would always be a penetrating gaze, one capable of deeply understanding
Jesus, even to the point of perceiving his hidden feelings and anticipating
his decisions, as at Cana (cf. Jn 2:5). At other times it would be a look
of sorrow, especially beneath the Cross, where her vision would still be
that of a mother giving birth, for Mary not only shared the passion and death
of her Son, she also received the new son given to her in the beloved disciple
(cf. Jn 19:26-27). On the morning of Easter hers would be a gaze radiant
with the joy of the Resurrection, and finally, on the day of Pentecost, a
gaze afire with the outpouring of the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:14).
Mary's memories
11. Mary lived with her eyes fixed on Christ, treasuring his every word:
“She kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Lk 2:19; cf. 2:51).
The memories of Jesus, impressed upon her heart, were always with her, leading
her to reflect on the various moments of her life at her Son's side. In a
way those memories were to be the “rosary” which she recited uninterruptedly
throughout her earthly life.
Even now, amid the joyful songs of the heavenly Jerusalem, the reasons for
her thanksgiving and praise remain unchanged. They inspire her maternal concern
for the pilgrim Church, in which she continues to relate her personal account
of the Gospel. Mary constantly sets before the faithful the “mysteries” of
her Son, with the desire that the contemplation of those mysteries will release
all their saving power. In the recitation of the Rosary, the Christian community
enters into contact with the memories and the contemplative gaze of Mary.
The Rosary, a contemplative prayer
12. The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary's own experience, is
an exquisitely contemplative prayer. Without this contemplative dimension,
it would lose its meaning, as Pope Paul VI clearly pointed out: “Without
contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation runs
the risk of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas, in violation of
the admonition of Christ: 'In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the
Gentiles do; for they think they will be heard for their many words' (Mt
6:7). By its nature the recitation of the Rosary calls for a quiet rhythm
and a lingering pace, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries
of the Lord's life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the
Lord. In this way the unfathomable riches of these mysteries are disclosed”.14
It is worth pausing to consider this profound insight of Paul VI, in order
to bring out certain aspects of the Rosary which show that it is really a
form of Christocentric contemplation.
Remembering Christ with Mary
13. Mary's contemplation is above all a remembering. We need to understand
this word in the biblical sense of remembrance (zakar) as a making present
of the works brought about by God in the history of salvation. The Bible
is an account of saving events culminating in Christ himself. These events
not only belong to “yesterday”; they are also part of the “today” of salvation.
This making present comes about above all in the Liturgy: what God accomplished
centuries ago did not only affect the direct witnesses of those events; it
continues to affect people in every age with its gift of grace. To some extent
this is also true of every other devout approach to those events: to “remember”
them in a spirit of faith and love is to be open to the grace which Christ
won for us by the mysteries of his life, death and resurrection.
Consequently, while it must be reaffirmed with the Second Vatican Council
that the Liturgy, as the exercise of the priestly office of Christ and an
act of public worship, is “the summit to which the activity of the Church
is directed and the font from which all its power flows”,15 it is also necessary
to recall that the spiritual life “is not limited solely to participation
in the liturgy. Christians, while they are called to prayer in common, must
also go to their own rooms to pray to their Father in secret (cf. Mt 6:6);
indeed, according to the teaching of the Apostle, they must pray without
ceasing (cf.1Thes 5:17)”.16 The Rosary, in its own particular way, is part
of this varied panorama of “ceaseless” prayer. If the Liturgy, as the activity
of Christ and the Church, is a saving action par excellence, the Rosary too,
as a “meditation” with Mary on Christ, is a salutary contemplation. By immersing
us in the mysteries of the Redeemer's life, it ensures that what he has done
and what the liturgy makes present is profoundly assimilated and shapes our
existence.
Learning Christ from Mary
14. Christ is the supreme Teacher, the revealer and the one revealed. It
is not just a question of learning what he taught but of “learning him”.
In this regard could we have any better teacher than Mary? From the divine
standpoint, the Spirit is the interior teacher who leads us to the full truth
of Christ (cf. Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13). But among creatures no one knows
Christ better than Mary; no one can introduce us to a profound knowledge
of his mystery better than his Mother.
The first of the “signs” worked by Jesus – the changing of water into wine
at the marriage in Cana – clearly presents Mary in the guise of a teacher,
as she urges the servants to do what Jesus commands (cf. Jn 2:5). We can
imagine that she would have done likewise for the disciples after Jesus'
Ascension, when she joined them in awaiting the Holy Spirit and supported
them in their first mission. Contemplating the scenes of the Rosary in union
with Mary is a means of learning from her to “read” Christ, to discover his
secrets and to understand his message.
This school of Mary is all the more effective if we consider that she teaches
by obtaining for us in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit, even as she
offers us the incomparable example of her own “pilgrimage of faith”.17 As
we contemplate each mystery of her Son's life, she invites us to do as she
did at the Annunciation: to ask humbly the questions which open us to the
light, in order to end with the obedience of faith: “Behold I am the handmaid
of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
Being conformed to Christ with Mary
15. Christian spirituality is distinguished by the disciple's commitment
to become conformed ever more fully to his Master (cf. Rom 8:29; Phil 3:10,12).
The outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Baptism grafts the believer like a branch
onto the vine which is Christ (cf. Jn 15:5) and makes him a member of Christ's
mystical Body (cf.1Cor 12:12; Rom 12:5). This initial unity, however, calls
for a growing assimilation which will increasingly shape the conduct of the
disciple in accordance with the “mind” of Christ: “Have this mind among yourselves,
which was in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:5). In the words of the Apostle, we are
called “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27).
In the spiritual journey of the Rosary, based on the constant contemplation
– in Mary's company – of the face of Christ, this demanding ideal of being
conformed to him is pursued through an association which could be described
in terms of friendship. We are thereby enabled to enter naturally into Christ's
life and as it were to share his deepest feelings. In this regard Blessed
Bartolo Longo has written: “Just as two friends, frequently in each other's
company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse
with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the
Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the
extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme
models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection”.18
In this process of being conformed to Christ in the Rosary, we entrust ourselves
in a special way to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin. She who is both
the Mother of Christ and a member of the Church, indeed her “pre-eminent
and altogether singular member”,19 is at the same time the “Mother of the
Church”. As such, she continually brings to birth children for the mystical
Body of her Son. She does so through her intercession, imploring upon them
the inexhaustible outpouring of the Spirit. Mary is the perfect icon of the
motherhood of the Church.
The Rosary mystically transports us to Mary's side as she is busy watching
over the human growth of Christ in the home of Nazareth. This enables her
to train us and to mold us with the same care, until Christ is “fully formed”
in us (cf. Gal 4:19). This role of Mary, totally grounded in that of Christ
and radically subordinated to it, “in no way obscures or diminishes the unique
mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power”.20 This is the luminous
principle expressed by the Second Vatican Council which I have so powerfully
experienced in my own life and have made the basis of my episcopal motto:
Totus Tuus.21 The motto is of course inspired by the teaching of Saint Louis
Marie Grignion de Montfort, who explained in the following words Mary's role
in the process of our configuration to Christ: “Our entire perfection consists
in being conformed, united and consecrated to Jesus Christ. Hence the most
perfect of all devotions is undoubtedly that which conforms, unites and consecrates
us most perfectly to Jesus Christ. Now, since Mary is of all creatures the
one most conformed to Jesus Christ, it follows that among all devotions that
which most consecrates and conforms a soul to our Lord is devotion to Mary,
his Holy Mother, and that the more a soul is consecrated to her the more
will it be consecrated to Jesus Christ”.22 Never as in the Rosary do the
life of Jesus and that of Mary appear so deeply joined. Mary lives only in
Christ and for Christ!
Praying to Christ with Mary
16. Jesus invited us to turn to God with insistence and the confidence that
we will be heard: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;
knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). The basis for this power of
prayer is the goodness of the Father, but also the mediation of Christ himself
(cf. 1Jn 2:1) and the working of the Holy Spirit who “intercedes for us”
according to the will of God (cf. Rom 8:26-27). For “we do not know how to
pray as we ought” (Rom 8:26), and at times we are not heard “because we ask
wrongly” (cf. Jas 4:2-3).
In support of the prayer which Christ and the Spirit cause to rise in our
hearts, Mary intervenes with her maternal intercession. “The prayer of the
Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary”.23 If Jesus, the one Mediator,
is the Way of our prayer, then Mary, his purest and most transparent reflection,
shows us the Way. “Beginning with Mary's unique cooperation with the working
of the Holy Spirit, the Churches developed their prayer to the Holy Mother
of God, centering it on the person of Christ manifested in his mysteries”.24
At the wedding of Cana the Gospel clearly shows the power of Mary's intercession
as she makes known to Jesus the needs of others: “They have no wine” (Jn
2:3).
The Rosary is both meditation and supplication. Insistent prayer to the Mother
of God is based on confidence that her maternal intercession can obtain all
things from the heart of her Son. She is “all-powerful by grace”, to use
the bold expression, which needs to be properly understood, of Blessed Bartolo
Longo in his Supplication to Our Lady.25 This is a conviction which, beginning
with the Gospel, has grown ever more firm in the experience of the Christian
people. The supreme poet Dante expresses it marvellously in the lines sung
by Saint Bernard: “Lady, thou art so great and so powerful, that whoever
desires grace yet does not turn to thee, would have his desire fly without
wings”.26 When in the Rosary we plead with Mary, the sanctuary of the Holy
Spirit (cf. Lk 1:35), she intercedes for us before the Father who filled
her with grace and before the Son born of her womb, praying with us and for
us.
Proclaiming Christ with Mary
17. The Rosary is also a path of proclamation and increasing knowledge, in
which the mystery of Christ is presented again and again at different levels
of the Christian experience. Its form is that of a prayerful and contemplative
presentation, capable of forming Christians according to the heart of Christ.
When the recitation of the Rosary combines all the elements needed for an
effective meditation, especially in its communal celebration in parishes
and shrines, it can present a significant catechetical opportunity which
pastors should use to advantage. In this way too Our Lady of the Rosary continues
her work of proclaiming Christ. The history of the Rosary shows how this
prayer was used in particular by the Dominicans at a difficult time for the
Church due to the spread of heresy. Today we are facing new challenges. Why
should we not once more have recourse to the Rosary, with the same faith
as those who have gone before us? The Rosary retains all its power and continues
to be a valuable pastoral resource for every good evangelizer.
CHAPTER II
MYSTERIES OF CHRIST –
MYSTERIES OF HIS MOTHER
The Rosary, “a compendium of the Gospel”
18. The only way to approach the contemplation of Christ's face is by listening
in the Spirit to the Father's voice, since “no one knows the Son except the
Father” (Mt 11:27). In the region of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus responded to
Peter's confession of faith by indicating the source of that clear intuition
of his identity: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father
who is in heaven” (Mt 16:17). What is needed, then, is a revelation from
above. In order to receive that revelation, attentive listening is indispensable:
“Only the experience of silence and prayer offers the proper setting for
the growth and development of a true, faithful and consistent knowledge of
that mystery”.27
The Rosary is one of the traditional paths of Christian prayer directed to
the contemplation of Christ's face. Pope Paul VI described it in these words:
“As a Gospel prayer, centred on the mystery of the redemptive Incarnation,
the Rosary is a prayer with a clearly Christological orientation. Its most
characteristic element, in fact, the litany- like succession of Hail Marys,
becomes in itself an unceasing praise of Christ, who is the ultimate object
both of the Angel's announcement and of the greeting of the Mother of John
the Baptist: 'Blessed is the fruit of your womb' (Lk 1:42). We would go further
and say that the succession of Hail Marys constitutes the warp on which is
woven the contemplation of the mysteries. The Jesus that each Hail Mary recalls
is the same Jesus whom the succession of mysteries proposes to us now as
the Son of God, now as the Son of the Virgin”.28
A proposed addition to the traditional pattern
19. Of the many mysteries of Christ's life, only a few are indicated by the
Rosary in the form that has become generally established with the seal of
the Church's approval. The selection was determined by the origin of the
prayer, which was based on the number 150, the number of the Psalms in the
Psalter.
I believe, however, that to bring out fully the Christological depth of the
Rosary it would be suitable to make an addition to the traditional pattern
which, while left to the freedom of individuals and communities, could broaden
it to include the mysteries of Christ's public ministry between his Baptism
and his Passion. In the course of those mysteries we contemplate important
aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God. Declared
the beloved Son of the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan, Christ is the
one who announces the coming of the Kingdom, bears witness to it in his works
and proclaims its demands. It is during the years of his public ministry
that the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light: “While I
am in the world, I am the light of the world” (Jn 9:5).
Consequently, for the Rosary to become more fully a “compendium of the Gospel”,
it is fitting to add, following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden
life of Christ (the joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings
of his Passion (the sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection
(the glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant
moments in his public ministry (the mysteries of light). This addition of
these new mysteries, without prejudice to any essential aspect of the prayer's
traditional format, is meant to give it 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 Joyful Mysteries
20. The first five decades, the “joyful mysteries”, are marked by the joy
radiating from the event of the Incarnation. This is clear from the very
first mystery, the Annunciation, where Gabriel's greeting to the Virgin of
Nazareth is linked to an invitation to messianic joy: “Rejoice, Mary”. The
whole of salvation history, in some sense the entire history of the world,
has led up to this greeting. If it is the Father's plan to unite all things
in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10), then the whole of the universe is in some way touched
by the divine favour with which the Father looks upon Mary and makes her
the Mother of his Son. The whole of humanity, in turn, is embraced by the
fiat with which she readily agrees to the will of God.
Exultation is the keynote of the encounter with Elizabeth, where the sound
of Mary's voice and the presence of Christ in her womb cause John to “leap
for joy” (cf. Lk 1:44). Gladness also fills the scene in Bethlehem, when
the birth of the divine Child, the Saviour of the world, is announced by
the song of the angels and proclaimed to the shepherds as “news of great
joy” (Lk 2:10).
The final two mysteries, while preserving this climate of joy, already point
to the drama yet to come. The Presentation in the Temple not only expresses
the joy of the Child's consecration and the ecstasy of the aged Simeon; it
also records the prophecy that Christ will be a “sign of contradiction” for
Israel and that a sword will pierce his mother's heart (cf Lk 2:34-35). Joy
mixed with drama marks the fifth mystery, the finding of the twelve-year-old
Jesus in the Temple. Here he appears in his divine wisdom as he listens and
raises questions, already in effect one who “teaches”. The revelation of
his mystery as the Son wholly dedicated to his Father's affairs proclaims
the radical nature of the Gospel, in which even the closest of human relationships
are challenged by the absolute demands of the Kingdom. Mary and Joseph, fearful
and anxious, “did not understand” his words (Lk 2:50).
To meditate upon the “joyful” mysteries, then, is to enter into the ultimate
causes and the deepest meaning of Christian joy. It is to focus on the realism
of the mystery of the Incarnation and on the obscure foreshadowing of the
mystery of the saving Passion. Mary leads us to discover the secret of Christian
joy, reminding us that Christianity is, first and foremost, euangelion, “good
news”, which has as its heart and its whole content the person of Jesus Christ,
the Word made flesh, the one Saviour of the world.
The Mysteries of Light
21. 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.
Each of these mysteries is a revelation of the Kingdom now present in the
very person of Jesus. The Baptism in the Jordan is first of all a mystery
of light. Here, as Christ descends into the waters, the innocent one who
became “sin” for our sake (cf. 2Cor 5:21), the heavens open wide and the
voice of the Father declares him the beloved Son (cf. Mt 3:17 and parallels),
while the Spirit descends on him to invest him with the mission which he
is to carry out. Another mystery of light is the first of the signs, given
at Cana (cf. Jn 2:1- 12), when Christ changes water into wine and opens the
hearts of the disciples to faith, thanks to the intervention of Mary, the
first among believers. Another mystery of light is the preaching by which
Jesus proclaims the coming of the Kingdom of God, calls to conversion (cf.
Mk 1:15) and forgives the sins of all who draw near to him in humble trust
(cf. Mk 2:3-13; Lk 7:47- 48): the inauguration of that ministry of mercy
which he continues to exercise until the end of the world, particularly through
the Sacrament of Reconciliation which he has entrusted to his Church (cf.
Jn 20:22-23). The mystery of light par excellence is the Transfiguration,
traditionally believed to have taken place on Mount Tabor. The glory of the
Godhead shines forth from the face of Christ as the Father commands the astonished
Apostles to “listen to him” (cf. Lk 9:35 and parallels) and to prepare to
experience with him the agony of the Passion, so as to come with him to the
joy of the Resurrection and a life transfigured by the Holy Spirit. A final
mystery of light is the institution of the Eucharist, in which Christ offers
his body and blood as food under the signs of bread and wine, and testifies
“to the end” his love for humanity (Jn 13:1), for whose salvation he will
offer himself in sacrifice.
In these mysteries, apart from the miracle at Cana, the presence of Mary
remains in the background. The Gospels make only the briefest reference to
her occasional presence at one moment or other during the preaching of Jesus
(cf. Mk 3:31-5; Jn 2:12), and they give no indication that she was present
at the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. Yet the role she
assumed at Cana in some way accompanies Christ throughout his ministry. The
revelation made directly by the Father at the Baptism in the Jordan and echoed
by John the Baptist is placed upon Mary's lips at Cana, and it becomes the
great maternal counsel which Mary addresses to the Church of every age: “Do
whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). This counsel is a fitting introduction to
the words and signs of Christ's public ministry and it forms the Marian foundation
of all the “mysteries of light”.
The Sorrowful Mysteries
22. The Gospels give great prominence to the sorrowful mysteries of Christ.
From the beginning Christian piety, especially during the Lenten devotion
of the Way of the Cross, has focused on the individual moments of the Passion,
realizing that here is found the culmination of the revelation of God's love
and the source of our salvation. The Rosary selects certain moments from
the Passion, inviting the faithful to contemplate them in their hearts and
to relive them. The sequence of meditations begins with Gethsemane, where
Christ experiences a moment of great anguish before the will of the Father,
against which the weakness of the flesh would be tempted to rebel. There
Jesus encounters all the temptations and confronts all the sins of humanity,
in order to say to the Father: “Not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42
and parallels). This “Yes” of Christ reverses the “No” of our first parents
in the Garden of Eden. And the cost of this faithfulness to the Father's
will is made clear in the following mysteries; by his scourging, his crowning
with thorns, his carrying the Cross and his death on the Cross, the Lord
is cast into the most abject suffering: Ecce homo!
This abject suffering reveals not only the love of God but also the meaning of man himself.
Ecce homo: the meaning, origin and fulfilment of man is to be found in Christ,
the God who humbles himself out of love “even unto death, death on a cross”
(Phil 2:8). The sorrowful mysteries help the believer to relive the death
of Jesus, to stand at the foot of the Cross beside Mary, to enter with her
into the depths of God's love for man and to experience all its life-giving
power.
The Glorious Mysteries
23. “The contemplation of Christ's face cannot stop at the image of the Crucified
One. He is the Risen One!”29 The Rosary has always expressed this knowledge
born of faith and invited the believer to pass beyond the darkness of the
Passion in order to gaze upon Christ's glory in the Resurrection and Ascension.
Contemplating the Risen One, Christians rediscover the reasons for their
own faith (cf. 1Cor 15:14) and relive the joy not only of those to whom Christ
appeared – the Apostles, Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to
Emmaus – but also the joy of Mary, who must have had an equally intense experience
of the new life of her glorified Son. In the Ascension, Christ was raised
in glory to the right hand of the Father, while Mary herself would be raised
to that same glory in the Assumption, enjoying beforehand, by a unique privilege,
the destiny reserved for all the just at the resurrection of the dead. Crowned
in glory – as she appears in the last glorious mystery – Mary shines forth
as Queen of the Angels and Saints, the anticipation and the supreme realization
of the eschatological state of the Church.
At the centre of this unfolding sequence of the glory of the Son and the
Mother, the Rosary sets before us the third glorious mystery, Pentecost,
which reveals the face of the Church as a family gathered together with Mary,
enlivened by the powerful outpouring of the Spirit and ready for the mission
of evangelization. The contemplation of this scene, like that of the other
glorious mysteries, ought to lead the faithful to an ever greater appreciation
of their new life in Christ, lived in the heart of the Church, a life of
which the scene of Pentecost itself is the great “icon”. The glorious mysteries
thus lead the faithful to greater hope for the eschatological goal towards
which they journey as members of the pilgrim People of God in history. This
can only impel them to bear courageous witness to that “good news” which
gives meaning to their entire existence.
From “mysteries” to the “Mystery”: Mary's way
24. The cycles of meditation proposed by the Holy Rosary are by no means
exhaustive, but they do bring to mind what is essential and they awaken in
the soul a thirst for a knowledge of Christ continually nourished by the
pure source of the Gospel. Every individual event in the life of Christ,
as narrated by the Evangelists, is resplendent with the Mystery that surpasses
all understanding (cf. Eph 3:19): the Mystery of the Word made flesh, in
whom “all the fullness of God dwells bodily” (Col 2:9). For this reason the
Catechism of the Catholic Church places great emphasis on the mysteries of
Christ, pointing out that “everything in the life of Jesus is a sign of his
Mystery”.30 The “duc in altum” of the Church of the third millennium will
be determined by the ability of Christians to enter into the “perfect knowledge
of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3). The Letter to the Ephesians makes this heartfelt
prayer for all the baptized: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith,
so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power... to know
the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with
all the fullness of God” (3:17-19).
The Rosary is at the service of this ideal; it offers the “secret” which
leads easily to a profound and inward knowledge of Christ. We might call
it Mary's way. It is the way of the example of the Virgin of Nazareth, a
woman of faith, of silence, of attentive listening. It is also the way of
a Marian devotion inspired by knowledge of the inseparable bond between Christ
and his Blessed Mother: the mysteries of Christ are also in some sense the
mysteries of his Mother, even when they do not involve her directly, for
she lives from him and through him. By making our own the words of the Angel
Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth contained in the Hail Mary, we find ourselves
constantly drawn to seek out afresh in Mary, in her arms and in her heart,
the “blessed fruit of her womb” (cf Lk 1:42).
Mystery of Christ, mystery of man
25. In my testimony of 1978 mentioned above, where I described the Rosary
as my favourite prayer, I used an idea to which I would like to return. I
said then that “the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human
life”.31
In the light of what has been said so far on the mysteries of Christ, it
is not difficult to go deeper into this anthropological significance of the
Rosary, which is far deeper than may appear at first sight. Anyone who contemplates
Christ through the various stages of his life cannot fail to perceive in
him the truth about man. This is the great affirmation of the Second Vatican
Council which I have so often discussed in my own teaching since the Encyclical
Letter Redemptor Hominis: “it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh
that the mystery of man is seen in its true light”.32 The Rosary helps to
open up the way to this light. Following in the path of Christ, in whom man's
path is “recapitulated”,33 revealed and redeemed, believers come face to
face with the image of the true man. Contemplating Christ's birth, they learn
of the sanctity of life; seeing the household of Nazareth, they learn the
original truth of the family according to God's plan; listening to the Master
in the mysteries of his public ministry, they find the light which leads
them to enter the Kingdom of God; and following him on the way to Calvary,
they learn the meaning of salvific suffering. Finally, contemplating Christ
and his Blessed Mother in glory, they see the goal towards which each of
us is called, if we allow ourselves to be healed and transformed by the Holy
Spirit. It could be said that each mystery of the Rosary, carefully meditated,
sheds light on the mystery of man.
At the same time, it becomes natural to bring to this encounter with the
sacred humanity of the Redeemer all the problems, anxieties, labours and
endeavours which go to make up our lives. “Cast your burden on the Lord and
he will sustain you” (Ps 55:23). To pray the Rosary is to hand over our burdens
to the merciful hearts of Christ and his Mother. Twenty-five years later,
thinking back over the difficulties which have also been part of my exercise
of the Petrine ministry, I feel the need to say once more, as a warm invitation
to everyone to experience it personally: the Rosary does indeed “mark the
rhythm of human life”, bringing it into harmony with the “rhythm” of God's
own life, in the joyful communion of the Holy Trinity, our life's destiny
and deepest longing.
CHAPTER III
“FOR ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST”
The Rosary, a way of assimilating the mystery
26. Meditation on the mysteries of Christ is proposed in the Rosary by means
of a method designed to assist in their assimilation. It is a method based
on repetition. This applies above all to the Hail Mary, repeated ten times
in each mystery. If this repetition is considered superficially, there could
be a temptation to see the Rosary as a dry and boring exercise. It is quite
another thing, however, when the Rosary is thought of as an outpouring of
that love which tirelessly returns to the person loved with expressions similar
in their content but ever fresh in terms of the feeling pervading them.
In Christ, God has truly assumed a “heart of flesh”. Not only does God have
a divine heart, rich in mercy and in forgiveness, but also a human heart,
capable of all the stirrings of affection. If we needed evidence for this
from the Gospel, we could easily find it in the touching dialogue between
Christ and Peter after the Resurrection: “Simon, son of John, do you love
me?” Three times this question is put to Peter, and three times he gives
the reply: “Lord, you know that I love you” (cf. Jn 21:15-17). Over and above
the specific meaning of this passage, so important for Peter's mission, none
can fail to recognize the beauty of this triple repetition, in which the
insistent request and the corresponding reply are expressed in terms familiar
from the universal experience of human love. To understand the Rosary, one
has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love.
One thing is clear: although the repeated Hail Mary is addressed directly
to Mary, it is to Jesus that the act of love is ultimately directed, with
her and through her. The repetition is nourished by the desire to be conformed
ever more completely to Christ, the true programme of the Christian life.
Saint Paul expressed this project with words of fire: “For me to live is
Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). And again: “It is no longer I that
live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). The Rosary helps us to be conformed
ever more closely to Christ until we attain true holiness.
A valid method...
27. We should not be surprised that our relationship with Christ makes use
of a method. God communicates himself to us respecting our human nature and
its vital rhythms. Hence, while Christian spirituality is familiar with the
most sublime forms of mystical silence in which images, words and gestures
are all, so to speak, superseded by an intense and ineffable union with God,
it normally engages the whole person in all his complex psychological, physical
and relational reality.
This becomes apparent in the Liturgy. Sacraments and sacramentals are structured
as a series of rites which bring into play all the dimensions of the person.
The same applies to non-liturgical prayer. This is confirmed by the fact
that, in the East, the most characteristic prayer of Christological meditation,
centred on the words “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a
sinner”34 is traditionally linked to the rhythm of breathing; while this
practice favours perseverance in the prayer, it also in some way embodies
the desire for Christ to become the breath, the soul and the “all” of one's
life.
... which can nevertheless be improved
28. I mentioned in my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte that the West
is now experiencing a renewed demand for meditation, which at times leads
to a keen interest in aspects of other religions.35 Some Christians, limited
in their knowledge of the Christian contemplative tradition, are attracted
by those forms of prayer. While the latter contain many elements which are
positive and at times compatible with Christian experience, they are often
based on ultimately unacceptable premises. Much in vogue among these approaches
are methods aimed at attaining a high level of spiritual concentration by
using techniques of a psychophysical, repetitive and symbolic nature. The
Rosary is situated within this broad gamut of religious phenomena, but it
is distinguished by characteristics of its own which correspond to specifically
Christian requirements.
In effect, the Rosary is simply a method of contemplation. As a method, it
serves as a means to an end and cannot become an end in itself. All the same,
as the fruit of centuries of experience, this method should not be undervalued.
In its favour one could cite the experience of countless Saints. This is
not to say, however, that the method cannot be improved. Such is the intent
of the addition of the new series of mysteria lucis to the overall cycle
of mysteries and of the few suggestions which I am proposing in this Letter
regarding its manner of recitation. These suggestions, while respecting the
well-established structure of this prayer, are intended to help the faithful
to understand it in the richness of its symbolism and in harmony with the
demands of daily life. Otherwise there is a risk that the Rosary would not
only fail to produce the intended spiritual effects, but even that the beads,
with which it is usually said, could come to be regarded as some kind of
amulet or magic object, thereby radically distorting their meaning and function.
Announcing each mystery
29. Announcing each mystery, and perhaps even using a suitable icon to portray
it, is as it were to open up a scenario on which to focus our attention.
The words direct the imagination and the mind towards a particular episode
or moment in the life of Christ. In the Church's traditional spirituality,
the veneration of icons and the many devotions appealing to the senses, as
well as the method of prayer proposed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the
Spiritual Exercises, make use of visual and imaginative elements (the compositio
loci), judged to be of great help in concentrating the mind on the particular
mystery. This is a methodology, moreover, which corresponds to the inner
logic of the Incarnation: in Jesus, God wanted to take on human features.
It is through his bodily reality that we are led into contact with the mystery
of his divinity.
This need for concreteness finds further expression in the announcement of
the various mysteries of the Rosary. Obviously these mysteries neither replace
the Gospel nor exhaust its content. The Rosary, therefore, is no substitute
for lectio divina; on the contrary, it presupposes and promotes it. Yet,
even though the mysteries contemplated in the Rosary, even with the addition
of the mysteria lucis, do no more than outline the fundamental elements of
the life of Christ, they easily draw the mind to a more expansive reflection
on the rest of the Gospel, especially when the Rosary is prayed in a setting
of prolonged recollection.
Listening to the word of God
30. In order to supply a Biblical foundation and greater depth to our meditation,
it is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation
of a related Biblical passage, long or short, depending on the circumstances.
No other words can ever match the efficacy of the inspired word. As we listen,
we are certain that this is the word of God, spoken for today and spoken
“for me”.
If received in this way, the word of God can become part of the Rosary's
methodology of repetition without giving rise to the ennui derived from the
simple recollection of something already well known. It is not a matter of
recalling information but of allowing God to speak. In certain solemn communal
celebrations, this word can be appropriately illustrated by a brief commentary.
Silence
31. Listening and meditation are nourished by silence. After the announcement
of the mystery and the proclamation of the word, it is fitting to pause and
focus one's attention for a suitable period of time on the mystery concerned,
before moving into vocal prayer. A discovery of the importance of silence
is one of the secrets of practicing contemplation and meditation. One drawback
of a society dominated by technology and the mass media is the fact that
silence becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. Just as moments of silence
are recommended in the Liturgy, so too in the recitation of the Rosary it
is fitting to pause briefly after listening to the word of God, while the
mind focuses on the content of a particular mystery.
The “Our Father”
32. After listening to the word and focusing on the mystery, it is natural
for the mind to be lifted up towards the Father. In each of his mysteries,
Jesus always leads us to the Father, for as he rests in the Father's bosom
(cf. Jn 1:18) he is continually turned towards him. He wants us to share
in his intimacy with the Father, so that we can say with him: “Abba, Father”
(Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). By virtue of his relationship to the Father he makes
us brothers and sisters of himself and of one another, communicating to us
the Spirit which is both his and the Father's. Acting as a kind of foundation
for the Christological and Marian meditation which unfolds in the repetition
of the Hail Mary, the Our Father makes meditation upon the mystery, even
when carried out in solitude, an ecclesial experience.
The ten “Hail Marys”
33. This is the most substantial element in the Rosary and also the one which
makes it a Marian prayer par excellence. Yet when the Hail Mary is properly
understood, we come to see clearly that its Marian character is not opposed
to its Christological character, but that it actually emphasizes and increases
it. The first part of the Hail Mary, drawn from the words spoken to Mary
by the Angel Gabriel and by Saint Elizabeth, is a contemplation in adoration
of the mystery accomplished in the Virgin of Nazareth. These words express,
so to speak, the wonder of heaven and earth; they could be said to give us
a glimpse of God's own wonderment as he contemplates his “masterpiece” –
the Incarnation of the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary. If we recall how,
in the Book of Genesis, God “saw all that he had made” (Gen 1:31), we can
find here an echo of that “pathos with which God, at the dawn of creation,
looked upon the work of his hands”.36The repetition of the Hail Mary in the
Rosary gives us a share in God's own wonder and pleasure: in jubilant amazement
we acknowledge the greatest miracle of history. Mary's prophecy here finds
its fulfilment: “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48).
The centre of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge as it were which joins
its two parts, is the name of Jesus. Sometimes, in hurried recitation, this
centre of gravity can be overlooked, and with it the connection to the mystery
of Christ being contemplated. Yet it is precisely the emphasis given to the
name of Jesus and to his mystery that is the sign of a meaningful and fruitful
recitation of the Rosary. Pope Paul VI drew attention, in his Apostolic Exhortation
Marialis Cultus, to the custom in certain regions of highlighting the name
of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated.37
This is a praiseworthy custom, especially during public recitation. It gives
forceful expression to our faith in Christ, directed to the different moments
of the Redeemer's life. It is at once a profession of faith and an aid in
concentrating our meditation, since it facilitates the process of assimilation
to the mystery of Christ inherent in the repetition of the Hail Mary. When
we repeat the name of Jesus – the only name given to us by which we may hope
for salvation (cf. Acts 4:12) – in close association with the name of his
Blessed Mother, almost as if it were done at her suggestion, we set out on
a path of assimilation meant to help us enter more deeply into the life of
Christ.
From Mary's uniquely privileged relationship with Christ, which makes her
the Mother of God, Theotókos, derives the forcefulness of the appeal we make
to her in the second half of the prayer, as we entrust to her maternal intercession
our lives and the hour of our death.
The “Gloria”
34. Trinitarian doxology is the goal of all Christian contemplation. For
Christ is the way that leads us to the Father in the Spirit. If we travel
this way to the end, we repeatedly encounter the mystery of the three divine
Persons, to whom all praise, worship and thanksgiving are due. It is important
that the Gloria, the high-point of contemplation, be given due prominence
in the Rosary. In public recitation it could be sung, as a way of giving
proper emphasis to the essentially Trinitarian structure of all Christian
prayer.
To the extent that meditation on the mystery is attentive and profound, and
to the extent that it is enlivened – from one Hail Mary to another – by love
for Christ and for Mary, the glorification of the Trinity at the end of each
decade, far from being a perfunctory conclusion, takes on its proper contemplative
tone, raising the mind as it were to the heights of heaven and enabling us
in some way to relive the experience of Tabor, a foretaste of the contemplation
yet to come: “It is good for us to be here!” (Lk 9:33).
The concluding short prayer
35. In current practice, the Trinitarian doxology is followed by a brief
concluding prayer which varies according to local custom. Without in any
way diminishing the value of such invocations, it is worthwhile to note that
the contemplation of the mysteries could better express their full spiritual
fruitfulness if an effort were made to conclude each mystery with a prayer
for the fruits specific to that particular mystery. In this way the Rosary
would better express its connection with the Christian life. One fine liturgical
prayer suggests as much, inviting us to pray that, by meditation on the mysteries
of the Rosary, we may come to “imitate what they contain and obtain what
they promise”.38
Such a final prayer could take on a legitimate variety of forms, as indeed
it already does. In this way the Rosary can be better adapted to different
spiritual traditions and different Christian communities. It is to be hoped,
then, that appropriate formulas will be widely circulated, after due pastoral
discernment and possibly after experimental use in centres and shrines particularly
devoted to the Rosary, so that the People of God may benefit from an abundance
of authentic spiritual riches and find nourishment for their personal contemplation.
The Rosary beads
36. The traditional aid used for the recitation of the Rosary is the set
of beads. At the most superficial level, the beads often become a simple
counting mechanism to mark the succession of Hail Marys. Yet they can also
take on a symbolism which can give added depth to contemplation.
Here the first thing to note is the way the beads converge upon the Crucifix,
which both opens and closes the unfolding sequence of prayer. The life and
prayer of believers is centred upon Christ. Everything begins from him, everything
leads towards him, everything, through him, in the Holy Spirit, attains to
the Father.
As a counting mechanism, marking the progress of the prayer, the beads evoke
the unending path of contemplation and of Christian perfection. Blessed Bartolo
Longo saw them also as a “chain” which links us to God. A chain, yes, but
a sweet chain; for sweet indeed is the bond to God who is also our Father.
A “filial” chain which puts us in tune with Mary, the “handmaid of the Lord”
(Lk 1:38) and, most of all, with Christ himself, who, though he was in the
form of God, made himself a “servant” out of love for us (Phil 2:7).
A fine way to expand the symbolism of the beads is to let them remind us
of our many relationships, of the bond of communion and fraternity which
unites us all in Christ.
The opening and closing
37.At present, in different parts of the Church, there are many ways to introduce
the Rosary. In some places, it is customary to begin with the opening words
of Psalm 70: “O God, come to my aid; O Lord, make haste to help me”, as if
to nourish in those who are praying a humble awareness of their own insufficiency.
In other places, the Rosary begins with the recitation of the Creed, as if
to make the profession of faith the basis of the contemplative journey about
to be undertaken. These and similar customs, to the extent that they prepare
the mind for contemplation, are all equally legitimate. The Rosary is then
ended with a prayer for the intentions of the Pope, as if to expand the vision
of the one praying to embrace all the needs of the Church. It is precisely
in order to encourage this ecclesial dimension of the Rosary that the Church
has seen fit to grant indulgences to those who recite it with the required
dispositions.
If prayed in this way, the Rosary truly becomes a spiritual itinerary in
which Mary acts as Mother, Teacher and Guide, sustaining the faithful by
her powerful intercession. Is it any wonder, then, that the soul feels the
need, after saying this prayer and experiencing so profoundly the motherhood
of Mary, to burst forth in praise of the Blessed Virgin, either in that splendid
prayer the Salve Regina or in the Litany of Loreto? This is the crowning
moment of an inner journey which has brought the faithful into living contact
with the mystery of Christ and his Blessed Mother.
Distribution over time
38. The Rosary can be recited in full every day, and there are those who
most laudably do so. In this way it fills with prayer the days of many a
contemplative, or keeps company with the sick and the elderly who have abundant
time at their disposal. Yet it is clear – and this applies all the more if
the new series of mysteria lucis is included – that many people will not
be able to recite more than a part of the Rosary, according to a certain
weekly pattern. This weekly distribution has the effect of giving the different
days of the week a certain spiritual “colour”, by analogy with the way in
which the Liturgy colours the different seasons of the liturgical year.
According to current practice, Monday and Thursday are dedicated to the “joyful
mysteries”, Tuesday and Thursday to the “sorrowful mysteries”, and Wednesday,
Saturday and Sunday to the “glorious mysteries”. Where might the “mysteries
of light” be inserted? If we consider that the “glorious mysteries” are said
on both Saturday and Sunday, and that Saturday has always had a special Marian
flavour, the second weekly meditation on the “joyful mysteries”, mysteries
in which Mary's presence is especially pronounced, could be moved to Saturday.
Thursday would then be free for meditating on the “mysteries of light”.
This indication is not intended to limit a rightful freedom in personal and
community prayer, where account needs to be taken of spiritual and pastoral
needs and of the occurrence of particular liturgical celebrations which might
call for suitable adaptations. What is really important is that the Rosary
should always be seen and experienced as a path of contemplation. In the
Rosary, in a way similar to what takes place in the Liturgy, the Christian
week, centred on Sunday, the day of Resurrection, becomes a journey through
the mysteries of the life of Christ, and he is revealed in the lives of his
disciples as the Lord of time and of history.
CONCLUSION
“Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain linking us to God”
39. What has been said so far makes abundantly clear the richness of this
traditional prayer, which has the simplicity of a popular devotion but also
the theological depth of a prayer suited to those who feel the need for deeper
contemplation.
The Church has always attributed particular efficacy to this prayer, entrusting
to the Rosary, to its choral recitation and to its constant practice, the
most difficult problems. At times when Christianity itself seemed under threat,
its deliverance was attributed to the power of this prayer, and Our Lady
of the Rosary was acclaimed as the one whose intercession brought salvation.
Today I willingly entrust to the power of this prayer – as I mentioned at
the beginning – the cause of peace in the world and the cause of the family.
Peace
40. The grave challenges confronting the world at the start of this new Millennium
lead us to think that only an intervention from on high, capable of guiding
the hearts of those living in situations of conflict and those governing
the destinies of nations, can give reason to hope for a brighter future.
The Rosary is by its nature a prayer for peace, since it consists in the
contemplation of Christ, the Prince of Peace, the one who is “our peace”
(Eph 2:14). Anyone who assimilates the mystery of Christ – and this is clearly
the goal of the Rosary – learns the secret of peace and makes it his life's
project. Moreover, by virtue of its meditative character, with the tranquil
succession of Hail Marys, the Rosary has a peaceful effect on those who pray
it, disposing them to receive and experience in their innermost depths, and
to spread around them, that true peace which is the special gift of the Risen
Lord (cf. Jn 14:27; 20.21).
The Rosary is also a prayer for peace because of the fruits of charity which
it produces. When prayed well in a truly meditative way, the Rosary leads
to an encounter with Christ in his mysteries and so cannot fail to draw attention
to the face of Christ in others, especially in the most afflicted. How could
one possibly contemplate the mystery of the Child of Bethlehem, in the joyful
mysteries, without experiencing the desire to welcome, defend and promote
life, and to shoulder the burdens of suffering children all over the world?
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? And how could one contemplate Christ carrying the Cross and
Christ Crucified, without feeling the need to act as a “Simon of Cyrene”
for our brothers and sisters weighed down by grief or crushed by despair?
Finally, how could one possibly gaze upon the glory of the Risen Christ or
of Mary Queen of Heaven, without yearning to make this world more beautiful,
more just, more closely conformed to God's plan?
In a word, by focusing our eyes on Christ, the Rosary also makes us peacemakers
in the world. By its nature as an insistent choral petition in harmony with
Christ's invitation to “pray ceaselessly” (Lk 18:1), the Rosary allows us
to hope that, even today, the difficult “battle” for peace can be won. Far
from offering an escape from the problems of the world, the Rosary obliges
us to see them with responsible and generous eyes, and obtains for us the
strength to face them with the certainty of God's help and the firm intention
of bearing witness in every situation to “love, which binds everything together
in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14).
The family: parents...
41. As a prayer for peace, the Rosary is also, and always has been, a prayer
of and for the family. At one time this prayer was particularly dear to Christian
families, and it certainly brought them closer together. It is important
not to lose this precious inheritance. We need to return to the practice
of family prayer and prayer for families, continuing to use the Rosary.
In my Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte I encouraged the celebration
of the Liturgy of the Hours by the lay faithful in the ordinary life of parish
communities and Christian groups;39 I now wish to do the same for the Rosary.
These two paths of Christian contemplation are not mutually exclusive; they
complement one another. I would therefore ask those who devote themselves
to the pastoral care of families to recommend heartily the recitation of
the Rosary.
The family that prays together stays together. The Holy Rosary, by age-old
tradition, has shown itself particularly effective as a prayer which brings
the family together. Individual family members, in turning their eyes towards
Jesus, also regain the ability to look one another in the eye, to communicate,
to show solidarity, to forgive one another and to see their covenant of love
renewed in the Spirit of God.
Many of the problems facing contemporary families, especially in economically
developed societies, result from their increasing difficulty in communicating.
Families seldom manage to come together, and the rare occasions when they
do are often taken up with watching television. To return to the recitation
of the family Rosary means filling daily life with very different images,
images of the mystery of salvation: the image of the Redeemer, the image
of his most Blessed Mother. The family that recites the Rosary together reproduces
something of the atmosphere of the household of Nazareth: its members place
Jesus at the centre, they share his joys and sorrows, they place their needs
and their plans in his hands, they draw from him the hope and the strength
to go on.
... and children
42. It is also beautiful and fruitful to entrust to this prayer the growth
and development of children. Does the Rosary not follow the life of Christ,
from his conception to his death, and then to his Resurrection and his glory?
Parents are finding it ever more difficult to follow the lives of their children
as they grow to maturity. In a society of advanced technology, of mass communications
and globalization, everything has become hurried, and the cultural distance
between generations is growing ever greater. The most diverse messages and
the most unpredictable experiences rapidly make their way into the lives
of children and adolescents, and parents can become quite anxious about the
dangers their children face. At times parents suffer acute disappointment
at the failure of their children to resist the seductions of the drug culture,
the lure of an unbridled hedonism, the temptation to violence, and the manifold
expressions of meaninglessness and despair.
To pray the Rosary for children, and even more, with children, training them
from their earliest years to experience this daily “pause for prayer” with
the family, is admittedly not the solution to every problem, but it is a
spiritual aid which should not be underestimated. It could be objected that
the Rosary seems hardly suited to the taste of children and young people
of today. But perhaps the objection is directed to an impoverished method
of praying it. Furthermore, without prejudice to the Rosary's basic structure,
there is nothing to stop children and young people from praying it – either
within the family or in groups – with appropriate symbolic and practical
aids to understanding and appreciation. Why not try it? With God's help,
a pastoral approach to youth which is positive, impassioned and creative
– as shown by the World Youth Days! – is capable of achieving quite remarkable
results. If the Rosary is well presented, I am sure that young people will
once more surprise adults by the way they make this prayer their own and
recite it with the enthusiasm typical of their age group.
The Rosary, a treasure to be rediscovered
43. Dear brothers and sisters! A prayer so easy and yet so rich truly deserves
to be rediscovered by the Christian community. Let us do so, especially this
year, as a means of confirming the direction outlined in my Apostolic Letter
Novo Millennio Ineunte, from which the pastoral plans of so many particular
Churches have drawn inspiration as they look to the immediate future.
I turn particularly to you, my dear Brother Bishops, priests and deacons,
and to you, pastoral agents in your different ministries: through your own
personal experience of the beauty of the Rosary, may you come to promote
it with conviction.
I also place my trust in you, theologians: by your sage and rigorous reflection,
rooted in the word of God and sensitive to the lived experience of the Christian
people, may you help them to discover the Biblical foundations, the spiritual
riches and the pastoral value of this traditional prayer.
I count on you, consecrated men and women, called in a particular way to contemplate the face of Christ at the school of Mary.
I look to all of you, brothers and sisters of every state of life, to you,
Christian families, to you, the sick and elderly, and to you, young people:
confidently take up the Rosary once again. Rediscover the Rosary in the light
of Scripture, in harmony with the Liturgy, and in the context of your daily
lives.
May this appeal of mine not go unheard! At the start of the twenty-fifth
year of my Pontificate, I entrust this Apostolic Letter to the loving hands
of the Virgin Mary, prostrating myself in spirit before her image in the
splendid Shrine built for her by Blessed Bartolo Longo, the apostle of the
Rosary. I willingly make my own the touching words with which he concluded
his well-known Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary: “O Blessed Rosary
of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us
to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port
in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort
in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last
word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei,
O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted.
May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven”.
From the Vatican, on the 16th day of October in the year 2002, the beginning of the twenty- fifth year of my Pontificate.
JOHN PAUL II
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 45.
2 Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (2 February 1974), 42: AAS 66 (1974), 153.
3 Cf. Acta Leonis XIII, 3 (1884), 280-289.
4 Particularly worthy of note is his Apostolic Epistle on the Rosary Il religioso
convegno (29 September 1961): AAS 53 (1961), 641-647.
5 Angelus: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, I (1978): 75-76.
6 AAS 93 (2001), 285.
7 During the years of preparation for the Council, Pope John XXIII did not
fail to encourage the Christian community to recite the Rosary for the success
of this ecclesial event: cf. Letter to the Cardinal Vicar (28 September 1960):
AAS 52 (1960), 814-816.
8 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 66.
9 No. 32: AAS 93 (2001), 288.
10 Ibid., 33: loc. cit., 289.
11 It is well-known and bears repeating that private revelations are not
the same as public revelation, which is binding on the whole Church. It is
the task of the Magisterium to discern and recognize the authenticity and
value of private revelations for the piety of the faithful.
12 The Secret of the Rosary.
13 Blessed Bartolo Longo, Storia del Santuario di Pompei, Pompei, 1990, 59.
14 Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (2 February 1974), 47: AAS (1974), 156.
15 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10.
16 Ibid., 12.
17 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 58.
18 I Quindici Sabati del Santissimo Rosario, 27th ed., Pompei, 1916, 27.
19 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, 53.
20 Ibid., 60.
21 Cf. First Radio Address Urbi et Orbi (17 October 1978): AAS 70 (1978), 927.
22 Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
23 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2679.
24 Ibid., 2675.
25 The Supplication to the Queen of the Holy Rosary was composed by Blessed
Bartolo Longo in 1883 in response to the appeal of Pope Leo XIII, made in
his first Encyclical on the Rosary, for the spiritual commitment of all Catholics
in combating social ills. It is solemnly recited twice yearly, in May and
October.
26 Divina Commedia, Paradiso XXXIII, 13-15.
27 John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 20: AAS 93 (2001), 279.
28 Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus (2 February 1974), 46: AAS 6 (1974), 155.
29 John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (6 January 2001), 28: AAS 93 (2001), 284.
30 No. 515.
31 Angelus Message of 29 October 1978 : Insegnamenti, I (1978), 76.
32 Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et Spes, 22.
33 Cf. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Adversus Haereses, III, 18, 1: PG 7, 932.
34 Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2616.
35 Cf. No. 33: AAS 93 (2001), 289.
36 John Paul II, Letter to Artists (4 April 1999), 1: AAS 91 (1999), 1155.
37 Cf. No. 46: AAS 66 (1974), 155. This custom has also been recently praised
by the Congregation for Divine Worship and for the Discipline of the Sacraments
in its Direttorio su pietà popolare e liturgia. Principi e orientamenti (17
December 2001), 201, Vatican City, 2002, 165.
38 “...concede, quaesumus, ut haec mysteria sacratissimo beatae Mariae Virginis
Rosario recolentes, et imitemur quod continent, et quod promittunt assequamur”.
Missale Romanum 1960, in festo B.M. Virginis a Rosario.
39 Cf. No. 34: AAS 93 (2001), 290.