Rosarium Virginis Mariae. On October 16, 2002, Pope John Paul II published the Apostolic Letter “On the Most Holy Rosary” in order to commend the praying of the Rosary as a central part of the new evangelization. In Rosarium Virginis Maria, the Holy Father describes the praying of the Holy Rosary as “nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” (No. 3a) In the document John Paul II states that to pray the Rosary is to sit at the School of Mary, for when we pray the Rosary, our Blessed Mother herself, as she always does, leads us to her Son. At the School of Mary, we come to know God’s immeasurable love for us in Christ. The method of the School of Mary is at once simple and profound. We pray repeatedly the Hail Mary, a most simple prayer, while contemplating the principal events in the life of Christ. The mysteries of the Rosary, in the words of Pope John Paul II, “put us in living communion with Jesus through — we might say — the heart of his Mother.” (No. 2a) In this document John Paul II encourages a deeper reflection on the mysteries of the rosary through a contemplation of icons and the reading of Scripture. He also offered the Church five new mysteries—the luminous mysteries, which lead us to reflect on key mysteries of Jesus' life: the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, the wedding feast at Cana, the proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration of Jesus, and the institution of the Eucharist. Besides the Luminous Mysteries John Paul II makes other suggestions for the recitation of the rosary that it may lead those who recite it to a greater contemplation of the mysteries of Christ.

Keywords:church documents - Mar12 - Ros12