John Paul II and the Madonna
 On
John Paul II’s coat of arms are the Latin words Totus Tuus,
which mean All Yours. As a factory worker he had been
attracted to Marian devotion. As Pope he entrusted everything to
Mary’s intercession. In a prayer to Mary, the Mother of God,
in his Easter message of 1988, John Paul prayed:
"Pray for the whole world, for all of humanity,
for all peoples! Pray for peace in the world, for justice! Pray
for the rights of man, especially for freedom of religion for every
man, Christian and non-Christian! Pray for the solidarity of people
of the whole world, the First and the Third, the Second and the
Fourth!"
(John Paul II’s Easter message, 1988)
Mary is the sign of salvation for the history of
the world. John Paul II declared the period between the Solemnity
of Pentecost 1987 and the Assumption of Mary in 1988 as a Marian
Year. To her he attributes the saving of his life after the attempted
assassination in St. Peter’s Square, May 13, 1983. As soon
as he was able to leave Rome he visited the Sanctuary of Merciful
Love at Collevalenza in Todi to give thanks for his recovery. "My
personal experiences this year," he said, "together with
the events on May 13, make me cry out: We owe it to the mercy of
God that we are not dead." The maternal face of Mary is the
maternal expression of the mercy of God. John Paul II made two pilgrimages
of thanksgiving to the Madonna on both the first and the tenth anniversaries
of the attack, and both pilgrimages were to Fatima. He often referred
to the day of the assassination attempt with the words, "One
hand fired, but another one guided the bullet" (Man of the
Millennium, page 99).
On October 18, 2002, the 25th Anniversary
of his election as Pope, John Paul II published his apostolic letter
Rosarium Virginis Mariae. He stated at the beginning of the
document, "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."
In Brief: What Did the Pope Say About the
Rosary?
1. Contemplating Christ with Mary
In the document, Pope John Paul stresses that,
above all, the rosary is a contemplative prayer. The word "contemplation"
might seem intimidating. Isn't that something monks and nuns do
while the rest of us go about our busy lives? But the pope explains
it in a simple way: to contemplate is to look upon the face of Jesus.
Just as Mary did, we can look on Jesus' face in many different ways.
John Paul spells out a few of the ways we can look at the Savior:
- With a questioning look, when nothing
seems to make sense;
- With a penetrating gaze, when we want to
understand Jesus more deeply;
- With a look of sorrow, when sufferings touch
our lives;
- With a look of joy, when the mystery of Easter
helps us make sense of those sufferings;
- With a gaze afire, when the Holy Spirit fills
our hearts and transforms them with his love.
Anyone who prays the rosary and looks at the
Lord in these ways is contemplating. The rosary can help us deal
with whatever comes into our lives. As we pray and ponder the mysteries
that Jesus lived, we not only remember his life but we "learn
Christ." John Paul says: "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.
2. A new set of mysteries, the "mysteries
of light"
When this document was released, most of the
interest centered on the new set of mysteries the pope introduced.
The newspaper headlines that screamed "Pope Changes Rosary!"
might have unsettled some Catholics who have been through more changes
in the past forty years than the Church has experienced in the previous
four hundred. Through all the liturgical and other changes since
Vatican II, the rosary was perhaps the one thing that seemed stable.
For hundreds of years Catholics have been praying the rosary with
the traditional three sets of mysteries: the joyful, sorrowful and
glorious.
But jumping from the finding of Jesus in the
Temple to his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane bypasses his entire
public ministry. The pope's proposal to add a new set of mysteries
broadens the rosary's scope and emphasizes Jesus as the center.
John Paul says that Jesus' public ministry shows 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)." These
are the five new "mysteries of light":
- Jesus' Baptism in the Jordan
- Jesus' self-manifestation at the wedding
of Cana
- Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God,
with his call to conversion
- Jesus' Transfiguration
- Jesus' institution of the Eucharist
In each of these mysteries, Jesus reveals himself
as the light of the world. John Paul says that except for the Cana
mystery, Mary is not explicitly present in these events of Jesus'
life. She remains in the background. But her words at Cana, "Do
whatever he tells you," form the backdrop for meditating on
all these events.
3. A few practical points
The pope also notes a few practical ways that
can help us pray the rosary in a renewed manner. The way each mystery
is announced can set the stage for our focus on it. He suggests
that using an icon to portray the scene of each mystery is a practical
way to focus our gaze on Jesus.
Ideally, the rosary should be integrated with
the Word of God. Reading a short text from the Gospels or another
book in the Bible before each mystery enables us to hear the word
that God speaks to us today. This simple method can greatly foster
contemplation of the various mysteries that the rosary sets before
us. Allowing a short period of silence after the reading will enhance
this even more.
At the end of each decade of the rosary, various
short prayers are often added. While these have some value, John
Paul says that instead of multiplying these, it would be best to
"conclude each mystery with a prayer for the fruits specific
to that particular mystery." He does not propose any specific
prayers, but leaves that to the local Churches to develop.
In conclusion: The Year of the Rosary
When he signed this document, Pope John Paul
II inaugurated a special Year of the Rosary, which runs from October
2002 to October 2003. After the Great Jubilee of the year 2000,
he notes that it is fitting to dedicate a year to Mary so as to
draw greater fruits from the graces of the Jubilee. He urges the
faithful to pray the rosary often throughout this year, with two
particular intentions in mind: for families and for world peace.
Rosarium
Virginius Mariae
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