The Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary (Thursday)
By reading the following article you will learn everything you need to know about the Holy Rosary on Thursday, how to pray it, we will also teach you the Mysteries of the Rosary on Thursday and the Lauretan Litanies and their relationship with the prayer of the Holy Rosary.
What are the Luminous Mysteries?
In the Catholic Religion there are prayers of the Holy Rosary, each prayer is assigned a mystery, there are the Sorrowful Mysteries that speak about the passion of Jesus, the Mysteries of Joy, which deal with what the life of the Child Jesus was and finally we have the Luminous Mysteries, these deal with the public life of Jesus.
These Luminous Mysteries were added from this new millennium and were added to the recitation of the Holy Rosary on Thursday by the late Pope John Paul II, the rosary had never received a modification in centuries until the arrival of these mysteries and the day that are prayed are on Thursdays.
How to pray the Luminous Mysteries?
To pray these mysteries of the rosary, you must first perform a series of prayers, these are made up of the sign of the cross, the creed and an act of repentance.
Once these prayers are finished, the first mystery is read. At the end of it, 1 Our Father and 10 Hail Marys will be prayed, this same process will be carried out with the reading of each one of the mysteries, in total there are 5.
Then a Hail to the Blessed Virgin Mary is prayed and some supplications are read, then a brief prayer to God and to end the prayer it closes with an Our Father and a Hail Mary.
First Luminous Mystery – The Baptism of Jesus
And so Jesus met John at the Jordan River. John wanted to be baptized by the Lord but this was not the case, the Lord Jesus Christ told John that he was coming to be baptized by him.
Jesus explained that in order to be the savior of the world he had to be purified as well, Jesus had already assumed that because he was the representation of his father in human form he was also imperfect and therefore a sinner.
Once Jesus was baptized by John, an incredible miracle occurred, the gates of heaven opened and under God in the form of a dove, from the heavens it was possible to hear how a voice said that this was his son, the son of God, a son in which is pleased.
Second Luminous Mystery – The Wedding at Cana
In this Mystery is when the miracles that Jesus was capable of doing begin to glimpse, they will wonder what miracles? Well, at this wedding the wine ran out and Jesus transformed the water into wine.
At a wedding in Cana, Mary realized that the wine had run out, so she proceeded to notify Jesus that it had run out, so they sent to fill some vessels with water and when they were served, the miracle had occurred, the water had run out. transformed into wine.
Third Luminous Mystery – Jesus Announces the Kingdom of God
This Mystery speaks of the march that Jesus undertook towards Galilee, when he arrived he began to spread the word of God, the good news. Jesus prophesied that the time had come and the kingdom of God was about to arrive.
Jesus called everyone to come closer, hear the word of the Lord and surrender their faith to the word of God. Jesus said that the kingdom of God is in the heart of each one of us, in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, Jesus must first be in our hearts.
Jesus arrived in Capernaum, in this city they took a paralytic to him, he was lying on his stretcher, so that Christ could see him they opened the roof of his house, through this opening Jesus could see him and at that very moment he observes the faith that They have everyone in the crowd, so he decides to tell the invalid that his sins were forgiven him, immediately afterwards he got up, took his stretcher and went home.
Jesus Christ demonstrated the love that he had for us, he forgave our sins because he had the faithful belief that those who were not forgiven did not show love, those whose sins were forgiven showed a lot of love.
Fourth Luminous Mystery – The Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus
After 6 days of announcing the kingdom of God, Jesus Christ in the company of Peter, James and John went out to the top of a mountain, in front of them he was transfigured, his face changed completely, he became Luminous , very bright as white as the light itself.
All of them, the Lord’s disciples were able to observe how Jesus’ face became as bright as the sun and his clothing became white and pure, pure as light itself.
In this Moses and Elijah talking with him were amazed, they paid attention to a cloud full of light that suddenly appeared and listened attentively to the voice that said that this was his beloved son, all those who accompanied Jesus at that time told him that they would listen to all and every word that God had to say to them.
Fifth Luminous Mystery – The Institution of the Eucharist
At this point, Jesus knew very well that his time to pass from this world to the world of his father was about to come, Jesus had already loved his own to the limit.
In the middle of the meal, Jesus took a moment to bless the food and then, holding a piece of bread, he blessed it, broke it and distributed it among his disciples, then told them to receive it and eat it, because this bread was a representation of his body.
Then he had a drink, thanked the Lord, distributed the cup to those who were there and exclaimed that they drink it because that was his blood, the blood of the son of God, blood that would later be shed in order to forgive the sins of all the people. humanity.
Reflection and Conclusion about the Luminous Mysteries
In this first Mystery you can see how Jesus saw himself as an imperfect human being, just like us, that’s why he asked John to baptize him. Jesus Christ, despite being the savior of the world, followed in the footsteps of a normal human being baptized to cleanse the sin of his being. After the baptism, the miracle occurred, the opening of the gates of heaven.
During the second Mystery Jesus’ ability to perform miracles is manifested, for the first time Jesus transforms water into wine.
The third Mystery recounts how Jesus Christ made a trip to spread the gospel, Jesus asked everyone to join the faith of God, he gave a message full of love.
Later he performed another of his many miracles and healed a person who was lying invalid, Jesus believed that love and forgiveness of sins would make love grow in the hearts of those who received forgiveness.
At the fourth Mystery, after the kingdom of God had been announced, Christ in the company of his faithful followers went to a mountain to contemplate his divinity, right here is when they all told the Lord God Almighty that they would hear each one of them. the words he has to say to them.
Once reached the fifth Mystery, Jesus Christ knew very well that his time had come, it was time to meet with his father, Jesus had already loved his neighbor. This was the iconic moment where Jesus blessed the table, the food and taking a piece of bread he exclaimed that it was his body, taking a glass of wine he declared that it was his blood.
Definition of the Lauretan Litanies
The Lauretan Litanies are a kind of compliment or petition to the Virgin Mary, mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Litanies have the quality that they are a prayer by way of supplication.
They are not only addressed to the Virgin Mary, this is because they can also be addressed to some saints. The Litanies began to spread massively in churches.
Pope “Clement VIII” declared that the Litanies owe their name to the Virgin of Loreto, this was motivated by the fact that they were performed in the chapel of this Virgin.
Origin of the Lauretan Litanies
The origin of the Litanies begins with the first centuries of Christianity. Parents and those attending the masses used to make this type of prayers of supplication, at first they were addressed to God the father, but later the recipients of these were expanded, now it is normal for them to be given to virgins and Saints.
In ancient times to perform Litanies to the Virgin Mary, they referred to her in 3 different ways, using the Latin language they called her «Sancta Virgo Virginum, the Sancta Dei Genetrix and the Sancta Maria». This was acclaimed and full of praise by eastern parents.
In some churches and chapels they were very popular and in fact there were songs to the Virgin, the songs were not exact or in a specific way because according to the religion of who put them into practice the praises had changes. Having said this, Pope “Pius V” decided to abolish them and instead decreed the “Parvo Office of the Virgin”.
The oldest Letanies addressed to Mary are found in a codex dating from the 12th century AD. The codex is entitled in Latin as : Letany of Domina Nostra Dei genenetrce Virgine Maria. Good Valde time, today for guacumgue tribulation says is. This codex had the characteristic that his praises were extensive and in every verse he repeated the name of “Sancta Maria.”
Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Litanies to Mary spread abruptly. In the midst of the Italian Renaissance, more Litanies were created in the monastery of Loreto.
Near the end of the 16th century, new Lauretan Litanies were created and these were called at the time as “New Biblical Praises” these Litanies became famous very quickly, this was such an amazing phenomenon that it practically annulled the first Litanies.
Well into the seventeenth century, the condition of the Litanies was exaggerated to the point where Loreto had one Litany per day. This led to Pope “Clement VIII” absolutely prohibiting all Litanies, all except those belonging to the masses and those contained in the breviaries.
List of some Litanies
- Pope Pius V included “Help of Christians” and it was basically a plea for help for the battle that occurred in Lepanto, later Pope Sixtus V approved it through a papal decree.
- Pope Clement XIII, following a request from the King of Spain, Carlos III, added the Litany of the “Immaculate Mother”
- In 1854 Pope Pius IX added “Queen conceived without original sin”
- Added in 1883 by Pope Leo XIII is the Litany to the “Queen of the Holy Rosary”
- Also by Leo XIII is “Mother of good advice” and was included in 1903
- By Pope Benedict XV and as a result of the First World War, the Litany “Queen of Peace” was included
- In 1951, the Litany “Queen Assumed into Heaven” was included by Pope Pius XII.
- As a conclusion to the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI included the Litany “Mother of the Church”.
- Pope John Paul II included 2 Litanies, one called “Mother of mercy” and another called “Queen of the family”
Singing of the Litanies in the Catholic Church
In the Catholic Church the way they use the litanies is simple but effective, they launch many praises as a supplication, all of them are addressed to the Virgin.
Relationship of the Litanies with the prayer of the Holy Rosary
During the month of October, Pope “Leon XIII” suggested finishing the recitation of the rosary and the litanies at the same time. He chose the month of October for being the month of the rosary, the pope wanted the crowds to stop thinking that the recitation of the rosary is linked in one way or another to the singing of the litanies of Lauretan.
The pope wanted the crowds to know that the litanies alone already served as an act of faith and worship for the virgin and could be used in a religious act such as a mass or could also be used in processions.
The recitation of the rosary is independent of the Lauretan Litanies, however these can be used to accompany it since the litany by itself means supplication and could be interpreted as a petition to the Lord Jesus Christ or to God the Father Almighty.
Last conclusions
The Luminous Mysteries deal with the public life of Jesus and recount the way in which little by little he began to perform his miracles, recount much of his life as a young man and as an adult and the people who commonly pray the rosary on Thursday mention of all those moments of the life of Jesus Christ.
Taking the same order of ideas, it can be understood that the people who pray the rosary make a kind of supplication to Jesus Christ and to God the Almighty Father with each prayer, with each Hail Mary and each Our Father.
The singing of the Lauretan Litanies was for a long time an accompaniment to the recitation of the rosaries and for this reason people commonly believed that they were part of it.
However, these serve by themselves as supplications to the Virgin or to any saint and were incredibly famous, many popes throughout history included them in the Catholic religion because their use as a supplication was perfect for making requests of any kind such as the end of the war.