Apostolic Letter “ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE” on the Most Holy Rosary

The Holy Father John Paul II published on October 16, 2002 the Apostolic Letter on the Most Holy Rosary under the title, “Rosarium Virginis Mariae”, where he also proclaims a year of the Holy Rosary, beginning today and running through the same date next year. The Holy Father asks that the Rosary be prayed particularly for the causes of world peace and the strengthening of family life. In this document, the Pope proposes five new mysteries of the Rosary under the name “luminous mysteries” or “mysteries of light”.

Notes

⁽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.