35 Mysteries of the Rosary
October 8th, 2023
Jesus Christ: Lord of Lord’s and King of Kings ~
October is the month of the Rosary, and so today I submit another pastor’s column on this incredible devotion. I ran this column last year and plan to do so annually, as the mysteries in it release phenomenal graces for those who put them into practice.
While the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary have been around for centuries, it wasn’t until 2002 that Pope Saint John Paul II (St. JPII) introduced the Luminous Mysteries. He got his inspiration from a priest he canonized only the year before, Saint George Preca (1880-1962). St. George was a Maltese priest who founded a society of catechists which endures to this day, yet his greatest contribution to the Church was a set of private mysteries that he would pray the Rosary with. He called these the Mysteries of Light, hence St. JPII’s “Luminous Mysteries.” You can see here how they inspired St. JPII and how closely they paralleled his own Luminous Mysteries.
Mysteries of Light [by St. George Preca – probably mid-20th Century]
After Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan, he was led into the desert.
Jesus reveals Himself as true God by word and by miracles.
Jesus teaches the Beatitudes on the mountain.
Jesus is transfigured on the mountain.
Jesus has His Last Supper with the Apostles.
Luminous Mysteries [by St. John Paul II – 2002]
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.
The Wedding at Cana.
Jesus' Proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
The Transfiguration.
The Institution of the Eucharist.
Around 2011, I came across some private mysteries of the Rosary shared by Ronald Conte on his website. He called them the Hidden Mysteries. I don’t know if they were completely his creation or if he got them from someone else, although I do know that Blessed Anne Katherine Emmerich (totally awesome saint) was an inspiration for them. In the spirit of St. George Preca, St. JPII, and Conte, I was inspired to think of the Rosary as a Marian guide to salvation history; a catechism on what has been and is yet to be, or in theological language, soteriology. Soteriology (study of salvation) is the on-going story of how God works out our salvation from the fall of Adam and Eve to the second coming of Jesus Christ – a much broader timeframe than just the time Jesus spent on earth. Prayed this way, the Rosary becomes a spiritual journey from the creation of all things at the beginning of time, to the creation of the new heavens and the new earth at the end of time. We see ourselves and all of humanity from God’s vantage point of eternity and by extension our place in it.
More specifically, the mysteries that I present here place the Blessed Virgin Mary, her role, and her intercession throughout salvation history. Not just her time on earth, but before and after as well. From the time God put her in his mind, when in the Garden of Eden He prophesied to Satan: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between her offspring and yours; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” (Gn 3:15) The woman being prophesied at the dawn of the human race is Mary; her offspring prophesied is Jesus; and it is He who will strike Satan’s head with His heel. Mary will be there for us too when Jesus comes in His glory at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.
Mary has been referred to by saints as Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix of salvation. Neither title by her own power, nor by the faithful’s wanting it, but by God’s power and design. Somehow God uses the Blessed Virgin Mary to assist him in the story of humanity’s salvation. What a gift for us.
If you find yourself wanting to pray these mysteries, please do so privately and not publically. They are not for public use. If they are ever adopted for the universal Church, it would be long after my death and instituted by a saintly pope. I have all 35 mysteries memorized, and when I’m praying the Rosary alone, I pray them on the day of the week appointed – a different one for each day of the week. Here they are listed in chronological sequence.
The Soteriological Mysteries (mysteries of salvation history) – To be prayed on Tuesdays.
The Creation [God creates the heavens, earth, angels, and man]
The Fall [Adam & Eve sin in the Garden of Eden, passing on original sin and their fallen nature]
The Deluge [God starts over by wiping out all living creatures on land but for those on Noah’s Ark]
The Covenant with Abraham [God establishes a special relationship with one group of people (the Jews) to ultimately redeem the human race]
God imparts the Word [Beginning with Moses and ending with the Apostle John; God reveals Himself, His will, and salvation history to the human race through His Word written down in the Bible]
The Hidden Mysteries (the hidden life of the Blessed Virgin Mary) – To be prayed on Saturdays (down through the Church’s history, Saturdays have traditionally been Mary’s day of the week).
The Immaculate Conception [How could the Rosary not have the Immaculate Conception?!]
The Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary [September 8]
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple [Mary was presented both as an infant in the temple in Jerusalem and later went to live there for years of her childhood]
The Perfectly Chaste Marriage of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Joseph [The holiest marriage that ever was]
The Annunciation to Zechariah [The Angel announces the conception of John the Baptist, the precursor of Jesus the long hoped for Messiah]
The Joyful Mysteries – To be prayed on Mondays (as is the current practice).
The Annunciation [Archangel Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary of the Incarnation, the Word of God (Jesus) takes flesh in Mary’s womb]
The Visitation.
The Nativity.
The Presentation in the Temple.
The Finding of the Child Jesus.
The Luminous Mysteries – To be prayed on Thursdays (the day of the week the Eucharist was
instituted).
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan.
Jesus prays and fasts for 40 days in the wilderness [Preparing himself for his three year public ministry]
The Wedding at Cana: Jesus Proclaims the Kingdom of God in Word and Deed.
The Institution of the Ministerial Priesthood [How could we miss the significance of this? Without the ministerial priesthood, there is no Church, Eucharist, or Salvation!]
The Institution of the Eucharist.
The Sorrowful Mysteries – To be prayed on Fridays (the day of Jesus’ death).
The Agony in the Garden.
The Scourging at the Pillar.
The Crowning with Thorns.
The Carrying of the Cross.
The Crucifixion and Death of our Lord.
The Glorious Mysteries – To be prayed on Sundays (the day of Jesus’ Resurrection).
The Resurrection of Jesus.
The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven.
The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.
The Coronation of Mary in Heaven.
The Eschatological Mysteries (mysteries of the end times) – to be prayed on Wednesdays.
The Three Days of Darkness [This concludes the minor chastisement]
The Age of Mary [Also known as the age of Peace or Philadelphia in the book of Revelation]
The Defeat of the Anti-Christ [This concludes the major chastisement]
Jesus Comes to Judge the Living and the Dead [And burns the world by fire]
The New Heavens and the New Earth [The Bible, the story of salvation, begins with God creating the heavens and the earth; and ends with God creating a new heavens and a new earth – so too do the 35 Mysteries of the Rosary]
In Jesus and Mary, I Love You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
