History of the Rosary

ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE

In 2002, the Pope of the Catholic Church, John Paul the II, penned a letter that is archived in the Vatican library explaining his creation of the "Luminous Mysteries" of the well-known Catholic practice of the Rosary.

Volume II of Reasons follows this origin story as well. The Mysteries of Light are both a divination and a desperate plea to bring conscious light back into our modern era.

Pope John Paul's letter notes that the addition of the Luminous Mysteries at the turn of the millenia was, in his view, an essesntial demarcation and acknowledgement of "public" facing consciousness. (e.g., the internet of things as an ever present stage in your pocket and in your mind).

With this leter, I welcome you to the text Reasons for Etant Donnes, a translation of the Luminous Mysteries into poetry. They are refracted, reflected, and wrought to resonate in the din of this age. Through these poems, I invite you to reclaim the word pray, to remain connected to the light.

APOSTOLIC LETTER

OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF JOHN PAUL II
TO THE BISHOPS, CLERGY AND FAITHFUL
ON THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

Read the full text of the vatican letter

"The Rosary marks the rhythm of human life, bringing it into harmony with the rhythm of the universe itself—a gentle path to peace in our fragmented world."

--Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, paragraph 21, (2002)

Poetry as Contemplative Prayer

The Rosary, precisely because it starts with Mary’s own experience, is exquisitely contemplative. Without contemplation, the Rosary is a body without a soul, and its recitation becomes a mechanical repetition of formulas, rather than the panorama of “ceaseless” prayer. It is a salutary contemplation of maternal intercession that can obtain all things from the heart of her child.

-Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, (2002)