By now, the world has come to expect innovation from John Paul II. Surely he will go down in history as a pope who knew how to surprise people by change. Some of the changes have proven controversial indeed, but no one can accuse him of lacking creativity.

The latest example of John Paul's willingness to change tradition is his adding five additional mysteries to the rosary, a devotional prayer beloved by many Catholics. This move will not strike most people as highly significant; even Catholics will see it as a small change, affecting the piety of those who hold dear this particular form of prayer. However, for these people, it will come as a welcome gift from the pope.

If, before 1965, you had walked into a Catholic church while Mass was being celebrated, you would almost surely have seen some people praying the rosary. In those days the language of the liturgy was Latin, so many Catholics preferred to whisper the Hail Mary in their own language while also paying attention to the Mass.

However, with changes in the liturgy brought about by the Second Vatican Council forty years ago, saying the rosary during Mass has become relatively rare. Now that the public prayers of the church are said in the language of each country, Catholics find the Mass more accessible and they tend to give it their full attention.

However, the praying of the rosary has retained its popularity as a private prayer with not a few Catholics, and John Paul wishes to promote its use. He thinks highly of this practice and strongly encourages the habit. For him, it does not conflict with the official public prayer of the church, but instead “serves as an excellent introduction and a faithful echo of the liturgy.”

The genius of the rosary as a prayer comes from its combining spoken words with contemplation of events in the life of Jesus and his mother Mary. It also gives you something to hold in your hand – – beads strung together along which you move your fingers after saying each individual prescribed prayer.

A series of “Hail Marys,” each repeated ten times, forms the center of each section of the rosary. For the person praying, they become a kind of mantra, while he or she ponders the sacred events called “mysteries.” In the spiritual tradition the events receive this name because they have depths in which a person can find ever richer layers of meaning.

Up till now these mysteries came in three groups: joyful, sorrowful, and glorious. Those added this month the pope calls the five “mysteries of light” all of them taken from the public life of Jesus.

These five events, as listed by the pope, are: 1) The baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River; 2) His self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana; 3) His proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion; 4) His transfiguration; 5) His institution of the Eucharist.

John Paul sees contemplation of these five events as filling something of a gap between the five joyful mysteries relating to the infancy of Jesus and the sorrowful mysteries that center on his passion and death. The five events added by the pope will provide additional rich material for prayerful reflection, all of them based in the New Testament.

Those who pray the rosary every day of the week are accustomed to saying one set of five mysteries a day. For these people, the pope suggests that the “luminous mysteries” (his term for those he has added) be prayed on each Thursday. Some who give more time to the rosary each day, of course, can include all four groups at once.

Some Christians, including some Catholics, have often been troubled by what they see as too much attention to Mary in the rosary. That criticism, which the pope does not agree with, would seem to be deflected by the addition of the new mysteries so clearly focused on the life of Christ.

In any event, many spiritual seekers will welcome the rosary's new content and find it food for their souls. They may also agree with Sister Janice Farnham, professor of church history at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, who says simply of the new material, “It is beautiful.”

Richard Griffin