Pope encourages family Rosary

03 May, 2013 - Pope Francis is urging Catholic families this month of May to pray the Rosary together saying it strengthens the family. The Pope said this on Friday on his Twitter handle @Pontifex: “It would be a good idea, during May, for families to say the Rosary together. Prayer strengthens family life.” The Holy Father himself is showing the way when he will lead the Rosary at Rome’s Mary Major Basilica on the first Saturday of May. Traditionally, May is dedicated to the Rosary, the Marian devotion and prayer that helps the faithful meditate on some of the important events or mysteries of Christ’s life and the Catholic faith. In the Rosary, the Gospel episodes are divided into three sets of 5 mysteries each – the joyful, the sorrowful and the glorious. For example, the joyful mysteries are the Annunciation, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth her cousin, the birth of Jesus, presentation of Jesus in the temple and finding Him after he went missing as a child. The sorrowful mysteries reflect on the passion and death of Jesus, while the glorious focus on Jesus and Mary after the Resurrection. Pope John Paul II added another set of mysteries – the mysteries of light – drawing attention to Jesus’ Baptism, the Marriage Feast of Cana, His public ministry, his Transfiguration and the Last Supper.