O Blessed Trinity,
We thank you for having graced the church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splender of the Holy Spirit to shine through him.

Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communication with you.

Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints.
Amen.

Pope closes 2005 with look back to John Paul II - By Phil Stewart.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict XVI gave 2005 a bitter-sweet farewell on Saturday as he looked back at the year that saw him elected to lead the Catholic Church after the death in April of John Paul II.

At his first "Te Deum" service of year-end thanksgiving, Benedict praised deepening dialogue with those of other faiths but he restated his concern that the traditional Christian family was in crisis.

The 78-year-old German-born Pope recalled a June 6 speech in which he condemned same-sex unions as fake and expressions of "anarchic freedom" that threatened the future of the family.

He had also condemned divorce, artificial birth control and trial marriages.

"The family has always been at the centre of attention of my revered predecessors, in particular John Paul II," Benedict said during the vespers, or evening service, at St. Peter's Basilica.

"He was persuasive and maintained on many occasions that the crisis of the family constitutes a serious detriment to our own civilisation ... I, too, have wished to offer my contribution.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano published a preview of its New Year's day edition, with a front-page story entitled "A shared path, a look to the future," describing 2005 as a bridge between the two pontificates.

It recalled that John Paul II had once called then-cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "a trusted friend", and how the two men were wholly dedicated to the Church.

At the ceremony, the Pope looked back to John Paul II and gave thanks to a year "rich with events" for the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

"My thoughts go, with profound and spiritual feeling, to 12 months ago when, like this evening, the beloved Pope John Paul II spoke for the last time for God's people to give thanks to the Lord for the many benefits given to the Church and to humanity," he said.

Benedict added that "it now falls on me" to give thanks at the end of 2005 and at the eve of 2006.

The Pope will lead a mass on Sunday, marking the New Year and the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace. The next major event on the Pope's Christmas calendar is a mass on the Feast of the Epiphany on Friday the 6th January, 2006.

In early January, the Pope also is due to publish his first encyclical, a major writing addressed to all Church members. The encyclical deals with the individual's personal relationship with God.

Pope John Paul II adds new mysteries to Rosary

Pope John Paul has added five new mysteries and several prayers to the Rosary in a remarkable Apostolic Letter that seeks to put the devotion back into the centre of Catholic life.

Called the 'mysteries of light,' the new Rosary themes focus on Christ's baptism, his first miracle, his preaching ministry, his Transfiguration and his institution of the Eucharist.

The innovation is contained in his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, which he signed at a general audience on Wednesday, the 24th anniversary of his election.

The document also announced the start of a Year of the Rosary, dedicated to reviving the traditional form of prayer, and invited individuals, communities and parishes worldwide to recite the prayers over that period for 'the cause of peace in the world, and for the cause of the family'.

Before signing, he spoke to the unusually large crowd of over 20,000 people, including 4,000 that had come from Poland for the occasion. Again, he ruled out any idea of resignation, as he once more entrusted his whole life and ministry to Our Lady, as he had done at Kalwaria (Calvary), Poland, last August. He asked her 'to obtain for me the strength of body and spirit, so that I may carry out to the end the mission entrusted to me by the Risen One', and concluded 'I entrust also my future to you'.

In the 61-page letter, the Pope reflects on, and explains the significance and the importance of the Rosary - 'my favourite prayer'. 'From my youthful years, this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life', he said, and added, 'How many graces have I received in these years from the Blessed Virgin through the Rosary'. Down the centuries, it has also helped countless people become saints, he said.

'No one has ever devoted himself to contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary,' he said, and through the Rosary 'we remember Christ with Mary and learn Christ from Mary'.

He explained carefully why he felt the need to 'improve' the Rosary by adding mysteries.

Up to now, he explained, the Rosary has focussed on certain moments of Jesus life, but it has not really focussed on his public life and ministry - it has, in a sense, been incomplete.

'While the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light since Christ is the light of the world,' he said, 'this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom.'

Since the 1500s, the Rosary has been recited in a series of three mysteries - the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries - each of which has five themes dedicated to episodes in the lives of Christ and Mary.

The themes of the five new 'mysteries of light' are:

Christ's baptism in the Jordan River.


His self-revelation at Cana.


Christ's announcement of the kingdom of God with the invitation to conversion.


The Transfiguration.


The institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper as the sacramental expression of the paschal mystery.

In his document, the Pope asks that the 'mysteries of light' be recited especially on Sunday.

Traditionally, mysteries of the Rosary have been dedicated to specific days of the week: the joyful mysteries recited on Mondays and Thursdays, the sorrowful mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays, and - until now - the glorious mysteries on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The pope said he respected the traditional form and did not want to change it, but also spoke of the Rosary's evolution as a prayer form and said the mysteries of light was an appropriate modern contribution.

He recommended strongly that 'a Biblical foundation' be given to the Rosary, so that people's 'meditations' might have 'greater depth' as they recite it. 'It is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a related Biblical passage,' he said, 'No other words can ever match the efficacy of the inspired word.'

He also recommended that 'after the announcement of the mystery and the proclamation of the word' it would be fitting for people 'to pause and focus one's attention for a suitable period on the mystery concerned, before moving into vocal prayer.'

The addition of the new mysteries, he said, 'is meant to give the Rosary fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the Rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the Heart of Christ'.

The Pope may have drawn inspiration from a Maltese priest he beatified in 2001, Blessed George Preca. In 1957, Blessed Preca devised five new mysteries corresponding to events in Jesus' public life and called them 'mysteries of light'; they are similar to those formulated by the pope.

The other 15 mysteries were standardised by Pope Pius V in 1569.

The letter has been welcomed throughout the Catholic world.

Fr Allen Morris of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales said that the document was a timely rallying cry to those who had moved away from the prayers.

'Ecumenically there may be a knee-jerk reaction, as many outside and inside the Church do not appreciate that the Rosary is Christological in orientation, but what the Pope has done is show how firmly the Rosary is rooted in the Gospel and how we approach Christ through Our Lady,' he said.

'In the 30-40 years since Vatican II, there has been a tendency to strip much of the devotional aspect of our faith from Catholic life. That has been an impoverishment.

'It was necessary to take some action then, as experience of the liturgy had been weak, but the Pope is telling us that liturgy and devotional life are not in competition and that the devotional life leads to a fuller understanding of the wonder of the liturgy.'

Archbishop Keith O'Brien President of the Scottish Bishop's Conference also welcomed the Letter.

He said: 'Turning to Our Blessed Lady, the Mother of our Church, at a time of personal crisis or as now when the world is threatened by war and terrorism will come very naturally to Catholics. The appeal by the Pope for us to turn to Our Lady, in special prayer for Peace in the world and consolidation of Family life will be welcomed.'

Praying the Rosary has ceased to be the essential part of Catholic life that it once was, with many youngsters complaining that they do not know anything but the basics.

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