Verso

How to Pray the Rosary, and the Mysteries for Each Day

Today, Monday: the Joyful Mysteries.

The Rosary is a way of praying through the Gospel with Mary. Each of its twenty mysteries recalls a moment in the life of Jesus or his mother, most of them told in Scripture. You pray one set of five mysteries at a time, keeping count on the beads: an Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be for each mystery. The Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries go back centuries; Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries in 2002.

How to pray it

  1. Holding the crucifix, make the Sign of the Cross and pray the Apostles' Creed.
  2. On the first bead, pray the Our Father; on each of the next three, a Hail Mary; then the Glory Be.
  3. For each of the five mysteries, name it and read or recall its passage. Then pray the Our Father, ten Hail Marys and the Glory Be. Many add the Fatima prayer.
  4. After the fifth mystery, pray the Hail, Holy Queen; you can end with the Litany of Loreto and the prayer after the Rosary.

Joyful Mysteries

Prayed on Monday and Saturday.

  1. The Annunciation · Luke 1:26–38
  2. The Visitation · Luke 1:39–56
  3. The Nativity · Luke 2:1–20
  4. The Presentation in the Temple · Luke 2:22–38
  5. The Finding in the Temple · Luke 2:41–52

Luminous Mysteries

Prayed on Thursday.

  1. The Baptism in the Jordan · Matthew 3:13–17
  2. The Wedding at Cana · John 2:1–11
  3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom · Mark 1:14–15
  4. The Transfiguration · Luke 9:28–36
  5. The Institution of the Eucharist · Luke 22:14–20

Sorrowful Mysteries

Prayed on Tuesday and Friday.

  1. The Agony in the Garden · Luke 22:39–46
  2. The Scourging at the Pillar · Mark 15:6–15
  3. The Crowning with Thorns · Mark 15:16–20
  4. The Carrying of the Cross · Luke 23:26–32
  5. The Crucifixion · Luke 23:33–46

Glorious Mysteries

Prayed on Sunday and Wednesday.

  1. The Resurrection · Luke 24:1–12
  2. The Ascension · Acts 1:6–11
  3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit · Acts 2:1–4
  4. The Assumption of Mary · Luke 1:46–55
  5. The Coronation of Mary · Revelation 12:1

The steps and introduction are ours; the prayers link to their full texts. Passages open in Verso.