When you hear the word “mystery,” you probably think of something like a detective story. Or you might think of something dark and mysterious that can’t be figured out. Whenever we can’t figure something out, we just say “It’s a mystery.”

But the rosary isn’t like that.

When it comes to the rosary, the mysteries are not far-off events we can’t know anything about. Instead, they are events we can never stop thinking about! That’s what a “mystery of the rosary” means — something you can always keep reflecting on. The more you reflect on these special events in the lives of Jesus and Mary, the more insights you gain. The mysteries of the rosary are meant to teach you about Jesus and Mary. And the more you reflect on their holy lives, the holier you will become in your own daily life.

Every day of the week has a set of mysteries:

  • Sunday: Glorious Mysteries
  • Monday: Joyful Mysteries
  • Tuesday: Sorrowful Mysteries
  • Wednesday: Glorious Mysteries
  • Thursday: Luminous Mysteries
  • Friday: Sorrowful Mysteries
  • Saturday: Joyful Mysteries

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

The Annunciation
The angel Gabriel visits Mary, who responds “Yes” to God’s plan for her.

The Visitation
Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. The infant John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb.

The Nativity
The Son of God is born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem.

The Presentation in the Temple
Mary and Joseph bring the infant Jesus to the Temple according to Jewish custom. Simeon foretells future suffering for Jesus and Mary.

The Finding in the Temple
The child Jesus goes missing for three days in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph find Him in the Temple, teaching the elders.

The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary

The Baptism in the Jordan
Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist. The voice of God the Father speaks: “This is my beloved son.”

The Wedding Feast at Cana
At the request of Mary, Jesus performs his first public miracle: turning water into wine.

The Proclamation of the Kingdom
Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the Gospel.

The Transfiguration
Jesus offers a glimpse of His glory to Peter, James and John.

The Institution of the Eucharist
At the Last Supper, Jesus takes bread and wine and says, “This is my body; this is my blood.”

The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary

The Agony in the Garden
Jesus prays to let the cup of the Passion pass from Him, but that the will of the Father be done.

The Scourging at the Pillar
Jesus is brutally beaten and whipped by Roman soldiers.

The Crowning of Thorns
The soldiers mock Jesus and dress him up like a king.

The Carrying of the Cross
Jesus perseveres under the weight of the cross and the weight of all our sins.

The Crucifixion
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is nailed to the cross and dies.

The Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary

The Resurrection of Christ
Jesus rises from the dead; the world will never be the same again.

The Ascension of Christ
With the apostles looking on, Jesus returns to His Father in Heaven.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost
The Holy Spirit comes in tongues of fire to give spiritual strength and power to the apostles.

The Assumption of Mary
At the end of her earthly life, Mary is taken up body and soul into Heaven.

The Crowning of Mary
Mary is crowned in Heaven as the Mother of God and our spiritual mother.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

The next time you pray the rosary, make a special effort to reflect on the mysteries. Over time, you’ll grow to love coming back to them again and again.

“To recite the rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ.” – St. John Paul II

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29 COMMENTS

  1. My prayer life has been weak for a long time. Today, by reciting the Rosary, I made it a little less weak. Pray for my daughter, my grandson, and my husband

      • Nice that you offer to intercede for this person.

        That’s is what fellow brethren & saints do in the Body of Christ: we pray for one another – & we still do it for one another in accordance Scripture:

        Rev 5:

        7
        He came and received the scroll from the right hand of the one who sat on the throne.
        8
        When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones.

  2. A question if I may. When the rosary was first given to Santo Domingo de Guzman, the Hail Mary did not include the ” Holy Mary mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour or our death, Amen ” when Mary has instructed us to say the Rosary in Fatima or other apparitions has she stated if we need to add that clause ? I usually pray the Hail Mary ending with the name of Jesus but say the clause when invoking Mary to for a specific cause. Maybe three or four times during the Rosary

  3. Pray for my deceased (22 January 2022) wife of 55 years Donna; she holds my heart in her hands and kept my sons and me alive and safe. I loved her with all of my heart.

    • Do you know that your wife has gone on to prepare a wonderful place for you and your sons!! Rejoice in God’s promise that you will see her again!!

  4. Anthony, may your wife rest in peace and may she pray for you and your whole family at the foot of Christ our saviour. May the Holy Spirit console you

  5. I’m reviewing this as I am about to lead the nightly parish rosary at St Raymond’s in Springfield VA. Please pray that I may do so worthily. Please pray also that I will follow the Lord’s will for my retirement. Figuring out what to do in retirement is complex and confusing but I think that the Lord is prompting us to return to our home town in Nebraska to be near our grandchildren.

  6. Please pray for my son christian who is suffering from depression and a nxiety and my 2 other daughters that they will return to the faith.

  7. Please pray for my son and my daughter who have drug addictions and please pray for myself, as I have ovarian cancer and seeing the dr tomorrow for ct scan results. I have been doing good but don’t feel right. I pray to God that they, the doctors will still have medicines or chemo to keep me going. I love you Jesus. Thank you for all your blessings you have given me all these years.

  8. Please pray for me that I am able to navigate through all medical tests and procedures and maintain good health. I pray the rosary and I believe.

  9. Please help me pray for my husband to change i want our family back to become wwhole as one again help me pray for my husband go away his vices especially from the girls that leads our relationship ruin pls help me pray for him his name is wilfredo Haber thank you and God bless.

  10. Please pray for my beautiful best friend “Tharifa”🤍who’s life was taken so tragically 😭 May her be blessed with peace and love 🙏

    • In the Name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 🙏🏼🕊

      Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. 🙏🏼🕊

      In the Name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 🙏🏼🕊

  11. Please please pray for my daughter Leslie that she stay away from people that are on selling and doing drugs and to come back to her family and to the church

  12. Almighty God please give heed to my cries. Come to my aid and hear my prayers. Forgive my sins. Please hear my pleas and answer me. I pray for good health for myself son Christopher, mother Margaret, brothers especially Paa and Michael who are sick and for all loved ones and anyone else who are afflicted with diseases and
    pains. I love You God. All my hope, trust, faith and believe is placed in you. I have no other God aside from You. Thank You Eternal Father for hearing me. 🙏 Amen

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