The Rosary schedule for each day of the week
Each day has one set of five mysteries. Over a week you move through the whole life of Christ, from the Annunciation to the glory of heaven.
| Day | Mysteries | What they cover |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Joyful | The coming of Jesus, from the Annunciation to the Finding in the Temple |
| Tuesday | Sorrowful | The Passion, from Gethsemane to the cross |
| Wednesday | Glorious | The Resurrection to the Coronation of Mary |
| Thursday | Luminous | The public life of Jesus, from his Baptism to the Last Supper |
| Friday | Sorrowful | The Passion, on the day of the week Jesus died |
| Saturday | Joyful | The coming of Jesus, on a day long dedicated to Mary |
| Sunday | Glorious | The Resurrection; in Advent many pray the Joyful, and in Lent the Sorrowful |
St. John Paul II proposed this pattern in Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002), section 38, and added that it is not meant to limit a rightful freedom in personal and community prayer. The Advent and Lent custom for Sundays is the one the USCCB describes.
The 20 mysteries of the Rosary
Each set has five mysteries. Below, each one has the passage to read before you pray it and a line on what it shows, with a few of the Bible's own words from the Douay-Rheims. The order follows the life of Christ, which is also the order St. John Paul II gave them: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious. Eighteen of the twenty are scenes you can read in the Gospels or Acts. The last two are not, and the section after the list explains why.
The Joyful Mysteries
Prayed on Monday and Saturday, and on the Sundays of Advent. The coming of Jesus, seen through Mary's eyes.
- The Annunciation Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel tells Mary she will bear the Son of God, and she says yes: “be it done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38, DRA).
- The Visitation Luke 1:39-56. Mary hurries to help her cousin Elizabeth, who greets her: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42, DRA).
- The Nativity Luke 2:1-20. The Son of God is born poor, laid “in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7, DRA).
- The Presentation in the Temple Luke 2:22-38. Mary and Joseph bring the baby to the Temple, and old Simeon says, “my eyes have seen thy salvation” (Luke 2:30, DRA).
- The Finding in the Temple Luke 2:41-52. After three days of searching, his parents find the twelve-year-old Jesus with the teachers: “did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business?” (Luke 2:49, DRA).
The Luminous Mysteries
Prayed on Thursday. Also called the mysteries of light: the public life of Jesus, between his Baptism and his Passion.
- The Baptism in the Jordan Matthew 3:13-17. As Jesus comes up from the water, the Father speaks: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, DRA).
- The Wedding Feast at Cana John 2:1-11. When the wine runs out, Mary tells the servants, “Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye” (John 2:5, DRA), and Jesus works his first sign.
- The Proclamation of the Kingdom Mark 1:14-15. Jesus begins to preach and calls everyone to turn back to God: “the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15, DRA).
- The Transfiguration Matthew 17:1-8. On the mountain, Peter, James and John see his glory: “his face did shine as the sun” (Matthew 17:2, DRA).
- The Institution of the Eucharist Matthew 26:26-29. At the Last Supper Jesus takes bread and gives it to his disciples: “Take ye, and eat. This is my body” (Matthew 26:26, DRA).
The Sorrowful Mysteries
Prayed on Tuesday and Friday, and on the Sundays of Lent. The suffering and death of Jesus.
- The Agony in the Garden Matthew 26:36-46. In Gethsemane Jesus prays in anguish and gives himself to the Father: “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39, DRA).
- The Scourging at the Pillar John 19:1. The innocent one is whipped: “Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him” (John 19:1, DRA).
- The Crowning with Thorns Matthew 27:27-31. Soldiers mock him as a pretend king: “platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head” (Matthew 27:29, DRA).
- The Carrying of the Cross John 19:17 and Mark 15:21-22. “And bearing his own cross, he went forth” (John 19:17, DRA), and Simon of Cyrene is made to help him carry it.
- The Crucifixion and Death Luke 23:33-46. Jesus forgives the men who crucify him and dies with a prayer of trust: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46, DRA).
The Glorious Mysteries
Prayed on Wednesday and on most Sundays. The Resurrection and the glory that follows.
- The Resurrection Luke 24:1-12. The women find the tomb empty and hear the angels say, “He is not here, but is risen” (Luke 24:6, DRA).
- The Ascension Acts 1:6-11 and Mark 16:19. After forty days with his disciples (Acts 1:3), Jesus “was taken up into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19, DRA).
- The Descent of the Holy Spirit Acts 2:1-4. At Pentecost “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:4, DRA), and the apostles begin to preach.
- The Assumption From Church Tradition, not a Bible scene. At the end of her earthly life Mary is taken up, body and soul, into heaven. The Vatican's Rosary pages pair it with her own words: “from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Luke 1:48, DRA).
- The Coronation of Mary From Church Tradition, not a Bible scene. Mary shares in her Son's glory as Queen of heaven. The Vatican's pages pair it with the vision of “A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1, DRA).
The passages are based on the Vatican's own Rosary pages, which pair each mystery with a reading; some are widened to take in the whole scene.
Where do the Assumption and the Coronation come from?
Eighteen of the mysteries are events you can read in the New Testament. The last two are different, and the Catholic Church says so plainly. No Gospel describes the end of Mary's life, her Assumption or her crowning. Catholics hold them because the Church teaches them from its Tradition, the faith handed down alongside Scripture.
Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption as a dogma on November 1, 1950, in Munificentissimus Deus: when the course of her earthly life was finished, Mary was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven. He also wrote that the arguments for it rest on Scripture as their final foundation, and theologians have long pointed to passages such as the angel's greeting in Luke 1:28 and the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (966) adds that the Lord exalted her as Queen over all things, which is what the fifth Glorious Mystery celebrates.
Most Protestant churches do not teach either one as doctrine, because they look for doctrine in Scripture alone. That is a real difference between Christians, and it is worth knowing which part of the Rosary it touches: two mysteries out of twenty.
Who added the Luminous Mysteries?
St. John Paul II added them in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, signed on October 16, 2002, when he also opened a Year of the Rosary that ran to October 2003. Until then the Rosary had fifteen mysteries. That number came from the prayer's origins: 150 Hail Marys, like the 150 Psalms. John Paul II wanted the Rosary to take in the years between the childhood of Jesus and his Passion, so he proposed five mysteries of light from his public ministry, and he left the addition to the freedom of individuals and communities.
He suggested the weekly pattern at the same time. Before 2002, the Joyful Mysteries were prayed on Monday and Thursday and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Because Saturday has long had a Marian character, he moved the second Joyful day to Saturday. That left Thursday free for the Luminous Mysteries, and it gave every day of the week its own set.
How to pray the Rosary
Begin with the Sign of the Cross
Hold the crucifix and make the Sign of the Cross.
Pray the Apostles' Creed
Still holding the crucifix, pray the Apostles' Creed, the Church's ancient summary of the faith.
Our Father, three Hail Marys, Glory Be
On the first bead pray the Our Father, the prayer Jesus taught (Matthew 6:9-13). On each of the next three beads pray a Hail Mary, then pray the Glory Be.
Announce the first mystery
Name the first mystery of the day. You may read its Bible passage from the list above. Then pray the Our Father on the large bead.
Pray the decade
On the ten small beads, pray ten Hail Marys while you picture the scene and stay with it. End the decade with the Glory Be. Many people add a short prayer here known as the Fatima prayer.
Repeat for all five mysteries
Do the same for the second, third, fourth and fifth mysteries. Five decades make one Rosary.
Close with the Hail, Holy Queen
After the fifth decade, pray the Hail, Holy Queen and the closing prayer, and end with the Sign of the Cross.
The prayers of the Rosary
The Rosary uses a handful of prayers, in the order above: the Apostles' Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be and, at the end, the Hail, Holy Queen. These steps follow the ones the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops gives. The Hail Mary is the prayer you say most often, and its first half comes straight from Luke's Gospel: the angel Gabriel's greeting and then Elizabeth's.
“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”
The Church adds the name of Jesus, and then a request that Mary pray for us. Here is the whole prayer as Catholics say it; the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it line by line (2676-2677).
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
A note for readers who are not Catholic
The Rosary is a Catholic devotion, and many Christians do not pray it. Most Protestants pray to God directly and do not ask Mary or the saints to pray for them, and some are uneasy that so many of the Rosary's words are addressed to her. Those are real differences, held in good faith on both sides, and they deserve respect.
Still, look at what the mysteries are. Eighteen of the twenty are scenes from the Gospels and Acts, and reading them one a day is a good way for any Christian to walk slowly through the life of Jesus. In Faithero you can read each passage in the Douay-Rheims or the King James Version and have the chapter read aloud. If you are drawn to nine days of prayer as well, our St. Therese novena pairs each day with a verse.
Frequently asked
What mysteries are prayed on Sunday?
The Glorious Mysteries, which begin with the Resurrection, the event every Sunday celebrates. The USCCB notes a custom for two seasons: on the Sundays of Advent many Catholics pray the Joyful Mysteries, and on the Sundays of Lent the Sorrowful Mysteries.
Who added the Luminous Mysteries?
St. John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, dated October 16, 2002. He called them mysteries of light and took them from the public life of Jesus: his Baptism in the Jordan, the wedding at Cana, his proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the institution of the Eucharist. He proposed praying them on Thursdays.
What are the Sorrowful Mysteries?
The five Sorrowful Mysteries follow the Passion of Jesus: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion and Death. They are prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays, and by custom on the Sundays of Lent.
What are the Joyful Mysteries?
The Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple and the Finding in the Temple: the coming of Jesus and his childhood, all from the first two chapters of Luke. They are prayed on Mondays and Saturdays, and by custom on the Sundays of Advent.
What are the Luminous Mysteries?
The Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration and the Institution of the Eucharist. They cover the public ministry of Jesus and are prayed on Thursdays.
What are the Glorious Mysteries?
The Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Assumption and the Coronation of Mary. They are prayed on Wednesdays and on most Sundays.
Do I have to pray these mysteries on these days?
No. John Paul II offered the weekly pattern as a guide and wrote that it was not meant to limit a rightful freedom in personal and community prayer. Some people pray all four sets in one day; others choose the mysteries that fit a feast or a season. The pattern simply helps you move through the whole life of Christ each week.
One scene at a time
People who are new to the Rosary often worry about the repetition. Ten Hail Marys in a row can feel like a lot of words. But the words are not the point; they are the steady ground you walk on while your attention goes somewhere else. Your hands are busy with the beads, your lips with a prayer you know by heart, and your mind is free to stay with a single scene: a young woman saying yes, a man praying in anguish in a garden, an empty tomb at dawn.
John Paul II wrote that the Rosary should always be a path of contemplation, a way of looking at Christ with Mary. You do not have to feel anything special for that to happen. Some days the scene will come alive and some days your mind will wander through all ten beads. Bring it back gently and keep going. Over months, the Gospel stories become places you know well, and that is a gift whatever day of the week it is.
What mysteries of the Rosary are today?
The mysteries for each day
Which mysteries today?
Monday and Saturday: the Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday and Friday: the Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday and Sunday: the Glorious Mysteries
Thursday: the Luminous Mysteries