The twenty mysteries, and their days

The Rosary holds twenty scenes from the life of Christ, gathered into four sets of five. Each day of the week has a set assigned to it, and each set is prayed as five decades, one scene per decade.

Which set is prayed today

The assignment is custom, not law. Pray any set on any day. On a feast, or at a funeral, or on a hard Tuesday, people change the set on purpose.

The Joyful Mysteries

Prayed Mondays and Saturdays. The beginning: the Incarnation, and thirty quiet years.

1. The Annunciation
2. The Visitation
3. The Nativity
4. The Presentation
5. The Finding in the Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries

Prayed Tuesdays and Fridays. From the garden to the cross, in five scenes.

1. The Agony in the Garden
2. The Scourging at the Pillar
3. The Crowning with Thorns
4. The Carrying of the Cross
5. The Crucifixion

The Glorious Mysteries

Prayed Wednesdays and Sundays. Death is behind us in this set; everything here is the other side of it.

1. The Resurrection
2. The Ascension
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4. The Assumption of Mary
5. The Coronation of Mary

The Luminous Mysteries

Prayed Thursdays. The newest set, added in 2002, covering the years of Christ's public ministry that the older three sets pass over.

1. The Baptism in the Jordan
2. The Wedding at Cana
3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4. The Transfiguration
5. The Institution of the Eucharist

How the mystery fits the decade

Pray the Rosary one decade at a time. Announce the mystery, pray an Our Father, ten Hail Marys, a Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer, and keep the scene in mind while your mouth says the words. Five scenes, five decades, then the Hail, Holy Queen.

If you have never prayed it, start with the order of the Rosary, which has every prayer written out.

Pray today's mysteries in Rosaria

Rosaria picks the set for the day, keeps the scene in front of you, and counts the decades. Free, no account needed, works offline.