The rosary
The rosary is the gospel told on a string of beads — the life of Christ seen from his mother’s side of it. All twenty mysteries are here, each with its plate and a short meditation, laid out in the order you actually pray them, from the sign of the cross to the closing prayer. Nothing here needs to be memorised; you can simply read down the page.
The Joyful Mysteries
Mondays and SaturdaysThe Annunciation … The Finding in the Temple
The Luminous Mysteries
ThursdaysThe Baptism in the Jordan … The Institution of the Eucharist
The Sorrowful Mysteries
Tuesdays and FridaysThe Agony in the Garden … The Crucifixion
The Glorious Mysteries
Wednesdays and SundaysThe Resurrection … The Coronation of Our Lady
The shape of the thing.
A full set is five decades. One decade is a single Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be, prayed while thinking about one scene from the gospel — that scene is the mystery. The beads are only there so your hands can keep count while your mind is somewhere else; losing your place is not a mistake, it is the normal experience.
Which set is prayed on which day is a custom, not a rule: Joyful on Mondays and Saturdays, Sorrowful on Tuesdays and Fridays, Glorious on Wednesdays and Sundays, Luminous on Thursdays. Any set on any day is a rosary.
The prayers themselves — The Apostles’ Creed, The Our Father, The Hail Mary, The Glory Be and Hail, Holy Queen — each have their own page, and are linked at every step where you need them.