Twenty mysteries, and how to pray them.
The rosary is the gospel told on a string of beads — the life of Christ seen from his mother’s side of it. Each set below is laid out in the order you actually pray it, from the sign of the cross to the closing prayer, with a plate for every mystery. 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.