The Rosary Mysteries for Each Day of the Week
November 4, 2026
The rosary meditates on twenty scenes from the life of Jesus and Mary, called mysteries, grouped into four sets of five. A long-standing custom assigns each set to particular days of the week, so the question of which mysteries to pray today always has a ready answer:
- Monday — Joyful Mysteries
- Tuesday — Sorrowful Mysteries
- Wednesday — Glorious Mysteries
- Thursday — Luminous Mysteries
- Friday — Sorrowful Mysteries
- Saturday — Joyful Mysteries
- Sunday — Glorious Mysteries
Joyful Mysteries — Monday and Saturday
The Joyful Mysteries follow the beginnings: the Annunciation, when the angel brings Mary the message; the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth; the Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem; the Presentation in the Temple; and the Finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Together they run from the first yes to the first glimpse of who this child is.
Sorrowful Mysteries — Tuesday and Friday
The Sorrowful Mysteries walk through the Passion: the Agony in the Garden, the Scourging at the Pillar, the Crowning with Thorns, the Carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion. Friday is their natural home — the weekday of the Passion itself — and Tuesday gives them a second place in the week.
Glorious Mysteries — Wednesday and Sunday
The Glorious Mysteries follow what comes after the Cross: the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Assumption of Mary, and the Coronation of Mary. Sunday — the weekly echo of Easter — carries them, with Wednesday as their midweek return.
Luminous Mysteries — Thursday
The Luminous Mysteries, or Mysteries of Light, cover the public life of Jesus: the Baptism in the Jordan, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Eucharist. They are the newest set, proposed by John Paul II in the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002). The same letter reshaped the week: Thursday, which had belonged to the Joyful Mysteries, received the new set, and the Joyful moved to Saturday. With the Eucharist as the fifth Luminous mystery, Thursday — the weekday of the Last Supper — is a fitting home.
Is the schedule a rule?
No — it is a custom, and a generous one: followed for a week, it carries you through the entire arc of the Gospel without any planning on your part. Some people adjust it with the seasons, praying the Joyful Mysteries on the Sundays of Advent and Christmas and the Sorrowful on the Sundays of Lent — a variation the 2002 letter itself suggests. And if a particular set fits the day you are actually having, nothing prevents you from choosing it. If you would rather not track any of this, the Adorantis app opens each day's rosary with the right mysteries already set, alongside daily prayers and the whole of Scripture for listening, offline on iOS.
Common questions
What rosary mysteries are prayed on Sunday?
The Glorious Mysteries. A common seasonal variation prays the Joyful Mysteries on the Sundays of Advent and Christmas, and the Sorrowful Mysteries on the Sundays of Lent.
Why are the Luminous Mysteries prayed on Thursday?
When John Paul II proposed the Luminous Mysteries in Rosarium Virginis Mariae (2002), Thursday was given to the new set and the Joyful Mysteries moved to Saturday. Thursday also recalls the Last Supper, and the Institution of the Eucharist is the fifth Luminous mystery.
Do I have to pray the mysteries assigned to the day?
No. The weekly schedule is a custom, not a rule. It exists to carry you through the whole Gospel each week, but any set of mysteries may be prayed on any day.
Begin with one chapter today
The Adorantis app carries the whole Catholic canon, with the Rosary and daily prayers alongside it — listen in the morning, on the road, or as you fall asleep, even offline.
Start listening