Advent 2026 begins on Sunday, November 29 and runs through Thursday, December 24.
- The weekdays keep their usual mysteries through the season.
- The Sundays of Advent take the Joyful Mysteries, the mysteries of the Incarnation, in place of the Glorious; Orabimus sets them for you.
- The simplest way to keep the season is a Rosary a day, or a single decade.
Through Advent, anyone with a free account can join a public Group Rosary on Orabimus when one is praying, or open one at any hour for a family or a parish.
What are the dates of Advent 2026?
Advent 2026 at a glance
| Sunday, November 29 | First Sunday of Advent, and the first day of the Immaculate Conception novena |
|---|---|
| Thursday, December 3 | First day of the Our Lady of Guadalupe novena |
| Sunday, December 6 | Second Sunday of Advent |
| Tuesday, December 8 | The Immaculate Conception, patronal feast of the United States and a holy day of obligation |
| Wednesday, December 9 | St. Juan Diego |
| Saturday, December 12 | Our Lady of Guadalupe, a feast in the United States |
| Sunday, December 13 | Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday |
| Sunday, December 20 | Fourth Sunday of Advent |
| Thursday, December 24 | The last day of Advent; Christmas begins that evening |
Where do the Joyful Mysteries fit in Advent?
The Joyful Mysteries are Advent's own: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation and the Finding in the Temple. The first three are the season itself: an angel's word, a mother carrying her Son across the hills to Elizabeth, and the birth in Bethlehem the whole season waits for.
By custom they are prayed on Mondays and Saturdays all year, and during Advent on Sundays too (USCCB). The rest of the week keeps its usual sets: the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesday and Friday, the Glorious on Wednesday, the Luminous on Thursday. Nothing stops you from praying the Joyful Mysteries every day of Advent if you want to stay with the coming of Christ.
A simple way to pray the Rosary through Advent
- Keep one hour. Pray at the same time each day, with the morning coffee, on the drive home, or after the house goes quiet. Orabimus can remind you at your Rosary time.
- Start small if you need to. One decade a day is a real prayer. Pray one Joyful Mystery a day and you will have prayed all five every five days.
- Pray at the Advent wreath. Many families light the wreath at dinner; a single decade after the candle is lit takes four minutes.
- Carry one name. Choose one person to pray for each week of Advent, someone who is waiting for something, and offer that week's Rosaries for them.
- Keep the two feasts. Pray the novena for the Immaculate Conception from November 29, and for Our Lady of Guadalupe from December 3.
Praying the Advent Rosary with others
Advent is a good season to begin a Rosary with other people.
- A family spread across states can keep one evening a week: one person opens a Group Rosary on Orabimus, everyone joins from their own phone, and the whole family prays the same decades at the same moment. When it ends, the host taps "Same time next week?" and the next one is set, with everyone reminded.
- A parish or ministry can do the same for its Advent evenings. The parish kit has a bulletin blurb in English and Spanish, a pulpit announcement, a QR code and a flyer.
Pray today's Rosary.
Today's mysteries are already set for the season. Free, in nine languages with audio in seven, nothing to download.
Pray today’s RosaryJoyful on the Sundays of Advent · Works offline · No account to pray
Questions about the Rosary in Advent
When does Advent 2026 start and end?
It starts on Sunday, November 29, 2026, the First Sunday of Advent, and ends on the evening of Thursday, December 24, when Christmas begins.
Which mysteries are prayed on the Sundays of Advent?
The Joyful Mysteries, by custom, instead of the Glorious Mysteries usually prayed on Sundays. The weekdays keep their usual sets.
Can I pray the Joyful Mysteries every day of Advent?
Yes. The schedule by day is a helpful custom, not a rule. Many people stay with the Joyful Mysteries through the season.
Is December 8, 2026 a holy day of obligation?
Yes. The Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday, December 8, and in the United States it is a holy day of obligation; unlike some other holy days, its obligation is not lifted when it falls on a Saturday or a Monday (USCCB).
See also: Joyful Mysteries · Immaculate Conception novena · Our Lady of Guadalupe · Which Rosary today · The Rosary in Lent
Sources: USCCB, How to Pray the Rosary · John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae §38 (2002) · USCCB, Holy Days of Obligation (canon 1246)