On Monday the Rosary prays the Joyful Mysteries, the mysteries of the Incarnation and Christ’s hidden years: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation, and the Finding in the Temple. Monday opens the week, and the Joyful Mysteries are the mysteries of beginnings, a fitting way to offer the days ahead.
Why are the Joyful Mysteries prayed on Monday?
After Sunday’s glory, the week begins again at the beginning of the story. The Joyful Mysteries return to the first moments of salvation: an angel’s greeting, a young woman’s yes, a child born in the poverty of Bethlehem, the quiet years of an ordinary life in Nazareth. There is a fittingness to praying them as the working week starts. Most of any life is hidden and ordinary, as most of Christ’s own life was, and these mysteries make that ordinariness holy. To pray them on Monday is to offer the coming week, its labour and its small unseen faithfulness, in the company of Mary, who carried God through days that looked like anyone else’s.
The Joyful Mysteries prayed on Monday
Monday’s Rosary meditates on the five Joyful Mysteries:
- The Annunciation
- The Visitation
- The Nativity
- The Presentation in the Temple
- The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
Each carries its own Scripture, meditation, and spiritual fruit. For the full text and meditation on every decade, see the Joyful Mysteries.
Does the Monday Rosary change with the season?
Unlike Sunday, the weekday sets do not change with the season. This set is prayed on this day all year round. Sunday is the only day whose mysteries shift with the liturgical calendar. To see the whole week in one place, with today’s set already worked out, see which Rosary is prayed today.
◆ The same mysteries, a different day
The Joyful Mysteries are also prayed on Saturday, but as Our Lady’s day and the vigil of Sunday rather than the week’s beginning. See the Saturday Rosary.
Praying the Monday Rosary
Monday can be the day the whole week turns on. Praying a Rosary before the week’s demands arrive gives them somewhere to be placed, and the Joyful Mysteries are a gentle place to start. Orabimus opens to Monday’s set for you, with a voice to pray alongside. For the beads and the order, see how to pray the Rosary.
You do not have to watch a video to pray along. On Orabimus you pray Monday’s rosary yourself, at your own pace and in your own language, or live and in sync with others, as a virtual rosary.
Pray Monday’s Rosary now.
Open Orabimus and Monday’s mysteries are already set for you, with a voice to pray alongside in nine languages. Free, no account needed.
Pray Monday’s RosaryMonday’s set chosen for you · Audio in nine languages · Works offline
Sources: John Paul II, Rosarium Virginis Mariae §38 (2002) · USCCB, How to Pray the Rosary · The Mysteries of the Rosary (The Holy See)
Frequently Asked Questions
Which mysteries are prayed on Monday?
On Monday the Joyful Mysteries are prayed: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, and the Finding of Jesus in the Temple. They contemplate the Incarnation and the hidden years of Christ’s life.
Why are the Joyful Mysteries prayed on Monday?
Monday begins the week, and the Joyful Mysteries are the mysteries of beginnings, the opening of the story of salvation. Praying them as the working week starts is a way to offer the days ahead in the company of Mary, who lived most of her life in hidden, ordinary faithfulness.
Are the Joyful Mysteries prayed on any other day?
Yes. The Joyful Mysteries are prayed on both Monday and Saturday, and on the Sundays of Advent and Christmas. On Saturday they are prayed as Our Lady’s day; on Monday, as the beginning of the week.
Can I pray a different set of mysteries on Monday?
Yes. The weekly schedule is a helpful custom, not a rule that binds under sin. It exists so the whole Church prays together and so a week covers the whole life of Christ. You are free to pray whichever mysteries you are drawn to.