Nearly every time I would pray the rosary, I would have to begin by looking up the mysteries for the day. But I hated that. It brought down the experience a little. So, here’s how I dealt with it…. The mysteries of the rosary are usually presented in a minimally helpful fashion, like this ordering of the days.
Sunday – Glorious
Monday – Joyful
Tuesday – Sorrowful
Wednesday – Glorious
Thursday – Luminous
Friday – Sorrowful
Saturday – Joyful
But you might find it far easier to remember it this way:
Thursday – Luminous
Friday – Sorrowful
Saturday – Joyful
Sunday – Glorious
Monday – Joyful
Tuesday – Sorrowful
Wednesday – Glorious
Sunday is in the center, and we know that Sunday celebrates the Glorious Resurrection. Moving outward from the Sunday center are the Joyful mysteries, and then the Sorrowful mysteries — almost like concentric circles. That leaves Wednesday to be the second day of Glorious mysteries and Thursday as the only day for Luminous Mysteries.
You could also recall that on Holy Week, the first major day is Thursday, when Jesus gave us a lasting light by instituting the Eucharist. Friday followed with the sorrowful crucifixion. On Saturday we recall the Joys of Christ’s youth. And then arrives the Glorious Resurrection on Sunday.
So, that helps us recall what are the mysteries to meditate upon on any day of the week, but we can do better. We want to recall which 5 mysteries fall into each category. So…
Thursday, we already recalled has the light of the Institution of the Eucharist. That and the rest of the Luminous mysteries are about the light of Jesus’ ministry. And they naturally go in chronological order. Thus, the Institution is last.
Where does Jesus’ ministry begin? With light from Heaven at his…
1 – Baptism
But his first miracle is?
2 – Wedding at Cana
And his ministry was about?
3 – The Kingdom of God
And three apostles got a special taste of the Kingdom and Christ’s light at?
4 – Transfiguration
His last gift of light was, of course…?
5 – Eucharist
Friday is all about Christ’s suffering, and it picks up where Thursday left off.
Christ went to Gethsemane.
1 – Agony in the Garden
He was arrested and condemned, what followed was…?
2 – Scourging at the Pillar
3 – Crowning with Thorns
4 – Carrying his Cross
And finally…
5 – The Crucifixion
So, Friday’s mysteries are probably the easiest to remember.
On Saturday, while we await Jesus’ return, we think on the Joy of his early days. Of course, that means we begin with…
His conception.
1 – The Annunciation
Which was followed by Mary going to Elizabeth…
2 – The Visitation
And the three big events of Jesus’ childhood…
3 – The Nativity
4 – The Presentation
and later…
5 – Finding Jesus in the Temple
Then we jump back to Sunday to celebrate the Glorious…
1 – Resurrection
and…
2 – Ascension
which was followed by…
3 – Pentecost
And then we get to Mary’s early sharing in the glories of heaven.
4 – Mary’s Assumption
5 – Mary’s Coronation
And that’s that!
I’ve found this way of thinking about the Rosary mysteries to be very helpful in remembering them. I hope you do too. If you have your own tricks to help you recall all of this, say so in the comments.
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