Joyful Mysteries - (Monday & Saturday)
1st Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation
2nd Joyful Mystery - The Visitation
3rd Joyful Mystery - The Nativity of Our Lord
4th Joyful Mystery - The Presentation
5th Joyful Mystery - The Finding of Jesus in the Temple

Sorrowful Mysteries - (Tuesday and Friday)
1st Sorrowful Mystery - The Agony in the Garden
2nd Sorrowful Mystery - The Scourging of Jesus
3rd Sorrowful Mystery - The Crowning with Thorns
4th Sorrowful Mystery - The Carrying of the Cross
5th Sorrowful Mystery - The Crucifixion

Glorious Mysteries - (Wednesday and Sunday)
1st Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection
2nd Glorious Mystery - The Ascension
3rd Glorious Mystery - The Descent of the Holy Spirit
4th Glorious Mystery - The Assumption of Mary
5th Glorious Mystery - The Coronation of Mary

Luminous Mysteries - (Thursday)
1st Luminous Mystery - The Baptism of Jesus
2nd Luminous Mystery - The Wedding Feast at Cana
3rd Luminous Mystery - The Proclamation of the Kingdom
4th Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration
5th Luminous Mystery - The Institution of the Eucharist

Joyful Mysteries - (Monday & Saturday)

1st Joyful Mystery - The Annunciation
But the angel said, "Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High."   Luke 1:30-32a

2nd Joyful Mystery - The Visitation
You are most blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!"   Luke 1:42-45

3rd Joyful Mystery - The Nativity of Our Lord
Joseph too set out from Nazareth of Galilee. As he belonged to the family of David, being a descendant of his, he went to Judea to David's town of Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, his wife, who was with child. They were in Bethlehem when the time came for her to have her child and she gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger, because there was no place for them in the room.   Luke 2:4-7

4th Joyful Mystery - The Presentation
When the day came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the baby up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord: Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice as ordered in the law of the Lord: a pair of turtledoves of two young pigeons.
Luke 2:22-24

5th Joyful Mystery - The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
On the first day of the journey they thought he was in the company and looked for him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for him, and after three days they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.   Luke 2:44-46

1st Sorrowful Mystery - The Agony in the Garden
Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over to pray. He went a little farther and fell to the ground, with his face touching the earth, and prayed, "Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want."   Matthew 26:36, 39

2nd Sorrowful Mystery - The Scourging of Jesus
Pilate realized that he was getting nowhere and that instead there could be a riot. He then asked for water and washed his hands before the people, saying, "I am not responsible for his blood. It is your doing." All the people answered, "Let his blood be upon us and upon our children." Then Pilate set Barabbas free, but had Jesus scourged, and handed him over to be crucified.  Matthew 27:24-26

3rd Sorrowful Mystery - The Crowning with Thorns
They stripped him and dressed him in a purple military cloak. Then, twisting a crown of thorns, they forced it onto his head, and placed a reed in his right hand. They knelt before Jesus and mocked him, saying, "Long life to the King of the Jews!" They spat on him, took the reed from his hand and struck him on the head with it.
Matthew 27:28-30

4th Sorrowful Mystery - The Carrying of the Cross
Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. They took charge of him. Bearing his own cross, Jesus went out of the city to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew; Golgotha. There he was crucified and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus was in the middle.   John 19:16-18

5th Sorrowful Mystery - The Crucifixion
It was now about noon. The sun was hidden and darkness came over the whole land until mid-afternoon; and at that time the curtain of the Sanctuary was torn in two. Then Jesus gave a loud cry, "Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit." And saying that, he gave up his spirit.   Luke 23:44-46

1st Glorious Mystery - The Resurrection
The Angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come, see the place where they laid him."
Matthew 28:5-6

2nd Glorious Mystery - The Ascension
Jesus led them almost as far as Bethany; then he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And as he blessed them, he withdrew (and was taken to heaven. They worshiped him.) They returned to Jerusalem full of joy and were continually in the Temple praising God.
Luke 24:50-53

3rd Glorious Mystery - The Descent of the Holy Spirit
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. And suddenly out of the sky came a sound like a strong rushing wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. There appeared tongues as if of fire which parted and came to rest upon each one of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
Acts 2:1-4

4th Glorious Mystery - The Assumption of Mary
"I am the resurrection; whoever believes in me, though he die, shall live. Whoever is alive by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Martha then answered, "Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."   John 11:25b-27

5th Glorious Mystery - The Coronation of Mary
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.   Revelations 12:1

1st Luminous Mystery - The Baptism of Jesus
At that time Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And the moment he came up out of the water, Heaven opened before him and he saw the Spirit coming down on him like a dove. And these words were heard from Heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen."
Mark 1:9-11

2nd Luminous Mystery - The Wedding Feast at Cana
"Everyone serves the best wine first and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end." This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way he let his Glory appear and his disciples believed in him.  John 2:10-11

3rd Luminous Mystery - The Proclamation of the Kingdom
He said, "The time has come; the kingdom of God is at hand. Change your ways and believe the Good News." As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net in the lake, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." At once, they left their nets and followed him.  Mark 1:15-18

4th Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration
The disciples kept this to themselves at the time, telling no one of anything they had seen.  Luke 9:24-26

5th Luminous Mystery - The Institution of the Eucharist
It was before the feast of the Passover, Jesus realized that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, and as he had loved those who were his own in the world, he would love them with perfect love.  John 13:1

Pope John Paul II loved to pray the Rosary and developed what is known as the Luminous Mysteries or Mysteries of Light. The pope envisioned a more fully revealed compendium of the Gospel that reflects the many mysteries of the life of Christ, the time between the Baptism and the Passion of Christ where he says "the mystery of Christ is most evidently a mystery of light."

The new mysteries focus on the Baptism of Jesus, his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana; his proclamation of the Kingdom of God and the call to conversion; his Transfiguration, and his institution of the Eucharist as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.

"Following reflection on the Incarnation and the hidden life of Christ (joyful mysteries) and before focusing on the sufferings of his Passion (sorrowful mysteries) and the triumph of his Resurrection (glorious mysteries), a meditation on certain particularly significant moments in his public ministry (mysteries of light)" is what he considered to be the more fully developed compendium of the Gospel. They are meant to "give fresh life and to enkindle renewed interest in the rosary's place within Christian spirituality as a true doorway to the depths of the Heart of Christ, ocean of joy and of light, of suffering and of glory."

The complete rosary of Pope John Paul II is twenty decades, divided into four parts, each containing five decades. The first part consists of five joyful events in the lives of Jesus and Mary, the second part recalls five mysteries of light, the third part remembers five sorrowful events, and the fourth part focuses on the five glorious events. In reciting the rosary, Pope John Paul II offers 7 suggestions.

1. Say the individual mystery on which you are going to focus. Allow it to direct your imagination and your mind toward that particular moment in the life of Christ.

2. Read the biblical passage.

3. Pause and focus on the mystery. Listen to what God is saying to you about it.

4. Praying the Lord's Prayer is a full ecclesial experience.

5. Reciting the ten Hail Mary's the great miracle of Mary is acknowledged.

6. Glory to the Father prayer articulates the trinitarian goal of Christian contemplation.

7. Additionally, "a prayer for the fruits specific to that particular mystery" is recommended by the pope, as we conclude each mystery. He says that makes the contemplation of the mysteries express better their full spiritual fruitfulness.

"If prayed in this way, the Rosary truly becomes a spiritual itinerary in which Mary acts as Mother, Teacher and Guide, sustaining the faithful by her powerful intercession."

Pope John Paul II