The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary: All Five Decades to Pray Along

The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary begin in a quiet house in Nazareth and end in the Temple at Jerusalem, where a boy of twelve sits among the teachers. Between the two lie five decades, that is five sets of one Our Father and ten Hail Marys, and five events from the childhood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This guide takes you through the prayer decade by decade: with the full text, the clause added after “Jesus”, the Scripture passage in the Douay-Rheims version and a thought on which you can dwell during the ten Hail Marys.

What are the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary?

The Joyful Mysteries are the set of five decades in which we meditate on the Incarnation and childhood of Our Lord: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Presentation in the Temple and the Finding of the twelve-year-old. They are the first of the three sets, which together make fifteen mysteries.

A decade is a set of ten: one Our Father on the large bead and ten Hail Marys on the small ones. Into each Hail Mary you insert, after the name “Jesus”, a short clause naming the mystery. In this way the meditation stays present at every repetition of the Angel’s greeting. The clauses follow the Rosary prayer companion, the standard used throughout our guide.

In 1893 Pope Leo XIII devoted a section of his encyclical on the Rosary to the Joyful Mysteries. In it he sets before our eyes the house of Nazareth as a school of the virtues of everyday life:

“Before our eyes stands the house of Nazareth, that dwelling of holiness at once earthly and divine. What a pattern of daily life is found in it! What an altogether perfect image of family life!”

Leo XIII, Laetitiae sanctae, 8 September 1893 · our translation from the Latin

On which days are the Joyful Mysteries prayed?

According to the traditional order, the Joyful Mysteries are prayed on Mondays and Thursdays. Anyone who prays only one set a day thus comes to the mysteries of the childhood of Jesus twice a week. In content the set is especially suited to Advent and Christmastide.

The liturgical year of the 1962 Missal celebrates each of the five mysteries on a day of its own: the Annunciation on 25 March as a feast of the first class, the Visitation of Our Lady on 2 July, the Nativity of Our Lord on 25 December, and the Purification of Our Lady (Candlemas) on 2 February with the blessing of candles and the Gospel of the Presentation in the Temple (Lk 2:22–32). The Finding in the Temple is the Gospel of the feast of the Holy Family, the first Sunday after the Epiphany (Lk 2:42–52). Whoever prays the Rosary on these days prays it in harmony with the liturgy. Which set follows on the other days is shown in the Rosary prayer companion with the set for each day.

How do you begin the Joyful Mysteries?

You begin the Joyful Mysteries on the crucifix with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles’ Creed. Then follow the Glory Be and the Our Father, three Hail Marys asking for faith, hope and charity, and once more the Glory Be. After that the first decade begins.

Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Apostles’ Creed. I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.

Traditional English wording · order after the MarcellusOnlineShop prayer companion

On the three small beads after the first large bead you pray one Hail Mary each, inserting after “Jesus” in turn: “who may increase our faith”, “who may strengthen our hope”, “who may enkindle our charity”. In every decade the same prayers then apply; only the inserted clause changes:

Our Father (large bead). Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Ten Hail Marys (small beads), each with the clause of the decade, as written out below.

Glory Be. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Fatima Prayer. O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell; lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need of thy mercy.

Short prayer. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for all who do not have recourse to thee, especially the Freemasons and all those commended to thee.

Traditional English wording · order after the MarcellusOnlineShop prayer companion

What do you meditate on in the first decade, the Annunciation?

In the first Joyful Mystery we meditate on the Annunciation: in Nazareth the Angel Gabriel brings the Blessed Virgin Mary the message that she is to conceive the Son of the Most High. Into each Hail Mary you insert after “Jesus”: “whom thou, O Virgin, didst conceive of the Holy Ghost”.

St Luke tells the event in the first chapter of his Gospel. When Mary asks how this shall be done, the Angel answers: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee” (Lk 1:35). The Blessed Virgin replies: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word” (Lk 1:38). In his note on this verse the German biblical scholar Joseph Franz Allioli remarks that with these words she who is full of grace consented to the greatest work God has wrought for mankind. A thought for the ten Hail Marys: God waits for the yes of a human being.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou, O Virgin, didst conceive of the Holy Ghost. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray ten times · traditional English wording

What do you meditate on in the second decade, the Visitation?

In the second Joyful Mystery we meditate on how the Mother of God visits her kinswoman St Elizabeth in the hill country of Judah and is greeted by her as the Mother of the Lord. After “Jesus” you insert into each Hail Mary: “whom thou, O Virgin, didst carry to Elizabeth”.

Scarcely has Mary received the message when she goes “into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda” (Lk 1:39). When Elizabeth hears her greeting, the infant leaps in her womb, and she cries out with a loud voice: “Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Lk 1:42). With these words the Hail Mary continues the greeting of the Angel. Mary answers with the Magnificat: “My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Lk 1:46–47). A thought for the ten Hail Marys: whoever carries Christ brings him to others.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou, O Virgin, didst carry to Elizabeth. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray ten times · traditional English wording

What do you meditate on in the third decade, the Nativity?

In the third Joyful Mystery we meditate on the birth of the Son of God in Bethlehem, where the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph had gone because of the emperor’s census. Into each Hail Mary you insert after “Jesus”: “whom thou, O Virgin, didst bring forth in Bethlehem”.

St Luke reports the birth in a single sentence: “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). The first witnesses are shepherds keeping the night watches in the same country. The King foretold by the prophets comes into the world poor. The 1962 Missal reads the Gospel of the Nativity at the first Mass of Christmas Night (Lk 2:1–14). A thought for the ten Hail Marys: God makes himself small so that we may learn to love him.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou, O Virgin, didst bring forth in Bethlehem. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray ten times · traditional English wording

What do you meditate on in the fourth decade, the Presentation in the Temple?

In the fourth Joyful Mystery we meditate on how the Blessed Virgin and St Joseph, after the days of purification, bring the Child to the Temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord according to the Law of Moses. After “Jesus” you insert: “whom thou, O Virgin, didst offer in the Temple”.

The parents bring the offering of the poor, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons” (Lk 2:24). The aged St Simeon takes the Child in his arms and prays: “Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation” (Lk 2:29–30). But to Mary he says: “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce” (Lk 2:35). So in the midst of the Joyful Mysteries the shadow of the Cross already falls. A thought for the ten Hail Marys: what we give to God, he first gave to us.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou, O Virgin, didst offer in the Temple. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray ten times · traditional English wording

What do you meditate on in the fifth decade, the Finding in the Temple?

In the fifth Joyful Mystery we meditate on how the Mother of God and St Joseph, after three days of searching, find the twelve-year-old Saviour in the Temple, sitting among the teachers. Into each Hail Mary you insert after “Jesus”: “whom thou, O Virgin, didst find again in the Temple”.

The parents had already gone a day’s journey with their company before they missed the Child. Mary asks: “Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing” (Lk 2:48). Jesus answers: “Did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business?” (Lk 2:49). Then he goes back with them to Nazareth “and was subject to them”, and his mother “kept all these words in her heart” (Lk 2:51). A thought for the ten Hail Marys: whoever has lost Christ seeks him where the Father dwells.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, whom thou, O Virgin, didst find again in the Temple. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray ten times · traditional English wording

How do you end the Joyful Mysteries?

After the fifth decade the Joyful Mysteries end at the medal with the Hail, Holy Queen and the Prayer to St Michael the Archangel. According to the prayer companion, all five decades take about twenty minutes.

Salve Regina. Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

Prayer to St Michael the Archangel. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Traditional English wording · order after the MarcellusOnlineShop prayer companion

If you have less time, you may also pray just one decade. The prayer companion expressly calls this a valuable prayer. On Tuesdays and Fridays the Sorrowful Mysteries follow, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays the Glorious Mysteries; the prayer companion gives all three sets with their clauses.

Mentioned in this article Peach Cut-Glass Bead Rosary Hand-knotted on white cord, with cut-glass beads, a Miraculous Medal and a Pardon Crucifix in silver. View the rosary

Frequently asked questions about the Joyful Mysteries