Hello Rosary Lovers! In this post I want us to look at the Monday Rosary Mysteries. That is, the mysteries of the Rosary prayed on Mondays.
The Church has a calendar for praying rosaries?
Yes she does! On any given day, many Catholics are praying a certain set of rosary mysteries in their rosary prayers.
You don’t have to follow it, but it is useful to pray along with many Catholics all over the world.
Which Set of Mysteries is Prayed on Monday?
On Mondays, the Joyful mysteries are said by Catholics.
What if I want to pray a different set of mysteries on Monday?
Then please do so! It’s entirely up to you.
What if I want to pray all the mysteries of the Rosary in a single day?
Wonderful! We would encourage you to pray ALL of the mysteries of the most holy Rosary EVERY SINGLE DAY.
This way, you experience all the riches of the Rosary everyday, Mary comes closer to you, you receive more indulgences and spiritual blessings, and you enjoy all the fruits of the Gospel daily.
Of course, if you are doing this, then on any given day you are ALWAYS praying the set of mysteries that the rest of the Church is praying. But you are also praying all the other mysteries too.
So in a sense, you are lifting the Church up to God on her behalf in a special sort of way.
What are the mysteries for the other days?
The Joyful mysteries are recited on Mondays and Saturdays.
The Luminous mysteries are recited on Thursdays.
The Sorrowful mysteries are recited on Tuesdays and Fridays.
The Glorious mysteries are recited on Wednesdays and Sundays.
What about those who pray the entire Rosary everyday?
Those who pray the entire Rosary everyday pray either the traditional Rosary or the modern Rosary.
The traditional Rosary is the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries every day.
The modern Rosary is the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries every day.
The only difference is that the modern Rosary includes the 5 Luminous mysteries which were added optionally to the traditional Rosary by St Pope John Paul II.
These disciplines are highly recommended by Catholic saints, and we greatly encourage this at Rosary Lovers.
I’d recommend you beginning with the traditional Rosary everyday, and then gradually adding the Luminous mysteries everyday to your recitations.
Nevertheless, one Rosary recited everyday is infinitely better than to pray no rosaries a day, or to only pray the Rosary every now and then.
What are the Monday Joyful Mysteries?
These are in order:
- The Annunciation
- The Visitation
- The Nativity of Jesus
- The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
- The Finding of Jesus in the Temple
How do I pray these mysteries with a rosary?
You certainly should consider investing in a rosary.
==> Check out this post to help you with that.
With your rosary, you simply do the sign of the cross, recite the Apostles creed, recite one Our Father and three Hail Marys. Then you say: ‘Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.’
This is your introduction to the Rosary but it isn’t the Rosary.
You now begin the mysteries.
You announce the first mystery (the Annunciation), and perhaps spend a brief moment meditating on it.
Perhaps picture a scene in your head, or look at a picture on the internet of this mystery. You could even say a few words summarising this mystery to yourself.
You then say one Our Father, and 10 Hail Marys on the first ten beads of the rosary. Follow this with one ‘Glory be’.
That’s the first mystery prayed.
Then announce the second mystery (the Visitation), and meditate on it for a moment.
Then pray one Our Father and 10 Hail Marys on the second ten beads of the rosary, followed by a Glory Be.
That’s your second mystery prayed.
Do the same with the third, fourth and fifth mysteries.
When you’re done, you’ve completed a set of mysteries, and have prayed one Rosary.
It is customary to finish with the Hail Holy Queen prayer to Mary (Salve Regina). If you don’t know the words, look them up on the internet.
Do the sign of the cross, and you’re done.
What is the Annunciation?
The Annunciation is the occasion of St Gabriel the Archangel’s visit to Mary.
Gabriel visits Mary in secret to tell her that she will bear a holy Son who will be the Saviour of the world.
Gabriel says to Mary the beginning words of the Hail Mary prayer: ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!’
Mary is shocked with this Announcement because she has never intimately known a man.
In fact, Mary is given totally to God. Pious tradition indicates that Mary spend her life all the time in the Temple.
She says of herself: ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord’. This implies she was a nun and would never have a sexual relationship with a man.
Be that as it may, the Archangel tells her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will overshadow her, and thus she will bear the Christ, the Holy One of God.
Mary submits to this message and says: ‘May it be to me according to your word.’
Mary believes the word of the angel, and freely gives herself over to God’s will, no matter how hard it would be.
The stigma attached to Mary becoming pregnant outside of marriage would have been immense, but Mary bears this cross without hesitation.
She is the first real Christian, the first to really say YES to God’s strange and secret ways.
What is the Visitation?
The Visitation is the visit of Mary, Mother of God, to St Elizabeth. In visiting St Elizabeth, Mary was also visiting St John the Baptist, even though he was as yet unborn, a little human inside his mother’s womb.
When Elizabeth hears the sound of Mary’s voice greeting her, John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb, and Elizabeth becomes filled with the Holy Spirit.
Through the Spirit, Elizabeth says to Mary: ‘Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!’
These are the other words in the Hail Mary prayer which Catholics always pray.
Elizabeth is greatly humbled to be visited by Mary. She says: ‘How come I have this tremendous honour that the Mother of my Lord (God) should come to me?’
This is why Catholics call Mary the Mother of God, and this is why we venerate and love and adore her. It is an amazing honour and privilege to know Mary and have her in our lives.
No-one brings Jesus into our lives like Mary, his Mother. Both St Elizabeth and St John realised this.
What is the Nativity of Jesus?
The Nativity of Jesus is his birth at Bethlehem which we celebrate every Christmas.
Christmas means Christ-Mass. The holy Mass of Christ. December 25th.
This is a holy day of obligation for Catholics all over the world, which means we must try to attend Mass and rest on this amazing day.
It is the day we remember Jesus being born into the world for us. ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory.’
We remember the wise men. We remember the Shepherds. We remember there being no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph.
We remember St Joseph being with Mary every single step of the way, as a loving husband and father. He is our father too in Christ.
St Joseph is the greatest saint in the Church after Mary. St Joseph was given the charge by God to protect the Mother of God. He must surely be an incredible man of faith.
We can go to St Joseph about anything and everything. Mary did. She relied on him utterly to look after her. So did Jesus.
The birth of Jesus was a painless affair for Mary. She suffered no pangs of childbirth because she was not part of fallen humanity.
Mary was conceived without original sin or any stain of sin at all.
She also remained a Virgin forever, even after giving birth. She is Ever-Virgin.
Jesus came forth from her body, a true birth, in a cave, amongst animals. Born in total humility.
He is the Saviour of the world and of all creation.
We can still visit the place Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It is one of the most venerated religious sites in the world.
What is the Presentation in the Temple?
The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple is the mystery of Mary and Joseph handing Jesus over to St Simeon in the Temple.
Jesus is handed over to God, presented to God at Jerusalem’s Temple. Jesus is consecrated totally to God by his parents.
St Simeon has waited for this moment his whole life and he prophesies over Mary, saying that ‘This Child will be set for the resurrection and falling of many in Israel.’
In other words, Jesus will bring many to life, but also many will find him an offense. He speaks of the cross upon which Jesus will die.
He also tells Mary: ‘A sword will pierce your soul.’ This speaks of Our Sorrowful Lady, Mary Our Lady of Sorrows, whose very heart was pierced with a sword by seeing her Son die on the cross.
There are many powerful pictures on the internet to show Mary’s face at this event. Type into the net: ‘Our Lady of Sorrows’.
What is the Finding of Jesus?
When he was 12, Jesus went to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph. But they lose him for 3 days.
The pain they must have felt cannot be imagined. Imagine being given this immense responsibility by God himself, and yet you lose God’s Son!
They search everywhere for him, and eventually find him on the 3rd day in the Temple. Notice that this prefigures the resurrection on the third day.
Jesus is in the Temple asking the doctors of the scriptures questions. They are amazed with Jesus’ learning.
Jesus must have been expertly taught by his Mother Mary and Joseph. They surely recited huge amounts of Scripture to him throughout his childhood.
This shows that Jesus is Wisdom and Truth itself. He is the fulfilment of Scripture. He knows all these things because he is divine Wisdom from before the world began.
Mary and Joseph are thrilled to find him, but they ask: ‘Why have you done this to us?’
Jesus replies: ‘Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?’
They don’t understand, probably thinking he meant Joseph’s business. But he was talking of his heavenly Father, God.
Jesus goes home with Mary and Joseph and submits himself to them. We too should submit ourselves to Mary and Joseph, to their faithful care.
Notice also that Jesus is always in the Temple. He was presented in the Temple, he was conceived in the Temple (Mary, Mother of God) and he was found in the Temple.
The Temple. Let us try to visit our local Catholic Church as often as possible where the Tabernacle and Temple of God is.
Let us pay Jesus regular visits so that we might worship him in the all Sacred Eucharist behind the veil.
I hope you’ve found this article useful and if you have anything you wish to say/ask, please leave a comment below.
God bless, in Christ, Wisdom incarnate.