They are the heart of the Rosary on days of penance: they stay with Jesus step by step as he gives himself up. They are prayed on Tuesdays and Fridays, and also on the Sundays of Lent.
In each mystery we pray one decade (an Our Father, ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be) and ask for a particular fruit. If you’re not sure which ones are prayed today, check today’s mysteries.
I
The Agony in the Garden
Fruit sorrow for sin Passage Mt 26:36-46
Then Jesus came with them into a country place which is called Gethsemani; and he said to his disciples: Sit you here, till I go yonder and pray. And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to grow sorrowful and to be sad.Mt 26:36-46
II
The Scourging at the Pillar
Fruit mortification of the senses Passage Jn 18:38-40; 19:1; Is 53:5
Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him.Jn 18:38-40; 19:1; Is 53:5
III
The Crowning with Thorns
Fruit interior mortification Passage Mt 27:27-31
Then the soldiers of the governor taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto him the whole band; and stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him. And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand.Mt 27:27-31
IV
The Carrying of the Cross
Fruit patience in tribulation Passage Jn 19:16-17; Lk 23:26-28
And they took Jesus, and led him forth. And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha. And as they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country;Jn 19:16-17; Lk 23:26-28
V
The Crucifixion and Death
Fruit love of God and the salvation of souls Passage Jn 19:25-30
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.Jn 19:25-30
How to pray them
Begin with the Sign of the Cross and the Apostles’ Creed, then go through the mysteries one by one: announce it, meditate on its passage and pray the decade. At the end, the Hail, Holy Queen. The full order, with every prayer, is in how to pray the Rosary, step by step.
