The Rosary - Joyful mysteries

The Mysteries of the Rosary are meditations on episodes in the life of Jesus. Meditating on the events of the life of Jesus through the Rosary means to look at them from a special point of view: the point of view of Mary, his mother.
With this prayer, we ask the blessed Mary, who was near Jesus from the annunciation to ascension and beyond, to teach us about these events. We also thank and praise God for them as we meditate on them.

Among the events in the life of Jesus, fifteen of them are traditionally meditated upon during the Rosary. These were standardized in the 16th century and grouped into three sets of five: the Joyful mysteries, the Sorrowful mysteries and the Glorious mysteries. In 2002 a new set of five was introduced, the Luminous mysteries.

The Joyful mysteries

The Joyful mysteries span from the Annunciation to the finding of Jesus in the Temple when he was about twelve.

1. First Joyful mystery: the Annunciation
   
   In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
   Luke 1:26-38
2. Second Joyful mystery: the Visitation
   
    In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
   Luke 1:39-45
3. Third Joyful mystery: the Nativity
   
   In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
   Luke 2:1-7
4. Fourth Joyful mystery: the Presentation
   
   When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
   Luke 2:22-24
5. Fifth Joyful mystery: the Finding of Jesus in the Temple
   
   Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
   Luke 2:41-51

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• Cambridge Lay Dominicans: The Rosary - Introduction 
• Cambridge Lay Dominicans: The Rosary - Joyful mysteries
• Cambridge Lay Dominicans: The Rosary - Luminous mysteries
• Cambridge Lay Dominicans: The Rosary - Sorrowful mysteries
• Cambridge Lay Donimicans: The Rosary - Glorious mysteries
• Cambridge Lay Dominicans: The Rosary - The litany of Loreto
• Prayer sheet on how to pray the Rosary.

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