<P> The prayers that essentially compose the Rosary are arranged in sets of ten Hail Marys with each set preceded by one Lord's Prayer and followed by one Glory Be . During recitation of each set, known as a decade, thought is given to one of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which recall events in the lives of Jesus and Mary . The Glorious mysteries are said on Sunday and Wednesday, the Joyful on Monday and Saturday, the Sorrowful on Tuesday and Friday, and the Luminous Mysteries are said on Thursday . Normally, five decades are recited in a session . Various prayers are sometimes added after each decade (for example, the Fátima Prayer), at the beginning (in particular, the Apostles' Creed), and at the end (in particular, the Hail, Holy Queen). The rosary as a material object is an aid towards saying these prayers in the proper sequence . </P> <P> The Rosary is a devotion for the meditation of the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary . Sister Lucia dos Santos said "The Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families...that cannot be solved by the Rosary ." The Church has always recognized the efficacy of this devotion John Paul II said "Through the Rosary the faithful receive abundant grace, as by the hands of the Mother of the Redeemer . </P> <P> A standard fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary, based on the long - standing custom, was established by Pope Pius V in the 16th century, grouping the mysteries in three sets: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries . In 2002 Pope John Paul II said that it is fitting that a new set of five be added, called the Luminous Mysteries, bringing the total number of mysteries to twenty, although he did not create these mysteries . They had been used by Holy Cross father Patrick Peyton, the "Rosary Priest" of the 20th Century . </P> <P> For over four centuries, the rosary has been promoted by several popes as part of the veneration of Mary in Roman Catholicism, and consisting essentially in meditation on the life of Christ . The rosary also represents the Roman Catholic emphasis on "participation in the life of Mary, whose focus was Christ", and the Mariological theme "to Christ through Mary". </P>

What are the 3 mysteries of the rosary