Praying a Scriptural Rosary | Luminous Mysteries

Praying a Scriptural Rosary is accomplished by praying a traditional Rosary and adding scriptural verses related to each mystery of the Rosary. The goal is that the addition of scriptural verses will assist you in meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary as you pray. These significant events from the life of Jesus are made easier to comprehend and better-illustrated thanks to the passages from the Bible. Our chosen biblical passages, associated with praying a Scriptural Rosary for the Luminous Mysteries, are listed below. There are no ‘right or wrong’ versions of praying a Rosary with scripture, and you’ll find several versions or different chosen scripture passages. A PDF version of a Scriptural Rosary that focuses on the Luminous Mysteries is also available.

The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary with Scripture center on the biblical accounts of the lives of Jesus and the Apostles, beginning with the early part of Jesus' ministry at his baptism in the Jordan River, and ending with the Last Supper with the Apostles on the night of his arrest in the Garden. It is customary to pray for these mysteries, which are also referred to as The Mysteries of Light, on Thursdays; however, one may pray for them on any day of the week in accordance with his or her own personal devotion. The Luminous Mysteries are as follows:

• The Baptism in the River Jordan
• The Wedding at Cana
• The Proclamation of the Kingdom
• The Transfiguration
• The Institution of the Holy Eucharist
  
  

The Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary with Scripture

The First Luminous Mystery - The Baptism in the River Jordan

1. “There was one of the Pharisees called Nicodemus, a leading Jew, who came to Jesus by night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who comes from God; for no one could perform the signs that you do unless God were with him.” (John 3:1-2)
2. “Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God: what is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6)
3. “Do not be surprised when I say: “You must be born from above. The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:7-8)
4. “How can that be possible?” asked Nicodemus. “You, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things!” replied Jesus.” (John 3:9-10)
5. “I tell you most solemnly, we speak only about what we know and witness only to what we have seen and yet you people reject our evidence. If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world, how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?” (John 3:11-12)
6. “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven; and the Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert.” (John 3:13-14)
7. “So that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:15)
8. “Then Jesus appeared: he came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John tried to dissuade him. ‘It is I who need baptism from you’ he said ‘and yet you come to me!’ But Jesus replied, ‘Leave it like this for the time being; it is fitting that we should, in this way, do all that righteousness demands’. At this, John gave in to him.”: (Matthew 3:13-15)
9. “As soon as Jesus was baptized he came up from the water, and suddenly the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him. And a voice spoke from heaven, “This is my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on him.” (Matthew 3:16-17)
10. “As John stood there again with two of his disciples, Jesus passed, and John stared hard at him and said, “Look, there is the lamb of God.” (John 1:35-36)
    
    

The Second Luminous Mystery - The Wedding at Cana

1. “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.” (John 2:1)
2. “Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.” (John 2:2)
3. “When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” (John 2:3)
4. “Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4)
5. “His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” (John 2:5)
6. “Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim.” (John 2:6-7)
7. “Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it.“ (John 2:8)
8. “And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from (although the servers who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” (John 2:9-10)
9. “Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.” (John 2:11)
10. “After this, he and his mother, [his] brothers, and his disciples went down to Capernaum and stayed there only a few days.” (John 2:12)
    
    

The Third Luminous Mystery - The Proclamation of the Kingdom

1. “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
2. “Unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)
3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3)
4. “Blessed are they who suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:10)
5. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 5:20)
6. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.” (Matt 13:45-46)
7. “Amen I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:3)
8. “Children, how hard it is for those that trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God!”  (Mark 10:24)
9. “I must proclaim the kingdom of God, for this is why I have been sent” (Luke 4:43)
10. “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)
    
    

The Fourth Luminous Mystery - The Transfiguration

1. “Now about eight days after this had been said, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to pray.” (Luke 9:28)
2. “As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became brilliant as lightning.” (Luke 9:29)
3. “Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they were Moses and Elijah.” (Luke 9:30)
4. “Appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:31)
5. “Peter and his companions were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men standing with him.” (Luke 9:32)
6. “As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what he was saying.” (Luke 9:33)
7. “As he spoke, a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the cloud the disciples were afraid.” (Luke 9:34)
8. “And a voice came from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.” (Luke 9:35)
9. “As they came down from the mountain he warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” (Mark 9:9)
10. “It was not any cleverly invented myths that we were repeating when we brought you the knowledge of the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we had seen his majesty for ourselves. He was honored and glorified by God the Father, when the Sublime Glory itself spoke to him and said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor.” (2 Peter 1:16-17)
    
    

The Fifth Luminous Mystery - The Institution of the Holy Eucharist

1. “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” (Matthew 26:17)
2. “He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, “My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”’ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. (Matthew 26:18-19)
3. “When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. (Matthew 26:20)
4. “And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” (Matthew 26:21)
5. “Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” (Matthew 26:22)
6. “Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.” (Matthew 26:25)
7. “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26)
8. “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28)
9. “I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father.” (Matthew 26:29)
10. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I shall raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54)
    
    

How do you pray the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary with scripture?

Using scripture in a rosary prayer can be done in a number of different ways. The first option, when you are announcing each Luminous Mystery, recite a longer passage of scripture to help illustrate the scene that you are meditating on. This will help illustrate the scene you are meditating on. If you followed this option, you would read all of the passages (1-10) that are listed up top, and then say your decade of Hail Marys.

The second option is praying a single verse or two on each Hail Mary. Before beginning each Hail Mary, read just one or two verses, they are denoted by the numbers above. By doing so, you will be able to reflect on a single verse with each Hail Mary, and you will be able to paint the scene as you pray through the decade. Both of these ways of praying the Holy Rosary with sacred scripture are wonderful in their own right.

A Scriptural Rosary: The Luminous Mysteries PDF

Download the Free Printable Guide: The Scriptural Rosary, The Luminous Mysteries PDF. Download here.

Other Rosary Mysteries with Scripture

The Sorrowful Mysteries with Scripture

The Glorious Mysteries with Scripture

The Joyful Mysteries with Scripture

Additional Scriptural Rosary Resources

How to pray a Scriptural Rosary - Long Passages

How to remember the Mysteries of the Rosary

How to pray a Rosary to honor St Joseph

The Rosary Card - Built For Convenience

Connect

Please let me know how your journey with the Rosary is going, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message an email at: brennan@everydayprayerco.com

Need a Rosary to get started? Rosary Cards. It'll make sure you are never without the Rosary.

Get inspired by our daily Rosary quotes: 

And don't forget about our free Rosary Guide Download. Keep Praying!