The catholic rosary is divided into Rosary Mysteries to be said in sequence, each commemorating a phase in the gospels. Traditionally the mysteries are said once a day, although the devout often recite all of the mysteries in sequence as part of a devotion.
The Joyful Mysteries (sometimes Joyous Mysteries) celebrate the annunciation through to the coming of age of jesus.
The Sorrowful Mysteries meditate on the passion, from betrayal through to crucifixion and death.
The Glorious Mysteries celebrate the beating of death – the resurrection to ascension, and remember both the journey of christ and of mary.
The mysteries are a memory of the passion itself, and the rosary is a gospel recitation of fundamental parts of the creed. Even its latter stages which protestants may dispute derive from scripture revelation “behold a lady her head ringed with stars”
Later Pope John Paul II, in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (October 2002), recommended an additional set of prayers called the Luminous Rosary Mysteries – which reflect on key events in the mystical life of christ which are missing from the earlier decades, from baptism through to the eucharist.
Each mystery is not just a recitation it is also a meditation – a medium in which to reflect on the meaning of the gospel messages, not just the memory of the events. Say the rosary mysteries too fast, and you can miss the meditation.
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