Luminous Mysteries · 1 of 5
The Baptism of Jesus
Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?" Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Spiritual fruit: Openness to the Holy Spirit
Traditionally prayed on: Thursday
The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan is the first of the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. It commemorates the moment at which Christ, beginning his public ministry, came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by Saint John the Baptist. The narrative is recorded in all four canonical Gospels: Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, and John 1:29-34. It is celebrated as a feast on the Sunday after the Epiphany, the closing day of the Christmas season.
The Luminous Mysteries
The Luminous Mysteries (also called the Mysteries of Light) were added to the rosary by Pope Saint John Paul II in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (October 16, 2002). The pope observed that the traditional fifteen-mystery rosary, drawn from the joyful infancy and the sorrowful Passion and the glorious aftermath, contained no meditation on the years of Christ's public ministry between his baptism and his Passion. The five Luminous Mysteries fill that gap.1
The five Luminous Mysteries are: the Baptism of Jesus, the Wedding at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Institution of the Eucharist. Each is a moment of luminous self-revelation of Christ in his public ministry.
The mystery
The Baptism of Christ takes place in the Jordan River, where Saint John the Baptist had been preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Christ, who had no need of repentance, comes to be baptized "to fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15). At the moment of his baptism, the heavens are opened, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father is heard from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
The mystery is the first Trinitarian theophany of the New Testament: the Son is in the water, the Spirit descends in visible form, the Father speaks audibly from heaven. The Catholic doctrine of the Trinity is grounded in part in this scriptural moment. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the Baptism of Christ is the foundation of all Christian baptism: in his immersion in the Jordan, Christ sanctified the waters and instituted the sacrament by which his disciples would be incorporated into him.2
Meditation on openness to the Holy Spirit
The traditional spiritual fruit of the Baptism of Jesus is openness to the Holy Spirit. The mystery presents Christ at the inauguration of his public ministry, anointed by the Spirit and acknowledged by the Father. Each Christian, in his or her own baptism, was likewise anointed by the Spirit and acknowledged by the Father as a beloved son or daughter; the renewal of baptismal openness to the Spirit is the proper fruit of meditating upon this mystery.
For the related catechetical articles, see What is a sacrament?.
Praying the Baptism of Jesus
To pray the first Luminous Mystery: announce "The first Luminous Mystery, the Baptism of Jesus," pray an Our Father, ten Hail Marys while meditating on Christ's baptism in the Jordan, and conclude with a Glory Be and the Fatima Prayer.
The Luminous Mysteries are traditionally prayed on Thursdays. For the next mystery, see the Wedding at Cana.
Sources
Footnotes
Last reviewed: May 1, 2026. Sources verified.