Feast Day September 15th
"Thy Mother seeing Thee, the Lamb and Shepherd and Savior of the world, upon the Cross, said with tears, Lo! The world rejoiceth, for it gaineth deliverance; but my heart is broken, for I see Thy crucifixion, which Thou endurest for all, O my Son and My God." Byzantine Horologion, Troparion at None, 6th to 8th century.
It should be a fitting reminder to us that the Feast of our Lady of Sorrows falls on the day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross as the two memorials are so closely entwined. On one day, we bring more closely to mind the Cross that determined our salvation because Christ died upon it. The Greek literally translate the day as "Raising Aloft of the Precious Cross" which from the Latin we have "Raising Aloft of the Holy Cross." Although this feast day strongly brings to our attention the crucifixion and the excruciating suffering offered for the salvation for our sins, who of us can really, truly understand what it means to actually stand by that cross and witness the blood shed that was the turning point of our history and the beginning of the Church.
There were several people close by the cross that day and a crowd in encircling the area. All were touched in some way but who more so than the Mother who gave birth to the Son that now died horribly before her very eyes.
"At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last:
Through her heart, His sorry sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword had passed."
Of all the feast days dedicated to the Blessed Mother, this had great pain and sadness prefacing the glory of the Resurrection. In all, there are Seven Sorrows endured lovingly and graciously by the Mother God chosen for His Only Begotten Son.
The Bible clearly sets out the seven events that reveal the strength and trust the Blessed Mother had in her place in this important aspect of our salvation.
The devotion to the Mother of Sorrows dates back to the beginning of the Church. St. John at the foot of the Cross is the very first example. "Now there stood by the Cross of Jesus, His Mother . . ." (John. 19:25)
The devotion has always been part of Catholic faith. It was not, however, until the 13th Century that this devotion of meditation to the Sorrow of Our Lady began to really take root. In Florence, Italy, seven holy men of noble birth left the city to seek solitude on Mount Senario where they formed a community to dedicate their lives to prayer and penance. The men had a deep devotion to Our Blessed Mother. In 1239, on Good Friday, while meditating on Our Lord’s Passion and Mary’s own sufferings, Our Lady appeared to them and presented to them her wish for them to form an order dedicated to practicing and promoting devotion to Her Seven Sorrows. This was the founding of the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites) and all of them are canonized saints today.
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
1. The Prophecy of Simeon
2. The Flight into Egypt
3. Jesus is Lost in the Temple
4. Mary Meets Jesus Carrying His Cross to Calvary
5. The Crucifixion - Mary Standing at the Foot of the Cross as Jesus Dies
6. The Taking Down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross
7. The Burial of Jesus
"Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up, at speaking, at walking; in a word, at every act." (St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Discourses, 4, 14 4th century)
Prayer in Honor of the Seven Sorrows of Mary
O most holy and afflicted Virgin! Queen of Martyrs! thou who didst stand motionless beneath the Cross, witnessing the agony of thy expiring Son--through the unceasing sufferings of thy life of sorrow, and the bliss which now more than amply repays thee for thy past trials, look down with a mother's tenderness and pity on me, who kneel before thee to venerate thy dolors, and place my requests, with filial confidence, in the sanctuary of thy wounded heart; present them, I beseech thee, on my behalf, to Jesus Christ, through the merits of His own most sacred death and passion, together with thy sufferings at the foot of the cross, and through the united efficacy of both obtain the grant of my present petition. To whom shall I resort in my wants and miseries if not to thee, O Mother of Mercy, who, having so deeply drunk of the chalice of thy Son, canst compassionate the woes of those who still sigh in the land of exile? Offer for me to my Savior one drop of the Blood which flowed from His sacred veins, one of the tears which trickled from His divine eyes, one of the sighs which rent His adorable Heart. O refuge of the universe and hope of the whole world, do not reject my humble prayer, but graciously obtain the grant of my petition.
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