Our Lady of Sorrows

Prayer in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows
Father, As your Son was raised on the cross,
His mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His suffering.
May she, who is also our spiritual Mother
and Patroness in heaven,
help us to find renewed strength
at the cross of Christ
and so to come to share in His rising to new life,
where He lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever. Amen.

"Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again." With these words during the Mass, we proclaim the mystery of faith. The Paschal Mystery leads us to hope in the return of Our Savior, Christ.

Similar to the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary is both mater dolorosa (sorrowful mother) and virgo assumpta (virgin assumed into heaven). She is the perfect model for us to find hope and solace in the love of God.

Mary persevered with love from her fiat at the joyful Annunciation to her sorrowful suffering at the Passion of Christ. Her depth of love for Jesus kept her from suffering in despair. She endured as Our Lady of Sorrows. We too can endure through love.

Pray to the Mother of Divine Grace for the mercy and grace of the Son in our time of need.

The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows falls on September 15. This feast commemorates the sorrowful Mother and the sufferings she experienced in union with her Son and dates back to the 12th century. The feast was extended to the universal Church in 1817 by Pope Pius VII and fixed officially in the calendar for September 15 in 1913 by Pope Pius X. This feast reminds us of the spiritual martyrdom of Our Blessed Mother and her compassion with the sufferings of her divine Son.

This devotion originated in the thirteenth century. It recalls the Sorrows of the Virgin Mother of God endured in compassion for the suffering and death of her Divine Son.

One of the gifts granted to those who have a devotion to the Sorrows of Mary is the grace of a good and holy death. In recompense for her fidelity in remaining near Jesus as He died on the Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows has received from Him a special power to assist souls in their last agony and no doubt she will above all exercise this power on behalf of those who have wept with her.

Rosary of the Seven Sorrows

The Seven Sorrows Rosary consists of seven Hail Mary's for each of the Seven Sorrows. One Our Father is said before each group of seven Hail Mary's, which are separated by a medal. On the three beads of the rosary at the end three Hail Mary's are said in honor of the Tears of Our Sorrowful Mother.

During each of the seven sets of beads, meditate on the corresponding spiritual themes:

The prophecy of Simeon.

Sorrow as sharp as a sword shall pierce Mary's heart because of her Child. Mary is in the Temple, having come with Joseph to present the Child to God. They meet Simeon, the holy man, and Anna, the prophetess. Simeon takes the Baby in his arms, saying he will now die in peace because he has seen Christ, then he foretells the sorrow to come.

I grieve for you, O Mary, most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God.

The flight into Egypt.

Soon the sword of sorrow strikes. Herod the King seeks to kill the Child. Warned in sleep by an angel, Joseph takes Jesus and His Mother Mary, setting out for Egypt, where they lived in obscurity and poverty until it was safe to return to Nazareth.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety.

The loss of the Child Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple.

When Jesus is twelve, He is taken to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. On the return journey Joseph and Mary find at the end of the first day that Jesus is not with them. Racked with anxiety, they search for Him. Nobody in the streets, not even the beggars, can tell them where He is. Not till the third day do they find Him, in the Temple.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the lost of your dear Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge.

Our Sorrowful Mother meets Jesus on the road to Calvary.

Mary has known fear and sorrow, but none so great as seeing her beloved Son stumbling under the weight of the Cross. She hears the jeering shouts from the crowd and has no power to help Him. Pity and love are in her eyes as she gazes at His blood-stained face. To many around her He is no better than a criminal, and her heart is breaking as she follows Him to Calvary or Golgotha.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His cross. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude.

The Crucifixion.

With John, Mary stands at the foot of the Cross. "A sword shall pierce thy soul," Simeon told her. Truly her heart is pierced with sorrow. Her beloved Son is dying and she shares in His suffering. She does not ask God to take away this agony. She is His Mother, so close to Him that His pain is hers, too. And now He speaks from the Cross: "Woman, behold thy son." Jesus give His Mother to John, and to us. For all eternity she is our Mother.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart, obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel.

Mary receives the body of Jesus from the Cross.

It is over. Dark clouds have appeared in the sky and upon the world. Jesus is dead. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take down the Body from the Cross. and Mary receives It in her arms. She is filled with a sadness that no human heart has known. This is her Son. Once she had cradled Him in her arms. listened to His voice, watched Him working at the carpenter's bench. Now He is dead. She does not weep, her grief is too great for tears.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the cross. Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding.

The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb.

Hastily the Body is wrapped in a clean linen cloth. Nicodemus has brought myrrh and aloes, and the Body is bound in the Shroud with them. nearby is a new tomb, belonging to Joseph of Arimathea, and there they lay Jesus. Mary and John and the holy women follow them and watch as the great stone to the sepulcher is rolled. it is the end.

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom.

Next three Hail Mary's in honor of the Tears of Our Sorrowful Mother.

The concluding prayer is as follows:

V. Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Savior of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Finish with the prayers, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be – for the intention of the Pope.

Hail, Holy Queen

When we are despondent and feeling hopeless Our Lady of Sorrows is our wellspring of hope. Prayer to the Comforter of the Afflicted is our remedy. The homily of Benedict XVI at the Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death Pope Pius XII, points to the refuge we can find in the Queen assumed into Heaven.

"As a sign of steadfast hope, he held up to humanity Mary herself, the Woman of salvation, proclaiming the Dogma of the Assumption during the Holy Year of 1950. In our world, assailed as it was then by preoccupations and worries about its future, in this world where, perhaps more than in any other epoch, the distancing of many from truth and virtue lets us glimpse scenarios devoid of hope, Pius XII invites us to turn our gaze to Mary, taken up into heavenly glory. He invites us to call on her confidently, so that she may make us appreciate increasingly the value of life on earth and help us to turn our gaze to the true destination to which we are all bound: eternal life which, as Jesus assures us, those who listen to and obey his words already possess. "—Pope Benedict XVI, October 9, 2008.