FEAST OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Romans,
Chapter 12, Verse 18
If
possible, on your part, live at peace
with all.
It is
fair that we recount how God has removed our faults and how he imputes no guilt
on us when we sincerely repent and turn away from our sins and ask for
forgiveness. Once He has freed us, it is then that we can gratefully receive the
counsels of the Holy Spirit which show us our path and gives us peace with God,
ourselves and others.
Do not plot evil
against your neighbors, when they live at peace with you. Proverbs 3: 29
The Shema
Yisrael which is the same prayer the Christ prayed every morning and tells
us that God is to be loved.
Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your
God with all your Heart, and with all your soul, and with your entire mind, and
with all your strength.
Christ
is the living example of God’s love for us. His heart could not rest
until He repaid our debt. His soul was so tormented for love of us that
He sweated blood in the garden for us. His mind was ever on us when He
multiplied the loaves or healed the sick and with all His strength He
offered his life as an eternal sacrifice before the Father. He for love of us
took the cup and drank it to the dregs during His passion.
To help
us understand this love of His for us is the mission of the Confraternity of
the Passion International[1] who
document the full suffering of our Lord to show us how we are loved.
Feast
of Our Lady of Sorrows
We must
follow the example of Our Lady of Sorrows and bring our savior to others and undergo
the joys with the sorrows. Today would be a good day to contemplate the seven
sorrows of our Lady and to pray and honor her for she is our mother too.
This
feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her
compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as
co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way
of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to
our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of
the whole world.
As
Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow
Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:
- The prophecy
of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
- The flight
into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
- Loss of the
Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)
- Mary meets
Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
- Crucifixion
and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
- The body of
Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John
19:31-37)
- The burial of
Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)
Pope
Pius VII[2]
approved another series of prayers in honor of the Seven Sorrows for daily
meditation in 1815:
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory
be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
1.
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. Hail Mary…
2. 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. Hail Mary…
3. I grieve for you, O Mary most
sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss 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. Hail Mary…
4. 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. Hail Mary…
5. 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. Hail Mary…
6. 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. Hail Mary…
7. 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. Hail Mary…
Let Us Pray:
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech You, O Lord Jesus
Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Your mercy, by
the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a
sword of sorrow in the hour of Your bitter Passion. Through You, O Jesus
Christ, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and
reigns world without end. Amen.
Daily meditate upon the Seven Sorrows. Please the Sacred Heart of
the Redeemer by pondering the Sorrowful Heart of the Co-redemptrix. Receive the
remarkably generous graces which come from uniting our hearts each day to the
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of the Mother.
St.
Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373), Our Lady directly revealed the amazing graces
granted by her Son for all those who daily and pray seven Hail Mary’s while
meditating on her seven dolors and tears:
1.
“I will grant peace to their families.”
2. “They will be enlightened about
the Divine Mysteries.”
3. “I will console them in their
pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
4. “I will give them as much as
they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son
or the sanctification of their souls.”
5. “I will defend them in their
spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every
instant of their lives.”
6. “I will visibly help them at the
moment of their death—they will see the face of their mother.”
7. “I have obtained this grace from
my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors
will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all
their sins will be forgiven, and my Son will be their eternal consolation and
joy.”[3]
Things to Do[4]
Teach
your children the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Read more about this devotion. September is traditionally dedicated to
Our Lady of Sorrows.
·
Present
different art pieces of Our Lady of Sorrows, or illustration of one of her
sorrows, for meditation and discussion. There are so many different pieces from
all different eras, countries and mediums. Search words for art titles would be
Lamentation, Deposition, Pieta, Dolorosa, Sorrows, etc. Some samples:
o
Michelangelo's
Pieta
o
Vincent
Van Gogh's Pieta
o
Titian's
Mater
Dolorosa
o
Different
artists on the
Presentation in the Temple
o
Various
artists on the Flight
into Egypt
·
Discuss
why Mary is called the Queen of Martyrs.
·
Make
a heart-shaped cake for dessert, decorated with the swords piercing the heart.
·
Think
of ways to make reparation to Mary for the sins committed against Our Lord.
·
Pray
the short prayer or ejaculation, Holy Mother, imprint deeply upon my heart
the wounds of the Crucified.
·
Read
or sing the Stabat Mater, perhaps incorporating it with the Stations of
the Cross.
·
In
Italy, the title of Our Lady of Sorrows is Maria Santissima Addolorata.
This devotion began in the 1200s. She is the patron of many Italian cities. In
southern Italy there is La Festa della Madonna dei Sette Dolori (the
festival of the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna), instituted in 1423, also called
Madonna dell’Addolorata Festival. The food connected to this festival is cuccia
salata, wheat berries cooked in meat broth and layered with goat or pork.
10. “Do not fear, for
I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I
will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.”-Is 41:10
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
55. Prayer is the foundation of the spiritual edifice. Prayer is
all-powerful.
·
Total Consecration
Day 5
Please Pray for the intentions of my daughter Rachel Grace (Lamb of Grace). Today is her birthday!
[3]
http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/2010/09/the-promises-of-the-seen-sorrows/
[6]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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