Luke 2:35; “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also,”
She was the first and last to hold Jesus. She is the only one to know Jesus as both a son and as Her Lord. She knew Him on this earth longer and more intimately than anyone.
Mary was born in Nazareth to Saints Joachim, meaning “God grants”, and Anne, “Grace”. From Her first moment, She was preserved from original sin by the merits of Christ applied.
They welcomed Her and raised Her in a spirit of faith, opening their hearts to God’s gift.
Just as the elaborate Ark of the Covenant housed the Ten Commandments, Mary became the New Ark of the Covenant, carrying the living Word incarnate, in whom the Lord himself made His dwelling. Just as the Ark had to be constructed with pure materials and to precise divine specifications, worthy of God’s presence, so was Mary born, untarnished, preserved from original sin and being, “Full of Grace.” It was preparation for her role as the Mother of God.
When She saw how good God was, she couldn’t help but give Herself entirely to Him.
After the Annunciation, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth which provoked a profound spiritual reaction. It echoed the transfer of the Ark to Jerusalem, when King David exclaimed, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” Similarly, Elizabeth asks, “Why am I so favored, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?”
Her emotions where perfectly subordinated to reason because She had perfect virtue. She was sinless and therefore felt more keenly. This made Her suffering interiorly far more intense than we could ever comprehend. When She embraced Her suffering in full grace, even the angels were astonished.
Along with Saint Joseph, upon the birth of Jesus, Our Lady brings Christ to Saint Simeon. Simeon states that Our Lady’s soul may be pure so that the hearts of many will be laid bare. In addition, Simeon gave Her minute details and aspects about what Jesus was to go through in His Passion and His brutal death, turning all Her joy into sorrow. She had to carry the knowledge from then on, giving reason as to why the saints refer to Her as the Queen of Martyrs. She died interiorly at that moment in relationship to Her son. She never once blocked Him in that process leading up to His Passion.
As soon as Jesus was born, men tried to put Him to death; the very men he would save. Upon the flight into Egypt, to protect Jesus, Mary had perfect confidence in Our Lord although it required a great and arduous journey, in winter, with extended stay as strangers in a foreign land. Anytime God asked Her anything, she never took herself into account; She just said yes. Complete selflessness, making Her different from all since everyone counts the personal cost in some manner.
Mary had the sweet presence and light of Her son and Our Lord with Her, and so when He was lost in Jerusalem, she suffered greatly from His absence for 3 days. The afflicted Mother had no rest, and in pain, prayed without ceasing to God to enable Her to find Him. She suffered at a distance from Him in darkness. Jesus the comforter, who could console Her, was no where to be found. It was only this time that She made known to Him about Her grief. It was a precursor to Her suffering at the end of His Passion.
All mothers instinctively feel the pain of their children, as if it were their own pain. The empathy is a perfection that women have more so than men. Mary was perfectly united with Jesus through love and so She endured the Passion with Him.
During Jesus’ carrying of the Cross, after having been severely beaten and scourged beyond recognition, crowned with thorns, heavily mocked, and with a loss of a tremendous amount of blood, She saw Her son and Our Lord in His innocence. Everything Simeon had told Her, at that moment, She surrendered to, and accepted it. She was willing to die to Herself in order for the Sacrifice to be completed. Yet, She stood firmly. The soldiers pushed Her aside and hurled insults at Her, preventing Her from embracing or consoling Him.
When Jesus is placed on the Cross, He offered up His body, and in the heart of the Blessed Virgin, She offered up Her soul. Mary is the most afflicted among all mothers. When Jesus saw the Sorrow of His Blessed Mother, it increased his pain and suffering. In turn, when She saw this, it increased Her suffering as well, acting as a crescendo between them. Condemned to see Her innocent son endure the most barbaric and humiliating death, Her suffering was far greater than anyone has or will experience except Her son.
The love Christ has for Our Lady is unique. There is no other like it.
She watched Her son’s heart be pierced, taken down from the cross, and She fully embraced Him. She fully embraced the pain. She accepted the completion of it. Her sacrifice was complete. The disciples, fearful that She might die of grief, approached to take Christ for His burial. This was done with gentle and respectful violence; violence that She underwent interiorly in relinquishing His body.
Choirs of angels accompanied the carrying of the sacred body. Our Lady revealed how willing She would have been to bury Herself alive had it been His will. One tomb contained 2 hearts. At the tomb, She realizes that everything, all of the suffering and pain that God has asked of Her, is now finally finished. Our Lady left so afflicted that She moved many to tears without restraint in spite of themselves. Those who accompanied Her mourned even more for Her than for our Lord because of the tremendous suffering She underwent.
There was never any resistance to anything God ever asked of Her. Her immediate answer to God is yes. The Annunciation was Her moment of greatest triumph. The coronation as Queen of Heaven and Earth was the moment of greatest triumph with God honoring Our Lady, and Her standing beneath the Cross in perfect virtue is the most glorious moment in all of history. She merited an intimacy with God that no other individual has.
No one has ever suffered in the way Our Lady did, and for us, She understands what it means to suffer from other people’s sins. Everybody in heaven has forgiven everybody that’s hurt them and everyone in hell has forgiven no one. Turn to Her in your suffering as She knows how to consult. We can become little mirrors of Her by our own sacrifice.
We have to become like Our Lady where we lose ourselves in Him.
Devotion to the Mother of Sorrows dates to the beginning of the Church with Saint John standing at the foot of the Cross with Our Lord’s Mother.
Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to Blessed Veronica of Binasco, that He is more pleased in seeing His Mother compassionated than Himself. He said to her: “My daughter, tears shed for My Passion are dear to Me; but as I loved My Mother Mary with an immense love, the meditation on the torments which She endured at My death is even more agreeable to Me.” Therefore the graces promised by Jesus to those who are devoted to the sorrows of Mary are very great.
In 1233, seven devout men in Florence each had a vision from the Blessed Virgin Mary, inspiring them to form a religious community that would later be known as the Servites. Around the year 1240, these same men received another vision of the Mother of God, accompanied by angels. She informed them about their mission, provided them with their habits, presented their rule of life, and personally founded their order. In that apparition, they were instructed to spread devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, which became one of their central missions. Through the efforts of the Servite order in the subsequent centuries, the liturgical celebration honoring Our Lady of Sorrows gradually expanded.
From visions and revelations by;
- Saint Bridget of Sweden [https://real-heroes.org/saint-bridget-of-sweden/]
- Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe [Forthcoming]
- Saint Louis de Montfort [https://real-heroes.org/saint-louis-de-montfort/]
- Saint Alphonsus Liguori [https://real-heroes.org/saint-alphonsus-liguori/]
- Saint Bernard of Clairvaux [Forthcoming]
- Saint Mechtilde of Helfta [https://real-heroes.org/saint-mechtilde-of-helfta/]
- Saint John Chrysostom [https://real-heroes.org/saint-john-chrysostom/]
- And the Conference of The 7 Sorrows of Mary Explained by Father Chad Ripperger
Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is on September 15.
The Our Lady of Sorrows Meditation, along with its promises, can be found at; https://real-heroes.org/prayer-our-lady-of-sorrows/
For God’s Glory.
