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Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows:
15 September
“Most merciful mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your son, Jesus”
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows to commemorate the seven sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary began after the Blessed Virgin appeared to seven Florentine men in 1233 and asked that a new Order be formed for practising special devotion to her Seven Sorrows. Accordingly, they formed the Order of Servants of Mary or popularly called ‘Servites’ in 1240. They brought into practice the meditation of the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows which contemplates the seven sorrows of Our Lady which began with the prophecy of holy Simeon and intensified at the Death & Burial of Our Lord Jesus. A feast in honor of the sorrows of Our Lady was instituted for the first time in 1423 by Archbishop Theodoric of Cologne and by 1727 Pope Benedict XIII ordered the feast to be celebrated in the whole church.
Servants of Mary & Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary:
In 1233 on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady appeared to seven young noble Florentine men and asked them to withdraw from the world and form a new religious order devoted particularly to her Seven Sorrows. These noble men were members of the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin and lived a life of penance and prayer, practising devotion to the Blessed Virgin. In a second vision in 1239, Our Lady bore a black habit in her hand and an angel held a scroll inscribed with the title “Servants of Mary”. She asked them to spread devotion to her Seven Sorrows. She told them that she had chosen them as her servants and wished them to wear a black habit and live according to the Rule of Saint Augustine. Accordingly, they retired to the desolate Monte Senario in Tuscany and built a church and a hermitage there. From 13 April 1240, their religious community was formally called as the Servants of Mary or Servites. Pope Alexander IV informally recognised the Order in 1259 and a formal approval was given by Pope Benedict XI in 1304.
The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows is also commonly known as the Chaplet of Seven Sorrows or the Servite Rosary as it was brought into practice by the Servites. The seven sorrows mediated upon are:
1. First Sorrow – The Prophecy of Simeon
When Jesus was presented in the temple and laid in the arms of holy Simeon who prophesied “A sword will pierce your own soul” which was a foretelling of the Passion and death of her Beloved Son.
2. Second Sorrow – The Flight into Egypt
When our Lady had to flee to Egypt to escape the cruel persecution of King Herod who sought to take the life of her Son
3. Third Sorrow – The loss of the child Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem
When she lost her Son and after searching for Him for three days found him in the Temple in Jerusalem
4. Fourth Sorrow – Meeting of Jesus on the Way to Calvary
When she met her Beloved Son, carrying the Cross on His tender shoulders and walking towards Calvary mount for His Crucifixion
5. Fifth Sorrow – The Crucifixion of Jesus
When she sorrowfully stood at the foot of the Cross seeing her Beloved Son hanging on the Cross in great pain and agony for three hours and watched Him die
6. Sixth Sorrow – The piercing of the side of Jesus
When she saw the soldier pierce the sacred side of Jesus, Her beloved Son and when she received His holy body when it was taken down from the Cross and laid on her lap.
7. Seventh Sorrow – The burial of Jesus
When she saw her Son laid in the sepulchre
Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows:
In 1423 Archbishop Theodoric of Cologne was the first to prescribe a feast in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows. The feast was gradually introduced in other parts of Europe. In 1727, Pope Benedict XIII ordered the feast to be kept in the whole Church under the name of the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1913 Pope Saint Pius X ordered the feast to be observed on 15th September, the day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. It is now known as the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Devotion & Blessings on practising the devotion:
In a vision to Saint Bridget, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared with the holy prophet Simeon and an angel bearing a long sword red with blood. Mary revealed that she will grant those who daily honor her by saying seven Hail Marys while meditating on her tears and sorrows the following seven graces:
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 Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and sorrows 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.
Similarly St. Alphonsus Liguori, in his book The Glories of Mary mentioned that Our Lord promised the following graces to all those who have a devotion to the Seven Sorrows of His Blessed Mother.
1) That those who before death invoked the divine Mother in the name of her sorrows should obtain true repentance of all their sins.
2) That He would protect all who have this devotion in their tribulations, and that He would protect them especially at the hour of their death.
3) That He would impress upon their minds the remembrance of His Passion, and that they should have their reward for it in heaven.
4) That He would commit such devout clients to the hands of Mary, with the power to dispose off them in whatever manner she might please, and to obtain for them all the graces she might desire.
This month is therefore a time to meditate on the Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and obtain all the graces promised to us. Praying the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady is a good way to contemplate on her sorrows.