The feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary was first celebrated by the Servite Order (the Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin) in 1667. In 1814 Pope Pius VII extended the feast to the Universal Church and in 1913 Pope Saint Pius X ordered it to be observed on 15 September, the day following the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It is also known as the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. The object of this feast is the spiritual martyrdom of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God, and her compassion for the sufferings of her Divine Son.
The Seven Sorrows of the
Blessed Virgin Mary are:
- The prophecies of Simeon the Just
- The flight of the Holy Family into Egypt
- The loss of the child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem
- The meeting of Mary and Jesus on the way to Calvary
- The crucifixion and death of Jesus
- The piercing of Jesus' side and the descent from the Cross
- The burial of Jesus in the sepulchre
(Luke ii. 25-35)
Behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Ghost was in him. He had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into the temple. When his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, Simeon took him into his arms, blessed God and said: “Now dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace; because my eyes have seen the salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” His father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: “Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be contradicted; and your own soul a sword will pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”
(Matthew ii. 1-18)
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of king Herod, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Saying, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and have come to adore him.” King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And assembling together all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they said to him: “In Bethlehem of Judah. For so it is written by the prophet: And you Bethlehem the land of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of you will come forth the captain that will rule my people Israel.” Then Herod, privately calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time of the star which appeared to them; And sending them into Bethlehem, said: “Go and diligently inquire after the child, and when you have found him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore him.” Who having heard the king, went their way; and behold the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was. Seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down they adored him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having received an answer in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went back another way into their country. After they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: “Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I will tell you. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: That it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry, and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”
(Luke ii. 41-49)
And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the Pasch. When he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. Thinking that he was in the company, they came a day's journey, and sought him among their kin and acquaintances. Not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. All that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: “Son, why have you done this to us? Behold your father and I have sought you sorrowing.” He said to them: “How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?”
(Luke xxiii. 26-27)
As they led him away, they laid hold of one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country; and they laid the cross on him to carry after Jesus. And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.
(John xix. 25-30)
There stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold your son. After that, he said to the disciple: “Behold your mother.” And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own. Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: “I thirst.” Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it to his mouth. Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: “It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.”
The piercing of Jesus' side and descent from the Cross
(John xix. 31-38)
(John xix. 31-38)
Then the Jews, (because it was the Parasceve,) that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that was a great Sabbath day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came; and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. But after they had come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. One of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it, has given testimony, and his testimony is true. And he knows that he says true; that you also may believe. For these things were done, that the scripture might be fulfilled: “You will not break a bone of him.” And again another scripture says: “They will look on him whom they pierced. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took away the body of Jesus.
(Matthew xxvii. 59-60)
Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
At Rome, on the Via Nomentana, the birthday of blessed Nicomedes, priest and martyr. As he said to those who would compel him to sacrifice: “I sacrifice only to the Omnipotent God who reigns in heaven,” he was for a long time scourged with leaded whips and thus went to Our Lord.
In the diocese of Chalons, St. Valerian, martyr, who was suspended on high by the governor Priscus, and tortured with iron hooks. Remaining immovable in the confession of Christ, and continuing joyfully to praise Him, he was struck with the sword by order of the same magistrate.
At Marcianopolis in Thrace, St. Melitina, a martyr, in the time of the emperor Antoninus and the governor Antiochus. She was twice led to the temples of the Gentiles, and as the idols fell to the ground each time, she was hanged and torn and finally decapitated.
At Adrianople, the holy martyrs Maximus, Theodore and Asclepiodotus who were crowned under the emperor Maximian.
Also St. Porphyrius, a comedian, who, in the presence of Julian the Apostate, being baptised in jest, and suddenly converted by the power of God, declared himself a Christian. Forthwith, by order of the emperor, he was struck with an axe, and thus crowned with martyrdom.
The same day, St. Nicetas, a Goth, who was burned alive for the Catholic faith by order of king Athanaric.
At Cordova, the holy martyrs Emilas, deacon, and Jeremias, who ended their martyrdom in the persecution of the Arabs by being beheaded after a long detention in prison.
At Toul in France, St. Aper, bishop.
Also St. Leobinus, bishop of Chartres.
At Lyons, St. Albinus, bishop.
The same day, the decease of St. Richard, abbot.
In France, St. Eutropia, widow.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
“O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow!” (Lamentations i. 12) Is this, then, the first cry of that sweet baby whose coming brought such pure joy to our Earth? Is the standard of suffering to be so soon unfurled over the cradle of such lovely innocence? Yet the heart of mother Church has not deceived her. This feast, coming at such a time, is ever the answer to that question of the expectant human race: What will this child be? The Saviour to come is not only the reason of Mary’s existence., He is also her exemplar in all things. It is as His Mother that the blessed Virgin came, and therefore as the ‘Mother of sorrows,’ for the God whose future birth was the very cause of her own birth, is to be in this world “a Man of sorrows and acquainted with infirmity” (Isaias liii. 3). “To whom shall I compare thee?” sings the prophet of Lamentations: “O Virgin, great as the sea is your destruction” (Lamentations ii. 13). On the mountain of the sacrifice, as Mother she gave her Son, as bride she offered herself together with Him. By her sufferings both as bride and as Mother, she was the co-redemptress of the human race. This teaching and these recollections were deeply engraved on our hearts on that other feast of our Lady’s sorrows which immediately preceded Holy Week.
Christ dies now no more: and our Lady’s sufferings are over. Nevertheless the Passion of Christ is continued in His elect, in His Church, against which Hell vents the rage it cannot exercise against Himself. To this Passion of Christ’s mystical body, of which she is also Mother, Mary still contributes her compassion. How often have her venerated images attested the fact by miraculously shedding tears! This explains the Church’s departure from liturgical custom by celebrating two feasts in different seasons under one same title.
On perusing the register of the apostolic decrees concerning sacred rites, the reader is astonished to find a long and unusual interruption lasting from March 20, 1809 to September 18, 1814, at which latter date is entered the decree instituting on this present Sunday a second Commemoration of our Lady’s Sorrows. 1809‒1814, five sorrowful years during which the government of Christendom was suspended: years of blood which beheld the Man God agonising once more in the person of His captive Vicar. But the Mother of sorrows was still standing beneath the cross, offering to God the Church’s sufferings. And when the trial was over, Pius VII, knowing well from where the mercy had come, dedicated this day to Mary as a fresh memorial of the day of Calvary.
Even in the seventeenth century, the Servites had the privilege of possessing this second feast which they celebrated as a double of the second class with a vigil and an octave. It is from them that the Church has borrowed the Office and Mass. This honour and privilege was due to the Order established by our Lady to honour her sufferings and to spread devotion to them. Philip Benizi, heir to the seven holy Founders, propagated the flame kindled by them on the heights of Monte Senario. Thanks to the zeal of his sons and successors, the devotion to the Seven Sorrows of the blessed Virgin Mary, once their family property, is now the treasure of the whole world.
The prophecy of the aged Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the divine Child in Jerusalem, the carrying of the cross, the Crucifixion, the taking down from the cross, and the burial of Jesus: these are the seven mysteries into which are grouped the well-near infinite sufferings which made our Lady the Queen of martyrs, the first and loveliest rose in the garden of the Spouse. Let us take to heart the recommendation from the Book of Tobias which the Church reads during this week in the Office of the time: “You must honour your mother: for you must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered in giving you birth” (Tobias iv. 3, 4).Epistle – Judith xiii. 23‒25
The Lord has blessed you by His power, because by you He has brought our enemies to nothing. Blessed are you, O daughter, by the Lord the Most High God above all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord who made Heaven and Earth, because He has so magnified your name this day, that your praise will not depart out of the mouth of men, who will be mindful of the power of the Lord forever; for that you have not spared your life by reason of the distress and tribulation of your people, but have prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.Thanks be to God.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
Oh the greatness of our Judith among all creatures! “God,” says the pious and profound Father Faber, “vouchsafed to select the very things about Him which are most incommunicable, and in a most mysteriously real way communicate them to her. See how He had already mixed her up with the eternal designs of creation, making her almost a partial cause and partial model of it. Our Lady’s co-operation in the redemption of the world gives us a fresh view of her magnificence. Neither the Immaculate Conception nor the Assumption will give us a higher idea of Mary’s exaltation than the title of co-redemptress. Her dolours were not necessary for the redemption of the world, but in the counsels of God they were inseparable from it. They belong to the integrity of the divine plan. Are not Mary’s mysteries Jesus’ mysteries, and His mysteries hers? The truth appears to be that all the mysteries of Jesus and Mary were in God’s design as one mystery. Jesus Himself was Mary’s sorrow, seven times repeated, aggravated sevenfold. During the hours of the Passion, the offering of Jesus and the offering of Mary were tied in one. They kept pace together. They were made of the same materials. They were perfumed with kindred fragrance. They were lighted with the same fire. They were offered with kindred dispositions. The two things were one simultaneous oblation, interwoven each moment through the thickly crowded mysteries of that dread time, unto the eternal Father, out of two sinless hearts, that were the hearts of Son and Mother, for the sins of a guilty world which fell on them contrary to their merits, but according to their own free will.
Let us mingle our tears with Mary’s, in union with the sufferings of the great Victim. In proportion as we do this during life we will rejoice in Heaven with the Son and the Mother. If our Lady is now, as we sing in the Alleluia verse, Queen of Heaven and Mistress of the World, is there one among all the elect who can recall sufferings comparable to hers?Gospel – John xix. 25‒27
At that time, there stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother’s sister Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple standing, whom He loved, He said to His Mother, “Woman, behold your Son.” After that He said to the disciple, “Behold your Mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own.Praise be to you, O Christ.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
“Woman, behold your son — My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Such are the words of Jesus on the cross. Has He, then, no longer a Father in Heaven, a Mother on Earth. Oh! mystery of justice, and still more of love! God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son for it, so far as to lay upon Him, instead of upon sinful men, the curse our sins deserved. And our Lady too, in her sublime union with the Father, did not spare, but offered in like manner for us all, this same Son of her virginity. If on this head we belong to the eternal Father, we belong henceforth to Mary also. Each has bought us at a great price: the exchange of an only Son for sons of adoption.
It is at the foot of the cross that our Lady truly became the Queen of mercy. At the foot of the altar, where the renewal of the great Sacrifice is preparing, let us commend ourselves to her omnipotent influence over the Heart of her divine Son.
So great, it has been said, was Mary’s grief on Calvary that, had it been divided among all creatures capable of suffering, it would have caused them all to die instantly! It was our Lady’s wonderful peace, maintained by perfect acquiescence and the total abandonment of her whole being to God, that alone was able to sustain in her the life which the Holy Ghost was preserving for the Church’s sake. May our participation in the sacred mysteries give us that peace of God which passes all understanding, and which keeps minds and hearts in Christ Jesus!Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
At Rome, on the Via Nomentana, the birthday of blessed Nicomedes, priest and martyr. As he said to those who would compel him to sacrifice: “I sacrifice only to the Omnipotent God who reigns in heaven,” he was for a long time scourged with leaded whips and thus went to Our Lord.
In the diocese of Chalons, St. Valerian, martyr, who was suspended on high by the governor Priscus, and tortured with iron hooks. Remaining immovable in the confession of Christ, and continuing joyfully to praise Him, he was struck with the sword by order of the same magistrate.
At Marcianopolis in Thrace, St. Melitina, a martyr, in the time of the emperor Antoninus and the governor Antiochus. She was twice led to the temples of the Gentiles, and as the idols fell to the ground each time, she was hanged and torn and finally decapitated.
At Adrianople, the holy martyrs Maximus, Theodore and Asclepiodotus who were crowned under the emperor Maximian.
Also St. Porphyrius, a comedian, who, in the presence of Julian the Apostate, being baptised in jest, and suddenly converted by the power of God, declared himself a Christian. Forthwith, by order of the emperor, he was struck with an axe, and thus crowned with martyrdom.
The same day, St. Nicetas, a Goth, who was burned alive for the Catholic faith by order of king Athanaric.
At Cordova, the holy martyrs Emilas, deacon, and Jeremias, who ended their martyrdom in the persecution of the Arabs by being beheaded after a long detention in prison.
At Toul in France, St. Aper, bishop.
Also St. Leobinus, bishop of Chartres.
At Lyons, St. Albinus, bishop.
The same day, the decease of St. Richard, abbot.
In France, St. Eutropia, widow.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
