The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a devotion which dates back to the thirteenth century when the first altar to the Mater Dolorosa (Sorrowful Mother) was erected in a monastery in Germany. In 1233 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to seven young men of noble rank of Florence and asked them to withdraw from the world and form a new religious order devoted particularly to her Seven Sorrows. The “Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin,” also known as the Servite Order, adopted the Rule of Saint Augustine, and Saint Juliana Falconieri founded the Third Order for women in 1306.
Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary should be practised especially by those who wish to rid themselves of sinful habits. This devotion:
- nourishes the spirit of compunction;
- affords great consolation;
- strengthens confidence in God's mercy;
- draws down the special protection of the Blessed Mother in
the hour of temptation;
- preserves the converted sinner from relapsing into sin.
According to Saint Bridget of Sweden, the Blessed Virgin Mary
revealed to her that she will grant those who daily honour her by
saying seven Hail Marys while meditating on her tears and sorrows the
following seven graces:
- I will grant peace to their families.
- They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.
- I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them
in their work.
- 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.
- I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the
infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their
lives.
- I will visibly help them at the moment of their death - they
will see the face of their mother.
- I have obtained this grace form my divine 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.
And, according to Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, Our Lord revealed to
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary that He will grant those who are devoted
to the Seven Sorrows of His Blessed Mother the following four graces:
- That those who invoke the divine Mother by her sorrows,
before death will merit to obtain true repentance of all their sins.
- That He will protect such in their tribulations, especially
at the hour of death.
- That He will impress on them the memory of His Passion, and
that they will have their reward for it in Heaven.
- That He will commit such devout servants to the hands of
Mary, that she may dispose of them according to her pleasure, and
obtain for them all the graces she desires.
