Prof. Michael OGUNU

International President of the World Apostolate of Fatima

In the Middle Ages, Catholic theology concentrated mostly on Christ’s passion. At the side of the Man of Sorrows, however, was the Sorrowful Mother, sharing His suffering. The Gospel of St. John 19:25 says: “Near the Cross of Jesus stood His mother, his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene”. Devotion to the Crucified Christ and to Our Lady of Sorrows grew side by side. On September 15, the day following the ancient feast of the Holy Cross, the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

 

The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady are taken from Scripture events. The devotion has a long history, although it was not officially promulgated by the Church until the early nineteenth century. Before Pope Pius VII’s formal approval, the Servite Order had permission in 1668 to celebrate the feast of the Seven Sorrows because the Order was instrumental in popularizing the Seven Sorrows Devotion.

 

The purpose of the Devotion of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady is to promote union with the sufferings of Christ through union with the special sufferings that Our Lady endured for the sake of her Son and our salvation.       

 

 

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin

 

The seven sorrows are:

 

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (St. Luke 2:34, 35)

When Mary, Virgin Mother of God, presented Jesus her only Son in the Temple and laid Him in the arms of holy and aged Simeon, she heard him say to her: “The sword of grief shall pierce thy soul”, foretelling thereby the Passion and Death of her Son Jesus.

 

1. The Flight into Egypt (St. Matthew 2:13-14)

This Second Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she was obliged to fly into Egypt because of the persecution of Herod who sought to slay her well beloved Son, Jesus.

 

1. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (St. Luke 3:43-45)

The Third Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when, after having gone up to Jerusalem, at the Pascal Feast with Joseph her spouse and Jesus her beloved Son, she lost Him on the way back to her house and for three days, bewailed the loss of her only Son.

 

1. The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross

The Fourth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she met her dear Son, Jesus carrying to Mount Calvary on His tender shoulders the heavy Cross whereon He was to be crucified for our salvation.

 

1. The Crucifixion

The Fifth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she saw her Son, Jesus raised upon the hard tree of the Cross, and blood flowing from every part of His Sacred Body and then beheld Him die after three hours agony.

 

1. The Taking Down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross

The Sixth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she saw the lance pierce the Sacred side of Jesus, her beloved Son, the nails withdrawn, and His Holy Body laid in her bosom.

 

1. The Burial of Jesus

The Seventh and last Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin, our Queen and Advocate, was when she saw the Holy Body of her Son buried in the grave.

 

 

How to Pray the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary

 

To pray the Chaplet in memory of Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows, the custom is to pray the Our Father once and then the Hail Mary seven times for each Sorrow. At the very end, three Hail Mary should be prayed in honour of Our Lady’s tears.

 

It is suggested when praying the Chaplet to say an Act of Contrition at the very beginning, recognising the role of our sins in Our Lady’s sufferings. One method that helps facilitate the meditation on Mary’s Sorrows is to announce each Sorrow before praying the seven Hail Mary.

 

The Rosary can be concluded as follows:

 

Let us pray

 

Grant, we beseeched thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world, that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, thy Mother, whose most holy soul was transfixed with the sword of sorrow in the hour of thine own Passion, may intercede for us before the throne of thy mercy, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. 

 

In addition to the Seven Sorrows Rosary, one can also say the following seven prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows daily in honour of her Seven Sorrows.

 

 

Seven Prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows in Honour of Her Seven Sorrows (For Daily Meditation)

 

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…

 

1. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during your flight into Egypt with your Child Jesus and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the grace of not seeking the world’s glory and men’s esteem but to seek only the glory of God in my thoughts, words and actions. Hail Mary…

 

1. 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 grace to forgive from my heart all those who have offended me and never to harbour grudges and hatred in my heart against them. Hail Mary…

 

1. 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 grace of true love of God and neighbour. Hail Mary…

 

1. 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…

 

1. 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 grace of good health and Divine protection from all harm and danger. Hail Mary…

 

1. 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 grace of Divine protection from sudden death and to receive the last Sacrament and gain a Plenary Indulgence at the time of my death and go straight to heaven without a purgatory. 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, Saviour of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

 

 

Promises of Our Lady to those who Pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary

 

The Blessed Virgin Mary made seven promises to those who honour her daily by meditating on her Sorrows and pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary. The seven promises are:

 

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 internal 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 from 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 and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

 

The Mother of God once said to St. Bridget, “I gaze upon the children of men to see whether anyone feels compassion for me, and alas, I see but few! If many forget me, at least you, my daughter, do not forget me. Consider how much I have suffered”.

 

The Church calls Mary the Queen of Martyrs because her martyrdom surpassed that of all others. Although her body was not bruised by torturers, her heart was pierced by the sword of compassion for her Divine Son – a sorrow sufficiently great to inflict a thousand fold death. St. Bernardine of Siena says the sorrow of Mary was so great that if it had been equally divided among all men, they would have died immediately. As great as was her love for Jesus – and it was unspeakably great – so great also was the sorrow of Mary at His Passion. Hence we can say with truth that Mary suffered more than if she had been martyred a thousand times, for she loved Jesus more than her own life and would have  sacrificed  her  life a thousand  times  with the greatest joy if, without offending God, she  could have  rescued  her  Son  from  sufferings and death. St. Basil says: “As the sun surpasses all the stars in luster, so the sorrows of Mary surpass all the tortures of the martyrs”.

 

Mary was an eye-witness of the sufferings of her Divine Son. She saw Him bound to the pillar; she heard the lashing of the scourges; she saw His delicate virginal flesh writhe and quiver under the lacerating blows. She was present at the Ecce Homo scene, on the way to Calvary, and at the Crucifixion. And her anguish was further increased by the fact that she could offer no relief to her dear Son in His excruciating pains. As she stood beneath the Cross, she saw the blood trickling from His thorn-crowned Head into His eyes, but could not reach His sacred Face to wipe the drops away! She saw His lips parched with thirst, pale and bloodless, but was unable to give Him a refreshing drink! His head had no pillow to rest upon, yet she was prevented from supporting it or letting it repose upon her bosom. Who can comprehend the anguish endured by her motherly heart during those three endless hours of dreadful helplessness!

 

Another source of Mary’s unutterable grief was man’s ingratitude for Our Lord’s Passion, and the eternal perdition of so many souls for whom her Son’s Precious Blood would be shed in vain. She, the Queen of the Apostles, the Mother of the Church, saw passing before her eyes a vision of the heedlessness of mankind for sins forgiven, the relapses into mortal sin, the cold indifference, the disgust for Divine things, the desecration of the holy Sacraments, the rejection and abuse of grace on the part of so many souls – all consequences of the basest ingratitude.

 

For fifteen years after the death of her beloved Son, until her own happy departure, the Passion of Our Lord was renewed over and over again in the heart of the Blessed Virgin. It was revealed to Mary of Agreda that after the Ascension of her Son, Mary suffered inexpressibly every Friday, as do certain privileged souls who are favoured with the stigmata. All these sufferings Mary endured for love of us.

 

Devotion to the sorrows of Mary is a source of great graces because it is so pleasing to our Divine Lord. Many holy writers say that through her sufferings Mary placed an obligation, as it were, upon her Son, which constrains Him to grant her whatever she asks of Him. As soon as we sympathize with the sorrows of His Mother, we draw our Saviour to our­selves. “He is”, says St. Bernard, “at the disposal of those who devoutly meditate on the sufferings of His Mother”. Our Lord said to Bl. Veronica of Binasco: “My daughter, the tears which you shed in com­passion for My sufferings are pleasing to Me, but bear in mind that on account of My excessive love for My Mother, the tears you shed in compassion for her sufferings are still more precious”.

 

There are, indeed, few devotions for which our Saviour has made greater promises than for this one, and there are few that are more pleasing to Him.