Today
we commemorate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrow. Every mother goes through the
suffering when her child suffers. Mother Mary being the mother of Son of God
has gone through grievous sorrow. One can hardly imagine the pain and grief
that Mary must have undergone to see her only Son dying in such terrible
suffering over a period of several hours. Mary, as the first and greatest
disciple of her Son, shared in a very special way in the redeeming death of her
Son and Lord. From
that time comes the well-known hymn, Stabat Mater, which we still like to
recite during the Stations of the Cross:
“At the Cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last”.
Since the 14th century, these seven sorrows have been linked to Mary:
1.
The Prophecy of Simeon, during the Presentation in the Temple, when Simeon
foretold that a sword of sorrow would pierce Mary’s heart (Luke 2:22-37).
2. The Flight into Egypt, when Mary and Joseph took the new-born Jesus to the safety of Egypt to escape the massacre of the children in Bethlehem (Matthew 3:16-18).
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days. When Jesus was 12 years old, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After being missing for three days, his distraught parents found Jesus in the Temple discussing with the teachers of the Law (Luke 2:41-52)
4. Meeting Jesus on the Way to Calvary. A traditional scene, familiar from the Stations of the Cross, where Jesus meets his mother as he carries his Cross on the way to his crucifixion on Calvary. (Not mentioned in Scripture)
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus. As the gospel of John tells us, the Mother of Jesus was present at the foot of the Cross and kept vigil with her Son as he died (John 19:25-27).
6. Jesus taken down from the Cross. Again, a traditional scene from the 13th Station of the Cross and also represented in art by the Pieta. (No scriptural reference)
7. Jesus laid in the Tomb. This is recorded in all four gospels. The burial took place close to the place of Crucifixion because of the coming Sabbath day. It must have been a painfully sad moment for the Mother who must have believed this would be the very last time she would lay eyes on her Son (Matt 28:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-50)
By remembering Mary’s sufferings in this way, we realise how close she was to the redeeming work of her Son. As mentioned, she is his first and closest disciple. She was a daring woman who stood at the foot of the cross and accompanied Jesus in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. In our life, w may courageously face the struggles of life keeping Mother Mary as our model.
O God, at whose Passion, according
to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of sorrow did pierce through the most sweet
soul of the glorious Virgin and Mother Mary; grant that we, who commemorate and
reverence Her sorrows, may experience the blessed effect of Thy Passion, who
livest and reignest world without end. Amen.