THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.

  Today we commemorate the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is called the Mother of Sorrows, Mother of Martyrs, for her share in the sacrifice of Our Lord.  From His infancy she was called upon to suffer in her most pure heart. Think of the joy she felt at His birth, soon to be overcome by fear for His safety.  Following are the Sorrows the Church calls upon us to remember.

SIMEON'S PROPHECY:  Mary and Joseph presented the Child in the Temple according to custom. The old man, Simeon, had waited long to meet this Child and rejoiced. "Now Thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word, in peace. Because my eyes have seen Thy salvation which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light of revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for thy people Israel." (Luke 2: 29-32).  How Mary must have rejoiced in these wonderful words. But her joy was to be immediately dashed. Simeon prophesied about the "fall and destruction of many in Israel," and the future of her Son. A sword would pierce her heart, Simeon said. And surely, that sword made its first wound at these words.  Mary had accepted all that would come when she made her "fiat" of acceptance to the Angel Gabriel. Now things were being spelled out for her.

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT: Joseph received the heavenly warning, "Arise, and take the Child and His Mother and flee into Egypt: and remain there until I tell thee. for Herod will seek the Child to destroy Him." (Matthew 2:13). Imagine Mary and Joseph hurriedly putting a few things together and fleeing into the night, into a foreign land of heathens.in danger from thieves, crossing the desert. They were probably hungry, thirsty, anxious and tired, but it was to save the Child. The second sword pierced her heart of hearts. Blind obedience to the Will of God is expected of all of us at some point. We may not know the reasons for our sufferings and problems; but we can endure them as Mary did, trusting in God no matter how afraid we might be or how difficult the road is for us.

THE THREE DAYS' LOSS OF THE CHILD, JESUS:  Imagine how Mary felt when Jesus was missing from the caravan returning home from Jerusalem after Passover. Mary had joined the women and Joseph the men, as was custom, each thinking Jesus was with the other. She felt blame, loss, fear. They searched three days before finding Him in the Temple, teaching. "How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" Mysterious as these words might be, He was letting her know what the future had in store. By doing the Will of His Father, He would be giving pain to those who loved Him. A third sword had pierced the heart of Our Lady.  When we lose Jesus through sin, we must do everything in our power to find Him again. The pain could be forever if we lose His friendship. We need to bear patiently whatever sufferings and disappointments we have in life,

MARY MEETS JESUS CARRYING THE CROSS:  Mary had surrendered her Son to His mission as He left for the three years of public life. That was a small pain for what was to follow. She saw His bruised and beaten body, blood streaming from his wounds and the crown of thorns on His head. She saw him fall under the weight of the cross; and at one point managed to reach Him, only able to exchange glances. The fourth sword pierced her heart as she shared in the sufferings of her beloved Son. She never faltered. She followed Him. She had such courage and perseverance. We can learn how to suffer from her example. We need to carry our cross patiently and fulfill God's Will for us, no matter how hard that is.

THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS: How, we wonder, could the Blessed Mother stand to see and hear the blows of the hammer to the nails fastening Our Lord to the cross? Yet she stayed, every blow thrusting that fifth sword further into her loving heart. St. Bernard says," Never shall tongue be able to express, nor heart conceive, into what depths of sorrow the soul of Mary was plunged as she stood beneath the Cross." She stood, she did not cry out, she suffered with her son. She heard His words from the cross "Woman, behold thy son. Son, behold thy mother." Christ gave her to us as a gift. She is our Mother in sorrow and in woe. She is a source of consolation and inspiration. In spite of our failings and shortcomings, she sees in us the Image of her Son, and love us. For that reason, we also call her the Mother of Mercy. She will not forsake us, as Her Son did not.

THE BODY OF CHRIST IS TAKEN DOWN FROM THE CROSS: When the centurion opened Our Lord's side, from which gushed blood and water, our path to salvation was complete. It was, as I have read, " the cleansing fountain of grace which purifies souls." The last drop of blood had been shed. As Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea took His body down from the cross, they gently laid Him in the arms of Mary, her heart pierced once more with the sword of anguish. She saw her Child as an infant folded in her arms, and now the lifeless body, so torn and disfigured. She must have cried, and through her tears still accepted God's Will. We call her Mother of Martyrs, because hers was a slow martyrdom of soul throughout the life of the Son of God and her beloved Son. Some of us may suffer a slow martyrdom of sorts in our lives. May we endure our disappointments, pains and sorrows with the same courage and strength of Mary. "Father, Thy Will be done."

THE BODY OF JESUS IS LAID IN THE TOMB: Mary would have washed His face and placed the veil over it. As she and the holy women, John, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus and Longinus, laid His Sacred Body in the tomb, the last sword, that of loneliness and desolation, pierced her heart. When we feel bereavement at the loss of a loved one, we shed our tears as she did. We feel a loneliness, too. Mary was lovingly cared for by John, and, although we know that there was joy in the Resurrection, she still must have felt that loneliness for her beloved Son until the day of their reunion in Heaven.  May we persevere, in spite of loneliness and sorrows, until we, too, will be reunited with loved ones, and especially with the One Who made Heaven possible for us, through the most unimaginable sufferings and death on our behalf.