Mater Dolorosa by Anonieme Meester

September 15th is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. This title of Our Lady highlights the presence suffering and sorrow had in her life. She who never committed a sin and upon whom God bestowed the ultimate privilege of being His Mother still shared our common human experience of pain. She is not an icy and untouchable queen, distant and unreachable, but a warm and tender mother, one whose love for each of us individually has been tried and proven.

There is nothing that assures us of someone’s love for us as when they are willing to suffer for our sake. You can see this in a mother’s sacrificial love for her child, she gives of herself without counting the cost. Mary, our Mother, has already proven her great love for each of us when she accepted without any bitterness all that God allowed to happen to Jesus because of our sins. She participated in Our Lord’s redemptive action on the cross and out those moments of sorrow sprang the fruit of her deep and abiding love for each of us. Let us give thanks to God for the gift of so good a mother and accompany her today in her sorrows.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary

The Prophecy of Simeon - Luke 2:34-35The Flight into Egypt - Matthew 2:13-21The Loss of the Child Jesus - Luke 2:41-50The Carrying of the Cross - John 19:17The Crucifixion of Jesus - John 19:18-30The Body of Jesus laid in His Mother's arms - John 19:39-40The Body of Jesus laid in the Tomb - John 19:39-42

“Let us bind ourselves tightly to the Sorrowful Heart of our Heavenly Mother
and reflect on its boundless grief and how precious is our soul.” - Saint Padre Pio