OUR LADY OF SORROWS

 Day 128: September 15

Our Lady of Sorrows



Devotion to the Virgin of Sorrows developed from the end of the 11th century, with the first mention of celebrations of her 5 joys and her 5 sorrows, symbolized by 5 swords, anticipating the liturgical celebration established later. When an unknown author wrote: The Liber de passione Christi et dolore et planctu Matris eius, the compositions on the theme of the Lament of the Virgin begin. 

In the 12th century, also following apparitions of the Madonna, there was an increase in this cult and the composition of the Stabat Mater attributed to Jacopone da Tod.

But its story has a precise beginning: on August 15, 1233, when seven Florentine nobles, members of the Guild of Merchants and poet-actors of the Laudesi company, used to express their love for Mary in lauds before an image painted on a street wall, as jesters did with their beloved.  Suddenly they saw the image come to life, appearing sorrowful and dressed in mourning for the fratricidal hatred that divided Florence. These young men laid down their weapons, donned mourning clothes, founded the company of Our Lady of Sorrows, known as the Servites, and retreated to Monte Sanario in penance and prayer.

At the beginning they prayed to the glorious Virgin, Queen of Heaven, because Mary was in glory and they saw her clothed in her earthly history of suffering and deprivation – the habit of widowhood, a sign of her passion on Calvary.  Over the centuries, these motivations gave rise to various expressions of devotion: Our Lady at the foot of the Cross; the Company of the Habit; the Confraternity of the Seven Sorrows approved by Rome in 1645; the Third Order; the Crown of Our Lady of Sorrows; the various female Congregations of Our Lady of Sorrows, etc. Between 1668 and 1690, the initiatives of worship by the Servants of Mary favored the spread of the cult of Our Lady of Sorrows. Meanwhile, on 9 June 1668, the Sacred Congregation of Rites permitted the Order to celebrate the votive Mass of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. The relevant decree mentioned that the Servants of Mary wore the black habit in memory of Mary's widowhood and the pain she endured during the passion of her Son.

Initially, the cult of Our Lady of Sorrows was linked to Holy Week, then her feast day was born, originally celebrated on the Friday before Holy Week or after Easter, and finally in September. Even today, in some places, she is celebrated on the same ancient dates. The cult of Our Lady of Sorrows is also emphasized by the widespread prayers to Our Lady of Sorrows and the recitation of the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, especially during Holy Week.

The cult of Our Lady of Sorrows spread throughout Europe and subsequently throughout the world, first by the Servites and then by the Franciscans, and became one of the most widespread cults. It underwent various developments, however, linked to the Passion of Jesus. In Spain and its dominions, the public and spectacular aspect of the Entierro (burial) procession prevailed, with the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows and, often, other figures as well. Meanwhile, in Germany and neighboring areas, a more severe cult prevailed, expressed in the Vesperbild, the origin of the Pietà. 

It also received  a strong boost from extraordinary events  such as:  the Madonna del Pianto in Rome  in 1546, the  miracle of the three stars  in 1678 in Varese ; the  Marian  apparitions  of: Steinbach  (1730),  Leipzig  (1813),  Castelpetroso  (1888),  Quito  (1906),  Fatima  (1917),  Kibeho  (1981),  Akita  (1971) and  Cuapa  (1980)  which make explicit references to the Virgin of Sorrows.


Let Us Pray with St Justin Russolillo

O virgin mother of God, I believe that in the mystery of your compassion with the passion of Jesus, you became mother of the souls. Jesus has revealed you, our mother, and has given us as children to you, has put in our hearts the attraction to you and the affection for you, and has united us in his heart!

O virgin mother of God, grant us that we may never forget your sorrows as our mother! In the divine sacrifice and sacrament, memorial and renewal of the passion of the Lord, we may remember your compassion and we may unite ourselves in charity and in devotion to the Son and to the mother.

Hail Mary...

O virgin mother of God, I believe that you, above all the created intelligence, have penetrated in the mystery of the passion of Jesus, and with supreme vehemence of love, you have made it all yours, honoring and imitating the crucified Son with your compassion of crucified mother.

O most tender and most sorrowful Mother, do not tolerate my insensibility, indifference and hardness of heart! Immerse me totally in the meditation of the crucified, so that you may have me as your companion at the feet of the cross, participating in the compassion of the mother and the passion of the Son!

Hail Mary...

O most holy virgin Mary, mother of God and our mother, I believe that the life of Jesus was all cross and martyrdom, on account of his perpetual salvific mission, for his perpetual function of victim and priest, and so you too live perpetually with your heart wounded by the sword of his passion, through your most singular union with Jesus!

O Lady of sorrows, obtain for us also the divine knowledge of the cross, and the life of perfect union with Jesus crucifiedand present in the blessed sacrament! Grant that we too, freed from all the abominable agonies of egoism and of the human spirit, may embrace only the sorrow worthy of the man-God and of his mother.

Hail Mary ...

O most holy cross of Jesus, only you are also the cross of the most holy Mary and may you be also our only cross all made of pure zeal for the glorification of the Lord and for the sanctification of the souls! In the assimilating, unifying and transforming virtues of love, may the passion of Jesus and the compassion of Mary come into us.

O crucified Jesus, O sorrowful Mary, grant us in union of hearts, in unity of love, your most Holy sorrows, which are liberation from every fear, consolation in every suffering in which sin makes us unhappy, but which are, on the contrary, the only cause of every merit of salvation and every joy of paradise.

Hail Mary...

(Devotional, Vocationist Fathers, Kerala, 2009, pp. 371-373)

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