Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows

The origin of devotion to Mary’s sorrows is found in the Christian East. Among its pioneers was Saint Ephrem the Syrian. In the 13th century, devotion to the Sorrowful Mother was spread by the Servite Order (Order of the Servants of Mary), and sometime toward the end of the Middle Ages the hymn Stabat Mater (The Sorrowful Mother Stood) came into being. If you like Gregorian chant, we recommend listening to this hymn in Latin.

The Virgin Mary had 7 sorrows:

• The first sorrow of the Virgin Mary was Simeon’s prophecy about Jesus, when He was offered in the Temple at 40 days old. This sorrow could be called the sorrow caused by a word spoken about a loved one. Mary received from Simeon the Word of prophecy about the suffering of her Son. A word that wounded her and did not let her sleep until it was fulfilled. We can identify with Mary when we too hear a word that wounds us: an incurable illness, or that the child to be born to us will not be healthy, or some other bad news. These are moments of union with our mother Mary.

• The second sorrow was the flight into Egypt. This was a sorrow caused by the uncertain fate of a loved one. There are many things that cause uncertainty for us or for our loved ones regarding the future: unemployment, financial hardship, injustice, the rule or rampage of evil people. These are moments when we bear the same lot as the Holy Family. Here too, one must not lose hope that evil may be turned into good.

• The third sorrow is the search for Jesus in the Temple. This was a sorrow caused by the loss of a loved one. Whenever our children or other loved ones are lost to us, whether through moral decline, loss of faith, or simply by going, like Jesus, along a path we do not understand, we experience the sorrows that Mary and Joseph experienced. Here too, we should not be passive, but reflect on what can still be done so that things—or we ourselves—may change.

• The fourth sorrow was meeting Jesus on the Way of the Cross. For her, this was a sorrow caused by the humiliation and shaming of a loved one. There is no greater pain than the loss of honor, which is shown when people mock us or our loved ones, despise us, or consider us or them as nothing. Or they are unable to accept us simply because we have certain gifts that they themselves do not have—and therefore they diplomatically push us “into a corner.” This can happen when we are justly or unjustly accused of something, or when a person falls ill with a mental illness that completely changes the essence of his personality. It is hard for us to stand by and watch a person suffer in this way.

• The fifth sorrow was the sight of Jesus dying on the Cross. This was a sorrow from the suffering of a loved one. Jesus suffered and Mary could do nothing. This suffering takes place in our lives when we see a loved one suffer: physically, mentally, and spiritually. We see his pain, his distress, his sleepless nights, and we cannot help; we can only watch. What does help, however, is even simple presence, as in the case of Mary and Jesus.

• The sixth sorrow was receiving the dead Jesus from the Cross into her lap. This was a sorrow from the death of a loved one. Mary experienced the greatest loss of her life. Jesus lay dead in the lap from which He had been born. There are many forms of death of which our life is made up until definitive death comes. We must die to things, relationships, addictions, attachments, ourselves, our own ego. And this so that life may develop better and more fully within us.

• The seventh sorrow of the Virgin Mary was the placing of Jesus’ body in the tomb. This is the sorrow of separation from a loved one. In our lives too there are painful separations; some are temporary, some definitive, for example death. It is a matter of faith to accept the fact that not even by death does life, and therefore neither do our relationships, come to an end, but only their form changes. And one day we shall meet again. Mary was firmly convinced of this reality. Therefore even before the sealed tomb she did not lose hope. Indeed, we might say that she was perhaps the only one who did not believe that the tomb had the last word in the life of her Son. Therefore the news of the Resurrection could hardly have surprised her. This is a lesson for us as well: death is not the end, death is the beginning. And therefore we live our life in hope.

Source of texts: modlitba.sk; image: zachej.sk