September 15 - Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

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Amiciel

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September 15 is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Collect (Opening Prayer):
“O God, who willed
that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross,
his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering,
grant that your Church,
participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ,
may merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.”

“An appreciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s unique role in the Passion of her Son led Pope Pius VII to extend this traditional devotion to the whole Church in 1814. Our Lady is the preeminent example of how to live with suffering; she reminds the faithful of the malice of sin and shows the way of true repentance.” (Daily Roman Missal, MTF.)

“By the 14th c., the faithful identified seven sorrows of Mary: the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, the flight into Egypt, Jesus being lost in Jerusalem, the meeting of Mary and Jesus on the way to Calvary, the crucifixion, the taking down of Jesus’ body from the cross, and his burial.” (Ordo.)​

Following is a compilation of excerpts from Mysteries of the Virgin Mary, by Fr. Peter John Cameron, O.P. May these help us to better understand the important role of Our Blessed Mother as we face our trials in life:

Fr. Cameron writes: “What torture can compare to that of a Mother witnessing the murder of her own child? The Blessed Virgin Mary subjected herself to just that at the crucifixion of Jesus.” (p. 71; emphasis added.)

"What enabled Mary to stay close to Jesus on Calvary? …

Bishop Bossuet gives us some insights: “Mary is appointed to share in this great sacrifice, and to offer up her own Son… It was the eternal Father’s will that Mary should be not only offered in sacrifice with that innocent victim… but that she should share in the accomplishment of the whole mystery wrought by His death.” (p.73;emphasis added.)

“So committed was the Mother of God to fulfilling the will of the Father regarding Christ that she not only permitted the death of her Son but fully consented to it…” (p. 74;emphasis added.)

Further, Benedictine abbot Arnold of Bonneval (+1156) observes: “At that moment, Christ and Mary had but one single will, and both were equally offering a single holocaust to God; she with the blood of her heart; he with the blood of his body.” (p.74; emphasis added.)
(Read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows - continued:

"The offering of Mary made on Calvary was not a first for the Mother of God; Bossuet says that throughout her life Mary had been offering her Son unceasingly from the moment of his presentation in the temple. And there was a certain unique and terrible quality to that suffering: She 'had always had to endure the double torment of knowing that He must suffer, and of being in uncertainty as to how: so that she herself, as Jesus grew up under her eyes, suffered His passion over and over again, in anticipation that was all the more terrible from being vague.’" (p. 73; emphasis added.)

"Our Lady of Sorrows surrenders herself to such excruciating suffering in order to be in solidarity with us. We need suffering in our life. The writer Leon Bloy (+1917) famously stated that there are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be." (p. 75; emphasis added.)
(Read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows - continued:

"When we find the courage to come to terms with the wounds in our lives, we see the face of one who first sympathized with our suffering - Our Lady of Sorrows." (p. 76.) (Emphasis added)

"Mary waits at the cross as Mother…

The universal dimension of the Blessed Virgin’s motherhood was revealed only on Calvary, in Jesus’ gift of a mother who thereby became our mother as well… 'The words of the dying Jesus,' [Saint] Pope John Paul II wrote, 'actually show that his first intention was not to entrust his Mother to John, but to entrust the disciple to Mary and to give her a new maternal role.' (Theotokos, p. 188; MVM, p. 76.) (Emphasis added.)

In Salvifici Doloris, n. 26, [Saint] Pope John Paul II assures us that suffering conceals 'a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ.’ (p. 77; emphasis added.)

[And,] “As we draw close to Christ in our suffering, we receive Mary. Our crucified Savior has confided to us his Sorrowful Mother, with all her maternal closeness, in order to sustain us when we are overcome by the terrifying trials of life. Through Mary’s compassionate presence at the cross, the passion that continues to play itself out in our life becomes more deeply human. St. Albert the Great (+1280) says that '*as all the world is under obligation to Jesus for his Passion, so also are we under obligation to Our Lady for her compassion.’ For *Our Lady of Compassion fills us with the courage to face life’s sufferings…” (p. 78.) (Emphasis added.)

Recall the first marvellous sign that Jesus wrought at the Wedding Feast in Cana. "Dionysius the Carthusian (+1471) asks: 'If the Virgin felt with the bride and bridegroom of Cana the sorrow of their physical poverty and came to their aid, even without being asked, how much more will she have compassion on our spiritual neediness and offer assistance if she be called upon with faith? Yes, she offers assistance generously, even before she is asked.’" (p. 78, Emphasis added.)

What a wonderful, understanding Mother we all have!
(Read on for continuation of thought.)
 
Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows - continued:

We end this sharing with these beautiful excerpts from Mother Angelica’s Closing Prayer to the Stations of the Cross:

"*My Jesus, …

Help me to see the Father’s Will in every incident of my daily life.
This is what You did …

You saw a beauty in the Cross
and embraced it as a desired treasure.

My worldly mind is dulled by injustice and suffering
and I lose sight of the glory that is to come.

Help me to trust the Father
and to realize that there is something great
behind the most insignificant suffering.

There is Someone lifting my cross to fit my shoulders -
there is Divine Wisdom
in all the petty annoyances that irk my soul every day.

Teach me the lessons contained in my Cross,
the wisdom of its necessity,
the beauty of its variety,
and the fortitude
that accompanies even the smallest cross."*
From Living Way of the Cross by Mother Angelica (EWTN)

Who, better than Our Lady, is the perfect follower of Our Lord
who truly appreciated the beauty of the cross?

O Virgin Mary, dear Mother of Sorrows;
We entrust ourselves completely to you,
in all of our endeavors and struggles in life
for the glory of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
Amen.
 
Thank you for this reflection! I can especially relate, having gone through spiritual desolation recently. 🙂 Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
 
Hello all. Inadvertently, in the process of copying this write-up on* Our Lady of Sorrows* from our group forum, I missed one page. Some of us may find helpful insights therein … so, here it is:
Amiciel said:
Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows - continued:

"Our Lady of Sorrows surrenders herself to such excruciating suffering in order to be in solidarity with us. We need suffering in our life. The writer Leon Bloy (+1917) famously stated that there are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be." (p. 75; emphasis added.)
(Read on for continuation of thought.)
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Reflections on Our Lady of Sorrows - continued:

In Salvifici Doloris, n. 2, [Saint] Pope John Paul II teaches that ‘it is through suffering that we go beyond ourselves and come in contact with our transcendence.’ And Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI writes in Spe Salvi, n. 38: ‘the true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer.’ (p. 75; emphasis added.)

Why? Because, as the 20th Catholic philosopher Louis Lavelle explains: “Suffering cuts through all the appearances behind which we hide, until it reaches the depths where the living self dwells… It is suffering that deepens our consciousness, making it understanding and loving… The real problem is not to find a way to anesthetize suffering, since that could only be done at the expense of consciousness itself. The problem is how to transfigure it.” (p. 75; emphasis added.)

“Fr. Julian Carron continues in this vein: 'Even for people who live anesthetized lives, anesthetics have a limit because suffering and the wound are unavoidable. Grace enters through this suffering and this wound’.” (p. 75; emphasis added.)

"When we find the courage to come to terms with the wounds in our lives, we see the face of one who first sympathized with our suffering - Our Lady of Sorrows." (p. 76; emphasis added)
 
liturgy96 said:
Thank you for this reflection! I can especially relate, having gone through spiritual desolation recently. 🙂 Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
Click to expand...
Truly glad you found the reflections helpful, liturgy96! Particularly encouraging are:

St. Pope John Paul II’s teaching in Salvifici Doloris: “It is through suffering that we go beyond ourselves and come in contact with our transcendence.”

And Leon Bloy’s statement that “there are places in the heart that do not yet exist; suffering has to enter in for them to come to be.”

Then, there’s Louis Lavelle’s words: "**… It is suffering that deepens our consciousness, making it understanding and loving… "

And finally, Fr. Julian Carron’s reminder that “Grace enters through this suffering and this wound.”

Who, better than Our Lady, can guide us to allow suffering to open places in our hearts,to serve as entry-points for Our Lord to come in and dwell with us?**
 
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