Mother of Sorrows

Our Lenten pilgrimage is nearing its end; this is the last Friday before Good Friday, and we can see Palm Sunday just around the corner.

On the old calendar, today is the Commemoration of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this guise, Mary is known as the Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa, or just Dolorosa).

Though this commemoration is not on the “reformed calendar”, interestingly the following alternative Collect is provided for Friday in the fifth week of Lent, thanks to a restoration by Pope John Paul II:

O God, who in this season
give your Church the grace
to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary
in contemplating the Passion of Christ,
grant, we pray, through her intercession,
that we may cling more firmly each day
to your Only Begotten Son
and come at last to the fullness of grace.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

And what, exactly are the seven sorrows of Mary?

The Seven Sorrows are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. They are frequently depicted in art, particularly of the Middle Ages.

They are often used as a meditational devotion, where you pray one Our Father and seven Hail Marys for each.

1. The Prophecy of Simeon.
   (Luke 2:34-35)
2. The Flight into Egypt.
   (Matthew 2:13)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
   (Luke 2:43-45)
4. Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary.
5. Jesus Dies on the Cross.
   (John 19:25)
6. Mary Receives the Body of Jesus in Her Arms.
   (Matthew 27:57-59)
7. The Body of Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb.
   (John 19:40-42)

Whether or not you pray this devotion, it seems to me that these are good things on which to meditate at this stage of our Lenten pilgrimage. We are deep into our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, very nearly at the bottom of ourselves, with our Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem only days away.

This Friday is a rehearsal for next Friday, the darkest day before the blazing Easter dawn.

Mary, Mother of Sorrows, pray for us.