The Catholic Defender: The Devotion Our Lady of Sorrows Day 8

The seven sorrows of Mary are:

1. St. Simeon’s Prophecy (Luke 2:35)

2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-14)

3. The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:44-52)

4. The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Way to Calvary (Tradition Luke 23:26-32)

5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:16-30)

6. The Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross (John 19:31-37 and Tradition)

7. The Burial of Jesus (John 19:38-42)

According to St. Alphonsus de Liguori (The Glories of Mary) it was revealed to Saint Elizabeth that at the request of Our Lady, Our Lord promised four principal graces to those devoted to Her Sorrows:

“I will grant peace to their families.”

2. “They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries.”

3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”

4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of My divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”

5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”

6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death — they will see the face of their Mother.”

7. “I have obtained this grace from My divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to My tears and sorrows will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and My Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Here is the Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows (from the Raccolta). May be said as a nine day novena and/or as a companion to the daily recitation of 7 Hail Mary prayers offered in honor of Our Lady’s Sorrows.

Each day begin with:

V. O God, come to my assistance;

R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

V. Glory be, etc.

R. As it was, etc.

Pope Pius VII approved another series of prayers in honor of the Seven Sorrows for daily meditation in 1815:

O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Day 8

Pray for the Suffering Women of the World

Labor day usually brings to mind images of factory workers, farmers or heavy equipment operators. Yet we also use labor to describe the first work which brought each one of us to birth: those first hours of maternal sacrifice which brought us into the world. It’s too easy to forget that and all the other sacrifices which the vocation of motherhood entails. Pray for the mothers in labor today. Those who give birth. Those who work two jobs to support a child. Those who go without so their child’s needs are met. Those whose patient endurance is a sign of God’s love upon the cross.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin most sorrowful, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

Let intercession be made for us, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Thy mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy bitter Passion. We ask this through Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Day 8

The Holy Cross

Each time I pray, I am called to join my prayer with Christ’s perfect prayer upon the cross. It is easy from the vantage of the cross to see the world clearly. To see how easy it is to join the suffering of the innocent to the suffering of him who is without sin. We should work for an end to all the forms of violence which threaten life. That is a wonderful good. But it is even more important to stand with the Virgin Mother and to beg her son to come to our aid.