Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows  

Mama Mary, despite being hailed as the Mother of Christ, was not exempt from sorrows.

Even before she was born, the priest Simeon predicted a sword piercing Mary’s soul in Luke 2:34-35:

“This child (Jesus) is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword…” Many interpret the sword as Mama Mary’s sorrows.

John 19:26-27 notes: Seeing his mother there with the disciple whom he loved, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, there is your son.' In turn he said to the disciple, 'There is your mother.'

Both the passages from Luke and from John brought together the prediction of Mama Mary’s sword and the fulfillment of her role and mission for God’s salvation.

At the foot of the cross, our Blessed Mother is shown faithfully with her dying son.

While others fled in fear, Mama Mary stood fearlessly at the cross, though most painful, looked at her son’s wounds and bravely received his dead body because she saw God’s mission on its way to completion: Jesus’ crucifixion triumphantly ushering in his resurrection and his ascension back to God the Father that all may be saved and restored back to our Father!

As our Lady of Sorrows, Mama Mary is sometimes depicted with her heart exposed and with seven swords (seven sorrows or dolors) piercing it focusing not only on her intense suffering and grief during the passion and death of our Lord but, traditionally, including the sword foretold by the priest Simeon.

In all, the prophesy of Simeon that a sword would pierce our Blessed Mother's heart was fulfilled in these events; the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, the loss and finding of the child Jesus in the temple, Mary's meeting of Jesus on his way to Calvary, Mary's standing at the foot of the cross when our Lord was crucified, her holding of Jesus when he was taken down from the cross, and our Lord's burial.

This Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows grew in popularity in the 12th century, although under various titles.

By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the feast and devotion were widespread.

Of interest, an account notes that “in 1482, the feast was officially placed in the Roman Missal under the title of Our Lady of Compassion, highlighting the great love our Blessed Mother displayed in suffering with her Son.

“The word compassion derives from the Latin roots cum and patior which means to suffer with.

“Our Blessed Mother's sorrow exceeded anyone else's since she was the mother of Jesus, who was not only her son but also her Lord and savior; she truly suffered with her son.”

It was Pope Pius X who fixed the permanent date of September 15 for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (now simply called the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows).

Fr. Tito Caluag shared these three important September 15 reminders:

1.) Mama Mary’s cross began with her consent/fiat) “be it done unto me according to thy word.”

2.) She remained constant in living out her mission for God.

3.) She saw this mission through to its completion.

Pope Francis highlighted Mary’s response to these sorrows: “Mary, Mother of Sorrows, remains at the foot of the Cross. She simply stands there. She does not run away, or try to save herself, or find ways to alleviate her grief,” he said.

“Here is the proof of true compassion: to remain standing beneath the Cross. To stand there weeping, yet with the faith that knows that, in her Son, God transfigures pain and suffering and triumphs over death.”