``Where
the Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Earlier in the
year, on the Friday before Good Friday, we had our first Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. With
that feast, we focused on Mary's pain as she watched her Son go through
His Passion. On September's feast of the Seven Sorrows, we meditate on
the seven sorrows representative of the sufferings she endured
throughout her earthly life as the
Mother of Christ.
Those seven sorrows are:
The Prophecy of
Simeon
The Flight into Egypt
The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross
The Crucifixion
The Taking Down of the Body of Jesus from the Cross
Jesus is laid in the Tomb
These seven sorrows are often represented in art by a sword -- or three
or seven
swords -- piercing Mary's immaculate heart. This
relates to the prophecy of the
old man Simeon we heard about at Candlemas, when, after Our
Lady pesented the Child Jesus at the
Temple, he told her, "Behold this
Child
is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and
for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall
pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed."
Mary knew Sacred Scripture, so she knew what the Messiah would endure
-- and what she would endure as His mother -- before He was even
conceived. But she uttered her fiat -- "let it be done to me according
to Thy will" -- anyway. She chose to love, which always involves
suffering and sacrifice. She chose to love, which always entails making
oneself vulnerable to pain.
The deep meaning of the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is beautifully
described in a Servite Manual published in 1947:
In the practice
of every devotion it is before all things needeful to know its nature,
object, and end; otherwise we are in danger of taking the wrong path
and thus losing the fruits attached to that devotion. We have therefore
to examine the nature and precise object of the devotion to Our Lady of
Sorrows. It consists of a heartfelt and sincere compassion for the
Sorrows which the most Holy Virgin endured through her whole life,
especially for her long martyrdom which began with the prophecy of holy
Simeon, and was consummated on Calvary. The sight of a great misfortune
always moves us, sometimes even to tears; but our compassion is
increased when the sufferer is united to us by ties of affection; above
all when it is a beloved mother who weeps, when we have caused her
tears, when she suffers for love of us. Now Mary is the most tender of
mothers; her grief was greater than we can imagine; we pierced her
heart in crucifying her Son by our sins; for us she sacrificed herself
with her Divine Son. As Holy Church sings,
"Is there one
who would not weep,
Whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ's dear Mother to behold?
Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
In that Mother's pain untold?"
But in order to compassionate the sorrows of Mary, we must
understand and feel them, and to this end we must meditate deeply on
them, considering also the sufferings of Jesus which caused them.
Meditation, therefore, on the Dolors of Mary and the Passion of Jesus
is a necessary condition of this devotion. But our compassion for Jesus
and Mary must not be sterile, nor be the mere utterances of a few sighs
or the shedding of a few tears. Every true devotion must be practical,
solid, and substantial, and therefore a true devotion to Our Lady of
Sorrows should tend to excite in us a profound horror of all sin. For
it was for our sins that Jesus died on the cross and Mary suffered such
bitter woe, and every time we sin, as St. Paul expresses it, we crucify
again to ourselves the Son of God, and make Him a mockery (Heb. vi. 6).
Ask yourself how many thorns you add to His crown!
O most holy
Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the overwhelming grief you
experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion and the
death, of your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion and
awaken in my heart a tender commiseration for those sufferings, as well
as a sincere detestation of my sins, in order that, being disengaged
from all undue affection for the passing joys of this earth, I may sigh
after the eternal Jerusalem and that henceforward all my thoughts and
all my actions may be directed towards this one most desirable object,
the honour, glory and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and to you, the
Holy and Immaculate Mother of God. Amen.
Note that the entire month of September is
dedicated to the Seven Sorrows (or "Dolors") of Mary.
For musical inspiration, consider Hor
ch'è tempo di dormire from Curtio
precipitato et altri capricii, libro secondo -- Opus 13 --
written in 1638 by Tarquino Merulo. It's a ninna nanna -- an Italian lullaby
with a
hypnotic, gently rocking, two-note bass line in a haunting, minor key,
and it is sung by
Mary to her Son when He was a baby. It reminds us that His fate was
known to her all along. She was not only familiar with Old Testament
prophecies, but she heard what Simeon had to say when she redeemed
Christ at the Temple, which we recall on Candlemas. As St. Alphonsus
Liguori writes in the section on Mary's dolors in "The Glories of Mary"
(which section you can read in full below):
[T]he afflicted
mother, knowing all that her Son would have to suffer, when suckling
Him, thought of the gall and vinegar; when she swathed Him, of the
cords with which He was to be bound; when she bore Him in her arms, she
thought of Him being nailed to the cross; and when He slept, she
thought of His death. As often as she put on Him His clothes, she
reflected that they would one day be torn from Him, that He might be
crucified; and when she beheld His sacred hands and feet, and thought
of the nails that were to pierce them, as Mary said to St. Bridget: "My
eyes filled with tears, and my heart was tortured with grief."
This song captures that reality perfectly. It is a very
strange song, one that sounds as if it had been written in the 20th
century, perhaps for the soundtrack of a Kubrick film, and it is deeply
moving, with heartbreaking lyrics that make very real in the listener's
mind the suffering Our Lady endured:
Hor ch'è tempo
di dormire
Dormi dormi figlio e non vagire,
Perchè, tempo ancor verrà
Che vagir bisognerà
Deh ben mio deh cor mio Fa,
Fa la ninna ninna na
Chiudi, quei lumi divini
Come fan gl'altri bambini,
Perchè tosto oscuro velo
Priverà di lume il cielo
Deh ben mio deh cor mio Fa,
Fa la ninna ninna na
Over prendi questo latte
Dalle mie mammelle intatte
Perchè ministro crudele
Ti prepara aceto e fiele
Deh ben mio deh cor mio Fa,
Fa la ninna ninna na
Amor mio sia questo petto
Hor per te morbido letto
Pria che rendi ad alta voce
L'alma al Padre su la croce
Deh ben mio deh cor mio Fa,
Fa la ninna ninna na
Posa hor queste membra belle
Vezzosette e tenerelle
Perchè poi ferri e catene
Gli daran acerbe pene
Deh ben mio deh cor mio Fa,
Fa la ninna ninna na
Queste mani e questi piedi
Ch'or con gusto e gaudio vedi
Ahimè com'in varij modi
Passeran acuti chiodi
Questa faccia gratiosa
Rubiconda hor più di rosa
Sputi e schiaffi sporcheranno
Con tormento e grand'affano
Ah con quanto tuo dolore
Sola speme del mio core
Questo capo e questi crini
Passeran acuti spini
Ah ch'in questo divin petto
Amor mio dolce diletto
Vi farà piaga mortale
Empia lancia e disleale
Dormi dunque figliol mio
Dormi pur redentor mio
Perchè poi con lieto viso
Ci vedrem in Paradiso
Hor che dorme la mia vita
Del mio cor gioia compita
Taccia ognun con puro zelo
Taccian sin la terra e'l Cielo
E fra tanto io che farò
Il mio ben contemplerò
Ne starò col capo chino
Sin che dorme il mio Bambino
Now that it’s
time to sleep,
sleep, son, and don’t cry;
for the time will come soon enough
when crying is needed.
O my dearest, my heart:
lullaby and sleep now.
Close those divine eyes
as other babies do;
for soon a dark veil
will deprive the sky of light
O my dearest, my heart
lullaby and sleep now.
Or take this milk
from my immaculate breasts;
for a cruel magistrate
is preparing vinegar and gall for you.
O my dearest, my heart
lullaby and sleep now.
My love, let this breast
be now a soft bed for you,
before, with a loud voice, you give
your soul to the Father, on the cross.
O my dearest, my heart
lullaby and sleep now.
Rest now your beautiful small limbs,
so charming and delicate;
for later, irons and chains
will cause them bitter pains.
O my dearest, my heart
lullaby and sleep now.
These hands and feet,
which now you behold with zest and joy–
alas, in how many ways
will sharp nails pierce them!
This graceful face,
ruddier than a rose–
spitting and slaps will defile it
with torture and great suffering.
Ah, with how much pain for you,
O only hope of my heart,
this head and this brow
will be pierced by sharp thorns.
For in this divine breast,
O my sweet and delightful love,
an impious traitorous spear
will make a mortal wound.
Sleep, therefore, my son,
sleep then, my Savior;
for later with joyful faces
we’ll see each other in Paradise.
Now that you are sleeping, O my life,
O complete joy of my heart,
let all be quiet with pure zeal,
even the earth and the heavens.
Meanwhile, what shall I do?
I will watch my dear,
not letting my head bow
as long as my baby sleeps.
In some places, the "Via Matris" (the "Way of the Mother") like the "Via
Crucis" ("Way of the Cross") may be found, with seven stations at
which one may see artistic representations of and meditate on each of
Mary's sorrows. Such a devotion can be made in one's Mary Garden or home if it isn't publicly
available. Or you can meditate on Our Lady's sorrows below -- or
download the following meditations in pdf format: Via Matris (pdf).
The First Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon's
(Luke 2)
How great was the shock to Mary's heart at hearing the sorrowful words,
in which holy Simeon told the bitter Passion and death of her sweet
Jesus, since in that same moment she realized in her mind all the
insults, blows, and torments which the impious men were to offer to the
Redeemer of the world.
But a still sharper sword pierced her soul. It was the thought of men's
ingratitude to her beloved Son. Now consider that, because of your
sins, you are unhappily among the ungrateful, and casting yourself at
the feet of the Mother of Dolors, say with sorrow:
Virgin beloved, who did feel so bitter pangs of soul at seeing the
abuse which I, wretch that I am, would make of the Blood of your dear
Son, obtain for me, I pray you, by your riven heart, that in time to
come, I may better correspond to God's mercies, profit by his heavenly
grace, receive not in vain his lights and inspirations, and so be among
the blessed number of those who are saved by the bitter passion of
Jesus. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Second Sorrow: The Flight into Egypt
(Matthew 2)
Consider the sharp sorrow which Mary felt when, Saint Joseph being
warned by an angel, she had to flee by night in order to preserve her
beloved Child from the slaughter decreed by Herod.
What anguish was hers in leaving Judea, lest she should be overtaken by
the soldiers of the cruel king ! How great her privations in that long
journey! What sufferings she bore in that land of exile, what sorrow
amid that people given to idolatry! But consider how often you have
renewed that bitter grief of Mary, when your sins have caused her Son
to flee from your heart.
Wherefore repent, and turn to her, humbly saying:
Sweetest Mother, once and once only Herod obliged you to flee with your
Jesus, to escape the slaughter which he had commanded; but I, how often
have I forced my Redeemer, and you with him, to flee from my heart,
when I have admitted into it accursed sin, hateful to you and to my
loving Lord. With tears and contrition I humbly beg for pardon. Mercy,
dear Lady, mercy! And I promise you that, for the future, with the
help of God, I will ever maintain my Savior and you in complete
possession of my soul. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Third Sorrow: The Loss of Jesus
(Luke 2)
How dreadful was the grief of Mary, when she saw that she had lost her
beloved Son! And, as if to increase her sorrow when she sought him
diligently among her kinfolk and acquaintances, she could hear no
tidings of him. No hindrances stayed her, nor weariness, nor danger;
but she forthwith returned to Jerusalem, and for three long days sought
him sorrowing.
Great be your confusion, O my soul, who has so often lost your Jesus by
your sins, and has given no heed to seek him at once: a sign that you
do make of very little or of no account the precious treasure of divine
love.
Weep then for your blindness, and turning yourself to that Lady of
sighs, your Mother, say with compunction:
Virgin most afflicted, obtain that I may learn from you to seek Jesus
when I have lost him by giving ear to my passions and to the evil
suggestions of the devil; obtain that I may find him again, and when I
possess him once more, that I may ever repeat the words of the Spouse,
"I found Him whom my soul loveth; I held Him, and I will not let him
go." Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Fourth Sorrow: Mary meets Jesus on the Road
to Calvary
(Luke 23:27; John 19:25)
Come, O you sinners, come and see if you can endure so sad a
sight. This Mother, so tender and loving, meets her beloved Son, meets
him amidst an impious rabble, who drag him to a cruel death, wounded,
torn by stripes, crowned by thorns, streaming with blood, bearing his
heavy Cross. Ah, consider, my soul, the grief of the blessed Virgin
thus beholding her Son!
Who would not weep at seeing this Mother's grief?
But who has been the cause of such woe?
I, it is, who with my sins have so cruelly wounded the heart of my
sorrowing Mother! And yet I am not moved; I am as a stone, when my
heart should break because of my ingratitude.
Virgin most holy, I crave pardon for the sorrows I have caused you. I
know and confess that I deserve it not, for it is I through whom your
Jesus was so treated; yet do you call to mind that you are the Mother
of mercy. Show mercy then to me, and I promise to be more faithful to
my Redeemer in the time to come, and thus to console you for the many
sorrows I have offered to your afflicted heart. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Fifth Sorrow: Mary Sees Jesus Die on the
Cross
(Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19)
Look, devout soul, look to Calvary, whereon are raised two altars of
sacrifice, one on the body of Jesus, the other on the heart of Mary.
Sad is the sight of that dear Mother drowned in a sea of woe, seeing
her beloved Son, part of her very self, cruelly nailed to the shameful
tree of the Cross.
Ah me! How every blow of the hammer, how every stripe which fell on
the Savior's form, fell also in the disconsolate spirit of the Virgin.
As she stood at the foot of the Cross, pierced by the sword of sorrow,
she turned her eyes on him, until she knew that he lived no longer and
had resigned his spirit to his Eternal Father. Then her own soul was
like to have joined itself to that of Jesus.
Mother of Sorrows, who would not leave Calvary until you had drunk the
last drop of the chalice of your woe, how great is my confusion of
face, that I so often refuse to take up my cross, and in all ways
endeavor to avoid those slight sufferings which the Lord, for my good,
is pleased to send upon me. Obtain for me, I pray you, that I may see
clearly the value of suffering, and may be enabled, if not to cry with
St. Francis Xavier, "More to suffer, my God! Ah, more!" At least to
bear meekly all my crosses and trials. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Sixth Sorrow: Mary Receives Jesus's Body into Her Arms
(Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19)
Consider the most bitter sorrow which rent the soul of Mary, when she
saw the dead body of her dear Jesus on her knees, covered with blood,
all torn with deep wounds. O mournful Mother, a bundle of myrrh,
indeed, is your Beloved to you. Who would not pity you? Whose heart
would not be softened, seeing affliction which would move a stone?
Behold John not to be comforted, Magdalen and the other Mary in deep
affliction, and Nicodemus, who can scarcely bear his sorrow.
Shall I alone be tearless amid such grief? Ingrate and hard am I!
Grant, dear Mother, that my heart may be pierced with the same sword
that pierced your sorrowful soul, that it may be softened, and may
indeed lament those my heavy sins which were the cause of your cruel
suffering. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Seventh Sorrow: Mary Places Jesus's Body in
the Tomb
(Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19)
Consider the sighs which burst from Mary's sad heart when she saw her
beloved Jesus laid within the tomb. What grief was hers when she saw
the stone lifted to cover that sacred tomb. She gazed a last time on
the lifeless body of her Son, and could scarcely detach her eyes from
those gaping wounds. And when the great stone was rolled to the door of
the sepulcher, oh, then indeed her heart seemed torn from her body!
Mother most desolate, who did indeed in body depart from the sepulcher,
but did leave your heart where was your only treasure, obtain that all
our desires, all our love may rest there with you. Surely our hearts
must melt with love to our Savior, who has shed his Blood for our
salvation. Surely we must love you, who has suffered so much for us.
Oh, by all your sorrows, grant that the memory of them may be ever
imprinted on our mind, that our hearts may burn with love to God, and
to you, sweet Mother, who did pour out all your soul in sorrow for the
Passion of Jesus: to him be honor, glory, and thanksgiving for ever and
ever. Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Virgin Most Sorrowful, pray for us.
Now recite
three Hail Mary's in honor of Our Blessed Lady's tears.
Readings
Reflections on Each of the Seven Dolors of Mary
From "The
Glories of Mary" by St. Alphonsus Liguouri
On the First Dolor Of St. Simeon's
prophecy
In this valley of tears, every man is born to weep, and every one must
suffer those afflictions that daily befall him. But how much more
miserable would life be, if every one knew also the future evils which
are to afflict him! Too unhappy would he be, says Seneca, whose fate
was such. The Lord exercises this compassion towards us, namely, that
he does not make known to us the crosses that await us; that if we are
to suffer them, at least we may suffer them only once. But he did not
exercise this compassion with Mary, who, because God wished her to be
queen of dolors, and in all things like his Son, had to see always
before her eyes, and to suffer continually all the sorrows that awaited
her; and those were the sufferings of the passion and death of her
beloved Jesus. For St. Simeon in the temple, after having received the
divine child in his arms, predicted to her thait this child was to be
the mark for all the opposition and persecution of men: " Set for a
sign which shall be contradicted;" and that therefore the sword of
sorrow should pierce her soul: " And thy own soul a sword shall pierce."
The holy Virgin herself said to St. Matilda, that at this announcement
of St. Simeon all her joy was changed into sorrow. For, as it was
revealed to St. Theresa, the blessed mother, although she knew before
this that the life of her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of
the world, yet she then learned more particularly and distinctly the
sufferings and cruel death that awaited her poor Son. She knew that he
would be contradicted in all things. Contradicted in doctrine; for
instead of being believed, he would be esteemed a blasphemer for
teaching that he was the Son of God, as the impious Caiaphas declared
him to be, saying: " He hath blasphemed, he is guilty of death."
Contradicted in his reputation, for he was noble, of royal lineage, and
was despised as a peasant: " Is not this the carpenter's son?" "Is not
this the carpenter, the son of Mary?" He was wisdom itself, and was
treated as an ignorant man: "How doth this man know letters, having
never learned ?" As a false prophet: " And they blind folded him and
smote his face .... saying "Prophesy who is this that struck thee." He
was treated as a madman: " He is mad, why hear you him ?" As a
wine-bibber, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: "Behold a man that is
a glutton, and a drinker of wine; a friend of publicans and sinners."
As a sorcerer: "By the prince of devils he casteth out devils." As a
heretic and possessed person: "Do we not say well of thee, that thou
art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" In a word, Jesus was considered as
so bad and notorious a man, that no trial was necessary to condemn him,
as the Jews said to Pilate: "If he were not a malefactor, we would not
have delivered him up to tlee." He was contradicted in his soul, for
even his eternal Father, in order to give place to the divine justice,
contradicted him by not wishing to hear him when he prayed to him,
saying: " Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me" and
abandoned him to fear, weariness, and sadness, so that our afflicted
Lord said: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." His interior
suffering even caused him to sweat blood. Contradicted and persecuted,
in a word, in his body and his life, for he was tortured in all his
sacred members: in his hands, in his feet, in his face, in his head, in
his whole body, till, drained to the last drop of his blood, he died an
ignominious death on the cross.
When David, in the midst of all his pleasures and royal grandeur, heard
from Nathan the prophet that his son should die -- "The child that is
born to thee shall surely die" -- he could find no peace, but wept,
fasted, and slept upon the ground. Mary received with the greatest
calmness the announcement that her Son should die, and peacefully
continued to submit to it; but what grief she must have continually
suffered, seeing this amiable Son always near her, hearing from him
words of eternal life, and beholding his holy demeanor. Abraham
suffered great affliction during the three days he passed with his
beloved Isaac, after he knew that he was to lose him. Oh God! not for
three days, but for thirty-three years, Mary had to endure a like
sorrow. Like, do I say? A sorrow as much greater as the Son of Mary was
more lovely than the son of Abraham. The blessed Virgin her self
revealed to St. Bridget, that while she lived on the earth there was
not an hour when this grief did not pierce her soul: As often, she
continued, as I looked upon my Son, as often as I wrapped him in his
swaddling clothes, as often as I saw his hands and his feet, so often
was my soul overwhelmed as it were with a fresh sorrow, because I
considered how he would be crucified. Rupert the Abbot, contemplating
Mary, while she was suckling her Son, imagines her addressing him in
these words: " A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide
between my breast" Ah, my Son, I clasp thee in my arms, because thou
art so dear to me; but the dearer thou art to me, the more thou dost
become to me a bundle of myrrh and of sorrow, when I think of thy
sufferings.
Mary, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, considered that the strength of
the saints was to pass through death; the beauty of paradise to be
deformed; the Lord of the universe to be bound as a criminal; the
Creator of all hings to be livid with stripes; the Judge of all to be
condemned; the glory of heaven despised; the King of kings to be
crowned with thorns, and treated as a mock king.
Father Engelgrave writes, that it was revealed to the same St. Bridget,
that the afflicted mother, knowing all that her Son would have to
suffer, when suckling him, thought of the gall and vinegar; when she
swathed him, of the cords with which he was to be bound; when she bore
him in her arms, she thought of him being nailed to the cross; and when
he slept, she thought of his death. As often as she put on him his
clothes, she reflected that they would one day be torn from him, that
he might be crucified; and when she beheld his sacred hands and feet,
and thought of the nails that were to pierce them, as Mary said to St.
Bridget: "My eyes filled with tears, and my heart was tortured with
grief."
The evangelist says, that as Jesus Christ advanced in years, so also he
advanced in wisdom and in grace with God and men. That is, he advanced
in wisdom and in grace before men, or in their estimation; and before
God, according to St. Thomas, inasmuch as all his works would
continually have availed to increase his merit, if from the beginning
grace in its complete fulness had not been conferred on him by virtue
of the hypostatic union. But if Jesus advanced in the esteem and love
of others, how much more did he advance in Mary's love! But, oh God, as
love increased in her, the more increased in her the grief of having to
lose him by a death so cruel. And the nearer the time of the passion of
her Son approached, with so much greater pain did that sword of sorrow,
predicted by St. Simeon, pierce the heart of the mother; precisely this
the angel revealed to St. Bridget, saying: "That sword of sorrow was
every hour drawing nearer to the Virgin as the time for the passion of
her Son drew nearer. "If, then, Jesus our King and his most holy mother
did not refuse, for love of us, to suffer during their whole life such
cruel pains, there is no reason that we should complain if we suffer a
little. Jesus crucified once appeared to sister Magdalene Orsini, a
Dominican nun, when she had been long suffering a great trial, and
encouraged her to remain with him on the cross with that sorrow that
was afflicting her. Sister Magdalene answered him complainingly: " Oh
Lord, thou didst suffer on the cross only three hours, but it is more
than three years that I have been suffering this cross." Then the
Redeemer replied : " Ah! ignorant soul, what dost thou say? I, from the
first moment I was conceived, suffered in heart what I afterwards
suffered on the cross." If, then, we too suffer any affliction and
complain, let us imagine that Jesus and his mother Mary are saying to
us the same words.
Example
Father Roviglione, of the Company of Jesus, relates, that a certain
youth practised the devotion of visiting every day an image of the
sorrowful Mary, in which she was represented with seven swords piercing
her heart. One night the unhappy youth fell into mortal sin. Going next
morning to visit the image, he saw in the heart of the blessed Virgin
not only seven, but eight swords. As he stood gazing at this, he heard
a voice saying to him, that his sin had added the eighth sword to the
heart of Mary. This softened his hard heart; he went immediately to
confession, and through the intercession of his advocate, recovered the
divine grace.
Prayer
Oh my blessed mother, not one sword only, but as many swords as I have
committed sins have I added to those seven in thy heart. Ah, my Lady,
thy sorrows are not due to thee who art innocent, but to me •who am
guilty. But since thou hast wished to suffer so much for me, ah, by thy
merits obtain for me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the
trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my
demerits, for I have often merited hell. Amen.
On the Second Dolor Of the Flight of
Jesus into Egypt
As the stag, wounded by an arrow, carries the pain with him wherever he
goes, because he carries with him the arrow that has wounded him; thus
the divine mother, after the prophecy of St. Simeon, as we saw in our
consideration of the first grief, always carried her sorrow with her by
the continual remembrance of the passion of her Son. Ailgrin,
explaining this passage of the Canticles, " The hairs of thy head as
the purple of the king bound in the channel," says: These hairs of Mary
were her continual thoughts of the passion of Jesus, which kept always
before her eyes the blood which was one day to flow from his wounds.
Thy mind, oh Mary, and thy thoughts tinged in the blood of the passion
of our Lord, were always moved with sorrow as if they actually saw the
blood flowing from his wounds. Thus her Son himself was that arrow in
the heart of Mary, who, the more worthy of love he showed himself to
her, always wounded her the more with the sorrowful thought that she
should lose him by so cruel a death. Let us now pass to the
consideration of the second sword of sorrow which wounded Mary, in the
flight of her infant Jesus into Egypt from the persecution of Herod.
Herod having heard that the expected Messiah was born, foolishly feared
that the new-born King would deprive him of bis kingdom. Hence St.
Fulgentius, reproving him for his folly, thus says: " Why, oh Herod,
art thou thus disturbed? This King who is born has not come to conquer
kings by arms, but to subjugate them, in a wonderful manner, by his
death." The impious Herod, therefore, waited to learn from the holy
magi where the King was born, that he might take from him his life; but
finding him self deceived by the magi, he ordered all the infants that
could be found in the neighborhood of Bethlehem to be put to death. But
an angel appeared in a dream to St. Joseph, and said to him: "Arise,
and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt."
According to Gerson, immediately, on that very night, Joseph made this
command known to Mary; and taking the infant Jesus, they commenced
their journey, as it seems clearly from thy Gospel itself: "Who arose
and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt." Oh
God, as blessed Albertus Magnus says in the name of Mary, must he,
then, who came to save men flee from men? "Debet fugere qui salvator
est mundi?" And then the afflicted Mary knew that already the prophecy
of Simeon, regarding her Son, was beginning to be verified : "He is set
for a sign which shall be contradicted." Seeing that scarcely is he
born, when he is persecuted to death. What suffering it must have been
to the heart of Maiy, writes St. John Chyrsostom, to hear the tidings
of that cruel exile of herself with her Son! Flee from thy friends to
strangers, from the holy temple of the only true God, to the temples of
demons. What greater tribulation than that a new-born child, clinging
to its mother's bosom, should be forced to fly with the mother herself!
Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey.
It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree with Barrada
that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of
thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure describes it, was rough,
unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter,
and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and
through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a
delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys. They had no servant to
attend them. Joseph and Mary, said St. Peter Chrysologus. had no
man-servant nor maid-servant ; they were themselves both masters and
servants. Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender
Virgin, with that newly born infant in her arms, wandering through this
world! St. Bonaventure asks. Where did they obtain food? Where did they
rest at night? How were they lodged? What other food could they have,
than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or begged in
charity: Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred
miles of desert through which they travelled, where, as authors relate
there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some
tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild
beasts with which Egypt abounded? Ah, if any one had met these three
greatest personages of the world, what would he have believed them to
be but three poor, loving
beggars?
They lived in Egypt, according to Brocard and Jansenius, in a district
called Maturea, though, according to St. Anselm, they dwelt in
Heliopolis, first called Memphis, and now Cairo. And here let us
consider the great poverty they must have suffered for the seven years
they were there, as St. Antoninus, St. Thomas, and others assert. They
were foreigners, unknown, without revenues, without money, without
kindred; hardly were they able to support themselves by their humble
labors. As they were destitute, says St. Basil, it is man ifest what
efforts they must have made to obtain there the necessaries of life.
Moreover, Landolph of Saxony has written, and let it be repeated for
the consolation of the poor, that so great was the poverty of Mary
there, that sometimes she had not so much as a morsel of bread, when
her Son, forced by hunger, asked it of her. St. Matthew also relates
that when Herod was dead, the angel again appeared, in a dream, to St.
Joseph, and directed him to return to Judea. St. Bonaventure, speaking
of this return, considers the greater pain of the blessed Virgin, on
account of the sufferings which Jesus must have endured in that
journey, having arrived at about the age of seven years—an age, says
the saint, when he was so large that he could not be carried, and so
small that he fould not go Iwithout assistance.
The sight, then, of Jesus and Mary wandering like fugitives through
this world, teaches us that we should also live as pilgrims on the
earth, detached from the goods which the world offers us, as having
soon to leave them and go to eternity. "We have not here a lasting
city, but seek one that is to come." To which St. Augustine adds: Thou
art a stranger, thou givest a look, and then passest on: " Hospes es,
vides et transis." It also teaches us to embrace crosses, for we cannot
live in this world without a cross. The blessed Veronica da Binasco, an
Augustinian nun, was carried in spirit to accompany Mary and the infant
Jesus in this journey to Egypt, and at the end of it the divine mother
said to her: " Child, hast thou seen through what difficulties we have
reached this place? Now learn that no one receives graces without
suffering."
He who wishes to feel least the sufferings of this life, must take
Jesus and Mary with him: " Accipe puerum et matrem ejus." For him who
lovingly bears in his heart this Son and this mother, all sufferings
become light, and even sweet and dear. Let us then love them, let us
console Mary by receiving her Son within our hearts, whom, even now,
men continue to persecute with their sins.
Example
One day the most holy Mary appeared to the blessed Colletta, a
Franciscan nun, and showed her the infant Jesus in a basin, torn in
pieces, and then said to her : "Thus sinners continually treat my Son,
renewing his death and my sorrows; oh, my daughter, pray for them that
they may be converted." Similar to this is that other vision which
appeared to the venerable sister Jane, of Jesus and Mary, also a
Franciscan nun. As she was one day meditating on the infant Jesus,
persecuted by Herod, she heard a great noise, as of armed people, who
were pursuing some one; and then appeared before her a most beautiful
child, who was fleeing in great distress, and cried to her: " My Jane,
help me, hide me; I am Jesus of Nazareth, I am flying from sinners who
wish to kill me, and who persecute me as Herod did: do thou save me."
Prayer
Then, oh Mary, even after thy Son hath died by the hands of men who
persecuted him unto death, have not these ungrateful men yet ceased
from persecuting him with their sins, and continuing to afflict thee,
oh mother of sorrows? And I also, oh God, have been one of these. Ah,
my most sweet mother, obtain for me tears to weep for such ingratitude.
And then, by the sufferings thou didst experience in thy journey to
Egypt, assist me in the journey that I am making to eternity, that at
length I may go to unite with thee in loving my persecuted Saviour, in
the country of the blessed. Amen.
On the Third Dolor Of the Loss of Jesus
in the Temple
St. James the Apostle has said, that our perfection consists in the
virtue of patience. "And patience hath a perfect work, that you may be
perfect and entire, failing in nothing." The Lord having then given us
the Virgin Mary as an example of perfection, it was necessary that she
should be laden with sorrows, that in her we might admire and imitate
her heroic patience. The dolor that we are this day to consider is one
of the greatest which our divine mother suffered during her life,
namely, the loss of her Son in the temple. He who is born blind is
little sensible of the pain of being deprived of the light of day; but
to him who has once had sight and enjoyed the light, it is a great
sorrow to find himself deprived of it by blindness. And thus it is with
those unhappy souls who, being blinded by the mire of this earth, have
but little knowledge of God, and therefore scarcely feel pain at not
finding him. On the contrary, the man who, illuminated with celestial
light, has been made worthy to find by love the sweet presence of the
Highest good, oh God, how he mourns when he finds himself deprived of
it! From this we can judge how painful must have been to Mary, who was
accustomed to enjoy constantly the sweet presence of Jesus, that third
sword which wounded her, when she lost him in Jerusalem, and was
separated from him for three days.
In the second chapter of St. Luke we read that the blessed Virgin,
being accustomed to visit the temple every year at the paschal season,
with Joseph her spouse and Jesus, once went when he was about twelve
years old, and Jesus remained in Jerusalem, though she was not aware of
it, for she thought he was in company with others. When she reached
Nazareth she inquired for her Son, and not finding him there, she
returned immediately to Jerusalem to seek him, but did not succeed
until after three days. Now let us imagine what distress that afflicted
mother must have experienced in those three days in which she was
searching everywhere for her Son, with the spouse in the Canticles: "
Have you seen him whom my soul loveth?" But she could hear no tidings
of him. Oh, with how much greater tenderness must Mary, overcome with
fatigue, and yet not having found her beloved Son, have repeated those
words of Ruben, concerning his brother Joseph: The boy doth not appear,
and whither shall I go? "Puer non comparet, et ego quo ibo?" My Jesus
doth not appear, and I know not what to do that I may find him; but
where shall I go without my treasure? Weeping continually, she repeated
during these three days with David: " My tears have been my bread day
and night, whilst it is said to me daily, Where is thy God? "Wherefore
Pelbart with reason says, that during those nights the afflicted mother
had no rest, but wept and prayed without ceasing to God, that he would
enable her to find her Son. And, according to St. Bernard, often during
that time did she repeat to her Son him self the words of the spouse:
"Show me where thou feedest, where thou liest in the mid-day, lest I
begin to wander." My Son, tell me where thou art, that I may no longer
wander, seeking thee in vain.
Some writers assert, and not without reason, that this dolor was not
only one of the greatest, but that it was the greatest and most painful
of all. For in the first place, Mary in her other dolors had Jesus with
her; she suffered when St. Simeon uttered the prophecy in the temple;
she suffered in the flight to Egypt, but always with Jesus; but in this
dolor she suffered at a distance from Jesus, without knowing where he
was: "And the light of my eyes itself is not with me." Thus, with
tears, she then exclaimed: Ah, the light of my eyes, my dear Jesus, is
no more with me; he is far from me, I know not where he is! Crigen
says, that through the love which this holy mother bore her Son, she
suffered more at this loss of Jesus than any martyr ever suffered at
death.
Ah, how long were these three days for Mary! they appeared three ages.
Very bitter days, for there was none to comfort her. And who, she
exclaimed with Jeremias, who can console me if he who could console me
is far from me? and therefore my eyes are not satisfied with weeping: "
herefore do I weep, and my eyes run down with water, because the
comforter is far from me." And with Tobias she repeated: " What manner
of joy shall be to me who sit in darkness, and see not the light of
heaven?"
Secondly. -- Mary well understood the cause and end of the other
dolors, namely, the redemption of the world, the divine will; but in
this she did not know the cause of the absence of her Son. The
sorrowful mother was grieved to find Jesus withdrawn from her, for her
humility, says Lanspergius, made her consider herself unworthy to
remain with him any longer, and attend upon him on earth, and have the
care of such a treasure. And perhaps, she may have thought v ithin
herself, I have not served him as I ought. Perhaps I have been guilty
of some neglect, and therefore he lias left me. They sought him, lest
he perchance had left them, as Origen has said.
Certainly there is no greater grief for a soul that loves God than the
fear of having displeased him. And therefore Mary never complained in
any other sorrow but this, lovingly expostulating with Jesus after she
found him: " Son, why hast thou done so to us? Thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing." By these words she did not wish to reprove
Jesus, as the heretics blasphemously assert, but only to make known to
him the grief she had experienced during his absence from her, on
account of the love she bore him. It was not a rebuke, says blessed
Denis the Carthusian, but a loving complaint: "Non erat increpatio, sed
amorosa conquestio." Finally, this sword so cruelly pierced the heart
of the Virgin, that the blessed Benvenuta, desiring one day to share
the pain of the holy mother in this dolor, and praying her to obtain
for her this grace, Mary appeared to her with the infant Jesus in her
arms; but while Benvenuta was enjoying the sight of that most beautiful
child, in one moment she was deprived of it. So great was her sorrow
that she had recourse to Mary, to implore her pity that it should not
make her die of grief. The holy Virgin appeared to her again three days
after, and said to her: "Now learn, oh my daughter, that thy sorrow is
but a small part of that which I suffered when I lost my Son."
This sorrow of Mary ought, in the first place, to serve as a comfort to
those souls who are desolate and do not enjoy the sweet presence they
once enjoyed of their Lord. They may weep, but let them weep in peace,
as Mary wept the absence of her Son. Let them take courage, and not
fear that on this account they have lost the divine favor, for God
himself said to St. Theresa: "No one is lost without knowing it; and no
one is deceived without wishing to be deceived." If the Lord departs
from the sight of that soul who loves him, he does not therefore depart
from the heart. He often hides himself that she may seek him with
greater desire and love. But those who would find Jesus must seek him,
not amid the delights and pleasures of the world, but amid crosses and
mortifications, as Mary sought him: We sought thee sorrowing, as she
said to her Son: "Dolentes quaerebamus te." Learn from Mary to seek
Jesus, says Origen: " Disce a Maria quaerere Jesum."
Moreover, in this world we should seek no other good than Jesus. Job
was not unhappy when he lost all that he possessed on earth; riches,
children, health, and honors, and even descended from a throne to a
dunghill ; but because he had God with him, even then he was happy. St.
Augustine, speaking of him, says. He had lost all that God had given
him, but he had God himself: "Perdiderat ilia quae dederat Deus, sed
habebat ipsum Deum."
Unhappy and truly wretched are those souls who have lost God. If Mary
wept for the absence of her Son for three days, how ought sinners to
weep who have lost divine grace, to whom God says: " You are not my
people, and I will not be yours." For sin does this, namely, it
separates the soul from God: "Your iniquities have divided between you
and your God." Hence, if even sinners possess all the goods of earth
and have lost God, everything on earth becomes vanity and affliction to
them, as Solomon confessed: "Behold, all is vanity and vexation of
spirit." But as St. Augustine says: The greatest misfortune of these
poor blind souls is, that if they lose an ox, they do not fail to go in
search of it ; if they lose a sheep, they use all diligence to find it;
if they lose a beast of burden, they cannot rest; but they lose the
highest good, which is God, and yet they eat and drink, and take their
rest.
Example
We read in the Annual Letters of the Society of Jesus, that in India, a
young man who was just leaving his apartment in order to commit sin
heard a voice, saying : " Stop, where are you going?" He turned round
and saw an image, in relief, of the sorrowful Mary, who drew out the
sword which was in her breast, and said to him: " Take this dagger and
pierce my heart rather than wound my Son with this sin." At the sound
of these words the youth prostrated himself on the ground, and with
deep contrition, bursting into tears, he asked and obtained from God
and the Virgin pardon of his sin.
Prayer
Oh blessed Virgin, why art thou afflicted, seeking thy lost Son? Is it
because thou dost not know where he is? But dost thou not know that he
is in thy heart? Dost thou not see that he is feeding among the lilies?
Thou thyself hast said it : "My beloved to me and I to him who feedeth
among the lilies." These, thy humble, pure, and holy thoughts and
affections, are all lilies, that invite the divine spouse to dwell with
thee. Ah, Mary, dost thou sigh after Jesus, thou who lovest none but
Jesus? Leave sighing to me and so many other sinners who do not love
him, and who have lost him by offending him. My most amiable mother, if
through my fault thy Son has not yet returned to my soul, wilt thou
obtain for me that I may find him. I know well that he allows himself
to be found by all who seek him: The Lord is good to the soul that
seeketh him: "Bonus est Dominus . . . animse quaerenti ilium." Make me
to seek him as I ought to seek him. Thou art the gate through which all
find Jesus; through thee I too hope to find him.
On the Fourth Dolor Of the Meeting of
Mary with Jesus, When He Went to Death
St. Bernardine says, that to form an idea of the grief of Mary in
losing her Jesus by death, it is necessary to consider the love that
this mother bore to this her Son. All mothers feel the sufferings of
their children as their own. Hence the woman of Chanaan, when she
prayed the Saviour to deliver her daughter from the devil that
tormented her, said to him, that he should have pity on the mother
rather than on the daughter: "Have mercy on me, oh Lord, thou son of
David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil." But what mother
ever loved a child so much as Mary loved Jesus? He was her only child,
reared amidst so many troubles and pains; a most amiable child, and
most loving to his mother; a Son, who was at the same time her Son and
her God; who came on earth to kindle in the hearts of all the holy fire
of divine love, as he himself declared : "I am come to cast fire on the
earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?" Let us consider
how ho must have inflamed that pure heart of his holy mother, so free
from every earthly affection. In a word, the blessed Virgin herself
said to St. Bridget, that through love her heart and the heart of her
Son was one: " Unum erat cor meum, et cor filii mei." That blending of
handmaid and mother, of Son and God, kindled in the heart of Mary a
fire composed of a thousand flames. But afterwards, at the time of the
passion, this flame of love was changed into a sea of sorrow.
Hence St. Bernardine says: All the sorrows of the world united would
not be equal to the sorrow of the glorious Mary. Yes, because this
mother, as St. Lawrence Justinian writes: The more tenderly she loved,
was the more deeply wounded. The greater the tenderness with which she
loved him, the greater was her grief at the sight of his sufferings,
especially when she met her Son, after he had already been condemned,
going to death at the place of punishment, bearing the cross. And this
is the fourth sword of sorrow which today we have to consider.
The blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget, that at the time when the
passion of our Lord was drawing nigh, her eyes were always filled with
tears, as she thought of her beloved Son whom she was about to lose on
this earth. Therefore, as she also said, a cold sweat covered her body
from the fear that seized her at that prospect of approaching
suffering. Behold, the appointed day at length arrived, and Jesus came
in tears to take leave of his mother before he went to death. St.
Bonaventure, contemplating Mary on that night, says: Thou didst spend
it without sleep, and while others slept, thou didst remain watching.
Morning having arrived, the disciples of Jesus Christ came to this
afflicted mother, one, to bring her this tidings, another, that; but
all tidings of sorrow, for in her were then verified the words of
Jeremias: "Weeping, she hath wept in the night, and her tears are on
her cheeks; there is none to comfort her of all them that were dear to
her."
One came to relate to her the cruel treatment of her Son in the house
of Caiphas ; another, the insults received by him from Herod. Finally,
for I omit all the rest to come to my point, St. John came, and
announced to Mary that the most unjust Pilate had already condemned him
to death upon the cross. I say the most unjust, for, as St. Leo
remarks, this unjust judge condemned him to death with the same lips
with which he had pronounced him innocent. Ah, sorrowful mother, said
St. John to her, thy Son has already been condemned to death, he
is already on his way, bearing himself his cross on his way to Calvary,
as he afterwards related in his Gospel: "And bearing his own cross, he
went forth to that place which is called Calvary, "Come, if thou dost
desire to see him, and bid him a last farewell in some of the streets
through which he is to pass. Mary goes with St. John, and she perceives
by the blood with which the way was sprinkled, that her Son had already
passed there. This she revealed to St. Bridget: "By the footsteps of my
Son I traced his course, for along the way by which he had passed, the
ground was sprinkled with blood." St. Bonaventure imagines the
afflicted mother taking a shorter way, and placing herself at the
corner of the street to meet her afflicted Son as he passed by. This
most afflicted mother met her most afflicted Son: Moestissima mater
moestissimo filio occurrit, said St. Bernard.
While Mary stopped in that place how much she must have heard said
against her Son by the Jews, who knew her, and perhaps also words in
mockery of her self! Alas! what a commencement of sorrows was then
before her eyes, when she saw the nails, the hammers, the cords, the
fatal instruments of the death of her Son borne .before him! And what a
sword pierced her heart when she heard the trumpet proclaiming along
the way the sentence pronounced against her Son! But behold, now, after
the instruments, the trumpet, and the ministers of justice had passed,
she raises her eyes and sees; she sees, oh God, a young man covered
with blood and wounds from head to foot, with a crown of thorns on his
head, and the heavy beams on his shoulders; she looks at him and hardly
knows him, saying, then, with Isaias : "And we have seen him, and there
was no sightliness."
Yes, for the wounds, the bruises, and clotted blood, made him look like
a leper: " We have thought him, as it were, a leper" so that he could
no longer be recognized. "And his look was, as it were, hidden and
despised, whereupon we esteemed him not." But at length love recognizes
him, and as soon as she knows him, ah, what was then, as St. Peter of
Alcantara says in his meditations, the love and fear of the heart of
Mary! On the one hand, she desired to see him; on the other, she could
not endure to look upon so pitiable a sight. But at length they look at
each other. The Son wipes from his eyes the clotted blood, which
prevented him from seeing (as was revealed to St. Bridget), and looks
upon the mother; the mother looks upon the Son. Ah, looks of sorrow,
which pierced, as with so many arrows, those two holy and loving souls.
When Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas More, met her father on his
way to the scaffold, she could utter only two words, oh, father! oh,
father! and fell fainting at his feet. At the sight of her Son going to
Calvary, Mary fainted not; no, because it was not fitting that this
mother should lose the use of her reason, as Father Suarez remarks,
neither did she die, for God reserved her for a greater grief; but if
she did not die, she suffered sorrow enough to cause her a thousand
deaths.
The mother wished to embrace him, as St. Anselm says, but the officers
of justice thrust her aside, loading her with insults, and urge onward
our afflicted Lord. Mary follows. Ah, holy Virgin, where art thou
going? To Calvary! And canst thou trust thyself to see him who is thy
life hanging from a cross? And thy life shall be as it were hanging
before thee: " Et erit vita tua quasi pendens ante te." Ah! my mother,
stop, says St. Lawrence Justinian, as if the Son himself had then
spoken to her; where dost thou hasten? Where art thou going? If thou
comest where I go, thou wilt be tortured with my sufferings, and I with
thine. But although the sight of her dying Jesus must cost her such
cruel anguish, the loving Mary will not leave him. The Son goes before,
and the mother follows, that she may be cruciIfied with her Son, as
William the Abbot says: The mother took up her cross, and followed him,
that she might be crucified with him. We even pity the wild beasts:
"Ferarum etiam miseremur" as St. John Chrysostom has said. If we should
see a lioness following her whelp as he was led to death, even this
wild beast would call forth our compassion. And shall we not feel
compassion to see Mary following her immaculate Lamb, as they are
leading him to death?
Let us then pity her, and endeavor also ourselves to accompany her Son
and herself, bearing with patience the cross which the Lord imposes on
us. Why did Jesus Christ, asks St. John Chrysostom, desire to be alone
in his other sufferings, but in bearing the cross wished to be helped
by the Cyrenean? And he answers: That thou mayest understand that the
cross of Christ is not sufficient without thine. The cross alone of
Jesus is not enough to save us, if we do not bear with resignation also
our own, even unto death.
Example
The Saviour appeared one day to sister Diomira, a nun, in Florence, and
said to her : "Think of me, and love me, and I will think of thee, and
love thee" and at the same time he presented her with a bunch of
flowers and a cross, signifying to her by this, that the consolations
of the saints on this earth are always to be accompanied by the cross.
The cross unites souls to God.
Blessed Jerome Emilian, when he was a soldier, and leading a very
sinful life, was shut up by his enemies in a tower. There, feeling
deeply his misfortune, and enlightened by God to amend his life, he had
recourse to the most holy Mary, and then with the help of this divine
mother, he began to live the life of a saint. By this he merited to see
once in heaven the high place which God had prepared for him. He became
founder of the order of Sommaschi, died a saint, and has been lately
beatified by the holy Church.
Prayer
My sorrowful mother, by the merit of that grief which thou didst feel
at seeing thy beloved Jesus led to death, obtain for me the grace also
to bear with patience those crosses which God sends me. Happy me, if I
also shall know how to accompany thee with my cross until death. Thou
and Jesus, both innocent, have borne a heavy cross; and shall I a
sinner, who have merited hell, refuse mine Ah, immaculate Virgin, I
hope that thou wilt help me to bear my crosses with patience. Amen.
On the Fifth Dolor Of the Death of Jesus
And now we have to admire a new sort of martyrom, a mother condemned to
see an innocent son, whom she loved with all the affection of her
heart, put to death before her eyes, by the most barbarous tortures.
There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother: " Stabat autem juxta
crucem mater ejus." There is nothing more to be said, says St. John, of
the martyrdom of Mary: behold her at the foot of the cross, looking on
her dying Son, and then see if there is grief like her grief. Let us
stop then also today on Calvary, to consider this fifth sword that
pierced the heart of Mary, namely, the death of Jesus.
As soon as our afflicted Redeemer had ascended the hill of Calvary, the
executioners stripped him of his garments, and piercing his sacred
hands and feet with nails, not sharp, but blunt: "Non acutis, sed
obtusis" as St. Bernard says, and to torture him more, they fastened
him to the cross. When they had crucified him, they planted the cross,
and thus left him to die. The executioners abandon him, but Mary does
not abandon him. She then draws nearer to the cross, in order to assist
at his death. "I did not leave him," thus the blessed Virgin revealed
to St. Bridget, "and stood nearer to his cross." But what did it avail,
oh Lady, says St. Bonaventure, to go to Calvary to witness there the
death of this Son? Shame should have prevented thee, for his disgrace
was also thine, because thou wast his mother; or, at least, the horror
of such a crime as that of seeing a God crucified by his own creatures,
should have prevented thee. But the saint himself answers: Thy heart
did not consider the horror, but the suffering: " Non considerabat cor
tuum horrorem, sed dolorem." Ah, thy heart did not then care for its
own sorrow, but for the suffering and death of thy dear Son; and
therefore thou thyself didst wish to be near him, at least to
compassionate him.
Ah, true mother! says William the Abbot, loving mother! for not even
the terror of death could separate thee from thy beloved Son. But, oh
God, what a spectacle of sorrow, to see this Son then in agony upon the
cross, and under the cross this mother in agony, who was suffering all
the pain that her Son was suffering! Behold the words in which Mary
revealed to St. Bridget the pitiable state of her dying Son, as she saw
him on the cross: "My dear Jesus was on the cross in grief and in
agony; his eyes were sunken, half closed, and lifeless; the lips
hanging, and the mouth open; the cheeks hollow, and attached to the
teeth; the face lengthened, the nose sharp, the countenance sad; the
head had fallen upon his breast, the hair black with blood, the stomach
collapsed, the arms and legs stiff, and the whole body covered with
wounds and blood."
Mary also suffered all these pains of Jesus. Every torture inflicted on
the body of Jesus, says St. Jerome, was a wound in the heart of the
mother. Any one of us who should then have been on Mount Calvary, would
have seen two altars, says St. John Chrysostom, on which two great
sacrifices were consummating, one in the body of Jesus, the other in
the heart of Mary. But rather would I see there, with St. Bonaventure,
one altar only, namely, the cross alone of the Son, on which, with the
victim, this divine Lamb, the mother also was sacrificed. Therefore the
saint interrogates her in these words: Oh Lady, where art thou? Near
the cross? Nay, on the cross, thou art crucified with thy Son. St.
Augustine also says the same thing: The cross and nails of the Son were
also the cross and nails of the mother; Christ being crucified, the
mother was also crucified. Yes, because, as St. Bernard says, love
inflicted on the heart of Mary the same suffering that the nails caused
in the body of Jesus. Therefore, at the same time that the Son was
sacrificing his body, the mother, as St. Bernardin says, was
sacrificing her soul. Mothers fly from the presence of their dying
children but if a mother is ever obliged to witness the death of a
child, she procures for him all possible relief; she arranges the bed,
that his posture may be more easy; she administers refreshments to him;
and thus the poor mother relieves her own sorrows. Ah, mother, the most
afflicted of all mothers! oh Mary, it was decreed that thou shouldst be
present at the death of Jesus, but it was not given to thee to afford
him any relief. Mary heard her Son say: I thirst: "Sitio"; but it was
not permitted her to give him a little water to quench his great
thirst. She could only say to him, as St. Vincent Ferrer remarks: My
Son, I have only the water of my tears: "Fili, non habeo nisi aquam
lacrymarum." She saw that her Son, suspended by three nails to that bed
of sorrow, could find no rest. She wished to clasp him to her heart,
that she might give him relief, or at least that he might expire in her
arms, but she could not. She saw that poor Son in a sea of sorrow,
seeking one who could console him, as he had predicted by the mouth of
the prophet: "I have trodden the wine press alone; I looked about and
there was none to help; I sought and there was none to give aid."
But who was there among men to console him, if all were his enemies?
Even on the cross they cursed and mocked him on every side: "And they
that passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads." Some said to him:
" If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." Some exclaimed:
"He saved others, himself he cannot save." Others said: "If he be the
King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross."The blessed
Virgin herself said to St. Bridget: "I heard some call my Son a thief;
I heard others call him an impostor; others said that no one deserved
death more than he; and every word was to me a new sword of sorrow."
But what increased most the sorrows which Mary suffered through
compassion for her Son, was to hear him complain on the cross that even
the eternal Father had abandoned him: " My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me ?" Words which, as the divine mother herself said to St.
Bridget, could never depart from her mind during her whole life. Thus
the afflicted mother saw her Jesus suffering on every side; she desired
to comfort him, but could not. And what caused her the greatest sorrow
was to see that, by her presence and her grief, she increased the
sufferings of her Son. The sorrow itself, says St. Bernard, that filled
the heart of Mary, increased the bitterness of sorrow in the heart of
Jesus. St. Bernard also says, that Jesus on the cross suffered more
from compassion for his mother than from his own pains: he thus speaks
in the name of the Virgin: I stood and looked upon him, and he looked
upon me; and he suffered more for me than for himself. The same saint
also, speaking of Mary beside her dying Son, says, that she lived dying
without being able to die: Near the cross stood his mother, speechless;
living she died, dying she lived; neither could she die, because she
was dead, being yet alive. Passino writes that Jesus Christ himself,
speaking one day to the blessed Baptista Varana, of Camerino, said to
her, that he was so afflicted on the cross at the sight of his mother
in such anguish at his feet, that compassion for his mother caused him
to die without consolation. So that the blessed Baptista, being
enlightened to know this suffering of Jesus, exclaimed: Oh my Lord,
tell me no more of this thy sorrow, for I cannot bear it.
Men were astonished, says Simon of Cassia, when they saw this mother
then keep silence, witiout uttering a complaint in this great
suffering. But if the lips of Mary were silent, her heart was not so;
for she did not cease offering to divine justice the life of her Son
for our salvation. Therefore we know that by the merits of her dolors
she co-operated with Christ in bringing us forth to the life of grace,
and therefore we are children of her sorrows: Christ, says Lanspergius,
wished her whom he had appointed for our mother to co-operate with him
in our redemption; for she herself at the foot of the cross was to
bring us forth as her children. And if ever any consolation entered
into that sea of bitterness, namely, the heart of Mary, it was this
only one; namely, the knowledge that by means of her sorrows, she was
bringing us to eternal salvation; as Jesus himself revealed to St.
Bridget: "My mother Mary, on account of her compassion and charity, was
made mother of all in heaven and on earth." And, indeed, these were the
last words with which Jesus took leave of her before his death; this
was his last remembrance, leaving us to her for her children in the
person of John, when he said to her: Woman, behold thy Son : "Mulier
ecce filius tuus."* And from that time Mary began to perform for us
this office of a good mother; for, as St. Peter Damian declares, the
penitent thief, through the prayers of Mary, was then converted and
saved: Therefore the good thief repented, because the blessed Virgin,
standing between the cross of her Son and that of the thief, prayed her
Son for him; thus rewarding, by this favor, his former service. For as
other authors also relate, this thief, in the journey to Egypt with the
infant Jesus, showed them kindness; and this same office the blessed
Virgin has ever continued, and still continues to perform.
Example
A young man in Perugia once promised the devil that if he would help
him to commit a sinful act which he desired to do, he would give him
his soul; and he gave him a writing to that effect, signed with his
blood. The evil deed was committed, and the devil demanded the
performance of the promise. He led the young man to a well, and
threatened to take him body and soul to hell if he would not cast
himself into fit. The wretched youth, thinking that it would be
impossible for him to escape from his enemy, climbed the well-side in
order to cast himself into it, but terrified at the thought of death,
he said to the devil that he had not the courage to throw himself in,
and that, if he wished to see him dead, he himself should thrust him
in. The young man wore about his neck the scapular of the sorrowing
Mary; and the devil said to him: "Take off that scapular, and I will
thrust you in." But the youth, seeing the protection which the divine
mother still gave him through that scapular, refused to take it off,
and after a great deal of altercation, the devil departed in confusion.
The sinner repented, and grateful to his sorrowful mother, went to
thank her, and presented a picture of this case, as an offering, at her
altar in the new church of Santa Maria, in Perugia.
Prayer
Ah, mother, the most afflicted of all mothers, thy Son, then, is dead;
thy Son so amiable, and who loved thee so much! Weep, for thou hast
reason to weep. Who can ever console thee? Nothing can console thee but
the thought that Jesus, by his death, hath conquered hell, hath opened
paradise- which was closed to men, and hath gained so many souls. From
that throne of the cross he was to reign over so many hearts, which,
conquered by his love, would serve him with love. Do not disdain, oh my
mother, to keep me near to weep with thee, for I have more reason than
thou to weep for the offences that I have committed against thy Son.
Ah, mother of mercy, I hope for pardon and my eternal salvation, first
through the death of my Redeemer, and then through the merits of thy
dolors. Amen.
On the Sixth Dolor Of the Piercing of
the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross
"Oh, all ye that pass by the way attend, and see if there be any sorrow
like to my sorrow." Devout souls, listen to what the sorrowful Mary
says to you today: My beloved children, I do not wish you to console
me; no, for my heart can never again be consoled on this earth after
the death of my dear Jesus. If you wish to please me, this I ask of
you, turn to me and see if there has ever been in the world a grief
like mine, when I saw him who was all my love torn from me so cruelly.
But, oh Lady, since thou dost not wish to be consoled, and hast such a
thirst for suffering, I must say to thee that thy sorrows have not
ended with the death of thy Son. Toay thou wilt be pierced by another
sword of sorrow, when thou shalt see a cruel lance piercing the side of
this thy Son, already dead, and shalt receive him in thy arms after he
is taken from the cross. And now we are to consider today the sixth
dolor which afflicted this sorrowful mother. Attend and weep. Hitherto
the dolors of Mary tortured her one by one, but today they are all
united to assail her.
To make known to a mother that her child is dead, is sufficient to
kindle her whole soul with love for the lost one. Some persons, in
order to lighten their grief, will remind mothers whose cnildren have
died, of the displeasure they have once caused them. But if I, oh my
queen, should wish to lighten thy sorrow for the death of Jesus in this
way, what displeasure has he ever caused thee, that I could recall to
thy mind? Ah, no; he always loved thee, obeyed thee, and respected
thee. Now thou hast lost him, and who can describe thy sorrow? Do thou
who hast felt it explain it. A devout author says, that when our
Redeemer was dead, the heart of the great mother was first engaged in
accompanying the most holy soul of the Son, and presenting it to the
eternal Father.
I present thee, oh my God, Mary must then have said, the immaculate
soul of thy and my Son, which has been obedient to thee even unto
death: receive it, then, in thy arms. Thy justice is now satisfied, thy
will accomplished; behold, the great sacrifice to thy eternal glory is
consummated. And then turning to ihe lifeless members of her Jesus: Oh
wounds, she said, oh loving wounds, I adore you, I rejoice with von,
since through you salvation has been given to the 'world. You shall
remain open in trie body of my Son, to be the refuge of those who will
have recourse to you. Oh how many, through you, shall receive the
pardon of their sins, and then through you shall be inflamed to love
the Sovereign Good! That the joy of the following Paschal Sabbath
should not be disturbed, the Jews wished the body of Jesus to be taken
down from the cross; but because they could not take down a criminal
until he was dead, they came with iron mallets to break his legs, as
they had already done to the two thieves crucified with him. And Mary,
while she remains weeping at the death of her Son, sees those armed men
coming towards her Jesus. At this sight she first trembled with fear,
then she said: Ah, my Son is already dead, cease to maltreat him, and
cease to torture me a poor mother longer. She implored them not to
break his legs: "Oiavit eos, ne frangerent crura," as St. Bonaventure
writes. But while she is thus speaking, oh, God! she sees a soldier
with violence brandishing a spear, and piercing the side of Jesus: "One
of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there
came out blood and water." The cross shook at the stroke of the spear,
and, as was revealed to St. Bridget, the heart of Jesus was divided:
"Ita ut arnbae partes essent divisae." There came out blood and water,
for only a few drops of blood remained, and those also the Saviour
wished to shed, in order to show that he had no more hlood to give us.
The injury of that stroke was offered to Jesus, but the pain was
inflicted on Mary: Christ, says the devout Lanspergius, shared with his
mother the infliction of that wound, for he received the insult and his
mother the pain. The holy Fathers explain this to be the very sword
predicted to the Virgin by St. Simeon; a sword, not of iron, but of
grief, which pierced through her blessed soul in the heart of Jesus,
where it always dwelt. Thus, among others, St. Bernard says: The spear
which opened his side passed through the soul of the Virgin, which
could not be torn from the heart of Jesus. And the divine mother
herself revealed the same to St. Bridget, saying: "When the spear was
drawn out, the point appeared red with blood; then I felt as if my
heart were pierced when I saw the heart of my most dear Son pierced. "
The angel told St. Bridget, that such were the sufferings of Mary, that
she was saved from death only by the miraculous power of God. In her
other dolors she at least had her Son to compassionate her; and now she
had not even hirti to take pity on her.
The afflicted mother, still fearing that other injuries might be
inflicted on her Son, entreats Joseph of Arimathea to obtain from
Pilate the body of her Jesus, that at least afier his death she may be
able to guard it and protect it from injuries. Joseph went to Pilate,
and made known to him the sorrow and the wish of this afflicted mother;
and St. Anselm thinks thai compassion for the mother softened the heart
of Pilate, and moved him to grant her the body of the Saviour. And now
Jesus is taken from the cross.
Oh most holy Virgin, after thou with so great love hadst given thy Son
to the world for our salvation, behold the world returns him to thee
again! But oh, my God, how dost thou return him to me? said Mary to the
world. My Son was white and ruddy: "Dilectus meus candidus et
rubicundus"; but thou hast returned him to me blackened with bruises,
and red, not with a ruddy color, but with the wounds thou hast
inflicted upon him; he was beautiful, now there is no more beauty in
him; he is all deformity. All were enamored with his aspect, now he
excites honor in all who look upon him. Oh, how many swords, says St.
Bonaventure, pierced the soul of this mother, when she received the
body of her Son after it was taken from the cross: " O quot gladii
aniraam matris pertransierunt!" Let us consider what anguish it would
cause any mother to receive the lifeless body of a son ! It was
revealed to St. Bridget, that to take down the body of Jesus, three
ladders were placed against the cross. Those holy disciples first drew
out the nails from his hands and feet, and according to Metaphrastes,
gave them in charge to Mary. Then one supported the upper part of the
body of Jesus, the other the lower, and thus took it down from the
cross. Bernardine de Bustis describes the afflicted mother as raising
herself, and extending her arms to meet her dear Son; she embraces him,
and then sits down at the foot of the cross. She sees his mouth open,
his eye shut, she examines the lacerated flesh, and those exposed
bones; she takes off the crown, and sees the cruel injury made by those
thorns, in that sacred head; she looks upon those pierced hands and
feet, and says: Ah, my Son, to what has the love thou didst bear to men
reduced thee! But what evil hast thou done to them, that they have
treated ihee so cruelly? Thou wast my father, Bernardine de Bustis
imagines her to say, my brother, my spouse, my delight, my glory, my
all. Oh, my Son, behold how I am afflicted, look upon me and console
me; but thou dost look upon me no more. Speak, speak to me but one
word, and console me; but thou dost speak no more, for thou art dead.
Then turning to those barbarous instruments, she said: Oh cruel thorns,
oh nails, oh merciless spear, how could you thus torture your Creator?
But what thorns, what nails? Alas! sinners, she exclaimed, it is you
who have thus cruelly treated my Son. Thus Mary spoke and complained of
us. But if now she were capable of suffering, what would she say! What
grief would she feel to see that men after the death of her Son,
continue to torment and crucify him by their sins? Let us no longer
give pain to this sorrowful mother; and if we also have hitherto
grieved her by our sins, let us now do what she directs. She says to
us: Return, ye transgressors, to the heart: "Redite, praevarioatores,
ad cor." Sinners, return to the wounded heart of my Jesus; return as
penitents, for he will receive you. Flee from him to him, she continues
to say with Guerric the Abbot; from the Judge to the Redeemer, from the
tribunal to the cross.
The Virgin herself revealed to St. Bridget that she closed the eyes of
her Son when he was taken down from the cross, but she could not close
his arms: "Ejus brachia flectere non potuL" Jesus Christ giving us to
understand by this, that he desired to remain with open arms to receive
all penitent sinners who return to him. Oh world, continues Mary,
behold, then, thy time is the time of lovers: "Et ecce, tempus tuum,
tempus amantium." Now that my Son, oh world, has died to save thee,
this is no longer for thee a time of fear, but of love: a time to love
him who has desired to suffer so much in order to show thee the love he
bore thee. Therefore, says St. Bernard, is the heart of Jesus wounded
that, through the visible wound, the invisible wound of love may be
seen. If, then, concludes Mary, in the words of the Abbot of Celles, my
Son has wished his side to be opened that he might give thee his heart,
it is right, oh man, that thou shouldst give him thy heart. And if you
wish, oh children of Mary, to find a place in the heart of Jesus
without fear of being cast out, go, says Ubertino of Casale, go with
Mary, for she will obtain grace for you; and in the following example
we have a beautiful proof of this.
Example
The Disciple relates§ that there was once a poor sinner who, among
other crimes, had killed his father and a brother, and therefore became
a fugitive. Happening to hear one day during Lent, a sermon upon the
divine mercy, he went to the preacher himself to make his confession.
The confessor having heard his crimes, sent him to an altar of the
sorrowful mother to pray that she might obtain for him compunction and
pardon of his sins. The sinner obeyed, and began to pray, when behold,
suddenly overpowered by contrition, he falls down dead. On the
following day when the priest recommended to the people to pray for the
deceased, a white dove appeared in the church and let fall a card at
the feet of the priest. He took it up, and found these words written on
it: "The soul of the dead, when it left the body, immediately went to
paradise; and do you continue to preach the infinite mercy of God."
Prayer
Oh afflicted Virgin! oh soul, great in virtues and great also in
sorrows ! for both arise from that great fire of love thou hast for
God; thou whose heart can love nothing but God; ah mother, have pity on
me, for I have not loved God, and I have so much offended him. Thy
sorrows give me great confidence to hope for pardon. But this is not
enough; I wish to love my Lord, and who can better obtain this for me
than thou -- thou who art the mother of fair love? Ah Mary, thou dost
console all, comfort me also. Amen.
On the Seventh Dolor Of the Burial of the
Body of Jesus
When a mother is by the side of a suffering and dying child, she no
doubt then feels and suffers all his pains; but when the afflicted
child is really dead and about to be buried, and the sorrowful mother
takes her last leave of him, oh God! the thought that she is to see him
no more is a sorrow that exceeds all other sorrows. Behold, the last
sword of sorrow which we are to consider, when Mary, after being
present at the death of her Son upon the cross, after having embraced
his lifeless body, was finally to leave him in the sepulchre, never
more to enjoy his beloved presence.
But that we may better understand this last dolor, let us return to
Calvary, again to look upon the afflicted mother, who still holds,
clasped in her arms, the lifeless body of her Son. Oh my Son, she seems
then to continue to say in the words of Job, my Son, thou art changed
to be cruel towards me: "Mutatus es mihi in crudelem." Yes, for all thy
beauty, grace, virtue, and loveliness, all the signs of special love
thou hast shown me, the peculiar favors thou hast bestowed on me, are
all changed into so many darts of sorrow, which the more they have
inflamed my love for thee, so much the more cause me ciiuelly to feel
the pain of having lost thee. Ah, my beloved Son, in losing thee I have
lost all. Thus St. Bernard speaks in her name: Oh truly begotten of
God, thou wast to me a father, a son, a spouse; thou wast my life! Now
I am deprived of my father, my spouse, and my Son, for with my Son whom
I have lost, I lose all things. Thus Mary, clinging to her Son, was
dissolved in grief; but those holy disciples, fearing lest this poor
mother would expire there through agony, went to take the body of her
Son from her arms, to bear it away for burial. Therefore, with
reverential force they took him from her arms, and having embalmed him,
wrapped him in a linen cloth already prepared, upon which our Lord
wished to leave to the world his image impressed, is may be seen at the
present day in Turin. And now they bear him to the sepulchre. The
sorrowful funeral train sets forth; the disciples place him on their
shoulders; hosts of angels from heaven accompany him ; those holy women
follow him; and the afflicted mother follows in their company her Son
to the grave.
When they had reached the appointed place, how gladly would Mary have
buried herself there alive with her Son! " Oh how willingly," said the
Virgin to St. Bridget, "would I have remained there alive with my Son,
if it had been his will!" But since this was not the divine will, the
authors relate that she herself accompanied the sacred body of Jesus
into the sepulchre, where, as Baronius narrates, they deposited the
nails and the crown of thorns. In raising the stone to close the
sepulchre, the disciples of the Saviour had to turn to the Virgin, and
say to her: Now, oh Lady, we must close the sepulchre; have patience,
look upon thy Son and take leave of him for the last time. Then, oh my
beloved Son, must the afflicted mother have said, then shall I see thee
no more? Receive, then, this last time that I look upon thee, receive
the last farewell from me thy dear mother, and receive my heart which I
leave buried with thee. The Virgin, says St. Fulgentius, earnestly
desired that her soul should be buried with the body of Christ. And
Mary herself made this revelation to St. Bridget: "I can truly say,
that at the burial of my Son, one sepulchre contained as it were two
hearts."
Finally, they take the stone and close up in the holy sepulchre the
body of Jesus, that great treasure, greater than any in heaven and on
earth. And here let us remark, that Mary left her heart buried with
Jesus, because Jesus was all her treasure : "Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also." And where shall we keep our hearts
buried? With creatures? In the mire? And why not with Jesus, who,
although he has ascended to heaven, has wished to -remain not dead but
alive, in the most holy sacrament of the altar, precisely in order that
he may have with him and possess our hearts? But let us return to Mary.
Before quitting the sepulchre, according to St. Bonaventure, she
blessed that sacred stone, saying: Oh happy stone that doth now inclose
that body which was contained nine months in my womb, I bless thee, and
envy thee; I leave thee to guard my Son for me, who is my only good, my
only love.
And then turning to the eternal Father, she said: Oh "Father, to thee I
recommend him, who is thy Son and mine; and thus bidding a last
farewell to her Son, and to the sepulchre, she returned to her own
house. This poor mother went away so afflicted and sad, according to
St. Bernard, that she moved many to tears even against their will: "
Multos etiam invites ad lacrymas provocabat" so that wherever she
passed, all wept who met her: " Omnes plorabant qui obviabant ei," and
could not restrain their tears. And he adds, that those holy disciples,
and the women who accompanied her, mourned for her even more than for
their Lord.
St. Bonaventure says, that her two sisters covered her with a mourning
cloak: The sisters of our Lady wrapped her in a veil as a widow,
covering as it were her whole countenance.f And he also says, that pass
ing, on her return, before the cross, still wet with the blood of her
Jesus, she was the first to adore it : Oh holy cross, she exclaimed, I
kiss thee and adore thee; for thou art no longer an infamous wood, but
a throne of love, and an altar of mercy, consecrated by the blood of
the divine Lamb, who has been sacrificed upon thee, for the salvation
of the world. She then leaves the cross and returns to her house; there
the afflicted mother casts her eyes around, and no longer sees her
Jesus; but instead of the presence of her dear Son, all the memorials
of his holy life and cruel death are before her. There she is reminded
of the embraces she gave her Son in the stable of Bethlehem, of the
conversations held with him for so many years in the shop of Nazareth:
she is reminded of their mutual affection, of his loving looks, of the
words of eternal life that came forth from that divine mouth. And then
comes before her the fatal scene of that very day; she sees those
nails, those thorns, that lacerated flesh of her Son, those deep
wounds, those uncovered bones, that open mouth, those closed eyes.
Alas! what a night of sorrow was that night for Mary! The sorrowful
mother turned to St. John, and said mournfully: Ah, John, where is thy
Master? Then she asked of Magdalen: Daughter, tell me where is thy
beloved? Oh God! who has taken him from us? Mary weeps, and all those
who are with her weep. And thou, oh my soul, dost thou not weep! Ah,
turn to Mary, and say to her with St. Bonaventure: Let me, oh my Lady,
let me weep; thou art innocent, I am guilty. At least entreat her to
permit thee to weep with her: "Fac ut tecum lugeam." She weeps
for love, and thou dost weep through sorrow for thy sins. And thus
weeping, thou mayest have the happy lot of him of whom we read in the
following example.
Example
Father Engelgrave relates, that a certain religious was so tormented by
scruples, that sometimes he was almost driven to despair, but having
great devotion to Mary, the mother of sorrows, he had recourse to her
in thfc agony of his spirit, and was much comforted by contemplating
her dolors. Death came, and the devil tormented him more than ever with
scruples, and tempted him to despair. When, behold our merciful mother,
seeing her poor son so afflicted, appeared to him, and said to him: "
And why, oh my son, art thou so overcome with sorrow, ihou who hast so
often consoled me by thy compassion for my sorrows? Be comforted," she
said to him; "Jesus sends me to thee to console thee; be comforted,
rejoice, and come with me to paradise." And at these words the devout
religious tranquilly expired, full of consolation and confidence.
Prayer
My afflicted mother, I will not leave thee alone to weep; no, I wish to
keep thee company with my tears. This grace I ask of thee today: obtain
for me a continual remembrance of the passion of Jesus, and of thine
also, and a tender devotion to them, that all the remaining days of my
life may be spent in creeping for thy sorrows, oh my mother, and for
those of my Redeemer. I hope that these dolors will give me the
confidence and strength not to despair at the hour of my death, at the
sight of the offences I have committed against my Lord. By these must I
obtain pardon, perseverance, paradise, where I hope to rejoice with
thee, and sing the infinite mercy of my God through all eternity: thus
I hope, thus may it be. Amen, amen.
