The Seven Sorrows of Mary
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
A Devotion for Suffering
Years ago, my mother gave me a card that outlined the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Taking her worthy advice to read and reflect on it, I immediately found it to be a beneficial reflection to do daily. The prayer leads us through the sorrows of Christ from the perspective of his mother, who experienced great sorrows along with her son. The practice originated from the 14th Century when Mary the Mother of God appeared to St. Bridget of Sweden in form of Our Lady of Sorrows and revealed this prayer and rosary to her. There’s a great deal of information about the devotion, and I encourage all to check it out.
Reflecting on these sorrows always reminds me that when our loved ones suffer, those around them must also necessarily suffer along with them. And particularly, when our loved one takes on a mission to save the world, he will suffer for it greatly and we will suffer acutely along with him. An interesting element with several of these sorrows is that they are also tied to joyful events that come just before or after the sorrow. All of them are followed by a singular glorious event. Out of such devout suffering comes great joy.
Below are my own reflections on each of the sorrows. Nothing terribly deep here, just my own meager thoughts on each. (As an aside, you can purchase rosaries for this special devotion. One such outlet is The Catholic Company, whose website I used to start the list below.)
1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
This is the prophecy given to Mary when she and Joseph went to the Temple to present their first-born child, as was Jewish custom. Simeon, the holy man who performed the blessing, made a prophecy to Mary on her son’s mission: “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Part of that prophecy was for Mary herself (“and you yourself a sword will pierce'“), that as Christ performed his saving mission, she would suffer as if a sword would pierce her. We know that Mary was never literally pierced with a sword, but her accompanying sorrows were intense enough that it certainly must have felt that way. I’m sure all mothers would agree with this when reminded of the times they suffered through something with their own child.
2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
Simeon’s prophecy (“this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel”) must have been in Mary’s mind as the Holy Family had to get up in the middle of the night to flee the country. Already the powers that be were out to kill her son. King Herod was out for blood to kill any potential true heir to David, the King of Israel. I imagine her riding on a donkey in the cold of night tightly embracing her child, protecting him from the ruler of her own land who wanted him dead.
3. The Loss of Jesus for Three Days (Luke 2:41-50)
When Jesus was a young boy, the Holy Family visited Jerusalem again. This was after their return from Egypt and the death of Herod. When they left again to make their return journey to their home of Nazareth, the boy Jesus remained in the Temple unbeknownst to Mary and Joseph. When they realized they had left without him, it had already been days of travel. They left the caravan to return and find him, and were filled with joy when they found him in the Temple conversing with the learned men.
I’ve experienced this sorrow thankfully only in flashes during those times when one of my children went missing for a brief time, perhaps in a store or when they were outside playing. The longer the time of their missing, the greater the experience of joy was when finding them. Imagine how Mary must have felt at the prospect of losing her child of God in that ancient world where there was no such thing as an Amber Alert.
4. The Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17)
This next sorrow leaps forward in the time in Christ’s life after he completed his three years of proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and performing great signs for all to see. And humanity’s response was to kill him. Mary knew that Jesus was doing this as part of his saving mission and that great, glorious good would come from it, but she had to suffer though it with him. She came to him as he carried his cross beam to his execution and comforted him during his passion.
The movie, The Passion of the Christ, wonderfully portrays this scene as Jesus falls from the weight of his burden, and Mary comes and kneels with him. My own thoughts are that sometimes all we can do is to be there for our loved ones as they suffer. Hopefully our presence and show of love will be a comfort to them.
5. The Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:18-30)
Mary stayed with Jesus even as they stripped him and lifted him up on the Cross. And she remained with him for the hours of his suffering. I can’t really even begin to imagine what she felt. I can only imagine being there and looking up at him too. Her beautiful baby son, now up there with the marks of his beatings and scourging all over his body, nailed to a cross. How many of us would not be able to bear it and flee from such a terrible scene? Son or no son. She remained and witnessed his death.
As with so many of these, I hope I would never have to experience this personally—seeing my loved one executed.
6. Jesus Taken Down from the Cross (John 19:39-40)
When they took Jesus down from the cross, they laid him in Mary’s lap. Michelangelo’s Pieta is the most famous depiction of this, demonstrating that even an event like this can have beauty associated with it. The beauty in suffering comes, in this case, from the love of a mother for her son.
7. Jesus Laid in the Tomb (John 19:39-42)
This last sorrow for Mary is watching as they placed Jesus in the Tomb. She was there as they carted him to a nearby empty tomb, wrapped his body in a shroud, and placed a stone in front of it. I’ve not lost a child to death; my only experience is being present at funerals for children of my relatives. When their bodies were there in the church, they were still with us in a certain way. But when we get to their grave and the casket is placed in the ground, the finality of their death always hit home with me. This was where they were going to remain. They were not returning with us as we went on our way. This is not something you get over.
But as with her suffering along with Jesus through his passion, death, and burial, Mary had the hope of his glorious resurrection three days later. And what glorious joy she had at seeing Jesus again—alive, but not only alive, but a new creation, a glorious new form of life that we all might have. We have that hope for all of our loved ones who have preceded us in death.
The point of recounting these sorrows is to remind us that suffering and sorrow, if directed towards God, will ultimately lead us to great joy and salvation. Purgatory, we are taught, is a great mercy from God that permits us after death to purge all the stains of sin from us so that we can enter the Kingdom Heaven in a perfect state. Through suffering in this life, if devoted to God, we can begin that process of purging the effects of our sin before we die. This is something worthy to reflect upon.