The Seven Sorrows of Mary

September 15

 

This devotion was originated in the thirteenth century It recalls the Sorrows the Virgin Mother of God endured in compassion for the suffering and death of her Divine Son.

The Feast of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows is on September 15. Our Lady of Sorrows is traditionally depicted in art dressed in black with seven swords piercing her heart. These seven swords symbolize the chief seven sorrows of Our Lady’s life. Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary gave rise to the figure in Christian art of the Pietà, the sorrowing Mother holding the dead Body of her Son who has been taken down from the Cross.

The Seven Sorrows Rosary consists of seven Hail Marys For each of the seven Sorrows.

  1. The Prophecy of Simeon

  2. The Flight into Egypt

  3. The Loss of Jesus in the Temple

  4. Mary meets Jesus Carrying the Cross

  5. The Crucifixion

  6. Mary Receives the Dead Body of Her Son

  7. The Burial of Her Son and Closing of the Tomb

Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows 1

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 affections for the passing joys of this earth, I may long for the eternal Jerusalem, and that henceforth all my thoughts and all my actions may be directed toward this one most desirable object.
Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and to the holy and immaculate Mother of God.
Amen.


Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows 2

Hallowed Mother, do this favor: Those Wounds that gored my Savior, deeply on my heart engrave. Mine it be, Christ's throes in sharing. Mine it be, his anguish bearing. These, his wounds, to keep in mind. From the flame of hell unending, be thou, Virgin, me defending, in that dreadful reckoning day! When in death my eyes are closing, open them, Lord, to see reposing, Victory's crown in Mary's hand. When my frame by death is broken, and my doom by thee is spoken, be it, Lord, the better land. Amen.

I beseech you, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose most holy soul was pierced in the hour of your Passion by the sword of sorrow, may intercede for us with your mercy now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.