The Seven Sorrows of Mary

The Seven Sorrows of Mary

The first time I knew about the seven sorrows of Mary was in 2016 while completing the Pilgrims Passport in the Jubilee of Mercy.

I asked my friends, “Really?  Did Mother Mary grip in sorrow, too?” 

One of them answered, “Of course, like us parents.  She was the mother of Jesus, especially when she held the dead body of him.”

We were on our sixth stop, in Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Pasay City.  Honestly, I was stunned because I found that people are not alone in grief. I am not alone in my sorrows.

Here are the even sorrows of our lady.

The Prophecy of Simon

The Flight of Egypt

The Loss of Jesus in the Temple

The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Way to Calvary

The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

The Piercing of the Side of Jesus and his Descent from the Cross

The Burial of Jesus    

In Luke it says that a sword shall pierce her soul for her child shall be rejected by many, but be of great joy to others.  How would you feel when your friends, family and the people around reject your son or daughter?  How would you feel when people reject your beloved?

In Matthew, the holy family flees to Egypt and the brutal action of Herod fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah.  Away from home, you run away from home, that is fleeing away with nothing sure, but God’s word.

When Jesus was twelve years old during the annual Passover Festival, he did not come home for three days.  He was in the temple sitting among the teachers of law. Our lady always waited for her child. 

How would you feel when you meet someone, that of your own family or friend in a state of heavy suffering and being beaten?  You are pained because you could do nothing nor extend help.

How would a mother feel if her child were crucified and right in her eyes saw his agonies? 

Later, Mary received the dead body of her son, his bloody bluish body in her arms. Dear Mama Mary, let us weep with you for all the sorrows you have suffered with your son Jesus Christ.

Her seventh sorrow was the burial of Jesus.  Those are like the sorrows you feel when someone dies.

Our Lady of Sorrows was into these painful agonies, yet she remained strong in faith and the promised of Christ’s resurrection.

Sorrows are gripping, but when we remain steadfast in the love of God on the cross and the pains of Mary, light comes to us in the hope and gift of eternal life.

/rosevoc. april 14, 2017