Michelangelo’s Pietà is one of the most famous portrayals of the Blessed Mother. Every year, millions of visitors at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican gaze upon the sculpture of the Blessed Mother as she cradles her son after his crucifixion. Like other images that show Mary weeping as she stands at the foot of the Cross, or with seven daggers piercing her heart, the Pietà is an example of a type of art which depicts the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows.
The memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows that we observe today is a blending of two feasts. In the early 13th century, an altar in honor of the Sorrowful Mother was erected in a monastery in Schönau, Germany. A few centuries later, as this devotion spread, a synod in Cologne established a feast for Our Lady of Sorrows. By the early 18th century, this feast was celebrated the Friday before Holy Week in the Universal Church.
Also in the 13th century, the Servite order started celebrating a feast that reflected upon the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. These seven sorrows of Mary include: (1) the prophecy of Simeon, (2) the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt, (3) the loss of Jesus in the Temple, (4) Mary meeting Jesus on the way to Golgotha in his passion and in his journey to the cross, (5) Jesus’ death on the cross, (6) taking Jesus down from the cross, and (7) Jesus’ burial.
In the early 19th century, this feast was celebrated first on the third Sunday in September, and then later, on September 15. During the reforms after the Second Vatican Council, these two feasts were combined into the Memorial we celebrate today on September 15.
Mary, who participated intimately in Christ’s Passion, understands the full effect of our sins. Yet, like a mother pleading for her wayward children before a judge, she stands before the Lord and begs for our pardon. Mary’s tears, on our behalf, speak more eloquently than anyone else. Me may pray, “Remember Virgin Mother, when you stand in the presence of God, that you speak good things for us, and that you avert his indignation from us. ”
At the conclusion of our Mass this evening on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we will pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Blessings to all of you. Father Lincoln.
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