FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE SEVEN SORROWS

by | Sep 15, 2020 | Saints

SEPTEMBER 15 is the traditional memorial of  THE SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.

In 1233, seven young men in Tuscany founded the Servite Order, the “Order of the Servants of Mary”. Within five years, they had made as one of their primary dedications, the spread of the devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The specific sorrows that she suffered are:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)

2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)

3. The Loss of Jesus for Three Days (Luke 2:41-50)

4. The Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17)

5. The Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:18-30)

6. Jesus Taken Down from the Cross (John 19:39-40)

7. Jesus Laid in the Tomb (John 19:39-42)

In the mid-1300s, the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden that those who pray a Hail Mary seven times, once after each meditation, while meditating on her Seven Sorrows, would receive seven graces:

1. “I will grant peace to their families.”

2. “They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.”

3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”

4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”

5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”

6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death. They will see the face of their Mother.”

7. “I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

In 1413, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows was instituted by the provincial synod of Cologne, in response to the militant Protestant Hussites.

Pope Pius X placed the feast day on September 15 to be close to the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

“And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother: Behold, this child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pass, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.” Luke ii. 34, 35