Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, or Mater Dolorosa. I have a particular devotion to our Lady under this title for various reasons, one of which is that my father’s family used to live in Mater Dolorosa Parish, in uptown New Orleans. I also played the organ there on weekends for three years while in seminary. It’s one of the most beautiful of New Orlean’s churches.
Two years ago I discovered the chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. It’s explained well here, (although I just checked out their home page, which is a bit scary!) And notes on the prayer are found here, and are quoted below with a few changes for clarity.
At the time I was miserable and undergoing some serious trials in life. As so often happens at such times, God sends the prayers we need to calm our worried spirits, and to help realize the graces He is sending. I meditated on the Sorrows of Mary as I prayed this prayer daily all during the Lenten Season two years ago, and wondered if this was worth doing at all. (It most certainly was well worth the time.)
“The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of this Rosary, shall not perish.”
What happened is that I was led into a beautiful series of contemplations upon the Lord’s Passion, and how that must have appeared through the eyes of His mother. I then began to understand sorrow more profoundly in my own life, and to understand it in it’s proper place.
Because all of the sorrows that Mary experienced, which are recorded in Sacred Scripture, more or less limn the great joys and glorious moments of the life of Jesus Christ. It was a sorrow for Mary that Jesus was lost in the temple and she and Joseph had to look for days on end. Yet it was a joy that He was in discussion with the Temple priests and elders. You get the picture.
We don’t grow through life without acknowledging our sorrows, and experiencing them profoundly. Joy and sorrow may be quite capable of living side by side in the heart, yet sorrows often lead us to great insights, which help us to appreciate life’s joys all the more.
We all know that.
But the graces from this prayer, in my experience, are astounding.
The prayers:
“The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.” is a promise attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows is the Meditation on the Mysteries and Sorrows of our Blessed Virgin Mary, who suffered silently during her life.
The rosary beads are grouped into seven beads of seven, with a total of forty nine beads, with three additional beads and a Crucifix.
Each group of seven begins with One Our Father, and seven Hail Mary, where we honor and learn to imitate the life of our Lady and her virtues.
Begin the Rosary with the the Sign of the Cross:
In the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AmenThree Hail Marys are recited in remembrance of the tears that our Mother shed because of the suffering of her Divine Son and plead for repentance for the sins committed.
An Act of Contrition
O Lord, Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for my sins. I humbly ask Your forgiveness, and I promise with Your help to prove worthy of Your love by sharing in Your Passion and death through Our Blessed Mother’s sorrows. Amen.
The Seven Sorrows
Each group of seven begins with One Our Father, and seven Hail Mary’s, where we honor and learn to imitate the life of our Lady and her virtues. While reciting the prayer, attention is given to the particular sorrow in Mary’s life which correspond to the grouping of prayers.
Concluding prayer
V. Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
V. Let us Pray:Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Savior of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever.
Amen.
