Stabat Mater – liturgical sequence approved by Pius IX (Doctrina pontificalis IV, no. 320)

# The Stabat Mater: A Notable Marian Poem in Christian History

The *Stabat Mater* is the most renowned Marian poem in Christian history and one of the densest in theological, contemplative, and poetic content within Western religious literature. Its liturgical recognition culminated with Pope Pius IX, who in 1876 definitively approved it as the official sequence for the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15). This is Document 320 of *Doctrina Pontificia IV*.

## Collection
*Doctrina Pontificia IV: Marian Doctrines Documents, No. 320*

## Pope
Pius IX (1846-1878)

## Document
Decree of the S. Congr. Indulg., June 18, 1876

## Topic
Approval of the *Stabat Mater* as an official liturgical sequence

## The Stabat Mater: Latin Text (Excerpts)

> *Stabat mater dolorosa / iuxta crucem lacrimosa, / dum pendebat Filius.*
> She stood, the Mother sorrowful / beside the Cross, so mournful / while the Son was hanging.

> *Cuius animam gementem, / contristatam et dolentem / pertransivit gladius.*
> Whose soul, lamenting, / grieved and pained, / a sword passed through it.

> *O quam tristis et afflicta / fuit illa benedicta / Mater Unigeniti!*
> Oh, how sad and afflicted / was that blessed Mother / of the Only-Begotten One!

> *Quae maerebat et dolebat, / pia Mater dum videbat / nati poenas inclyti.*
> She wept and suffered, / the pious Mother, as she saw / the glory of her Son’s pains.

> *Fac, ut ardeat cor meum / in amando Christum Deum / ut sibi complaceam.*
> Make my heart burn / for loving Christ God / that I may please Him.

## Authorship and History

The authorship of the *Stabat Mater* is uncertain. The most likely candidate is Jacopone da Todi (c. 1230-1306), an Umbrian Franciscan friar. The poem is written in iambic trimeter rhymed verses (actually, in what is known as the Safine-Franciscan verse), consisting of a sequence of 20 three-line stanzas, totaling 60 lines.

The liturgical history of the *Stabat Mater* is lengthy: banned as a sequence in Mass by the Council of Trent (which limited sequences to only four), it was gradually reintroduced and finally approved definitively by Pius IX in 1876 for the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.

## Marian Theological Significance

The *Stabat Mater* represents the most perfect expression of Marian compassion theology, co-suffering with Christ on the Cross. This doctrine, developed by Saint Bernard, Saint Bonaventure, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, asserts that Mary was not a passive spectator during the Passion: she suffered uniquely with Christ, participating spiritually in his redemptive offering. The *Stabat Mater* is, before anything else, theology expressed through poetry.

The phrase *”iuxta crucem lacrimosa”* (beside the weeping Cross) refers to John’s Gospel 19:25: *”stabant autem iuxta crucem Iesu mater eius”*, “and his Mother stood beside the Cross.” The poem is a meditation on this verse, exploring what it means for Mary to be *”near the Cross”* of her Son.

## The Stabat Mater in Music

The *Stabat Mater* is the most set Marian text in history: Palestrina, Pergolesi, Haydn, Schubert, Rossini, Dvořák, Poulenc, Verdi, and dozens of other composers have created music for this poem. Pergolesi’s (1736) version, composed in his final days, is considered one of the most perfect sacred musical works of all time.

## Additional Reading

Explore Mariology, Mulieris Dignitatem (which addresses Mary at the foot of the Cross), Lumen Gentium Chapter VIII, and Postgraduate Mariology.