Our pain and Our Lady of Sorrows
The Liturgy of September 15: Mariana Compassion and the Human Limit of Suffering
The exact title of the liturgical memory of September 15 is the epithet of Our Lady of Sorrows. It identifies a person, that is, a sorrowful woman, Mary, mother of Jesus. Devotional forms contemplate situations of pain and affliction of this same person, that is, the *Seven Sorrows of Mary*. Therefore, September 15 offers an opportunity to be close with compassionate attention to a human being in pain, like Mary, and to renew our commitment to extend the same attitude of compassion to those who suffer, as those afflicted by various forms of pain found in daily life.Pain is an inalienable heritage of human life. It is a transitory situation, a passage to stable ports of joy. Suffering is a stage of existence: “All creation groans and suffers together in these pangs until now, and not only creation, but also we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves while we wait for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:22-23). It is impossible to renounce pain, just as it is impossible to renounce life.It is possible to invoke relief, lessen, or remove the bitter cup of pain (cf. Matthew 26:42). It is possible to value pain by transforming it into an offering sacrifice (cf. Philippians 2:17). It is possible to practice mutual compassion, carrying each other’s burdens and pains (Galatians 6:2). The celebration of the Virgin of Sorrows is a pause to reflect on our faith convictions, which sometimes waver in the face of the impact of our own or others’ pain. To assess our reaction to pain, often impregnated with despair or rebellion, and the common feeling regarding others’ pain, which is not always shared, but rather often dulled by indifference, insensitivity, and fleeting fears.Mary’s Compassion (Lumen Gentium 58): Between Authentic Marian Devotion and the Risk of Sentimental Absolutization in Contemporary Theology
Marian devotion suffers a harmful result if the figure of the Virgin of Sorrows is absolutized. On Earth, Mary was a troubled woman, her earthly history includes human pains. But her present is no longer that of a troubled woman, but rather a glorious one, as she fully shares in the Lord’s glory, just as she shared during her mortal life experiences of pain.This truth of faith, the Assumption into celestial glory in body and soul, illuminates the veracity of Marian iconography.Although we obviously do not ignore the image of the Virgin of Sorrows, it seems that the most coherent images are not tearful and wretched figures, but rather those of the glorious woman, together with the Son, indeed, in the glory of the Trinity. Therefore, the images of the Virgin of Sorrows are more like punctuation marks that capture moments of pain, useful as a message of hope and a stimulus to compassion. The history of devotion to the Virgin of Sorrows teaches us.Marian piety ‘discovered’ the Virgin of Sorrows quite late. Scholars observe that this cult only shone in the 2nd millennium and gradually expanded. The foundation is perfectly orthodox, as it is evangelical: the first devotional attentions refer to Mary’s presence at the foot of Jesus’ Cross, meditating on the Mother’s sorrows and the Son’s sorrows.The Gospel of John (cf. Jn 19:25-27) is sober in recalling this scene, emphasizing the mutual trust between Mary and the beloved disciple left as a gift by Jesus (hence the name of ‘commendatio’ of the commemorative memory, beginning in the 15th century). It does not prolong in listing the respective afflictions: those of the Crucified were anticipated in the prophecies (cf. Is 52:14-53:12) or will be remembered in the liturgies of the Church (cf. Phil 2:6-8). Those of the Mother are not recorded by any hagiógraph.It is Marian piety that will unfold Mary’s crown of thorns. Before we stop to ponder the compassion of her sorrows, Marian devotion needs to pause and remember the meaning of these painful events and question why Mary is called the Virgin of Sorrows. In a word, the cult is enriched by culture. Mary was afflicted because her vocation was to be the mother of the Messiah, a vocation that would also pass through Passion and Death on the Cross, to achieve life in Resurrection and ensure a new life for sinful human creatures.Mary suffered her sorrows because she was a willing servant, fulfilling the Lord’s word that also cost sufferings, just as Christ himself, though being the Son, learned obedience through the things he suffered (Heb 5:8). Mary shared the limit of the Son who is also the Son of God. This ‘limit’ is the Cross of Jesus, who assumed sin and the sufferings of humanity into himself.The Mother of the Crucified first completed in her own flesh what was lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the benefit of his body, the Church (cf. Col 1:24).With the Incarnation, God willed a virgin mother, with the Redemption, Christ willed a troubled mother, with the Resurrection, the Lord willed that a woman share first, and then all human creatures have the opportunity to share, the new and eternal life.
The Historical Stages of Devotion to the Seven Sorrows: Servites, Mendicant Orders, and the Tridentine Liturgy
Devotion to the Virgin of Sorrows became a spiritual heritage of several religious institutions, with many congregations of sisters and some of brothers adopting the name of the Dolorosa. The celebration of the Seven Sorrows on September 15, dating back to 1668, was a liturgy of the Servite Friars, through whom it was extended to the Western Catholic rites. This Order still retains in its ritual the Solenity of Mary at the Cross on the Friday of the fourth week of Lent.
However, even before that, for at least five centuries, Marian piety unfolded the stages of Mary’s sorrows into seven events, some taken from the evangelical narratives, others deduced by analogy. Devotees have at their disposal the Crown of the Dolorosa, a rosary of seven stages or “sorrows” interspersed with seven “Hail Marys,” as well as the Via Matris Dolorosae, a parallel itinerary to the Via Crucis, limited to seven stations within the seven sufferings of Mary.
This Eucharistic formula constitutes a cultic homage of compassion and an inspirational behavioral stimulus to comfort and share. The current structure leads to meditation on a painful event of the past and focused attention in the present. The ritual’s course is selective but remains open to updates. It begins with the prophecy of Simeon, who announces to Mary the sword that will pierce her soul (cf. Lk 2:34-35), always interpreted as the sword of sorrow and even multiplied by seven, or often: but the sword also represents God’s piercing word (cf. Heb 4:12-13), demanding and consoling.
Next, there is contemplation of the sufferings during Jesus’ childhood: the flight to Egypt with Joseph and Mary to escape Herod’s madness (cf. Mt 2:13-14-18), an emblem of all persecution. The loss in the Temple in Jerusalem (cf. Lk 2:41-52), an emblem of suffering from misunderstandings. The Calvary represents the apex of Mary’s and Jesus’ pain, Mother and Son. There is the encounter on the way to Calvary, where tradition also placed the troubled mother, a symbol of compassionate solidarity. Death on the Cross and there with the mother (cf. Jn 19:25-27), to which devotion places on her lips the words of the prophet: «See all who pass this way, consider and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow» (Lam 1:12), a sign of sharing the most painful limit, death, and at the same time an act of reconciliation with death.
The deposition of the Cross (cf. Mk 15:42-46), a plastic representation of all piety. The burial (cf. Jn 19:38-42), sorrow alleviated by the expectation of the Resurrection.
The Christian understanding of suffering in the light of Our Lady’s experience is deepened in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II.
In a world like the one we live in today, where suffering, violence, divisions, and death prevail, it seems that there is nothing to be done, leading us to close ourselves even more in our shell to defend ourselves and think about saving our souls. But Christ’s and Mary’s sufferings do not satisfy with our devotions; they teach us and empower us to witness the love of the Crucified and the Dolorosa, becoming inspiration and encouragement. This acclamation may illuminate the sense of celebrating Mary’s sorrows: «Blessed art thou, Queen of martyrs: associated with Christ’s passion, thou hast become our mother, a sign of hope on our path».
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