Our Lady of Sorrows: The Seven Sorrows of Mary and the Theology of Compassion
Who Is Our Lady of Sorrows?
Our Lady of Sorrows, also called Mater Dolorosa or Our Lady of Compassion, is the Marian title that contemplates Mary in suffering: at the foot of the Cross, sharing in the Passion of Christ with undivided love and sorrow. Her liturgical feast is celebrated on September 15, the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Devotion to the Sorrows of Mary has very ancient roots in the tradition of the Church. It brings together two fundamental elements: the historical dimension (Mary truly suffered as she watched her Son die) and the theological dimension (Mary’s suffering has a value in the economy of salvation that theology seeks to articulate without ever placing it on a par with the redemptive Passion of Christ).
The Seven Sorrows of Mary
Devotional tradition has arranged Mary’s suffering into seven sorrows, based on the texts of the New Testament and on spiritual meditation:
- 1st Sorrow, The Prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2:34-35): In the Temple, the aged Simeon announces to Mary: “A sword will pierce through your own soul.” It is the shadow of the Cross falling over the beginning of Jesus’ life.
- 2nd Sorrow, The Flight into Egypt (Mt 2:13-15): The exile with the Child, Herod’s persecution, life as refugees in a foreign land.
- 3rd Sorrow, The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:41-50): Three days of anguish searching for the missing Son, a foreshadowing of the three days in the tomb.
- 4th Sorrow, Mary’s Meeting with Jesus Carrying the Cross (Lk 23:27-28): The meeting of their eyes, mother and son on the road to Calvary.
- 5th Sorrow, The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (Jn 19:25-30): Mary at the foot of the Cross, witnessing the death of her Son. The central moment of the Sorrows.
- 6th Sorrow, Jesus Taken Down from the Cross and Placed in Mary’s Arms (Jn 19:38-40): The Pietà, the dead body of the Son in the arms of the Mother. One of the most powerful scenes in Christian art and spirituality.
- 7th Sorrow, The Burial of Jesus (Jn 19:41-42): Mary witnesses the burial and is left alone after the stone has been rolled across the tomb.
The Theology of Mary’s Compassion
The central concept of the spirituality of the Sorrows is compassio, literally, “to suffer with.” Mary was no distant spectator of the Passion: she co-suffered with her Son in a unique and singular way. The theological question is this: what is the meaning and the value of this compassio?
John Paul II, in the encyclical Salvifici Doloris (1984), affirms that human suffering can be united to the suffering of Christ and become redemptive, not in the sense of adding to Christ’s Redemption, but of sharing in it. Mary is the supreme model of this sharing: her compassio at the foot of the Cross is the highest form of human cooperation in the work of salvation.
The Second Vatican Council (LG 58) states that Mary “advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the Cross, where she stood, in keeping with the divine plan, grieving exceedingly with her only begotten Son, uniting herself with a maternal heart with His sacrifice.”
Our Lady of Sorrows in Holy Week
Holy Week is the liturgical season in which devotion to the Sorrows of Mary reaches its fullest expression. In many countries of Catholic tradition—Portugal, Spain, Brazil, the Philippines, Mexico—the central figure of the Holy Week processions is the Mater Dolorosa: the image of Mary in mourning, with a sword in her breast or a black mantle, making her way through the streets accompanied by the praying crowd.
This popular piety is not superficial folklore: it is the intuition of the faithful people that human suffering finds a key to its meaning in the suffering of Mary and of Christ. Whoever weeps for a dead child, whoever suffers from an incurable illness, whoever endures unjust persecution finds in Our Lady of Sorrows a companion who knows sorrow from within.
Stabat Mater: The Hymn of the Sorrows
The Stabat Mater, attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi (13th century), is the liturgical hymn of the Sorrows of Mary. Its opening is among the most beautiful in Christian religious poetry: “Stabat Mater dolorosa / iuxta crucem lacrimosa / dum pendebat Filius.” (“The Sorrowful Mother stood / beside the Cross, in tears, / while the Son was hanging there.”)
The Stabat Mater is sung at Vespers on the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (September 15) and in the liturgy of Good Friday. Composers such as Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Haydn, Schubert, and Dvořák set it to music, making it one of the most influential texts in the history of sacred music.
Sorrows, Apparitions, and Marian Messages
In the great Marian apparitions, the theme of the Sorrows recurs. At Fatima, Our Lady showed the children her Immaculate Heart surrounded by thorns, an image of the Sorrows. At La Salette (1846), the Virgin appeared weeping. In many of the most venerated shrines in the world, the image of Mary is that of the Mater Dolorosa.
The theological message is consistent: Mary, the one closest to Christ, is also the one closest to all who suffer. Her compassion is not merely historical; it is timeless, maternal, and universal.
Studying the Theology of Mary’s Sorrows
The theology of the Sorrows of Mary is one of the richest themes in Mariology, cutting across soteriology (the theory of salvation), Christology (the Passion of Christ), theological anthropology (the meaning of human suffering), and spirituality. The Postgraduate Program in Mariology of Locus Mariologicus devotes special attention to this theme, forming theologians capable of pastorally accompanying those who suffer in the light of the Marian Mystery.
What are the seven sorrows of Mary?
The seven Sorrows of Mary are: 1) The prophecy of Simeon (Lk 2:35). 2) The flight into Egypt (Mt 2:13-14). 3) The Child Jesus lost and found in the Temple (Lk 2:43-45). 4) The meeting with Jesus on the Way of the Cross. 5) The Crucifixion and death of Jesus. 6) The descent from the Cross. 7) The burial of Jesus.
What is Mary’s “compassion” in the seven sorrows?
Mary’s compassion (from the Latin com-pati, to suffer with) is her participation in the redemptive suffering of Christ. Mary is not a mere spectator; rather, she suffers inwardly with her Son on the Cross. This co-participation in the mystery of the Redemption is the theological foundation for the titles of Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix.
When is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows celebrated?
The Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15, the day after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14). This liturgical proximity underscores Mary’s intimate union with the paschal mystery of Christ, which is at the center of the theology of the Sorrows.
The compassionate and redemptive dimension of Mary is developed in John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, which treats the pilgrimage of Mary’s faith all the way to the Cross.
Delve deeper into your studies: explore Mariology, Marian Theology, Marian apparitions, the Postgraduate Program in Mariology, Angelology, the Frequently Asked Questions, and the Presentation in the Temple (Simeon’s sword).
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