Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is very ancient, and over time pious customs have been developed to enter into the heart of Mary that was pierced so “thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35).
One such custom owes its origin to the Servite Order.... ["The Servite Order was founded in 1233 AD when a group of cloth merchants of Florence, Italy, left their city, families, and professions to retire to Monte Senario, a mountain outside the city, for a life of poverty and penance. These men are known as the Seven Holy Founders; they were canonized by Pope Leo XIII in 1888." [2]] From the very beginning they sought to live a life dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
Through their spirituality they developed what has been called the “Servite Rosary,” also known as the “Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.” It recalls seven events in the life of Mary when she experienced great sorrow. They are as follows:
1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34–35)
2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:43–45)
4. The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on his Way to Calvary (traditional)
5. Standing at the Foot of the Cross (John 19:25)
6. Jesus Being Taken Down from the Cross (Matthew 27:57–59)
7. The Burial of Jesus (John 19:40–42)
Saint Alphonsus Liguori wrote as essay on The Martyrdom of Mary Was Never Equaled. The first paragraph is quoted below [3]:
To what shall I compare thee? or to what shall I liken thee, O daughter of Jerusalem? ... for great as the sea is thy destruction; who shall heal thee? (Lam. 2:13) No, the acuteness of the sufferings of Mary are not to be compared, even with those of all the Martyrs united. "The Martyrdom of Mary," says Saint Bernard, "was not caused by the executioner's sword, but proceeded from bitter sorrow of heart." In other Martyrs torments were inflicted on the body; but Mary's sorrow was in her heart and soul, verifying in her the prophecy of Simeon, Thy own soul a sword shall pierce. (Luke 2:35)
Copied below is the introduction to the Mass of The Seven Sorrows Of The Blessed Virgin Mary [4]:
What words can ever describe the unspeakable anguish that rent the sacred heart of Mary as she looked upon her Divine Son hanging on the cross! Every wound in Jesus' body was also a wound in the heart of Mary: every fiber, every nerve throbbing in agony, every pang He suffered is re-echoed in her heart. She endured by her compassion a share in all the anguish of His Passion. Why did Mary suffer all this? That she might be our Mother, the Mother of mankind. She who brought forth her Divine Son without a pang suffered many a piercing pang when from the cross her dying Son commended her to the sinful sons of men. It was a motherhood of sorrow that she suffered for our sins: for mine.
A hymn from The Divinum Officium Project [5]:
God of mercy, let us run
Where yon fount of sorrows flows;
Pondering sweetly, one by one,
Jesu's wounds and Mary's woes.
Ah, those tears Our Lady shed,
Enough to drown a world of sin;
Tears that Jesu's sorrows fed,
Peace and pardon well may win!
His five wounds, a very home,
For our prayers and praises prove;
And Our Lady's woes become
Endless joys in heaven above.
Jesus, who for us did die,
All on thee our love we pour;
And in the Holy Trinity
Worship thee forevermore.
Amen.
[1] https://thecatacombs.org/thread/1263/sorrows-blessed-virgin-mary-september
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servite_Order, quoted without hyperlinks and reference.
[3] https://catholicsay.com/a-short-guide-to-praying-the-chaplet-of-the-seven-sorrows-of-mary/
[4] The Roman Catholic Daily Missal 1962. (Missouri: Angelus Press, 2015), 1046.
[5] https://divinumofficium.com/cgi-bin/horas/officium.pl on September 15, Rubrics 1960, Laudes, quoted without emphasis; also seen at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:Catholic_Hymns_Formby.djvu/55
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