Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. It has been on my calendar for a couple of weeks and I planned on going to Mass. I woke up very early this morning and found that I even had time to go to Confession before Mass, which brought me some additional peace. The scripture for Mass was about the Jewish custom when Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to be presented in the temple. They met Simeon, a prophet who God had revealed that he would not die until he met the Messiah. After Simeon blessed Jesus, he turned to Mary and told her that her soul would be pierced. During the homily, the priest talked about the 7 Sorrowful Swords that Mary endured. They are based upon 7 specific scriptural events :
- The Prophecy of Simeon
- The Flight Into Egypt
- The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple
- Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
- Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross
- Mary Receives the Body of Jesus From the Cross
- Jesus is Placed in the Tomb
I vowed to pray the “Rosary for the 7 Sorrows” as recommended by the priest. Later this afternoon, I looked up information about the rosary and learned so much about the devotion. The contemplation of Mary’s grief dates back to the early church Fathers. It became formalized in 1239, near Florence, Italy, when Our Lady appeared to 7 holy men, revealing to them Her wish for them to form an Order dedicated to practicing and promoting the devotion to Her Sorrows. The men obeyed and started the order of the Servites. Later, it was St. Bridget of Sweden who elevated this practice to a global scale in the 14th century. Through her mystical revelations, Our Lady issued a heart-wrenching lament: “I look around at all who are on earth, to see if by chance there are any who pity Me, and meditate upon My Sorrows; and I find that there are very few.” Then in 1981, Mary appeared to 3 young girls in Kibeho, Rwanda, asking again to spread the devotion of the 7 Sorrows Rosary and that horrible wars could be stopped if people prayed. The girls shared the information, but it wasn’t necessarily grasped and prayed. In the 1990’s, 1 of the visionaries was actually killed in the genocide that ravaged Rwanda. The other 2 are still alive and doing their best to share the devotion. They agreed that the horrible slaying of millions of people was one of the events that could have been avoided, had more people listened and prayed. I prayed the 7 Sorrows Rosary, prayed that others were also, and decided to share it with you. It was a different kind of reflection. Sometimes I think of Mary as being just holy and perfect and trusting and peaceful. She loved God and loved Her Son, likely with and intense kind of love I cannot fathom. However, while thinking about the life she lived, I could imagine how sorrowful Mary must have felt and how she suffered in the different situations.
I Found God today meditating on the 7 Sorrowful Swords that pierced Mary’s heart.
Still Finding God 