Our Lady of Sorrows The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows flourished in the Middle Ages, and the hymn Stabat Mater was composed for it. After the birth of your Divine Son, this grace grew in splendor within you as it daily united you more closely with your God. Foundation of the Abbey of Dunes, Flanders, in honor of the Blessed Virgin (1128) 3. Our Lady of Good Counsel, I beg you to teach me true heavenly wisdom which was the source of every good deed you performed. You have become all things to all men; you have opened your Heart to all that all may receive of your generosity: the imprisoned, freedom, the sick, health, the afflicted, consolation; the sinner, pardon; and God, glory. Then for His sake, be our Help! As Mother of God you surpass, in an immeasurable degree, all other creatures, angels and men. We have the sublime dignity of being children of God by adoption; Jesus alone is His Son by nature. 1. Elizabeth proclaimed that you were the Mother of Christ and declared you blessed among women because you were the most holy dwelling of the Eternal God. Mary, Mother of God, you are the hope of sinners, you are my hope! Help me to imitate your zeal in assisting my neighbor in his needs. You were to see this Face unveiled, in all the beauty and grace of childhood as the face of your own child. Paul Haffner ( Inside the Vatican, September 2004) This feast is. I wish to do penance by giving up sin and amending my life, by asking pardon and making reparation to the Heart of Jesus and to your Immaculate Heart, so grievously offended by our sins. Angels came to escort you. He has given me. Mary, My Mother, you stand in the presence of your Son, interceding for sinners. You are Queen because you are the Mother of the Word Incarnate. As Mother of God, you became a cooperator in the Redemption of mankind. You used most perfectly every actual grace given you by God in acts and virtue. But with the same humility with which you had conceived Him, you consented to the supreme loss of your God. May the merits of my crucified Savior never be lost on my soul, but rather may they enable me to reach true holiness and the possession of God in His eternal kingdom. Simeon prophesied it when you offered the little Victim-Savior to the Heavenly Father for the first time in the temple: "And thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2, 35). Who can describe the anguish of your generous soul when with your Divine Babe in your arms you were willing to sign His death warrant with your own hands? Mary, My Mother, you are mother in a higher degree because of the kind of life which you have imparted to me. You are truly our immaculate Mother for it is to you, after Jesus, that we are indebted for the supernatural life of grace and the hope of eternal life. Mary, My Mother, may the faithful recitation of my Rosary show my gratitude to Jesus for having redeemed me on the cross and for having given you to me as my spiritual Mother. Fill their hearts with the virtues of joyous zeal for God and for souls and a warm love for divine learning. A man and a woman had both taken part in the degradation of our race; they must both have part in its restoration. When the hands and feet of Jesus were pierced with nails, the sound of each blow of the hammer inflicted a wound in your Heart. This was the earliest promise of a Redeemer to come, and you were to be His immaculate Mother. Mexico's celebration for Our Lady of Guadalupe | Catholics & Cultures Blessed Mother, teach me humility. Since I sincerely love you, I want to follow your example; this is the greatest honor I can pay you. You treasured up all the words spoken by the holy angels concerning your divine Son, as well as those pronounced by the prophetess Anna and by holy Simeon when you presented your Son in the temple, and you prudently pondered them in your heart. You did not try to square both predictions. "Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus. Mary, My Mother, since it is the will of God that we should obtain all through you, teach me to turn to you in all my needs. In your humility you wished to serve others rather than to be served. You could not of yourself provide the protection and training the Child needed. I believe the teaching of the Church concerning the union of the human and divine natures in Christ: that Jesus Christ is God and man, perfect God and perfect man and that this divinity and humanity are united in only one person so that the actions of the divine nature or the human nature are the actions of one person, the divine Person. Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Catholic News Agency Our eyes are upraised to you in sorrow and in joy. You saw His virginal flesh torn open again when the soldiers pitilessly stripped Him of His garments. Mary, Mother of God, I believe that as Mediatrix with Jesus you share also in His sovereign dominion over the universe. All that God could give, He bestowed on you. He was with you not only by a special protection guiding you in His ways and leading you securely to salvation. The angels saw a soul which had never been touched by original sin. He was preparing you for your final separation from Him at the foot of the cross. I wish to attend Holy Mass, receive Holy Communion, and visit Jesus in the tabernacle in union with you, in the spirit in which you yourself did so. Mary, you are Our Lady of Good Counsel because you are the Seat of Wisdom. The Feast of Our Lady of Mercy | Mercy Home for Boys & Girls Coming from the Latin words cum and patior, compassion means to suffer. You are the throne of divine mercy in whom we find solace of mercy. In that instant the Word of God became forever united to humanity; the human soul of Jesus Christ, produced from nothing, began to enjoy God and to know all things past, present, and to come. All rights reserved. All the tsars were crowned and patriarchs installed in the presence of this image, up until the revolution. Your protection never ceases, your intercession brings hope and life. At your prayer Jesus changed the water into wine in Cana. Your faith taught you that the predictions of both were inspired by the Holy Spirit. You are the Virgin most pure. Through your prayers all graces have come to the apostle and to the souls converted or sanctified. You are a Mediatrix because since your Assumption, with Christ you obtain all graces for men. There is nothing you want more than to give them to me, since you are even more anxious to save my soul than I am, for you know better than anyone else the price your Son has paid for it and the precious worth of each grace He so graciously offers to me through you. This feast was suppressed with the revision of the calendar published in the Roman Missal of 1969. Place your gentle motherly hands on those wounds of my soul and grant that through the grace of the Sacraments and prayer they may be healed. Free from all attachment to earthly things, you were most capable of being filled with Divine love. Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! He was with you not only by His sanctifying grace, making you pleasing in His sight, as He is present with all the just. Mary, My Mother, yours is a queenship of conquest. You are "Suppliant Omnipotence" because your prayer obtains all graces from the infinite treasures of God. If I put my trust in you, I shall be saved. God wants His gifts recognized. Help me to imitate your virtues that I may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. To you I entrust my soul for which Jesus died and I beg you to help me to save it. Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Feast Day February 27 Satan is more humiliated at seeing himself under the heel of the lowliest of creatures than at feeling himself crushed by God's almighty arm. JANUARY (click on the month to view in full detail) At the Crib, you were the first ostensorium of your Son, showing Him to the shepherds, to the Magi and to the world. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. Your Heart is also a generous Heart, full of love, abounding in mercy. Your aid at the hour of my death will be for me a guarantee of salvation if through life I have sought to imitate the beautiful example of your life. When Jesus said to John, "Behold thy Mother," He wanted John to respect and to love you as his Mother. Our Lady of Compassion - Roman Catholic Parish of Willesden Green You are a second and more blessed Eve. May the infirmities of my soul be my chief concern. Through you we have received Jesus Christ, the Universal Source of Grace, so through your intercession, we still continue to receive the various actual graces suited to our state of life. Our Lady is not looking at Jesus, but rather to us, to express compassion for us in our fears and sorrows. If a single soul in the state of grace by far excels in beauty all other earthly beauty, what beauty must you possess, Virgin most pure, who surpassed in holiness all other souls in the state of grace! Your Heart was also a pure Heart, pure as the light, purer than the snow, free from the stain of original sin, from the least taint of actual sin, from the least evil tendency of our fallen naturea heart full of light and beauty reflecting to the full the radiance of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son. You are the first apostle of your children not only because you are the most perfect of mothers, but especially because you are our spiritual Mother. By this title I understand: (1) upon your mediation and intercession depends the distribution of the riches of the treasury which Jesus acquired for the salvation of men; (2) consequently, no grace comes to all of us as a body or to any of us in particular which you have not asked for in our behalf; (3) according to the order of things established by God, you have become, under Jesus Christ, after Jesus Christ, and through Jesus Christfrom whom you can never be separatedthe source and principle for us of all supernatural life. 2. Mary, My Mother, your love for Jesus made this sacrifice very great in the eyes of God. From the knowledge of the Will of God you gathered the strength that was to uphold you at the foot of the Cross on which your Son hung, dying. I need not see you appear, as you did to so many others. You could also hold your own celebration of Our Lady by inviting friends and family to your home for a traditional Mexican meal. But the true sanctuary in which you dwelt with God was not the palace of worship at Jerusalem but the immaculate temple of your heart. This loving union will sustain me no matter how heavy my cross. From the first instant of your existence your mind was filled by the supernatural light of faith and your soul with love of God. You have commanded that your precepts. All those whose Queen you are have learnt of Jesus that they must call you Mother and ask your help. Mary, Mother of God, you are my Model of perfect dedication to God. You add a degree of motherly sweetness to the joy of the angels and saints and to the blessed of the Church triumphant. Your soul was most beautiful, lovable and immaculate, rich in graces and virtues. Mary, My Mother, in all infirmities of body and soul, you are a sure refuge and relief. Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day. After the name of Jesus, neither heaven nor earth can utter a name by which my faith and love receive more abundant grace, and reassuring hope, and lasting sweetness. It is the will of God that His aid should reach me through your heart, because you are my Mother, and motherliness means willingness to help. Mary, Mother of God, you are also the Mother of men. You always had so lowly an opinion of yourself that, although you realized how many more graces and favors were bestowed upon you than upon others, you still preferred all others before yourself. May your title of Mother of Divine Providence ever give us confidence that you will never fail us, but will provide for all we need in this present life that we may attain eternal life. Daily Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Devotion to Our Lady . But that my devotion may be pleasing to you, help me to maintain my soul and body in the spotlessness of your purity, help me to try as best I can to walk in your footsteps, humbly seeking to be like you. You are kind and loving for you have a mother's heart, full of pity for the erring. I earnestly want to be filled with the dispositions in which you expected the coming of the Savior and thus prepare myself for His coming into my soul by faith and divine charity, as well as for His coming at the hour of my death and judgment. In 1668, the feast in honor of the Seven Sorrows (Dolors) was set for the Sunday after September 14, the feast of the exaltation of the Cross. Sept 15: Our Lady of Sorrows - Feast of Holy Cross - Blogger Who could tell the great joy which filled their hearts when they held you in their arms? The holy old man Simeon took your Son in his arms. When His side was opened with a lance, a sword of anguish also pierced your Heart. And I am sure there is nothing you want more than that, to see me perfectly dedicated to God even as you are. Recipes for September ~ Month Dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows - Blogger You were not bound by the Law, because you were a virgin as well as a mother. You suffered in your soul what Jesus suffered in His body, and in union with Him you offered yourself as a victim for our sins. As cooperator with your Son in that work of redemption, you also acquired the right to reign with Him. You were fully enlightened as to the greatness of the dignity of a Mother of God. 2. Teach me to desire ardently all that is pleasing to God, to seek after it prudently, to accept it truthfully and to do it perfectly, for the praise and glory of God. Help me to use the graces God gives me for my sanctification. Your Immaculate Conception permitted you to love God from the first instant of your existence; your virginity led you to vow an undivided love to Him, your fullness of grace made you capable of loving Him with the most intense love possible. There is no closer bond of love among relationships than that which exists between a mother and her son. You took part in this offering of the life and death of Jesus. On November 27, 1830, the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Catherine Labour in her Daughters of Charity convent in Paris, asking that a medal be cast according to the pattern which Our Lady displayed, and promising that all who wear this medal will receive great . God has made you so kind even to sinners that your goodness restores us to hope. While you bore the Author of all things in your womb, and your heart was beating quickly with love, adoration and longing, still your face told nothing of this, and no one knew that such marvellous things were taking place in you. You appeared as the Woman of the Apocalypse, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon. The virtue of holy prudence guides man in his choice of purposes and in the best means to attain them. You did not shrink from the disgrace of being recognized as the Mother of one condemned to die a shameful death. After the fall of our First Parents, earth which was to be paradise, was changed into a valley of tears on which the curse of God fell. 2. We celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15th. Everything inside and outside of me should reflect His divine perfections. Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day | Diocese of Saginaw COLUMN: Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes: World Day of the Sick--2/7/2021 Though you had already been assured by the angel that you were this happy Mother chosen by the Lord, you did not stop to rejoice in your exaltation. He ordered most perfectly His whole creation, for He is the true fountain and highest source of light and wisdom. You stood there silently fulfilling a part assigned you by Providence. The Eternal Father once gave you the most precious treasure that heaven possessedHis own Divine Son. You show your compassion toward all so that there is no one in this world who does not, if he seeks it, share in the kindness and mercy of your motherly Heart. 3. But Jesus was constantly sanctifying you, His loving Mother, transforming you ever more and more into Himself by wondrous graces of knowledge of the mystery of the Incarnation, and by graces of love which united you to Him. Having carried within you Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you share, as no one else does, in your divine Son's holiness and purity. You were dressed in your finest clothes and surrounded by your friends as you joined the procession by the light of lamps and the sound of music. If you receive me under your care, I shall fear nothing because devotion to you is an unfailing sign of salvation. You are this woman, and you are a virgin. In return for the natural strength that you gave Him, He gave you His divine strength. . Jesus reigns over us not only by natural right, but also by the right of redemption. Make me Eucharist-minded to the extent that my very life may be the Eucharistin union with you, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. May looking upon your Immaculate Heart inspire confidence in me which will make me more eager to grow in holiness. You were united with Jesus when He bestowed special favors. No wonder the angels were lost in admiration! From that time forward until His Ascension into Heaven, you were the constant adorer of the Word-made-Flesh in all the mysteries of His earthly life. Had the angel said you were the most wicked sinner in the world, your wonder would not have been so great, as it was at the sound of his praises. Hundreds of dancers, many in feathered headdresses and indigenous-style costume, dance vigorously for hours during the days leading up to the feast, and on the December 12 feast itself, in the vast plaza in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mary'S Feast Days - Catholic Tradition Our Lady of Sorrows Feast Day - DocsLib Due to her feast day on September 15, the month of September has traditionally been set aside to honor Our Lady of Sorrows. When I say "Hail, Mary!" You also conceived His members who have been born again and are called to incorporation with Him. Copyright 2023 Eternal Word Television Network, Inc. Irondale, Alabama. This truth was confirmed on Calvary, when at the very moment our redemption was to be completed by the death of Jesus, He said to you: "Behold thy son," then to St. John, who took our place beneath the cross: "Behold thy mother." Feast, Saturday before the before the last Sunday in August (Triduum, Wednesday last Sunday in August). It is under the mantle of humility that you will protect me. more marvelous spirits; He could not have made anything more wonderful than a Mother of God. He promised Our Lady that if he were cured, he would become a priest. No creature in the world has been more exalted than you, because no creature in the world has ever humbled himself more. You are truly the pledge of Divine mercy. Mary, Mother of God, how great was the honor given to you at the Annunciation! Even from the days of the Apostles you were honored under this mystical title. Though you prophesied that all generations would call you blessed, you attributed all holiness to God. Pilgrims approach the grounds of the basilica, in distant view, on the day before the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When the Triune God destined and elevated you, a mortal Virgin, to the dignity of Mother of the Redeemer, the Father had to endow you with a fullness of perfection suitable for such a dignity. In your apparitions at Fatima you revealed that it is in the designs of the Divine Mercy to cure the world through your Heart. You formed His Heart, to love us, and His Precious Blood, to shed for us and to be given to us for our drink.