As we celebrate this day, Our Lady of Sorrows, we see the contradictions in Mary's own life. It was foretold by Simeon that Mary would suffer along with her Son. And suffer she did; her entire life was one suffering laid upon another. Yet, she perservered, she waited in patience, she endured, she gave herself up to each individual day and its hours, she lived as we do today, and she never stopped looking at her Son. Son of Man. Son of God.
At the last, she stood in heartbreaking solace, at the foot of His cross. Her
Stabat Mater should be on our lips every day! Mary at the cross, made it endurable for us to be there; she endured first of all, so we can, and must endure now. It was not Mary who sought herself; she was there, as she had been everywhere in her life, pointing the way to Jesus.
She still points the way. Quietly, humbly, secretly. It is up to us to find her. When we do, we will be blessed beyond measure.
Mary's
Seven Sorrows are as follows:
1.
The Prophecy of Simeon. Mary was told that her son, her little boy in her arms, "is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against . . ." Lk. 2: 34-35. Here you go to the Temple to present your son, and are given news such as this!
2.
The Flight into Egypt. Fleeing in the night! How many of us have done that? The fear and the anxiety over what would happen next had to be uppermost on Mary's mind.
3.
The Loss of Jesus in the Temple. To lose your child in a crowd is very unnerving! For three days, Mary and Joseph searched for their son. Not in full understanding of what He was about, they were nothing if not relieved upon finding Him once again.
4.
Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary. Jesus has been stripped, and flogged, and beaten, kicked, a thorn of crowns placed on His head, the thorns ripping into his skull to His brain; weak, barely able to stand, He is forced to carry His cross to the place where He will be put to death. He meets his mother on the way. Their hearts are suffering together; their hearts are bearing the same load.
5.
Mary Stands at the Foot of the Cross. Mary watched as Jesus was nailed to the cross, watched as so many others still taunted Him, reviled Him, waited for Him to die. Resolutely, as she wishes us to be, Mary endured. Not fainting, not wailing, not running away. Simply standing under the cross.
6.
Mary Receives the Dead Body of Jesus in Her Arms. Pieta. What went through her mind as they laid Jesus in her arms?
7.
Jesus is Placed in the Tomb. There is a finality here, something not lost, I'm sure, on our Blessed Mother. In all her life, Mary had always been near her Son. Now, there was nothing left but to go home and hope. Hope in God. Hope in her Son, that he would appear to her again!
Rather than shunning these sorrows as too distressing in our pleasure-seeking world, we need to embrace these sorrows. It is through them, that we come to know Mary. We see her as we are; we understand her emotions as our emotions, we are made courageous by her actions, and we are able to begin to discern that our lives should in all ways be given over to divine providence.
Mary, in those moments, seemed defeated, lost. Yet, we know, the end of the story! Our sufferings, little as they are, can be laid at the foot of the cross with Mary's. She will teach us how to proceed, she will lead us down the narrow path. The way will be difficult. The way will be filled with strife and confusion as well as with joy. The way is waiting for us.
If we choose. Pray to choose.
