The month of September invites us to turn our hearts toward Our Lady of Sorrows, whose feast the Church celebrates on September 15, the day following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This beautiful devotion calls us to contemplate the suffering Mary experienced throughout the life, Passion and death of her Son, Jesus Christ.
From the beginning, Mary knew that loving Jesus would involve sacrifice. When the infant Jesus was presented in the Temple, Simeon foretold that a sword would pierce Mary’s own soul. That prophecy unfolded throughout her life as she experienced fear, separation, helplessness and, ultimately, the unimaginable sorrow of watching her Son suffer and die upon the Cross.
Catholic tradition reflects upon Seven Sorrows of Mary:
• the prophecy of Simeon;
• the flight into Egypt;
• the loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple;
• Mary meeting Jesus on the way to Calvary;
• the Crucifixion and death of Jesus;
• receiving His body after it was taken down from the Cross;
• the burial of Jesus.
Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary was especially promoted by the Servite Order, founded in 1233. The Servites helped spread the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, in which the faithful meditate on each sorrow while praying one Our Father and seven Hail Marys. Saints including St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Bridget of Sweden also encouraged devotion to Mary’s sorrows.
Pope Francis described this devotion as following the path of Our Lady as she accompanies Jesus through His suffering.
Yet devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is about more than remembering Mary’s pain. It teaches us how to suffer with faith.
Mary could not take away the Cross from her Son. She could not stop His suffering. But she could remain with Him—and she did.
At Calvary, while others had fled, Mary stood at the foot of the Cross. Scripture simply tells us, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother…” (John 19:25). Her presence reveals a profound kind of love: the love that remains when there is nothing left to fix, nothing left to say and nothing left to do except stay beside the one who suffers. The Church sees in Mary standing beneath the Cross both a faithful disciple and a mother entrusted by Christ to His disciples.
This makes Our Lady of Sorrows particularly close to us in our own moments of suffering. When we experience grief, illness, fear, disappointment or helplessness as someone we love suffers, Mary understands what it means to remain faithful when the path ahead is painful and uncertain.
But Mary’s sorrow never ends in despair. She remained united to Jesus and trusted God even when she could not yet see the Resurrection that was to come.
That is perhaps one of the greatest lessons of Our Lady of Sorrows: suffering does not mean that God has abandoned us. Even at the foot of the Cross, when everything appeared lost, God’s work of salvation was unfolding.
During this month of September, we can ask Mary to teach us to remain close to Jesus in our own crosses—to trust when we do not understand, to remain present to those who suffer, and to remember that sorrow borne with Christ is never without hope.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
Further Reading:
10 Ways to Honour Our Lady of Sorrows in September – Aleteia
Reflection Sources:
The Holy See – Our Lady of Sorrows: disciple and mother
Vatican News – Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows