Year of Origin: 1413
Country of Origin: Germany
Attributes: the crying Blessed Virgin Mary with her heart pierced by seven swords
Patronage: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Mississippi
Added to Liturgical Calendar: 1814, by Pope Pius VII
“And a sword will pierce your soul as well” (Luke 2:35).
Today the Church honors a powerful and beautiful title of the Blessed Mother: Our Lady of Sorrows. This Marian Feast Day dates back to the 15th century when it came into practice in the city of Cologne as a way for Catholics to pray for the conversion of the Hussites, a pre-Protestant sect. It was also separately instituted in 1688 by the Servites, an order devoted to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a devotion that had been around since the 13th century.
What are Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows? Simply put, they were seven points in her life where her soul was filled with immense pain and suffering – and all of these moments were directly connected to her son, Jesus Christ.
The first sorrow is the Prophecy of Simeon, which occurred at the same time as the Presentation of the Lord, the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The Gospel of Luke describes Simeon as “righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel” (Luke 2:25). Luke continues, “The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2:25-26). The Holy Spirit directed the man to the temple, where he saw the eight-day-old infant Jesus being presented. While holding Jesus, he turned to Mary and said:
This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul. (Luke 2:34-35)
Mary’s second sorrow came shortly after the visit of the three Magi or wise men. An angel appeared to her husband, St. Joseph, in a dream saying, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him” (Matthew 2:13). Joseph obeyed what he was told and fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt and stayed there for about two more years while Herod ordered the death of all the baby boys in Jerusalem.
The third sorrow was the loss of the child Jesus at the temple when he was only 12 years of age. Upon finding Jesus three days later, Mary remarked, “You see that your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow” (Luke 2:48).
While the first three sorrows occurred during Christ’s infancy and childhood, long before His public ministry, the last four all took place at His Passion.
The fourth sorrow is also the fourth station of the Cross: Jesus meeting His mother on the way to His crucifixion. While this meeting was not recorded in any of the four Gospels’ Passion narratives, it has nevertheless been part of Catholic tradition for centuries.
The fifth sorrow occurred when Jesus hung on the Cross, hours or even minutes before His death.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:25-27).
This is the official moment where in a great act of His love, Jesus made His mother the mother of all Christians.
Franciscan Media writes that Church Father St. Ambrose:
in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son’s wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed, but offered herself to her persecutors.
The last two sorrows respectively deal with Mary’s grief while Jesus was taken down from the Cross and placed in the tomb.
The devotion to the Seven Sorrows is commonly depicted by a statue of the mournful Blessed Virgin with seven swords in her heart, a symbol that also dates back to the early Church Fathers.
In the 14th century, the Blessed Mother appeared to St. Bridget of Sweden and gave her seven promises for Christians who say seven Hail Marys while reflecting on her sorrows each day.
- “I will grant peace to their families.”
- “They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.”
- “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
- “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”
- “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
- “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.”
- “I have obtained from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.”
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!