The Devotion to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows such as Perpetual Novena to Honor Our Lady of Sorrows are very powerful and they precede rather formidable promises.
Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows (Latin: Mater Dolorosa), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life.
In common religious Orthodox-Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding.
This Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Latin: Septem Dolorum Beatae Mariae Virginis) grew in popularity in the 12th century, although under various titles. By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the feast and devotion were widespread throughout the Church. In 1727, Pope Benedict XIII extended a feast commemorating the sorrowful Virgin Mary to the whole of the Latin Church, assigning to its celebration the Friday in Passion Week, one week before Good Friday. The devotion was also extended by Pope Pius VII in 1815 and introduced into the Missal and Breviary.
In order to keep before our minds the inexpressible sufferings endured for us by the Mother of God while she lived here on earth with her Divine Son, the Church observes two feasts in honor of the Seven Dolors of Mary; the feast of Friday of Sorrows remains a solemn pious remembrance of the sorrowful Blessed Virgin Mary on the Friday before Palm Sunday during the “Passion Week”, and the other on September 15.
Devotional prayers that consist of meditation began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of Simeon: “Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”
Common examples of piety under this title are Rosary of Our Lady of Sorrows – Servite rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Like all rosaries, the Rosary of Our Lady of Sorrows is a meditation on the mystery-events of God’s love for us as reflected in the life of Jesus and Mary. Specifically, it invites us to meditate on those times in the life of Mary when she experienced the pain and suffering that tested her faith and invited her to a full sharing of the mystery of God’s salvation in her Son, Jesus.
Perpetual Novena to Honor Our Lady of Sorrows
Imprimi Potest: JOHN CARROLL Bishop of Lismore April 30th, 1941.
This e-book was produced by The Seraphim Company.
Our Lady of Sorrows Promises
The Seven Sorrows of Mary are very powerful and they precede rather formidable promises.
Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows should be practiced especially by souls who wish to rid themselves of sinful habits. This devotion nourishes the spirit of compunction, affords great consolation, strengthens confidence in God’s mercy, draws down the special protection of the Blessed Mother in the hour of temptation and preserves the converted sinner from relapsing into sin.
The Mother of God once said to her faithful servant St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373):
No matter how numerous a person’s sins may be, if he turns to me with a sincere purpose of amendment, I am prepared forthwith to receive him graciously, for I do not regard the number of sins he has committed, but look only upon the dispositions with which he comes to me; for I feel no aversion in healing his wounds, because I am called and am in truth the Mother of Mercy.
Our Lady directly reveals the amazing graces granted by her Son for all those who daily pray seven Hail Mary’s while meditating on her seven dolors and tears.
1. I will grant peace to their families.
2. They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.
3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
4. 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.
5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death—they will see the face of their mother.
7. I have obtained this grace 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 will be their eternal consolation and joy.
One of the gifts granted to those who have a devotion to the Dolors of Mary is the grace of a good and holy death. In recompense for her fidelity in remaining near to Jesus as He died on the Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows has received from Him a special power to assist souls in their last agony and no doubt she will above all exercise this power in behalf of those who have wept with her and compassionated her.
Our Lord once said to Veronica of Binasco:
My daughter, the tears which you shed in compassion for My sufferings are pleasing to Me, but bear in mind that on account of My infinite love for My Mother, the tears you shed in compassion for her sufferings are still more precious.
Devotion to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows
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