Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - Sept. 15 - Our Lady of Sorrows
[Heb 5:7-9; [opt. Sequence: Stabat Mater]; John 19:25-27 or Luke 2:33-35,710]Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. [John]
SEPTEMBER 15 OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Anyone who has seen in person or in an image the famous statue by Michelangelo, the Pieta', can appreciate the meaning of today's commemoration. The statue features Mary holding the dead body of Jesus in her lap right after he has been taken from the cross. This is one of the seven "sorrows" of the Blessed Virgin, a devotion that began with a religious order, the Servite friars, in the 17th century. The feast day was added to the universal calendar in 1814. The seven sorrows include: Simeon's prophecy at the presentation in the temple (alternative gospel for today), the flight into Egypt, the disappearance of the boy Jesus in Jerusalem, the road to Calvary, the crucifixion, the removal from the cross and the entombment. In addition to the Pieta' most of us will recognize the famous hymn, Stabat Mater, which is part of the Stations of the Cross.
This is really a feast for mothers. Any mom who sees her child suffer can identify with Mary's sorrows and could come up with a list of her own. The pregnancy, the illnesses, the accidents, the "declarations of independence,", the departure for college, the wedding - you can add a seventh! But the death of one of your own children is a special and deep sorrow which Michelangelo succeeded in capturing in marble!
Today is like another Mother's Day in many ways. It's not just Mary's sorrows but the sorrows and sacrifices of all mothers that Mary represents. AMEN