September 15: Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows

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Today, September 15, is the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.  What is the devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady?

I'll let CatholicCulture.org explain about this memorial:

"This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world.
As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:"

1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50)
4. Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
6. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

There is so much to ponder when thinking about the grief and sorrow our Blessed Mother endured while being a mother to Jesus. We can look to Mary to show us how to endure suffering with great faith, hope and love. I enjoyed reading the Blessed Is She devotion for today's Mass readings.

For the first time last year, we did the Seven Sorrows of Mary Activity for Children from Catholic All Year.  We did this same activity today and it was a blessing to spend time with my children reading about the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

We first read from the book, Mary: The Mother of Jesus, (that is opened in above photo).  There was a page about Mary's sorrow.

Then using the Catholic All Year printable (that I laminated last year), we read each of the Seven Sorrows and the scripture that went with each one. After each one, my children ate one lemon candy that was sour-ish.  (Note to self: next year I think I'll use sour Skittles because my children said they are more sour than Lemonheads.)

I really like the ideas that Martianne had for the Seven Sorrows of Mary explained on her Plans to Honor Our Lady of Sorrows through Art, Music, and a Poet-Tea.  I enjoyed telling my children from her post that "the Sorrows of Mary have inspired many poems and songs through the years, perhaps the most famous of which the Stabat Mater (At the Cross Her Station Keeping), a 13th century hymn, which has been revised a number of times and which the children may be most familiar from the Lenten season.  One version of the hymn was composed by someone we've already studied a bit about - a Baroque composer who the children might remember as a red-haired priest.  Vivaldi!"

We listened to a few minutes of  Antonio Vivaldi "Stabat mater, RV 621" 



I also enjoyed reading Fr. Steve Grunow reflection on the Seven Sorrows of Mary as he explains how it dramatically displays the Incarnation in Why Our Lady of Sorrows?