OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER
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September 15, 2022(Below is part 1 of a presentation that was initially written 20 years ago for a community of Franciscan Sisters with special devotion to Our Sorrowful Mother. A couple of Changes were made to incorporate lay people.
This writing flows from a two week hermitage retreat.)
OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER – Part I
I feel that as I begin, I need to do a few flips and cartwheels beforehand because of the excitement to share on this topic. I say excitement, but some of the material that will be covered understandably lends itself to a very somber mode. It delves into some realities that are very bitter, but at the same time a very deep sweetness arises from them and thus can bring deep joy to the heart.
I’m about to share is REALLY a Duc in Altum – a casting out into the deep – not only in regards to who Mary is, but who we are called to be.
This presentation will be based on Our Sorrowful Mother, with the key Scripture, John 19:25-27: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. 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.”
I’d like to delve deeply into Our Sorrowful Mother’s very important role in the Church in our times, upon which I believe everything else hinges in living out our call as Christians. In particular as well, drawing upon the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi who “held holy Mary … in highest veneration since she is the ‘Virgin-made Church’” and entrusted the whole Order to her.
To give a few examples:
- Our recent Pope St. John Paul II’s logo is of our Sorrowful Mother.
- There have been many statues and pictures of Mary weeping throughout the world in these past decades; some even tears of blood.
- Many theologians have been zooming in on our Sorrowful Mother, having special conferences and symposiums on her, many pushing for a fifth dogma that would emphasize the doctrine of her very key role at the foot of the cross in light of our redemption. (There is controversy among some theologians as to whether the doctrinal term co-redemptrix should be dogmatically proclaimed for fear that it might not be accurately perceived by some; but this mindset certainly seems a compromising copout that would only hinder others coming to know the fullness of Church teaching, through which many graces would flow.)
In order to more fully embrace this gift, and to allow the graces to flow, we must come to know her ever more deeply, and what it means to stand with her at the foot of the cross. And so, these are the two main questions that will be covered in this presentation:
Who is our Sorrowful Mother?
And, what does it mean to stand at the foot of the cross with her?
WHO IS OUR SORROWFUL MOTHER?
Come with me on a journey today to Calvary, and let us imagine that we are right now, in Jerusalem, 2000+ years ago. Together we are walking up the hill of Calvary where Jesus just staggered with His cross; and we come to the foot of the cross where Jesus is now hanging.
And, there beside us, we see Mary, His Mother, her heart in bitter grief and anguish as she agonizes the indescribable suffering her Son is now undergoing.
If we are newcomers to the scene, and do not know anything else about Mary and Jesus, we might see a woman about 48 years old grieving the brutal death of the son that she bore in her womb some 33 years earlier. We might even go further to imagine that this woman actually mothered Him as a child. She nursed Him at the breast, nourished, nurtured and formed Him throughout the developing years of His life. This in itself can seem a devastating experience for any mother to go through, and it is.
But, let us now take the scene a little further into context, to recognize that this isn’t just any son and mother, but, rather, this is THE Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah spoken of throughout the Old Testament, God incarnate who came to redeem the world. And, thus, as the Church proclaimed in Ephesus in 431 as a Dogma, the woman beside us is the Mother of God. She is keenly aware of the mission of her Son, that He is truly God, who became flesh to dwell among us, out of His infinite love for us and to save us and draw us back into the Father’s Kingdom. She didn’t just begin suffering, but throughout her life, as the Seven Sorrows show us, she was being prepared for this “hour” which would mark the culmination of our redemption.
As well, the woman beside us is the one of whom the Church Fathers refer to as the “New Eve.” She is the “Woman” spoken of in Genesis who would crush the head of the serpent with her heal, and the “Woman clothed with the sun” in Revelation, which is precisely why Jesus refers to His Mother, as “Woman” – to connect her to her proper role – in relation to our salvation.
To look even further into the life of this woman beside us, we see the one who was immaculately conceived, without stain of original sin. And, furthermore, she remained spotlessly pure throughout the whole of her life, never once giving in to temptation by sinning. One could say, well she had it easy, because she was immaculately conceived (the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception). But, then, Eve was created with preternatural gifts, and Mary had free will just as Eve did. And, on top of that, Eve had only one tree in the Garden to avoid; whereas, Mary, in this fallen world, has only one tree to embrace, of which she has always been faithful, which is why we find ourselves at the foot of the cross with her now.
The Church has considered this woman, as well, from the moment of her conception, to be the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Because, she has remained in a constant union with God and stance of “Fiat” to His Divine Will throughout her whole life. Not once has she fallen asleep and strayed from what He has asked of her. She’s kept a constant vigilance, remained always alert and has kept her lantern always lit. As well, she has been a virgin throughout her life (the Dogma of Mary’s Perpetual Virginity). Her whole being has been consecrated as a sanctuary for God alone since her early years.
She is not only considered the Mother of God, but the Spotless Bride, which should be significant for us as the Bride the Church. Mary is the one of all creatures who has entered into the deepest, most profound nuptial union with God possible. St. John Paul II says that it is at the foot of the cross that a nuptial union took place in a mystical way. Because it is here that when Christ’s heart was pierced, Mary’s was also and thus “we have the definitive revelation of the union of hearts.”
And, thus, this woman by whom we now stand loves more deeply than any other creature on earth. As Richard of St. Victor wrote, “Just as there was never a love like hers, so also there was never a sorrow like hers.” So, we must realize that this woman is in the most profound love relationship possible with her Son whom she is now watching die. And, thus, she is suffering more intensely than anyone else ever has or will.
At Cana, Mary tells us of Jesus, “Do whatever He tells you.” But what is it that Jesus tells us as He’s dying on the cross? “Behold your Mother!” St. John Paul tells us that John the beloved disciple represents each of us. So let us enter into this scene with that in mind. Why would Jesus be giving us His Mother? What meaning must be behind it?
First of all, what I like to share especially with protestants and Catholics who question if Mary is somewhat of an obstacle is this: Jesus gives us His mother because He is a JEALOUS God. He looks down from the cross and sees a woman who is totally open and receptive to His love, and consumed with love for Him with every fiber of her being. And, it is as though Jesus is saying to us through this, “I want her to teach you how to receive My love as deeply as she does, and how to love Me in return. And, I want you to know the love of a perfect mother as l have known, because you’ll need her in order to follow Me by way of the cross.”
Jesus calls His Mother “woman” because He is establishing the fullness of her identity in His work of redemption, because His “hour” has now come. (Whereas at Cana it had not yet come when He also referred to her as “woman.’’)
Not only is Mary’s role one of such intense love as she grieves the suffering and death of her Son, but as our Holy Father says, she is also “accepting and assisting at the sacrifice of her Son – Crucified spiritually with her crucified Son (JPll ‘85, Ecuador)”.
St. Bonaventure explains it well, “That woman (namely Eve), drove us out of Paradise and sold us; but this one [Mary] brought us back again and bought us … Just as they [Adam and Eve] were destroyers of the human race, so these [Jesus Christ and Mary] are repairers. … She [Mary] also merited reconciliation for the entire human race.”
And Pope Benedict XV tells us, “To such extent did (Mary) suffer and almost die with her suffering and dying Son; to such extent did she surrender her maternal rights over her Son for man’s salvation, and immolated Him – insofar as she could – in order to appease the justice of God, that we may rightly say she redeemed the human race together with Christ.”
As a little aside sharing, I know a mystic who suffered the passion of Christ on Fridays. Meanwhile, her spiritual director with whom she was very close, experienced intense grief and suffering of heart to the point of deep sobs at times. It’s as though, as she suffered the passion, he suffered what Mary did at the foot of the cross.
This sharing has been such an example of the union of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts, and how we are called to enter into this union as well.
Pope St. John Paul II, refers to Mary as “co-redemptrix,” as the first of us in “making up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ (Colossians 1:24)”. And, of course, her role in our redemption was prophesied by Simeon: “And a sword also shall pierce your heart.”
At times in hearing the Scripture from St. Paul, “we make up what is lacking,” I haven’t always grasped the full meaning of it. Now, through deeper study, I’ve come to see more clearly how the Church interprets this. I will quote a couple of lines from Mariologist, Dr. Mark Miravalle’s book on Mary’s role as Co-redemptrix.
St. Paul doesn’t mean by it that we participate in the “historical and universal redemption on Calvary” where Jesus acquired the graces of redemption by His passion and death (objective redemption). If so, this would mean Jesus’ saving act was “lacking,” whereas in itself it is infinite and inexhaustible.
Paul’s teaching, rather, refers to our participation in the release and distribution of the infinite graces acquired by Jesus on Calvary – “subjective redemption”. And, our participation takes place through our free co-operation, prayer and sacrifice. In this Christ invites us to become co-redeemers with Him; in other words, “crucified with Christ.”
Now, Mary’s redemptive participation, on the other hand, differs in that she “alone” participated in the acquiring of the graces wrought on Calvary, granted in a subordinate and entirely dependent way. And, through this she has become the leader of us all in the distribution of the graces. Thus, she is referred to as co-redemptrix for her singular role, because “her whole life was a sharing in the redemptive mission of her Son, which reached its climax at the foot of the Cross at Calvary.’’ (Again, 7 Sorrows depict this).
John Paul II says it this way: “The collaboration of Christians in salvation takes place after the Calvary event, whose fruits they endeavor to spread through prayer and sacrifice. Mary instead co-operated during the event itself and in the role as mother; thus, her cooperation embraces the whole of Christ’s saving work. She alone was associated in this way with the redemptive sacrifice that merited the salvation of mankind” (‘97 Gen. Audience).
Just as the first Eve stood at the foot of the tree of death, picked from it and in a sense gave it to all of us when she tempted Adam; Mary, the “New Eve,” stands at the foot of the Tree of Life (of immortality), and through encouraging and suffering with the “New Adam” she now picks fruit – the redeeming graces of Christ – from the Tree of Life and distributes them to all of her children. Might I add, that as Mother of the Eucharist, she also draws us continually, ever-more deeply to the Bread of Life, that flows from this Tree of Life, through the reliving of Calvary in the Holy Mass.
And, now, as we better understand her role as co-redemptrix, we are better able to understand the role that flows from this, which the Church refers to as Mediatrix of all grace.
Just to quote a few saints and Church authorities on her role as the channel through which every grace reaches us from God:
“It is the will of God that we obtain all favors through Mary,” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and re-captured by Pope Pius XII in Superiore Anno.
Pope Leo XII officially quoted St. Bernardine of Siena’s explanation, which is a summation of the wisdom of the Church Fathers, of the distribution of graces and Mary’s role as mediatrix, “This is the process of divine graces: from God they flow to Christ, from Christ to his Mother, and from her to the Church... I do not hesitate to say that she has received a certain jurisdiction over all graces... They are administered through her hands….”
St. Louis De Montfort, “She is the mysterious canal; she is the aqueduct, through which He (God) makes His mercies flow gently and abundantly.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori, ‘‘God, who gave us Jesus Christ, wills that all graces that have been, that are, and will be dispensed to men to the end of the world through the merits of Jesus Christ, should be dispensed by the hands and through the intercession of Mary.”
Pope Pius IX, “For God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation.”
And Pope Leo XIII says Mary is the one “through whom He (God) has chosen to be the dispenser of all heavenly graces … nothing is imparted to us except through Mary.”
To summarize in different terms what takes place at the foot of the cross: Soon after Jesus gives us His Mother and gives us to her, Scripture says that He was “now aware that everything was finished.” And, it is shortly after this that He gives up His last breath and dies. The soldier then comes and pierces through His Sacred, Eucharistic Heart and Blood and Water pour out, symbolizing the birth of the Church.
It is as though Mary’s intense suffering along with Jesus’, were like labor pains, the fruit of which were the birth of the Church and thus Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood. It is here at the foot of the cross where we become “children of God” and children of Mary and are invited back into the kingdom of our Father. It just shows how much depth and meaning is carried in this scene.
St. John Paul II says, “….at Calvary (Mary) united herself with the sacrifice of her Son that led to the foundation of the Church; her maternal heart shared to the very depths the will of Christ ‘to gather into one all the dispersed children of God.’”
I shared earlier of Mary’s role as Spouse of the Holy Spirit, but it would be incomplete if I didn’t acknowledge how key the Holy Spirit’s presence is for Mary’s role as co-redemptrix and mediatrix of all graces. Vatican II says, the “Blessed Virgin Mary … under the guidance of the Holy Spirit made a total dedication of herself for the mystery of the redemption of men.” And, John Paul II says about the Calvary event, “How completely she ‘abandons herself to God’ without reserve … And … how all-pervading is the influence of the Holy Spirit.”
He goes on to say, ‘‘For it is the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, and Mary, the Mediatrix, who began the New Covenant work of salvation by bringing the world its redeemer at the Annunciation; and it will be the Spirit and the Mediatrix who will jointly accomplish the full aspect of the redemption of humanity in distributing the graces of eternal life to the People of God, a salvific task of mediating God’s grace and mercy that will end only at the final and glorious coming of the victorious Lord and ‘King of the nation’ (Rev. 15:3).”
This is quite a profound statement which speaks of the key role the “Spirit and the Bride” (Rev. 21) are meant to play until the end of time. And, this brings us to a parallelism between what takes place with Mary, in union with the Holy Spirit, in her role as co -redemptrix with her Son at Calvary, and what takes place today with Mary, in union with the Holy Spirit, in her role as co-redemptrix with the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church.
As our Holy Father says, “Mary’s role as Co-redemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son.”
Let us continue on our journey with Mary at the foot of the cross, but I want us now to imagine it is 2022 and we are right where we are now. Who is our Sorrowful Mother today? And why is she especially rising to the forefront now?
Why was St. John Paul II inspired with his logo? Why has she been shedding so many tears? And, why such devotion to our Sorrowful Mother today? I’d like to highlight three reasons.
1. The first is because her Son is still persecuted, rejected, not followed nor listened to or believed in by many, especially in His Word and His Eucharistic presence; and neither is she received by many in the love and truth of God that she is trying to communicate to the world in these times. It is as though she is mirroring Jesus when He wept over Jerusalem 2000 years ago because of “their hardness of heart.” Mary appeared with the child Jesus to Sr. Lucia of Fatima in 1925, and said, “My daughter, look at my Heart surrounded with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude.” (It was then that she established the 5 first Saturdays devotion in reparation for the sins committed against her Immaculate Heart. Even there, how many do we see responding.)
2. The second is, as has already been mentioned, her suffering with the Mystical Body, the Church. We’re all aware that the Church is at present going through a major purification and suffering. It is in a great way going through its own Calvary. And, again, as with Christ, she is playing a very key role in the suffering of the Church.
3. And, thirdly, she is suffering with each of us personally as members of the Mystical Body. Mary is meant to play a very key role with each of us individually as her children in these times. She takes each of us into her heart and holds us and forms us into “other Christs”.
Mary, in her spiritual motherhood, has been given the capacity of heart to take every single person who has ever lived into her heart and to love each of us with the intensity and concern that she had for her Son. Thus, her heart experiences tremendous grief at the suffering of every person. As with Christ, when a sword of sorrow penetrates our hearts, it passes through hers as well.
Any cross we experience in our own lives, Mary is there at the foot of it to offer love, prayers, support and to unite with us in our suffering.
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(Stay tuned for part II)--"To Our Divine Eucharistic Bridegroom, through Our Immaculate Mother!"MOMEP.O. BOX 1503Picayune, MS 39466Paypal.me/MotheroftheEucharist