Modeled on the Stations of the Cross, this devotion commemorates the traditional “Seven Sorrows” of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a Lenten devotion, it is especially appropriate for the Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent (formerly “Passion Friday”) when the liturgy traditionally observed a feast of “The Compassion of Our Lady” – her unique sharing in the suffering of the Lord.
OPENING PRAYER
O God, who in this season give your Church the grace to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary in contemplating the Passion of Christ, grant, we pray, through her intercession, that we may cling more firmly each day to your Only Begotten Son and come at last to the fullness of his grace. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Roman Missal; Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent)
FIRST STATION
The Prophecy of Simeon at the Presentation (Luke 2:22-38)
When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.b]">[b] 27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law, 28 then he received him into his arms and blessed God, and said,
29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master,
according to your word, in peace;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;
32 a light for revelation to the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him. 34 Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. 35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day. 38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
MEDITATION
Joy comes to the Mother of Jesus as the time of her seclusion ends and the Child is presented in the temple, according to the Law of Moses: the One who will ransom the world with his Blood himself ransomed by turtledoves and pigeons. The aged Simeon and the prophetess Anna sense by an interior light of the Holy Spirit that this Child is the longed-for Messiah. But the wonder and jubilation of the moment is no earthly joy, which we so often confuse with mere happiness. No, this is a joy that shares in God’s unfolding plan, whereby this Child will also be known as a Man of Sorrows. Simeon too prophesies that the Child will be a sign of contradiction and that his Mother’s soul will be pierced as with a sword as she is destined to share fully in his mission of redemption.
PRAYER
May we be aided at your Mercy Seat, Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, by the pleading of the Blessed Virgin Mary, your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced, in the hour of your sufferings, by a sword of sorrow. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
HYMN (Libera)
Holy Mary draw through my heart The sweetest arrow of thy grace
Lift my sorrows deepening shadow So that I may see Your face
I know I will not be forsaken Gently held in your embrace.
Blessed Spirit whispering softly Cool the fires of my shame
Even as I run from your arms My soul keeps calling out Your name
You were always right here inside Each tear of joy every drop of rain.
SECOND STATION
The Flight into Egypt (Mt 2:13-18)
13 Now when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”
14 He arose and took the young child and his mother by night and departed into Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men. 17 Then that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying,
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she wouldn’t be comforted,
because they are no more.”
MEDITATION
After being deceived by the Magi, Herod causes wailing to be heard in Bethlehem as the Holy Innocents are slaughtered and the Holy Family escapes into Egypt. Whereas the Epiphany paved the way for the Christ's universal mission, represented by the Magi, his future rejection by his own people is now foreshadowed. The joy surrounding the Child's birth that filled the heart of his Mother soon turns to sorrow as Simeon's prophecy begins to be fulfilled. All the anxiety and uncertainty so many mothers and fathers experience when suddenly homeless, when torn from their native place, when forced into exile as refugees, is shared by the Holy Family. The Child will one day say of himself that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. For now, the arms of his Mother provide refuge from what threatens him as she ponders all these things in her heart.
PRAYER
Lord our God, through the Precious Blood of your Son you reconciled the world to yourself and at the foot of his Cross you chose the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the Mother of reconciliation for sinners;
grant through her intercession that we may obtain pardon for our sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN
THlRD STATION
The Search for Jesus lost in Jerusalem (Lk 2:41-52)
41 Jesus' parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast; 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.”
49 He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
MEDITATION
At the age of twelve, it appears as if a new Solomon – architect of the first Jerusalem temple -- had arisen in Israel. Jesus’ show of wisdom amazes the doctors of the Law, who represent the people of the Elder Covenant. This is not, however, the last time the Child will be “lost” for three days. As his lifeless corpse lay in a tomb, the temple of his Body will be refashioned: the one Body in whom Jew and Gentile would form a dwelling-place for God in the Spirit even as the former temple awaited its destruction. For now, she who would become the Mother of the Church understands only loss, loss that will intensify as "his Father's house" takes her Son way from their home in Nazareth along a journey that will lead him to weep over Jerusalem, cleanse its temple, and suffer the consequences.
PRAYER
Lord our God, you placed at the side of your suffering Son his Mother to suffer with him, so that the human race, deceived by the wiles of the devil, might become a new and resplendent creation. Grant that your people may put aside their inheritance of sin and put on the newness of life won by Christ the Redeemer. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN
Who will come and share my sorrow; Hold my hand 'til wake tomorrow? Is there time that I could borrow? Oh, oh, The silence and the sorrow.
When I was young, I dreamed of roads not taken; To walk the way So many had forsaken, And I would seek The heart of love's creation; It was found in you.
When love was young, I cried with tears of laughter, And deep inside, I wondered what came after. How a heart Could love without conditions; It was found in you.
When life was young, And living seemed forever, I knew somehow You never hid its pleasure, And all my tears Uncovered hidden treasures. It was found in you.
FOURTH STATION
Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary (Lk. 23:26-31)
26 When they led Jesus away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid the cross on him to carry it after Jesus. 27 A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him. 28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ 30 Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”
MEDITATION
Although we are not told that Mary was among the women who mourned for Jesus on his way to Calvary, we might well speculate. And while the evangelists differ on who was there to witness the execution, they are in agreement that they were all, with one exception, women. Luke, who alone mentions women along the Way of the Cross, tells us that once Jesus came to the place called the Skull, there were "the women who had followed him from Galilee, standing at a distance, watching these things." Matthew adds that "many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons." Mark tells us there were "some women who were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there." John alone specifies the entourage included "his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene." Apparently, those who were courageous enough to risk the danger of public association with the Seditionist and Blasphemer and who sorrowed after him were all women -- perhaps drawing that strength from the one Woman who knew from the start that following him meant carrying their own cross behind him.
PRAYER
Lord God, you decreed that the Mother of your Son should stand by his Cross, suffering with him. Safeguard in your family the fruits of your great work of redemption and in your goodness make them grow daily more and more. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN
O YE who pass along the way All joyous, where with grief I pine, In pity pause awhile, and say, Was ever sorrow like to mine?
See, hanging here before my eyes, This body, bloodless, bruis'd, and torn, --- Alas! it is my Son Who dies, Of love deserving, not of scorn.
For know, this weak and dying Man Is Son of Him Who made the earth And me, before the world began, He chose to give Him human birth.
He is my God! and since that night When first I saw His infant grace, My soul has feasted on the light, The beauty of that heavenly face.
And now behold this loving Son Is dying in a woe so great, The very stones are moved to moan In sorrow at His piteous state.
Eternal Father! God of love! Behold Thy Son! ah! see His woe! Canst Thou look down from Heaven above And for Thy Son no pity show?
But, no-----that Father sees His Son Cloth'd with the sins of guilty men; And spares not that Beloved One, Though dying on His cross of pain.
My Son! my Son! could I at least Console Thee in this hour of death, Could I but lay Thee on my breast. And there receive Thy parting breath!
Alas! no comfort I impart; Nay, rather this my vain regret But rends still more Thy loving heart And makes Thy death more bitter yet.
Ah, loving souls! love, love that God Who all inflamed with love expires; On thee this life He has bestowed; Thy love is all that He desires.
FlFTH STATION
Jesus Dies on the Cross (Jn. 19:25-27)
25 Standing by Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
MEDITATION
Alone among the evangelists, the "disciple whom Jesus loved," claims to have been an eyewitness to the events he records. Therefore, his account of the commending of Mary is trustworthy. So there is the widowed Mother, as the mysterious prophecy of Simeon is fulfilled, the sword piercing her heart “too” matched by the lance about to be thrust into her Son’s side -- but not before he confides her to the care of the Beloved Disciple. And while Christian art often portrays the Sorrowful Mother as crushed by the sight, overcome by an agonizing swoon only a mother who has lost the child of her womb can know, John by contrast affirms that she "stood" before the cross. Tempered by all the sorrows which went before, steeled by having kept all these things in her heart, the Woman of the New Covenant finds the strength to stand there and watch as, "it is finished." And now she assumes a new role in the mystery of redemption, for that mystery required not only the second Adam who now sleeps in death, but a new Eve as well taken from his opened side -- the Church birthed with the assistance of a Midwife who witnesses the blood and water spill forth as if from a womb. Of that Church, the Bride of Christ, she will be the exemplar and, more importantly, the Mother. As once she bore the Body of Christ she does so again. And all who profess to be his beloved disciples are entrusted, one to the other, taking her into their home.
PRAYER
O God, Father of mercies, whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother, to be our Mother also, grant, we pray, that with her loving help your Church may be more fruitful day by day and, exulting in the holiness of her children, may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN
At the cross her station keeping, Mary stood in sorrow weeping When her Son was crucified.
While she waited in her anguish, Seeing Christ in torment languish, Bitter sorrow pierced her heart.
With what pain and desolation, With what noble resignation, Mary gazed upon her Son.
Christ she saw with life-blood failing, All her anguish unavailing, Saw him breathe his very last.
Mary, fount of love's devotion, Let me share with true emotion All the sorrow you endured.
At the cross, your sorrow sharing, All your grief and torment bearing, Let me stand and mourn with you.
Fairest maid of all creation, Queen of hope and consolation, Let me feel your grief sublime.
Savior, when my life shall leave me, Through your mother's prayers receive me With the fruits of victory.
Let me to your love be taken Let my soul from death awaken To the joys of Paradise.
SIXTH STATION
Mary Receives the Dead Body of Jesus (Mark 15:42-47)
42 When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.
MEDITATION
We might well surmise, as countless images of "the Pieta'" portray, that Joseph in turn gave the Body to Mary his mother. After all, she was the first to give the Body of Christ to the world. We are told, moreover, by Mark that in addition to the ministrations of Joseph that "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph" were closely observing the proceedings while Luke mentions the larger contingent of "women who had come with Jesus from Galilee." But now instead of wrapping his Body in swaddling clothes, Mary no doubt assisted in carefully winding the Body in a shroud; no longer placing it in a manger, she sees it placed in a tomb. All has now come full circle.
PRAYER
O God, who willed that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross, his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering, grant that your Church, participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ, may merit a share in his Resurrection. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
HYMN
What a sea of tears and sorrows, Did the soul of Mary toss To and fro upon its billows While she wept her bitter loss; In her arms her Jesus holding; Torn so newly from the Cross.
Oh, that mournful Virgin Mother, See her tears how fast they flow Down upon His mangled Body Wounded Side and thorny Brow; While His Hands and Feet she kisses, Picture of immortal woe.
Gentle Mother, we beseech thee, By thy tears and troubles sore; By the death of thy dear Offspring, By the bloody wounds He bore: Touch our hearts with that true sorrow, Which afflicted thee of yore.
SEVENTH STATION
Jesus Is Placed in the Tomb (Jn. 19:41-42)
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid. 42 Then, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand), they laid Jesus there.
MEDITATION
The burial scenes in the several gospels are, once again, filled with women. Joseph of Arimathea (along with Nicodemus in John's version) is by no means alone. Mark names "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph" as the ones "who saw where Jesus was laid." Matthew tells us "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (the mother of James and Joseph) were sitting there opposite the tomb." Luke, always attentive to the women who feature prominently in his narrative, includes the broader group of "women who had come with Jesus from Galilee"; they followed Joseph and saw the tomb and "how the body was laid in it." John, with significance, tells us the tomb was in a garden, as if to signal that the second Adam is about to reopen gated Eden in which the tree of life has been replanted, of whose fruit we may now all eat without fear of expulsion. Without mentioning the Woman, she is no doubt there, having just been commended by Jesus as the new "mother of all the living." It is true, that in all the resurrection narratives, with all their divergence and complexity, no evangelist mentions an appearance of the Risen One to his grief-stricken Mother. Perhaps there was no need for her to be a witness to the event that lay behind the discovery of the empty tomb; this was, after all, the purpose of the several appearances of Jesus to his disciples. Nor would she, who was called blessed for having believed, need the testimony of those -- beginning with the Magdalene -- who would make the Easter proclamation, "He is risen." She uttered her "fiat" long ago, never to be revoked, when first told she was to be the Mother of One whose kingdom would have no end.
PRAYER
All-holy Father, you chose the Easter Mystery as the way of our salvation; grant that we, whom Jesus entrusted from the Cross to his Virgin Mother, may be numbered among your adopted children. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
For the Church in every place; that, by calling to mind the sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary upon hearing the prophecy of Simeon, she may offer comfort to all who advance in this life along a path of obscurity and suffering, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For the leaders of nations; that, by remembering the sorrow of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, they may be moved to care for refugees and for all who are obliged to flee from war and persecution, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For parents anguishing over their children; that, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph who were anguished by the disappearance of Jesus for three days, they may put their all their confidence in the Father, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For all who bear the cross of suffering; that, like Jesus bearing His cross, they may encounter the Mother of Sorrows on the way, and be sustained by her compassion, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For widows mourning the death of a beloved spouse; that, by turning to Our Lady, the Virgin Widow of Saint Joseph, they may be comforted in their solitude and inspired to go forward with courage and trust in God, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For all priests; that in the daily offering of the Holy Sacrifice, they may discover the nearness of the Mother of Sorrows and, like Saint John, take her into their homes, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
For ourselves; that, by remembering the sorrow of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the entombment of her Son, we may be strengthened in hope and learn from her to wait in silence for the light of the resurrection, to the Lord we pray: Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.
CONCLUDING PRAYER
Lord our God, in your infinite wisdom and love, you complete the passion of your Son through the countless sufferings of his members. You gave strength to the Mother of Sorrows as she stood by the cross of your Son. Help us to follow her example, and stand by all her children who need our love and comfort. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
CLOSING HYMN (John Michael Talbot)