Our Lady of Sorrows

                     
We honor today the Sorrowful Mother as she stands by the cross waiting for her Son to die, His body to be placed on her lap soon afterwards. An image that has been painted, sculpted and drawn by many artists. Many countries honor the Sorrowful Mother (Mater Dolorosa) on this Friday before Holy Week, as seen in this procession held in Malta in the city of Valletta. Thousands of people accompany the procession, also attending Mass and going to confession on a day of atonement and repentance. Each parish holds a procession with a statue devoutly kept in each church, but the most popular and the most attended one is the one in Valletta, a photo of which you can see here above.

Most sorrowful Mother, we saw you standing by the Cross, seeing your Son making his last breath. The same breath you had given Him 33 years earlier, when you gave birth to Him in the humble cave of Bethlehem. Then they deposed His lifeless body from the cross and laid Him on your lap. Who knows how much you cradled Him with so much affection when he was a little toddler, running towards you to feel comfort and consolation. Yet now He is different. Bloody and lifeless.

And now you are ready to give Him back to whoever gave Him to you from Heaven. What can I ask of you Sorrowful Mother at this moment of such sorrow and pain? I cry with you, and John the apostle and Mary Magdalene next to you. Give me one drop of blood from His mutilated body, so that I can be saved. Give me one drop of your tears so that I feel comforted and refreshed. Give me one breath coming from his broken heart to strengthen my own heart. Give me your hands so that we can walk together and find consolation in each other.

With that same courage you showed throughout the way of the cross and on Golgotha, fill all of us with the blessed courage we need so much right now. Help us on our own way, which has nothing of the pain you experienced, nothing of the sharp thorns that were forced violently into your Son’s head. We have nothing of the torment you had to go through. Yet we still ask for your help in our own problems. And do walk with us in our alleys, hills and cobbled streets we have in front of us. Today we cry with you dear Mary, but do stay with us to wipe away our tears. We cry with you not because we feel sorry for you, but because we know that you are the only person today who can console us.