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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
My God, I offer You this rosary for Your glory, so I may honour Your Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin, so I can share and meditate upon her suffering. I humbly beg You to give me true repentance for all my sins. Give me wisdom and humility so that I may receive all the indulgences contained in this prayer.
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.
And I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pain of hell.
But most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to avoid near occasion of sin, and sin no more.
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The First Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon
The Holy Virgin Herself said to St. Matilda, that at the announcement of St. Simeon all Her joy was changed into sorrow. For, as it was revealed to St. Teresa, the Blessed Mother, although She knew before this that the life of Her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, yet She then learned more particularly and distinctly the sufferings and cruel death that awaited Her poor Son. She knew that He would be contradicted in all things.
Contradicted in doctrine; for instead of being believed, He would be esteemed a blasphemer for teaching that He was the Son of God, as the impious Caiaphas declared Him to be, saying: "He hath blasphemed, He is guilty of death."
Contradicted in His reputation, for He was noble, of royal lineage, and was despised as a peasant: "Is not this the carpenter’s son?" "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?"
He was wisdom Itself, and was treated as an ignorant man: "How doth this man know letters, having never learned?"
As a false prophet: "And they blind folded Him and smote His face .... saying: Prophesy who is this that struck Thee."
He was treated as a madman: "He is mad, why Hear you Him ?"
As a wine-bibber, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: "Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners."
As a sorcerer: "By the prince of devils He casteth out devils."
As a heretic and possessed person: "Do we not say well of Thee, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?"
In a word, Jesus was considered as so bad and notorious a man, that no trial was necessary to condemn Him, as the Jews said to Pilate: "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee."
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Second Sorrow: The Flight into Egypt
"Oh God," as Saint Albert the Great says in the name of Mary, "must He Who came to save men flee from men?" And then the afflicted Mary knew that already the prophecy of Simeon, regarding Her Son, was beginning to come true, seeing that scarcely is He born, when He is persecuted to death, "He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted." What suffering it must have been to the Heart of Mary, writes St. John Chrysostom, to hear the tidings of that cruel exile of Herself with Her Son! Flee from Thy friends to strangers, from the holy temple of the only true God, to the pagan temples of demons. What greater tribulation than that a new-born child, clinging to its Mother’s bosom, should be forced to fly with the Mother Herself!
Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey. It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure describes it, was rough, unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter, and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys.
Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender Virgin, with that newly born infant in Her arms wandering through this world! St. Bonaventure asks: " Where did they obtain food? Where did they rest at night? How were they lodged? What other food could they have, than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or food begged in charity? Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred miles of desert through which they traveled, where, as authors relate, there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild beasts with which Egypt abounded?"
Ah, if any one had met then, these three greatest persons of the world, what would he have believed them to be except three poor roving beggars? They lived in Egypt, and here let us consider the great poverty they must have suffered for the seven years they were there, as St. Antoninus, St. Thomas, and others assert, they were foreigners, unknown, without income, without money, without family or friends; hardly were they able to support themselves by their humble labors.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Third Sorrow: The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple
St. James the Apostle has said, that our perfection consists in the virtue of patience. "And patience hath a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing." The Lord having then given us the Virgin Mary as an example of perfection, it was necessary that She should be laden with sorrows, that in Her we might admire and imitate Her heroic patience.
The sorrow that we are to consider is one of the greatest which our Divine Mother suffered during Her life, namely, the loss of Her Son in the temple. He who is born blind is little aware of the pain of being deprived of the light of day; but to him who has once had sight and enjoyed the light, it is a great sorrow to find himself deprived of it by blindness.
And thus it is with those unhappy souls who, being blinded by the mire of this earth, have but little knowledge of God, and therefore scarcely feel pain at not finding Him. On the contrary, the man who, illuminated with celestial light, has been made worthy to find by love the sweet presence of the highest good. Oh God, how he mourns when he finds himself deprived of it!
From this we can judge how painful must have been to Mary, who was accustomed to enjoy constantly the sweet presence of Jesus, that third sword which wounded Her, when She lost Him in Jerusalem, and was separated from Him for three days.
In the second chapter of St. Luke we read that the Blessed Virgin, who with St. Joseph Her Spouse and Jesus, visited the temple every year at the paschal season. When Jesus was about twelve years old He accompanied them to the feast, but remained in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph were not aware of this, for They thought He was in company with others in Their caravan. When They reached Nazareth, the holy parents inquired for Their Son, but did not find Him there. Immediately, They returned to Jerusalem to seek Him, but did not succeed until after three days.
Now let us imagine what distress that afflicted Mother must have experienced in those three days in which She was searching everywhere for Her Son. As is expressed by the spouse in the Canticles: "Have you seen Him whom my soul loveth?" But She could hear no tidings of Him. Oh, with how much greater tenderness must Mary, overcome with fatigue, and yet not having found Her beloved Son, have repeated those words of Ruben, concerning his brother Joseph: "The boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go?" My Jesus doth not appear, and I know not what to do that I may find Him; but where shall I go without my treasure?
Weeping continually, She repeated during these three days with David: "My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily, ‘Where is Thy God?’"
During those nights the afflicted Mother had no rest, but wept and prayed without ceasing to God, that He would enable Her to find Her Son. And, according to St. Bernard, often during that time did She repeat to Her Son Himself the words of the spouse: "Show me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander." My Son, tell me where Thou art, that I may no longer wander, seeking Thee in vain.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Fourth Sorrow: The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross:
St. Bernadine says, that to form an idea of the grief of Mary in losing Her Jesus by death, it is necessary to consider the love that this Mother bore to this Her Son. All mothers feel the sufferings of their children as their own. Hence the woman of Chanaan, when she prayed to the Savior to deliver her daughter from the devil that tormented her, said to Him, that He should have pity on the mother rather than on the daughter: "Have mercy on me, oh Lord, Thou son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil."
But what mother ever loved a child so much as Mary loved Jesus? He was Her only child, reared amidst so many troubles and pains; a most amiable child, and most loving to His Mother. A Son, who was at the same time Her Son and Her God. Who came on earth to kindle in the hearts of all the holy fire of Divine Love, as He Himself declared: "I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?"
Let us consider how He must have inflamed that pure heart of His holy Mother, so free from every earthly affection. In a word, the Blessed Virgin Herself said to St. Bridget, that through love Her Heart and the Heart of Her Son were one. That blending of handmaid and Mother, of Son and God, kindled in the Heart of Mary a fire composed of a thousand flames.
But afterwards, at the time of the Passion, this flame of love was changed into a sea of sorrow. Hence St. Bernardine says: "All the sorrows of the world united would not be equal to the sorrow of the glorious Mary." "Yes, because this mother," as St. Lawrence Justinian writes, "the more tenderly She loved, was the more deeply wounded." The greater the tenderness with which She loved Him, the greater was Her grief at the sight of His sufferings. And this especially when She met Her Son, after He had already been condemned, going to death at the place of punishment, bearing the cross.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Fifth Sorrow: The Crucifixion
And now we have to admire a new sort of martyrdom, a mother condemned to see an innocent Son, whom She loved with all the affection of Her Heart, put to death before Her eyes, by the most barbarous tortures. There stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother. "There is nothing more to be said," says St. John, "of the martyrdom of Mary." Behold Her at the foot of the cross, looking on Her dying Son, and then see if there is grief like Her grief.
Let us stop then also on Calvary, to consider this fifth sword that pierced the Heart of Mary, namely, the death of Jesus.
As soon as our afflicted Redeemer had ascended the hill of Calvary, the executioners stripped Him of His garments, and piercing His sacred hands and feet with nails, not sharp, but blunt, as St. Bernard says. And to torture Him more, they fastened Him to the cross. When they had crucified Him, they planted the cross, and thus left Him to die. The executioners abandon Him, but Mary does not abandon him.
She then draws closer to the cross, in order to assist at His death. "I did not leave him," the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget, "and stood nearer to His cross." "But what did it avail, oh Lady," says St. Bonaventure, "to go to Calvary to witness there the death of this Son? Shame should have prevented Thee, for His disgrace was also Thine, because Thou wast His Mother. Or, at least, the horror of such a crime as that of seeing a God crucified by His own creatures should have prevented Thee."
But the Saint himself answers: "Thy Heart did not consider the horror, but the suffering." Ah, Your Heart did not then care for its own sorrow, but for the suffering and death of Your dear Son. Therefore, You yourself wished to be near Him, at least to compassionate Him. "Ah, true Mother!" says William the Abbot, "loving mother! For not even the terror of death could separate Thee from Thy beloved Son."
But, what a spectacle of sorrow, to see this Son then in agony upon the cross, and under the cross this Mother in agony, who was suffering all the pain that Her Son was suffering! Behold the words in which Mary revealed to St. Bridget the pitiable state of Her dying Son, as She saw him on the cross:
"My dear Jesus was on the cross in grief and in agony. His eyes were sunken, half closed, and lifeless; the lips hanging, and the mouth open; the cheeks hollow, and attached to the teeth; the face lengthened, the nose sharp, the countenance sad; the head had fallen upon His chest, the hair black with blood, the stomach collapsed, the arms and legs stiff, and the whole body covered with wounds and blood."
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Sixth Sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the Cross and placed His Mother's arms
"Oh, all ye that pass by the way attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Devout souls, listen to what the sorrowful Mary says to you today: My beloved children, if you wish to please Me, this I ask of you: turn to Me and see if there has ever been in the world a grief like Mine, when I saw Him who was all my love torn from Me so cruelly.
But, oh Lady, Thou must be told that Thy sorrows have not ended with the death of Thy Son. Today thou wilt be pierced by another sword of sorrow, when Thou shalt see a cruel lance piercing the side of this Thy Son, already dead, and shalt receive Him in Thy arms after He is taken from the cross.
And now we are to consider the sixth sorrow which afflicted this sorrowful Mother. Come and weep. Up until this point, the sorrows of Mary tortured Her one by one, but here they are all united to assail Her.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Seventh Sorrow: The Burial of Jesus
When a mother is by the side of a suffering and dying child, she no doubt then feels and suffers all his pains. But when the afflicted child is really dead and about to be buried, and the sorrowful mother takes her last leave of him, then, oh! the thought that she is to see him no more is a sorrow that exceeds all other sorrows.
Behold, the last sword of sorrow which we are to consider - when Mary, after being present at the death of Her Son upon the cross, after having embraced His lifeless body, was finally to leave Him in the sepulcher, never more to enjoy His beloved presence.
But that we may better understand this last sorrow, let us return to Calvary, again to look upon the afflicted Mother, who still holds, clasped in Her arms, the lifeless body of Her Son.
Oh my Son, She seems then to continue to say in the words of Job, my Son, Thou art changed to be cruel towards Me. Yes, for all Thy beauty, grace, virtue, and loveliness, all the signs of special love Thou hast shown Me, the singular favors Thou hast bestowed on Me, are all changed into so many darts of sorrow, which the more they have in flamed My love for Thee, so much the more do they cause me cruelly to feel the pain of having lost Thee.
Ah, my beloved Son, in losing Thee I have lost all. St. Bernard speaks in Her name, "Oh truly begotten of God, You were to Me a Father, a son, a spouse; You were my life! Now I am deprived of My Father, My spouse, and My Son, for with My Son whom I have lost, I lose all things."
In this was Mary, clinging to Her Son, dissolved in grief. The holy disciples, fearing that this poor Mother would expire there through agony, went to take the body of Her Son from Her arms, to bear it away for burial. And so, with reverential force they took Him from Her arms, and having embalmed Him, wrapped Him in a linen cloth already prepared. Upon this cloth our Lord wished to leave to the world His image impressed, as may be seen at the present day in Turin, Italy.
Prayers and Meditations
And now they bear Jesus to the sepulcher. The sorrowful funeral procession begins. The disciples place Him on their shoulders, hosts of angels from Heaven accompany Him, the holy women follow Him, and the afflicted Mother follows and goes with Her Son to the grave.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
Queen of Martyrs, your heart suffered so much. I beg you, by the merits of the tears you shed in these terrible and sorrowful times, to obtain for me and all the sinners of the world the grace of complete sincerity and repentance.
Amen.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us!
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us!
Our Lady of the Miracle, pray for us!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
Amen.
My God, I offer You this rosary for Your glory, so I may honour Your Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin, so I can share and meditate upon her suffering. I humbly beg You to give me true repentance for all my sins. Give me wisdom and humility so that I may receive all the indulgences contained in this prayer.
Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee.
And I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pain of hell.
But most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to avoid near occasion of sin, and sin no more.
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The First Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon
The Holy Virgin Herself said to St. Matilda, that at the announcement of St. Simeon all Her joy was changed into sorrow. For, as it was revealed to St. Teresa, the Blessed Mother, although She knew before this that the life of Her Son would be sacrificed for the salvation of the world, yet She then learned more particularly and distinctly the sufferings and cruel death that awaited Her poor Son. She knew that He would be contradicted in all things.
Contradicted in doctrine; for instead of being believed, He would be esteemed a blasphemer for teaching that He was the Son of God, as the impious Caiaphas declared Him to be, saying: "He hath blasphemed, He is guilty of death."
Contradicted in His reputation, for He was noble, of royal lineage, and was despised as a peasant: "Is not this the carpenter’s son?" "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?"
He was wisdom Itself, and was treated as an ignorant man: "How doth this man know letters, having never learned?"
As a false prophet: "And they blind folded Him and smote His face .... saying: Prophesy who is this that struck Thee."
He was treated as a madman: "He is mad, why Hear you Him ?"
As a wine-bibber, a glutton, and a friend of sinners: "Behold a man that is a glutton, and a drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners."
As a sorcerer: "By the prince of devils He casteth out devils."
As a heretic and possessed person: "Do we not say well of Thee, that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?"
In a word, Jesus was considered as so bad and notorious a man, that no trial was necessary to condemn Him, as the Jews said to Pilate: "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to thee."
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Second Sorrow: The Flight into Egypt
"Oh God," as Saint Albert the Great says in the name of Mary, "must He Who came to save men flee from men?" And then the afflicted Mary knew that already the prophecy of Simeon, regarding Her Son, was beginning to come true, seeing that scarcely is He born, when He is persecuted to death, "He is set for a sign which shall be contradicted." What suffering it must have been to the Heart of Mary, writes St. John Chrysostom, to hear the tidings of that cruel exile of Herself with Her Son! Flee from Thy friends to strangers, from the holy temple of the only true God, to the pagan temples of demons. What greater tribulation than that a new-born child, clinging to its Mother’s bosom, should be forced to fly with the Mother Herself!
Every one can imagine how much Mary must have suffered on this journey. It was a long distance to Egypt. Authors generally agree that it was four hundred miles; so that at least it was a journey of thirty days. The way, as St. Bonaventure describes it, was rough, unknown, through woods, and little frequented. The season was winter, and therefore they had to travel in snow, rain, wind, and storms, and through bad and difficult roads. Mary was then fifteen years of age, a delicate virgin, unaccustomed to such journeys.
Oh God, how piteous a spectacle it was to see that tender Virgin, with that newly born infant in Her arms wandering through this world! St. Bonaventure asks: " Where did they obtain food? Where did they rest at night? How were they lodged? What other food could they have, than a piece of hard bread which Joseph brought with him or food begged in charity? Where could they have slept (particularly in the two hundred miles of desert through which they traveled, where, as authors relate, there were neither houses nor inns) except on the sand, or under some tree in the wood, in the open air, exposed to robbers, or those wild beasts with which Egypt abounded?"
Ah, if any one had met then, these three greatest persons of the world, what would he have believed them to be except three poor roving beggars? They lived in Egypt, and here let us consider the great poverty they must have suffered for the seven years they were there, as St. Antoninus, St. Thomas, and others assert, they were foreigners, unknown, without income, without money, without family or friends; hardly were they able to support themselves by their humble labors.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Third Sorrow: The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple
St. James the Apostle has said, that our perfection consists in the virtue of patience. "And patience hath a perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, failing in nothing." The Lord having then given us the Virgin Mary as an example of perfection, it was necessary that She should be laden with sorrows, that in Her we might admire and imitate Her heroic patience.
The sorrow that we are to consider is one of the greatest which our Divine Mother suffered during Her life, namely, the loss of Her Son in the temple. He who is born blind is little aware of the pain of being deprived of the light of day; but to him who has once had sight and enjoyed the light, it is a great sorrow to find himself deprived of it by blindness.
And thus it is with those unhappy souls who, being blinded by the mire of this earth, have but little knowledge of God, and therefore scarcely feel pain at not finding Him. On the contrary, the man who, illuminated with celestial light, has been made worthy to find by love the sweet presence of the highest good. Oh God, how he mourns when he finds himself deprived of it!
From this we can judge how painful must have been to Mary, who was accustomed to enjoy constantly the sweet presence of Jesus, that third sword which wounded Her, when She lost Him in Jerusalem, and was separated from Him for three days.
In the second chapter of St. Luke we read that the Blessed Virgin, who with St. Joseph Her Spouse and Jesus, visited the temple every year at the paschal season. When Jesus was about twelve years old He accompanied them to the feast, but remained in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph were not aware of this, for They thought He was in company with others in Their caravan. When They reached Nazareth, the holy parents inquired for Their Son, but did not find Him there. Immediately, They returned to Jerusalem to seek Him, but did not succeed until after three days.
Now let us imagine what distress that afflicted Mother must have experienced in those three days in which She was searching everywhere for Her Son. As is expressed by the spouse in the Canticles: "Have you seen Him whom my soul loveth?" But She could hear no tidings of Him. Oh, with how much greater tenderness must Mary, overcome with fatigue, and yet not having found Her beloved Son, have repeated those words of Ruben, concerning his brother Joseph: "The boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go?" My Jesus doth not appear, and I know not what to do that I may find Him; but where shall I go without my treasure?
Weeping continually, She repeated during these three days with David: "My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily, ‘Where is Thy God?’"
During those nights the afflicted Mother had no rest, but wept and prayed without ceasing to God, that He would enable Her to find Her Son. And, according to St. Bernard, often during that time did She repeat to Her Son Himself the words of the spouse: "Show me where Thou feedest, where Thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander." My Son, tell me where Thou art, that I may no longer wander, seeking Thee in vain.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Fourth Sorrow: The Meeting of Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross:
St. Bernadine says, that to form an idea of the grief of Mary in losing Her Jesus by death, it is necessary to consider the love that this Mother bore to this Her Son. All mothers feel the sufferings of their children as their own. Hence the woman of Chanaan, when she prayed to the Savior to deliver her daughter from the devil that tormented her, said to Him, that He should have pity on the mother rather than on the daughter: "Have mercy on me, oh Lord, Thou son of David, my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil."
But what mother ever loved a child so much as Mary loved Jesus? He was Her only child, reared amidst so many troubles and pains; a most amiable child, and most loving to His Mother. A Son, who was at the same time Her Son and Her God. Who came on earth to kindle in the hearts of all the holy fire of Divine Love, as He Himself declared: "I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?"
Let us consider how He must have inflamed that pure heart of His holy Mother, so free from every earthly affection. In a word, the Blessed Virgin Herself said to St. Bridget, that through love Her Heart and the Heart of Her Son were one. That blending of handmaid and Mother, of Son and God, kindled in the Heart of Mary a fire composed of a thousand flames.
But afterwards, at the time of the Passion, this flame of love was changed into a sea of sorrow. Hence St. Bernardine says: "All the sorrows of the world united would not be equal to the sorrow of the glorious Mary." "Yes, because this mother," as St. Lawrence Justinian writes, "the more tenderly She loved, was the more deeply wounded." The greater the tenderness with which She loved Him, the greater was Her grief at the sight of His sufferings. And this especially when She met Her Son, after He had already been condemned, going to death at the place of punishment, bearing the cross.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Fifth Sorrow: The Crucifixion
And now we have to admire a new sort of martyrdom, a mother condemned to see an innocent Son, whom She loved with all the affection of Her Heart, put to death before Her eyes, by the most barbarous tortures. There stood by the cross of Jesus His Mother. "There is nothing more to be said," says St. John, "of the martyrdom of Mary." Behold Her at the foot of the cross, looking on Her dying Son, and then see if there is grief like Her grief.
Let us stop then also on Calvary, to consider this fifth sword that pierced the Heart of Mary, namely, the death of Jesus.
As soon as our afflicted Redeemer had ascended the hill of Calvary, the executioners stripped Him of His garments, and piercing His sacred hands and feet with nails, not sharp, but blunt, as St. Bernard says. And to torture Him more, they fastened Him to the cross. When they had crucified Him, they planted the cross, and thus left Him to die. The executioners abandon Him, but Mary does not abandon him.
She then draws closer to the cross, in order to assist at His death. "I did not leave him," the Blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget, "and stood nearer to His cross." "But what did it avail, oh Lady," says St. Bonaventure, "to go to Calvary to witness there the death of this Son? Shame should have prevented Thee, for His disgrace was also Thine, because Thou wast His Mother. Or, at least, the horror of such a crime as that of seeing a God crucified by His own creatures should have prevented Thee."
But the Saint himself answers: "Thy Heart did not consider the horror, but the suffering." Ah, Your Heart did not then care for its own sorrow, but for the suffering and death of Your dear Son. Therefore, You yourself wished to be near Him, at least to compassionate Him. "Ah, true Mother!" says William the Abbot, "loving mother! For not even the terror of death could separate Thee from Thy beloved Son."
But, what a spectacle of sorrow, to see this Son then in agony upon the cross, and under the cross this Mother in agony, who was suffering all the pain that Her Son was suffering! Behold the words in which Mary revealed to St. Bridget the pitiable state of Her dying Son, as She saw him on the cross:
"My dear Jesus was on the cross in grief and in agony. His eyes were sunken, half closed, and lifeless; the lips hanging, and the mouth open; the cheeks hollow, and attached to the teeth; the face lengthened, the nose sharp, the countenance sad; the head had fallen upon His chest, the hair black with blood, the stomach collapsed, the arms and legs stiff, and the whole body covered with wounds and blood."
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Sixth Sorrow: Jesus is taken down from the Cross and placed His Mother's arms
"Oh, all ye that pass by the way attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Devout souls, listen to what the sorrowful Mary says to you today: My beloved children, if you wish to please Me, this I ask of you: turn to Me and see if there has ever been in the world a grief like Mine, when I saw Him who was all my love torn from Me so cruelly.
But, oh Lady, Thou must be told that Thy sorrows have not ended with the death of Thy Son. Today thou wilt be pierced by another sword of sorrow, when Thou shalt see a cruel lance piercing the side of this Thy Son, already dead, and shalt receive Him in Thy arms after He is taken from the cross.
And now we are to consider the sixth sorrow which afflicted this sorrowful Mother. Come and weep. Up until this point, the sorrows of Mary tortured Her one by one, but here they are all united to assail Her.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories of Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
The Seventh Sorrow: The Burial of Jesus
When a mother is by the side of a suffering and dying child, she no doubt then feels and suffers all his pains. But when the afflicted child is really dead and about to be buried, and the sorrowful mother takes her last leave of him, then, oh! the thought that she is to see him no more is a sorrow that exceeds all other sorrows.
Behold, the last sword of sorrow which we are to consider - when Mary, after being present at the death of Her Son upon the cross, after having embraced His lifeless body, was finally to leave Him in the sepulcher, never more to enjoy His beloved presence.
But that we may better understand this last sorrow, let us return to Calvary, again to look upon the afflicted Mother, who still holds, clasped in Her arms, the lifeless body of Her Son.
Oh my Son, She seems then to continue to say in the words of Job, my Son, Thou art changed to be cruel towards Me. Yes, for all Thy beauty, grace, virtue, and loveliness, all the signs of special love Thou hast shown Me, the singular favors Thou hast bestowed on Me, are all changed into so many darts of sorrow, which the more they have in flamed My love for Thee, so much the more do they cause me cruelly to feel the pain of having lost Thee.
Ah, my beloved Son, in losing Thee I have lost all. St. Bernard speaks in Her name, "Oh truly begotten of God, You were to Me a Father, a son, a spouse; You were my life! Now I am deprived of My Father, My spouse, and My Son, for with My Son whom I have lost, I lose all things."
In this was Mary, clinging to Her Son, dissolved in grief. The holy disciples, fearing that this poor Mother would expire there through agony, went to take the body of Her Son from Her arms, to bear it away for burial. And so, with reverential force they took Him from Her arms, and having embalmed Him, wrapped Him in a linen cloth already prepared. Upon this cloth our Lord wished to leave to the world His image impressed, as may be seen at the present day in Turin, Italy.
Prayers and Meditations
And now they bear Jesus to the sepulcher. The sorrowful funeral procession begins. The disciples place Him on their shoulders, hosts of angels from Heaven accompany Him, the holy women follow Him, and the afflicted Mother follows and goes with Her Son to the grave.
-St. Alphonsus de Liguori The Glories Mary
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary...
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Ave! Ave! Ave Maria!
Most Merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your Son, Jesus.
Queen of Martyrs, your heart suffered so much. I beg you, by the merits of the tears you shed in these terrible and sorrowful times, to obtain for me and all the sinners of the world the grace of complete sincerity and repentance.
Amen.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Mary, who was conceived without sin and who suffered for us, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, pray for us!
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!
Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us!
Our Lady of the Miracle, pray for us!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us!
In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit,
Amen.
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