Today, we celebrate the memorial of the Our Lady of Sorrows.

Before there were two feasts celebrated in honor of the Sorrowful Mother: one going back to the 15th century, the other to the 17th century. Both feasts were celebrated by the universal Church: one on Friday before Palm Sunday and the other in September.

The biblical references to Mary’s sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. The Lucan passage is Simeon’s prediction about a sword piercing Mary’s heart; the Johannine passage relates Jesus’ words to Mary and to the beloved disciple.

Many early Church writers interpret the sword as Mary’s sorrow, especially as she saw Jesus die on the cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and fulfillment.
Tradition teaches of the 7 sorrows of Mary, namely:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon as found in Luke 2;

2. The Flight into Egypt from Matthew 2;

3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, also in Luke 2;

4. Mary’s meeting Jesus on the Via Dolorosa, the Fourth station of the Cross;

5. The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary

6. Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross.

7. The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea[2]