The Sorrows of Mary, The Mother of God

The Sorrows of Mary, The Mother of God
 

By Thomas Stidl, submitted in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15, 2022, on the 107 anniversary of my deceased mother’s birthday.

         You might ask the question, ‘what would bring sorrow to the Mother of God?  She had the most perfect Son.  Let’s look a little deeper into Mary’s life.

         What was her first sorrow?  It was being told at Jesus’ presentation in the temple that a sword would pierce her heart.  I would imagine this would bring concern to her heart.

         Her second sorrow was the flight into Egypt with Jesus and Joseph.  Herod was looking for her child not to worship Him as he told the three wise men but to kill Him.  This would give any mother a great deal of anxiety and sorrow.  Imagine Joseph and Mary hearing news reports of the mass massacre of children in the Bethlehem area.  That would be downright scary.

         Her third sorrow came when Jesus was 12 years old.  He was lost for three days in Jerusalem.  From any parent’s point of view, a child being lost for 30 minutes is a major worry.  Being lost for three days is a major heartbreak, especially if you have been given the responsibility of raising the only Son of God.  Thankfully, he was found in the Temple (His Father’s House), and he went back to Nazareth being obedient to both Joseph and Mary.  God became subject to human beings.

         Her next sorrow came when Mary saw Jesus scourged and crowned with thorns.  What heartbreak for her seeing her son, The Son of God, in this predicament.

         Her next sorrow came when she stood by him while hanging on the cross knowing that he was about to die.  An added sorrow was when He gave us His most precious possession on earth, His Mother, to all of us through Saint John the Apostle.  She also saw him die on the cross along with a Roman soldier lancing her Son’s side after his death.  That is when he shed all his remaining blood for us.

         The next sorrow is when they took Jesus from the cross and laid Him in the arms of His Mother.  What must have gone through her mind at this time?  Possibly, she remembered the first time she cradled her Son in her arms in Bethlehem.  That must have taken an amazing amount of courage and fortitude that only a mother is blessed.

         Her last known sorrow was watching Jesus being buried in the tomb and saying Good-bye even if only for a short time.  Remember her fiat given to the angel Gabriel. “Be it done unto me according to thy word.”  Now, dear reader, you have witnessed a partial glimpse of what Mary bore in raising the only Son of God.  Have you thought about all the other work that mothers do for their children?  Well, she did that too.  While meditating on these sorrows, why not say a Hail Mary or two?

         Until next time, Laus Tibi, Christe.  Deo Gratias.  Praise be to God.  See you in Paradise.