Our Lady of Sorrows

                                               "Pieta" by Vincent Van Gogh

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, a feast known since the 13th century, and made popular by the Cistercians and the Servites (posts regarding the Servites here and here).  The sorrowful hymn "Stabat Mater Dolorosa" was written for the feast, and many composers have set the text to music.  Here is Pergolesi's version:

The first stanza of the text, in Latin and English:

Stabat mater dolorosa juxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius.

At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to her son to the last.

Our Lady of Sorrows is the Patroness of Slovenia, and the feast is a public holiday there.  Malta, the country with the most holidays in the European Union, also keeps the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows as a public holiday, but the Maltese celebrate it on the Friday before Passion Sunday.  In 1969, these two separate feasts of Our Lady of Sorrows, the one celebrated before Holy Week and the other in September, were officially combined.  

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother

Oregon is  a long way from New Jersey, so I will probably never visit this lovely shrine, built by the Servites (naturally) and opened in 1924.  I hope you can.  The shrine features a very impressive Via Matris.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

The Servants of Mary and Our Lady of Sorrows

The Church traditionally devotes the month of September to contemplation of the Seven Sorrows (or Dolors) of Our Lady.  These are important occasions of suffering in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see list here).

Although the Church can dedicate only a single month to contemplating Our Lady's Seven Sorrows, a religious congregation called the Servants of Mary devotes itself to contemplation of the Sorrows of Our Lady all year long.  The history of the Servants of Mary, also called the Servites, begins in 1233 AD.  On the Feast of the Assumption that year, seven young men from wealthy Florentine families were at prayer with a lay confraternity they'd founded called "The Praisers of Mary," or Laudesi, when Our Lady appeared to them.   Our Lady counselled the seven young men to withdraw from the world, which they promptly did.  The young men retired to a secluded spot near Monte Senario, eleven miles north of Florence.  In 1240, Our Lady appeared to them again.  This time Our Lady advised the young men to found a congregation dedicated to her service, which should follow the Rule of St. Augustine.   Our Lady also conferred a black habit on the young men.   The Order was not definitively approved until 1304, by which time all but one of the original seven founders had died.  Members of the order seek to sanctify themselves and all mankind through devotion to the Mother of God, especially in her bloodless martyrdom during the Passion of her Divine Son.  The Rosary of the Seven Dolors is one of their devotions, and they are the chief popularizers of the Via Matris, which depicts the Seven Dolors of Mary in much the same fashion as the Via Crucis depicts the Passion of Our Lord.

Pope Leo XIII canonized the Seven Founders in 1888; their feast is celebrated on February 17.

Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago, IL, dedicated by the Servites in 1902, is shown below.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.