Our Lady of Sorrows, Part 1
Marian Co-redemption as seen in her Dolors
“Is it nothing to you, all who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow…” Lamentations 1:12
The Seven Sorrows
The seven sorrows of Mary are handed down through Catholic Tradition over more than one thousand years. From the connection of Mary with the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross to the writings of church fathers such as St. Ambrose of Milan,1 to the Seven Founders of the Servite Order,2 and finally the institution of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows in 1814, devotion to Mary and her sorrows has pervaded the Church since its foundation. Throughout many apparitions, such as the visions to the Servite founders, St. Bridget of Sweden,3 and even at Fatima,4 Mary has encouraged the faithful to meditate on her seven sorrows and to accompany her in her sufferings; for it is in accompanying her that we also accompany her Son.
While the devotion to the seven sorrows is taken greatly from private revelation, each of the sorrows has its founding in Sacred Scripture. Each can be found and meditated on through the written word of God. And, even though private revelation is not necessary for salvation, the Church has seen fit to institute a feast in remembrance of Mary’s sorrows on September 15th. This should be enough for the faithful to see that meditation on Mary’s sorrows is recommended by Holy Mother Church, especially during the month of September which is dedicated to them.
As we will see, all of Our Lady’s sorrows are intimately tied to her Son. Truly, this is the foundation of Mariology, the glories of Mary are what they are because she is the Mother of God. The seven sorrows of Mary are:
The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)
The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
The Loss of Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41-50)
The Meeting on the Way to the Cross (John 19:17)
The Crucifixion (John 19:18-30)
Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross (John 19:39-40)
Jesus is Laid in the Tomb (John 19:39-42)
Each of these events is a sword that pierced the heart of Mary.5 Each represents a martyrdom undergone by the Mother of God, as St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “Mary was the Queen of Martyrs, for her martyrdom was longer and greater than that of all the martyrs.”6 With each martyrdom, she united herself to her beloved Son of whom the Prophet Isaiah speaks:
“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3
Our sorrowful mother was so united to her Son, the Man of Sorrows, that she could not be exempt from His suffering standing beneath his cross. St. Ambrose says it beautifully, “She wanted to die with her Son, so as to rise with Him.”7
In the 14th century, Our Lady revealed seven promises to St. Bridget of Sweden for the faithful who meditate on her sorrows. She promises:
I will grant peace to their families.
They will be enlightened about the divine Mysteries.
I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine son or the sanctification of their souls.
I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.
I will visibly help them at the moment of their death—they will see the face of their mother.
I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven, and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.
The beauty in these promises does not need to be explained. The graces attached to this devotion are immense!
Marian Coredemption—The Woman
Theologically speaking, the sorrows of Mary are intimately tied to her role as the Co-Redemptrix. Within Catholic Theology, this term is grossly misunderstood, and it leads to much confusion among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. To fully understand the role that the sorrows have in the spiritual life of the faithful, the role of Mary as Co-redemptrix must be adequately understood.
The word itself comes from Latin and translates roughly to “the woman with the redeemer.” Essentially, this is a reference to the Redeemer (Christ) being accompanied in His work of redemption by a woman (Mary). That is to say, Mary cooperates in the work of redemption in a pre-eminent way. This is intensely biblical as we will explore below.
We begin with the prophecy given to Adam and Eve after the first sin right before God casts them out of the garden. Genesis reads:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15
This prophecy, commonly referred to as the Protoevangelium, is often translated in many different ways. Some translations say, “He will bruise or crush your head” and some say, “They will bruise or crush your head.” But if we look at the Latin of St. Jerome’s Vulgate, we find a most interesting pronoun used:
“Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius: ipsa conteret caput tuum et tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus.” Genesis 3:15
The Latin pronoun that St. Jerome uses is ipsa.8 This is the feminine pronoun, She. The text says She will crush your head! It is here, in the beginning, that we get the first prophecy of the Woman who would crush the head of the serpent through her seed.
From there, the Gospel of Luke sheds light on the great fiat given by Mary to the Angel Gabriel. He comes with the news that she has been chosen to be the Mother of God. In this moment, Mary, full of faith and love for the Divine Logos utters her fiat:
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38
This is an essential moment in the Theology of Marian Coredemption. It is in this moment that the Incarnation takes place, and the second person of the Trinity becomes flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. It is here that the Eternal Son assumes a human nature from Mary. This is the same human nature that He would use to redeem mankind. The humanity that hung upon the cross for our redemption was Mary’s humanity lovingly given to the Eternal Son on behalf of all mankind.9
Lastly, St. John completes this brief exploration of biblical Marian Coredemption with his use of the term woman in two specific places. The first is very early in his Gospel, at the wedding at Cana. Our Lord and His mother were attending a wedding, and the wine ran out. In order to spare the couple embarrassment, Mary intercedes for them and asks Our Lord to do something about it. His response is curious when seen on its own, but when read in the context of Genisis 3:15, Christ’s intention is seen more clearly:
“O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” John 2:4
Many people, especially those with American sensibilities, immediately interpret this as a rebuke, some would even ascribe disrespect to the Lord. This could not be further from the truth. While this was a common way in these days to address women in general, one would not use this term for their mother. There is something else at play here. This text is read in such a way that the term woman is not simply a random term, but instead, a title, one that identifies Mary with the Woman mentioned in Genesis 3:15. We further see her cooperation with Christ who identifies that His hour had not yet come. This hour that is spoken of is not simply a sixty-minute period. It is a time period of His mission, and here, in particular, the beginning of that hour. Christ grants the request of His mother and thus inaugurates the Messianic mission. His hour begins here at the wedding at Cana at the request of His mother.
This is later strengthened by the appearance of the term again at the end of St. John’s Gospel, with Mary at the foot of the cross:
“When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son.’” John 19:26
Here, again, Our Lord refers to Mary not as mother but as woman. Both instances can be seen as bookends, so to speak. The Wedding at Cana is Christ’s first public miracle, the beginning of His mission of redemption, while the cross certainly shows the climax of that same mission of redemption. In both instances, we find Mary, the Woman, lovingly consenting to and assisting in the redemption of mankind. Lest we forget that the place where Our Lord was crucified, where Mary was standing at the foot of the cross, translates to the place of the skull. It is here that the prophecy of Genisis is fulfilled, through her seed, she has crushed the head of the serpent.
As I said above, each of the sorrows is a step along the way of Mary’s journey of co-redemption. Each step is taken in tandem with her Son who was the only person ever born to die. Over the next series of articles, we will meditate on each of the seven sorrows and their scriptural basis. It is my sincerest prayer that the reader may sit with these and meditate on the sacrifice that Mary has made for the redemption of mankind. After all, it was her son that was hanging on that cross. With a mother’s love, she offered her son as a sacrifice for us all.
Let us pray:
Oh God, at Whose passion, according to the prophecy of Holy Simeon, a sword of grief pierced the sweet soul of glorious Mary, virgin and mother, grant in Thy mercy that we who honor the memory of her sorrows may obtain the happy fruit of Thy sufferings. Who lives and reigns, world without end.10
Amen
See De instit. Virg., VI, 49, PL, XVI.
See Alphonsus Ligouri, The Glories of Mary, Discourse 9.
The reader will find numerous accounts of Mary’s sorrows spread throughout St. Bridget’s Revelations.
Mary appeared as Our Lady of Sorrows on the October 13th apparition.
Cf. Luke 2:35.
Ligouri, Glories of Mary, Discourse 9.
Ambrose of Milan, De instit. Virg., VI, 49, PL, XVI.
St. Jerome’s translation carries much authority as his knowledge of the original Hebrew, as well as the Greek Septuagint, was masterful. It should also be considered that the Vulgate of Jerome was excepted as the authentic translation of scripture by the Council of Trent, See Decree on the Vulgate Edition of the Bible and on the Manner of Interpreting Sacred Scripture, 4th Session.
St. Thomas Aquinas speaks beautifully on the Annunciation, specifically, how Mary consents on behalf of the whole human race to give the Savior a human nature so that He can redeem mankind by becoming man. See Summa Theologiae IIIa, question 30, article 1.
Blessed Be God, Preserving Christian Publications: Boonville, NY, 2022.
Lovely piece. I have a seven sorrows rosary which I pray not nearly enough and I'm also reading the Glories of Mary at present, which is marvellous. Mary's involvement in our redemption is something I find myself increasingly pondering at the moment.
If Mary was the only contributor to the humanity of Jesus, how would Jesus be the Son of God? My understanding is that, biologically, Jesus would have been a woman if there had been no male contribution. I think that the Incarnation is more complex than simply believing that the Eternal Son assumed a human nature only from Mary.