Yesterday we celebrated the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Now we celebrate the memorial of our Lady of the Sorrows. We honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and her deep sufferings and the grief during the life and passion of Jesus Christ. We take time to reflect on Mary’s sorrows, a woman who let her trust in God hold her in the darkest moments.
The founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, Father Basil Moreau, placed our congregation under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows, as a way of inviting Priests, religious Brothers and Sisters of Holy Cross to conform their lives to Christ, which Mary models through her seven sorrows. It is indeed special for us to identify with the spiritual mother who walks beside us in our personal struggles and pains as she did with her Son, Jesus.
We all know how hard it is to watch or be around a close or dear person who is suffering in various ways. For some of you, parents or grandparents, when your children are sick or struck with something tragic, you share in their agony. For elderly people, when we become ill, our children become emotionally involved in our struggles. And that is what the Blessed Mother Mary models for us believers.
Mary was so close to Jesus that she endured and shared in all the sorrows that Jesus encountered, when Simeon dropped on her that bitter prophecy, having to go into exile, escaping Herod’s wrath, having to anxiously search for young Jesus for days, meeting her son on the way to brutally murdered on the Cross, and having to attend to Jesus ‘body and finally the burial.
In the person of Our Lady of Sorrows, we commemorate the sorrowful heart. A heart that witnesses to true love; selfless love, free from bitterness or self-pity, love that does not harbor hurt feelings or revenge towards those who cause harm, a heart that is geared at only doing the will of God, no matter the odds.
The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that we are never alone during a moment of trial. Mary, who was intertwined with Jesus’ suffering, walks with us in our moments of trials as our mother. She is not just the mother of Jesus but also the mother of all, including you and me. She is always on our side as we journey to God and fully understands all our struggles and pains.
As we commemorate Our Lady of Sorrows, we can take a moment to reflect on how Mary’s sorrows relate to our lives. Experiences show us that we have not been immune to similar sorrows such as illness, loss of loved ones, and other personal struggles. Just as Mary remained faithful to God amid her sorrows, we too are called to have faith and trust in God’s plan for us.