"Mary invites us daily to join our sorrows with hers, and to let her help us bear our cross."
"How could she bear it?" I contemplate Our Lady in her sorrow at the foot of Christ's cross. Is it possible for us to fathom the depths of her helplessness, the excrutiating pain of her pierced spirit? This was her son whom she saw humiliated, tortured, mutilated, murdered in a very public and disgraced way. This also was her God whom she brought into life and loved, along with those who believed in Him, in a very real and personal and hopeful way. From the time of Jesus' conception, then perhaps made most clear to us by her role in the first miracle at Cana -- in which Mary nudges her son, somewhat against His will, to begin His public ministry -- she cooperated with His path to the Cross. Her constancy and fortitude as His most faithful disciple doubtless helped Him bear the metaphysical weight of His cross. There she stayed with Him and bore the pain in His soul and her own, filled with infinite love for Him and His -- all of those who watched, and doubtless imitated her, and would for ages to come. Mary remains our supreme example of the power of selfless love to sustain us, and to help us share God's grace with those around us, particularly in the worst of times.
Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. The seven sorrows of Mary are:
- Prophecy of Simeon
- Flight into Egypt
- Loss of the Child Jesus at Jerusalem
- Meeting Jesus on His way to Calvary
- Standing at the foot of the Cross
- Jesus taken down from the Cross
- Burial of Jesus.
Mary invites us daily to join our sorrows with hers, and to let her help us bear our cross.
by Nancy E. Thoerig 09-15-08
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