Our Sorrowful Age and The Seven Dolors
Matthew Bellisario O.P. 2012, 2020
Trials and Tribulations
There have been trying times for the Church in past ages. It is true that every generation perceives their challenges to be the worst since they alone can claim to have experienced them. We cannot go back and experience the Arian heresy where Saint Athanasius woke up one morning and found himself surrounded by heretics. We instead experience this age, where we witness apostates and heretics attempting to wreck Christ’s Church from within, while rabid atheists and secularists seek to dethrone God and exterminate Him from our culture. Abortion has become the sacred offering of the godless humanity spanning across the globe, driven by heartless materialism and sexual gratification surpassing the pagan cults of times past. Politicians across the globe are martyrs for satan and they are bringing humanity further under his rule with each passing day. Yes, we can say that we are living in a sorrowful age.
Despite the sex without “consequences,” the materialism gone wild, the “no commitment” relationships and staunch relativism, where truth becomes anything you want it to be, we are a most miserable generation. If we are so enlightened and have apparently dug ourselves out of that repressed medieval mindset, why are antidepressants the third most prescribed drug on the market? If one has to drug themselves to be happy, are they at peace with themselves and their actions? Probably not. It is estimated that more than 12% of the US population is currently taking these antidepressant drugs. This is up from 7.7% measured in 1999. Even a larger percentage claims to be suffering from severe depression that is "untreated." Most people, however, do not realize that this is not just a mental problem, it is a problem that goes down to the core of a person, down to the fabric of their souls. Many are drugging their consciences to sleep. If they are not killing their consciences with drugs, they are doing it by trying to oust God out of their lives so they will not be reminded that they are of God’s creation. They are in effect trying to destroy the image and likeness of God. This has been the insidious tactic of the politicians of our age, who have tried to remove God out of the public square for decades by creating laws which forbid God’s name to be used or any symbolism referring to God. The attacks on the traditional family is also an effort to exterminate the imago dei from the minds of men.
Tortured Consciences and Despair
The reality is, people simply are not able to cope with the sinful culture that they live in today. We are living lives of grand delusion. How can a generation kill their offspring at such an alarming rate without being depressed? How can we go from one relationship to another, living lives of infidelity without some sort of traumatizing consequences? How many times have I heard the genius who is on their 3rd marriage tell me that people should live with the people they are dating before they get married, to “test drive” them out? That brilliant plan seems to have worked really well for them, no? Divorce rates are well over 50%, and children are growing up living in separated households, watching their parents engage in intimacy with someone other than their mom or dad. Do we think that all of this, which rebels against the fabric of human nature will not torture our consciences? Hence the antidepressants, and other “tools” to help people cope with “life.” Certainly, there are people with real mental imbalances that may need medication to help them, but as a rule, the vast number of people on these drugs are just trying to dull their consciences. They cannot cope with reality, because they are trying to invent their own “reality.” We could say that this “depression” is the result of the sorrows of our age, which are driven by subjectivism, relativism, and rampant immorality. Saint Thomas tells us, “That which leads men to sin, seems not only to be a sin itself, but a source of sins. Now such is despair, for the Apostle says of certain men (Ephesians 4:19): "Who, despairing, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness and [Vulgate: 'unto'] covetousness...Therefore despair is not only a sin but also the origin of other sins.” So despair is what happens when we try and oust God out of lives, and hence our sins grow in proportion and gravity.
The Solution
The only remedy for the sorrows of our age; abortion, divorce, adultery, promiscuity, contraception, wars, famine, heresy, apostasy, atheism, and the many other “isms” plaguing our Church and our culture is for those who believe in Christ to live the Catholic faith with extreme tenacity and dedication. That means that we must pray more, we must spend more time with God and less time entertaining ourselves. As Padre Pio said, “Prayer is the best weapon we possess. It is the key that opens the heart of God.” We must also spread the Gospel to others when we have the opportunity to do so. We must, when God gives us an opportunity, stand up for Him, and not let others exterminate the Catholic faith from our culture. We must begin with prayer, but we must not let opportunities go by to act and do God’s will. Remember, faith and works are married together. We must act when we are called to act, both within the Church and in our communities, but we must act from a life steeped in prayer, nurtured with the virtue of prudence. There are enemies of Christ in the Church and outside the Church, and we must oppose them in both places.
Christ has given us many weapons to combat the godless culture we find ourselves in today. We have recourse to Him in prayer and in the Sacraments of the Church. There are those around us who are professing Catholics who can pray for us, and we can support one another. Christ also gave us His Blessed Mother and His Saints to help in us in our earthly trial. As Saint Thomas says, “The saints impetrate what ever God wishes to take place through their prayers; and they pray for that which they deem will be granted through their prayers according to God’s will.” We have so many riches that have been given to us by Christ, which we ignore to our own peril.
One weapon not often used today is the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. This devotion has a great tradition in the Church. It is another rich devotion through which we can unite our suffering with Our Lady and Jesus Christ. Traditionally, those looking to increase their devotion to the Seven Sorrows first make a consecration to Our Lady Of Sorrows. There are many devotions we can practice including the litany of Seven Sorrows, the prayers dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, given to us by Pope Pius VII, as well as the Chaplet of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, which has its origins dating back to the 13th century. Of course, the actual “sorrows” are rooted in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. These prayers are powerful because they graft the passion of Our Lord and the sorrows of Our Blessed Mother into the fabric of our lives.
The Chaplet
Pope Benedict XIII, on September 26th, 1724, granted an indulgence of two hundred days for every Our Father and every Hail Mary to those who, with sincere contrition, and having confessed, or firmly vowing to confess their sins, shall recite this Chaplet on any Friday, or on any day of Lent, on the Festival of the Seven Dolors, or within the Octave; and one hundred days on any other day of the year. Pope Clement XII added to these further,
1. A Plenary indulgence to those who shall have recited this Chaplet for a month every day, going to Confession, Communion, and saying Prayer for the Church, required as usual.
2. An indulgence of one hundred years to all who should recite it on any day, having confessed their sins, with sincere sorrow, or at least firmly vowing to do so.
3. One hundred and fifty years to those who should recite it on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Holidays of obligation, with Confession and Communion.
4. A Plenary indulgence once a year, on any day, to those who are accustomed to recite it four times a week, on condition of Confession, Communion, and the Recital of the Chaplet on the day of Communion.
5. Two hundred years' indulgence to all who recite it devoutly after Confession; and to all who carry it about them, and frequently recite it, ten years' indulgence every time they shall hear Mass, hear a sermon, or reciting Our Father, and seven Hail Mary's, shall perform any spiritual or corporal work of mercy, in honor of our Blessed Saviour, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or any Saint, their advocate.
Of course, now the indulgences are not counted in days or years, but as either plenary or partial, but the theology behind it is the same. Simply put, sin damages the fabric of humanity, and indulgences help to repair that damage by infusing God’s grace into the world by an approved prayer or action given to us by God through His Church. We can see that by the Popes granting these indulgences, that this devotion has the authority of the Church behind it.
The Seven Dolors that are meditated upon are, The Prophecy of Simeon, The Flight Into Egypt, The Loss of the Child Jesus, Our Lady Meeting Jesus on Via Dolorosa, The Crucifixion of Our Lord, Our Lady Receiving the Body of Our Lord From the Cross, and the Burial of Our Lord. This devotion calls for meditation on these events, praying the Our Father and then asking for Our Lady’s intercession. While we find ourselves living in this sorrowful age, it is most fitting that we pray this chaplet, if not every day, then maybe on Fridays, before Mass on Sunday or perhaps making it a part of your Lenten prayers. There is no shortage of the sorrows brought upon us by our sinful generation, and so the image of Our Sorrowful Mother is a powerful one for us, and it should drive us to live a more devout Christian life.
Our Lady's Warnings and Solution at Kibeho
While we have the widely known approved apparitions of Lourdes and Fatima for example, we also have approved private revelations of Our Lady that are not as widely known such as the one in Kibeho. While I am not going to elaborate on these events in this article, it is worth taking note of what some of the messages that have been reported to have come from it, for they do communicate clearly the reason and the solution as to the crisis of our present culture. Below are some of those messages which communicate the stark reality we find ourselves in, and the solution to it.
“We must meditate on the passion of Jesus and on the deep sorrow of his Mother.”
“The world has turned against God. We must repent and ask for pardon."
“Repent, repent, repent!”, “Convert while there is still time.”
“The world conducts itself very badly,” “The world hastens to its ruin, it will fall into the
abyss,”
“The world is rebellious against God, it commits too many sins, it has neither love nor peace.”
“If you do not repent and do not convert your hearts, you will fall into the abyss.”
“What I ask of you is repentance. If you recite this chaplet (Seven Sorrows), while meditating on it, you will then have the strength to repent. Today, many people do not know anymore how to ask forgiveness.”
"We must be converted, we must pray and mortify ourselves. Satan tries to ruin us. God wants our prayers from the heart."
As far as the status of this apparition, “The Bishop declared: Yes, the Virgin Mary appeared at Kibeho on November 28, 1981, and in the months that followed. There are more reasons to believe in the Apparitions than to deny them... The Apparitions of Kibeho are now officially recognized... The name given to the Marian sanctuary at Kibeho is "Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows". Despite whether or not you find the Kibeho apparitions credible, I doubt that any serious Catholic would deny that the above comments are anything short of depicting the stark reality we find ourselves in, and how we can get ourselves out. We receive a tremendous amount of grace when we say these prayers of the Seven Sorrows. The chaplet consists of saying the Our Father and the Hail Mary while meditating on the Seven Dolors. Of course the Our Father comes from the lips of Jesus Himself, and as Saint Brother Andre Bessette once said, “When you say to God, Our Father, he has his ear right next to your lips.” The Hail Mary, of course also rooted in Scripture, and has been exclaimed by the Saints throughout the ages such as Saint Cyril of Alexandria for example, “Hail to thee Mary, Mother of God, to whom in towns and villages and in island were founded churches of true believers." It is a wonderful prayer that has its focus on Christ’s incarnation as well as the love and obedience of Our Blessed Mother to the will of Christ. It also asks for the intercession of Our Lady which is of paramount importance. Padre Pio spoke of the importance of Our Lady’s intercession for all Christians in blunt terms, “Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother.”
Weeping For Our Sins
One final and important note. Although it is easy to focus on the sins of others, we must first look at our own. We cannot make reparation for others and advance the Gospel of Our Lord if we ourselves are steeped in sin. So we must make sure that we are living a holy life, always examining ourselves before God Almighty as to how we may have offended him, and then repent and make reparation for our sins. We weep first for our own sins and then for the sins of others. So we examine ourselves each day, and then pray for forgiveness. When necessary we make a trip to the confessional and receive forgiveness in the sacrament. This beautiful devotion to the Seven Sorrows is not one that is only directed at the sinful world and the salvation of others external to us, but it is directed at our own salvation first, and remember, our past sins have also contributed to the crisis of our age. So even when we pray for our sinful generation, remember, we are also praying for ourselves, because we are part of it. In the midst of this Coronavirus crisis, we do not point our fingers in arrogance at the sins of others, but we weep for them and offer reparation for them along with our own.
The Devotions
Consecration to Our Lady of Sorrows
Most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, Mary, would that I could be in Heaven, there to contemplate the honors rendered to thee by the Most Holy Trinity and by the whole Heavenly Court! But since I am still a pilgrim in this vale of tears, receive from me, thy unworthy servant and a poor sinner, the most sincere homage and the most perfect act of vassalage a human creature can offer thee. In thy Immaculate Heart, pierced with so many swords of sorrow, I place today my poor soul forever; receive me as a partaker in thy dolors, and never suffer that I should depart from that Cross on which thy only begotten Son expired for me. With thee, O Mary, I will endure all the sufferings, contradictions, infirmities, with which it will please thy Divine Son to visit me in this life. All of them I offer to thee, in memory of the Dolors which thou didst suffer during thy life, that every thought of my mind, every beating of my heart may henceforward be an act of compassion to thy Sorrows, and of complacency for the glory thou now enjoyest in Heaven. Since then, O Dear Mother, I now compassionate thy Dolors, and rejoice in seeing thee glorified, do thou also have compassion on me, and reconcile me to thy Son Jesus, that I may become thy true and loyal son (daughter); come on my last day and assist me in my last agony, even as thou wert present at the Agony of thy Divine Son Jesus, that from this painful exile I may go to Heaven, there to be made partaker of thy glory. Amen.
Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows by Pope Pius VII
A litany is a well-known and much-appreciated form of responsive petition, used in public liturgical services, and in private devotions, for common necessities of the Church, or in calamities to implore God's aid or to appease His just wrath.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us
Mother of the Crucified, pray for us
Sorrowful Mother, pray for us
Mournful Mother, pray for us
Sighing Mother, pray for us
Afflicted Mother, pray for us
Foresaken Mother, pray for us
Desolate Mother, pray for us
Mother most sad, pray for us
Mother set around with anguish, pray for us
Mother overwhelmed by grief, pray for us
Mother transfixed by a sword, pray for us
Mother crucified in thy heart, pray for us
Mother bereaved of thy Son, pray for us
Sighing Dove, pray for us
Mother of Dolors, pray for us
Fount of tears, pray for us
Sea of bitterness, pray for us
Field of tribulation, pray for us
Mass of suffering, pray for us
Mirror of patience, pray for us
Rock of constancy, pray for us
Remedy in perplexity, pray for us
Joy of the afflicted, pray for us
Ark of the desolate, pray for us
Refuge of the abandoned, pray for us
Shiled of the oppressed, pray for us
Conqueror of the incredulous, pray for us
Solace of the wretched, pray for us
Medicine of the sick, pray for us
Help of the faint, pray for us
Strength of the weak, pray for us
Protectress of those who fight, pray for us
Haven of the shipwrecked, pray for us
Calmer of tempests, pray for us
Companion of the sorrowful, pray for us
Retreat of those who groan, pray for us
Terror of the treacherous, pray for us
Standard-bearer of the Martyrs, pray for us
Treasure of the Faithful, pray for us
Light of Confessors, pray for us
Pearl of Virgins, pray for us
Comfort of Widows, pray for us
Joy of all Saints, pray for us
Queen of thy Servants, pray for us
Holy Mary, who alone art unexampled, pray for us
Pray for us, most Sorrowful Virgin, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
Let us pray, --- O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of grief pierced through the most sweet soul of Thy glorious Blessed Virgin Mother Mary: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of her Seven Sorrows, may obtain the happy effect of Thy Passion, Who lives and reigns world without end, Amen.
Prayers in Honor of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pope Pius VII approved another series of prayers in honor of the Seven Sorrows for daily meditation in 1815:
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
1. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God. Hail Mary…
2. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety. Hail Mary…
3. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss of your dear Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge. Hail Mary…
4. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude. Hail Mary…
5. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel. Hail Mary…
6. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding. Hail Mary…
7. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom. Hail Mary…
Let Us Pray:
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech You, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Your mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Your bitter Passion. Through You, O Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.
Chaplet of Seven Sorrows
Each group of seven is begun with an Our Father, as in the regular Rosary. Some people start with an Act of Contrition since the devotion has a penitential aspect. Also, like the regular Rosary, the groups of seven Hail Marys are an occasion for meditation on "Mysteries" in this case, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, listed below:
The First Sorrow
The Prophecy of Simeon
Reading: Luke 2:25-35.
When Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus in the temple, Simeon predicts that a "sword" (of sorrow) will pierce Mary's soul.
The Second Sorrow
The flight into Egypt
Reading: Matthew 2:13-15.
When King Herod orders the death of all male children age two or younger, Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with the infant Jesus.
The Third Sorrow
The Child Jesus Lost in the Temple
Reading: Luke 2: 41-50.
Mary and Joseph search for the child Jesus for three days, finding Him at last — after agonizing sorrow — in the temple.
The Fourth Sorrow
Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross
Reading: Luke 23: 27-29.
As Jesus makes His way to Calvary, condemned to crucifixion, He meets His mother, Mary. He is bruised, derided, cursed and defiled and her sorrow is absolute as Jesus drags His own cross up the hill of His crucifixion.
The Fifth Sorrow
Mary at the foot of the cross
Reading: John 19: 25-30.
Mary stands near her dying Son unable to minister to him as He cries "I thirst." She hears Him promise heaven to a thief and forgive His enemies. His last words, "Behold your mother," charge us to look on Mary as our mother.
The Sixth Sorrow
Mary receives the body of Jesus
Reading: Psalm 130.
Jesus is taken down from the cross and His body is placed in Mary's arms. The passion and death are over, but for His mother, grief continues. She holds His body in her arms.
The Seventh Sorrow
Mary witnesses the burial of Jesus
Reading: Luke 23: 50-56.
The body of Jesus is laid in the tomb. The most tragic day in history ends, Mary alone in sorrow, awaiting the Resurrection.
Matthew Bellisario O.P. 2012, 2020
Trials and Tribulations
There have been trying times for the Church in past ages. It is true that every generation perceives their challenges to be the worst since they alone can claim to have experienced them. We cannot go back and experience the Arian heresy where Saint Athanasius woke up one morning and found himself surrounded by heretics. We instead experience this age, where we witness apostates and heretics attempting to wreck Christ’s Church from within, while rabid atheists and secularists seek to dethrone God and exterminate Him from our culture. Abortion has become the sacred offering of the godless humanity spanning across the globe, driven by heartless materialism and sexual gratification surpassing the pagan cults of times past. Politicians across the globe are martyrs for satan and they are bringing humanity further under his rule with each passing day. Yes, we can say that we are living in a sorrowful age.
Despite the sex without “consequences,” the materialism gone wild, the “no commitment” relationships and staunch relativism, where truth becomes anything you want it to be, we are a most miserable generation. If we are so enlightened and have apparently dug ourselves out of that repressed medieval mindset, why are antidepressants the third most prescribed drug on the market? If one has to drug themselves to be happy, are they at peace with themselves and their actions? Probably not. It is estimated that more than 12% of the US population is currently taking these antidepressant drugs. This is up from 7.7% measured in 1999. Even a larger percentage claims to be suffering from severe depression that is "untreated." Most people, however, do not realize that this is not just a mental problem, it is a problem that goes down to the core of a person, down to the fabric of their souls. Many are drugging their consciences to sleep. If they are not killing their consciences with drugs, they are doing it by trying to oust God out of their lives so they will not be reminded that they are of God’s creation. They are in effect trying to destroy the image and likeness of God. This has been the insidious tactic of the politicians of our age, who have tried to remove God out of the public square for decades by creating laws which forbid God’s name to be used or any symbolism referring to God. The attacks on the traditional family is also an effort to exterminate the imago dei from the minds of men.
Tortured Consciences and Despair
The reality is, people simply are not able to cope with the sinful culture that they live in today. We are living lives of grand delusion. How can a generation kill their offspring at such an alarming rate without being depressed? How can we go from one relationship to another, living lives of infidelity without some sort of traumatizing consequences? How many times have I heard the genius who is on their 3rd marriage tell me that people should live with the people they are dating before they get married, to “test drive” them out? That brilliant plan seems to have worked really well for them, no? Divorce rates are well over 50%, and children are growing up living in separated households, watching their parents engage in intimacy with someone other than their mom or dad. Do we think that all of this, which rebels against the fabric of human nature will not torture our consciences? Hence the antidepressants, and other “tools” to help people cope with “life.” Certainly, there are people with real mental imbalances that may need medication to help them, but as a rule, the vast number of people on these drugs are just trying to dull their consciences. They cannot cope with reality, because they are trying to invent their own “reality.” We could say that this “depression” is the result of the sorrows of our age, which are driven by subjectivism, relativism, and rampant immorality. Saint Thomas tells us, “That which leads men to sin, seems not only to be a sin itself, but a source of sins. Now such is despair, for the Apostle says of certain men (Ephesians 4:19): "Who, despairing, have given themselves up to lasciviousness, unto the working of all uncleanness and [Vulgate: 'unto'] covetousness...Therefore despair is not only a sin but also the origin of other sins.” So despair is what happens when we try and oust God out of lives, and hence our sins grow in proportion and gravity.
The Solution
The only remedy for the sorrows of our age; abortion, divorce, adultery, promiscuity, contraception, wars, famine, heresy, apostasy, atheism, and the many other “isms” plaguing our Church and our culture is for those who believe in Christ to live the Catholic faith with extreme tenacity and dedication. That means that we must pray more, we must spend more time with God and less time entertaining ourselves. As Padre Pio said, “Prayer is the best weapon we possess. It is the key that opens the heart of God.” We must also spread the Gospel to others when we have the opportunity to do so. We must, when God gives us an opportunity, stand up for Him, and not let others exterminate the Catholic faith from our culture. We must begin with prayer, but we must not let opportunities go by to act and do God’s will. Remember, faith and works are married together. We must act when we are called to act, both within the Church and in our communities, but we must act from a life steeped in prayer, nurtured with the virtue of prudence. There are enemies of Christ in the Church and outside the Church, and we must oppose them in both places.
Christ has given us many weapons to combat the godless culture we find ourselves in today. We have recourse to Him in prayer and in the Sacraments of the Church. There are those around us who are professing Catholics who can pray for us, and we can support one another. Christ also gave us His Blessed Mother and His Saints to help in us in our earthly trial. As Saint Thomas says, “The saints impetrate what ever God wishes to take place through their prayers; and they pray for that which they deem will be granted through their prayers according to God’s will.” We have so many riches that have been given to us by Christ, which we ignore to our own peril.
One weapon not often used today is the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. This devotion has a great tradition in the Church. It is another rich devotion through which we can unite our suffering with Our Lady and Jesus Christ. Traditionally, those looking to increase their devotion to the Seven Sorrows first make a consecration to Our Lady Of Sorrows. There are many devotions we can practice including the litany of Seven Sorrows, the prayers dedicated to Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, given to us by Pope Pius VII, as well as the Chaplet of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, which has its origins dating back to the 13th century. Of course, the actual “sorrows” are rooted in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture. These prayers are powerful because they graft the passion of Our Lord and the sorrows of Our Blessed Mother into the fabric of our lives.
The Chaplet
Pope Benedict XIII, on September 26th, 1724, granted an indulgence of two hundred days for every Our Father and every Hail Mary to those who, with sincere contrition, and having confessed, or firmly vowing to confess their sins, shall recite this Chaplet on any Friday, or on any day of Lent, on the Festival of the Seven Dolors, or within the Octave; and one hundred days on any other day of the year. Pope Clement XII added to these further,
1. A Plenary indulgence to those who shall have recited this Chaplet for a month every day, going to Confession, Communion, and saying Prayer for the Church, required as usual.
2. An indulgence of one hundred years to all who should recite it on any day, having confessed their sins, with sincere sorrow, or at least firmly vowing to do so.
3. One hundred and fifty years to those who should recite it on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Holidays of obligation, with Confession and Communion.
4. A Plenary indulgence once a year, on any day, to those who are accustomed to recite it four times a week, on condition of Confession, Communion, and the Recital of the Chaplet on the day of Communion.
5. Two hundred years' indulgence to all who recite it devoutly after Confession; and to all who carry it about them, and frequently recite it, ten years' indulgence every time they shall hear Mass, hear a sermon, or reciting Our Father, and seven Hail Mary's, shall perform any spiritual or corporal work of mercy, in honor of our Blessed Saviour, the Blessed Virgin Mary, or any Saint, their advocate.
Of course, now the indulgences are not counted in days or years, but as either plenary or partial, but the theology behind it is the same. Simply put, sin damages the fabric of humanity, and indulgences help to repair that damage by infusing God’s grace into the world by an approved prayer or action given to us by God through His Church. We can see that by the Popes granting these indulgences, that this devotion has the authority of the Church behind it.
The Seven Dolors that are meditated upon are, The Prophecy of Simeon, The Flight Into Egypt, The Loss of the Child Jesus, Our Lady Meeting Jesus on Via Dolorosa, The Crucifixion of Our Lord, Our Lady Receiving the Body of Our Lord From the Cross, and the Burial of Our Lord. This devotion calls for meditation on these events, praying the Our Father and then asking for Our Lady’s intercession. While we find ourselves living in this sorrowful age, it is most fitting that we pray this chaplet, if not every day, then maybe on Fridays, before Mass on Sunday or perhaps making it a part of your Lenten prayers. There is no shortage of the sorrows brought upon us by our sinful generation, and so the image of Our Sorrowful Mother is a powerful one for us, and it should drive us to live a more devout Christian life.
Our Lady's Warnings and Solution at Kibeho
While we have the widely known approved apparitions of Lourdes and Fatima for example, we also have approved private revelations of Our Lady that are not as widely known such as the one in Kibeho. While I am not going to elaborate on these events in this article, it is worth taking note of what some of the messages that have been reported to have come from it, for they do communicate clearly the reason and the solution as to the crisis of our present culture. Below are some of those messages which communicate the stark reality we find ourselves in, and the solution to it.
“We must meditate on the passion of Jesus and on the deep sorrow of his Mother.”
“The world has turned against God. We must repent and ask for pardon."
“Repent, repent, repent!”, “Convert while there is still time.”
“The world conducts itself very badly,” “The world hastens to its ruin, it will fall into the
abyss,”
“The world is rebellious against God, it commits too many sins, it has neither love nor peace.”
“If you do not repent and do not convert your hearts, you will fall into the abyss.”
“What I ask of you is repentance. If you recite this chaplet (Seven Sorrows), while meditating on it, you will then have the strength to repent. Today, many people do not know anymore how to ask forgiveness.”
"We must be converted, we must pray and mortify ourselves. Satan tries to ruin us. God wants our prayers from the heart."
As far as the status of this apparition, “The Bishop declared: Yes, the Virgin Mary appeared at Kibeho on November 28, 1981, and in the months that followed. There are more reasons to believe in the Apparitions than to deny them... The Apparitions of Kibeho are now officially recognized... The name given to the Marian sanctuary at Kibeho is "Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows". Despite whether or not you find the Kibeho apparitions credible, I doubt that any serious Catholic would deny that the above comments are anything short of depicting the stark reality we find ourselves in, and how we can get ourselves out. We receive a tremendous amount of grace when we say these prayers of the Seven Sorrows. The chaplet consists of saying the Our Father and the Hail Mary while meditating on the Seven Dolors. Of course the Our Father comes from the lips of Jesus Himself, and as Saint Brother Andre Bessette once said, “When you say to God, Our Father, he has his ear right next to your lips.” The Hail Mary, of course also rooted in Scripture, and has been exclaimed by the Saints throughout the ages such as Saint Cyril of Alexandria for example, “Hail to thee Mary, Mother of God, to whom in towns and villages and in island were founded churches of true believers." It is a wonderful prayer that has its focus on Christ’s incarnation as well as the love and obedience of Our Blessed Mother to the will of Christ. It also asks for the intercession of Our Lady which is of paramount importance. Padre Pio spoke of the importance of Our Lady’s intercession for all Christians in blunt terms, “Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother.”
Weeping For Our Sins
One final and important note. Although it is easy to focus on the sins of others, we must first look at our own. We cannot make reparation for others and advance the Gospel of Our Lord if we ourselves are steeped in sin. So we must make sure that we are living a holy life, always examining ourselves before God Almighty as to how we may have offended him, and then repent and make reparation for our sins. We weep first for our own sins and then for the sins of others. So we examine ourselves each day, and then pray for forgiveness. When necessary we make a trip to the confessional and receive forgiveness in the sacrament. This beautiful devotion to the Seven Sorrows is not one that is only directed at the sinful world and the salvation of others external to us, but it is directed at our own salvation first, and remember, our past sins have also contributed to the crisis of our age. So even when we pray for our sinful generation, remember, we are also praying for ourselves, because we are part of it. In the midst of this Coronavirus crisis, we do not point our fingers in arrogance at the sins of others, but we weep for them and offer reparation for them along with our own.
The Devotions
Consecration to Our Lady of Sorrows
Most holy Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, Mary, would that I could be in Heaven, there to contemplate the honors rendered to thee by the Most Holy Trinity and by the whole Heavenly Court! But since I am still a pilgrim in this vale of tears, receive from me, thy unworthy servant and a poor sinner, the most sincere homage and the most perfect act of vassalage a human creature can offer thee. In thy Immaculate Heart, pierced with so many swords of sorrow, I place today my poor soul forever; receive me as a partaker in thy dolors, and never suffer that I should depart from that Cross on which thy only begotten Son expired for me. With thee, O Mary, I will endure all the sufferings, contradictions, infirmities, with which it will please thy Divine Son to visit me in this life. All of them I offer to thee, in memory of the Dolors which thou didst suffer during thy life, that every thought of my mind, every beating of my heart may henceforward be an act of compassion to thy Sorrows, and of complacency for the glory thou now enjoyest in Heaven. Since then, O Dear Mother, I now compassionate thy Dolors, and rejoice in seeing thee glorified, do thou also have compassion on me, and reconcile me to thy Son Jesus, that I may become thy true and loyal son (daughter); come on my last day and assist me in my last agony, even as thou wert present at the Agony of thy Divine Son Jesus, that from this painful exile I may go to Heaven, there to be made partaker of thy glory. Amen.
Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows by Pope Pius VII
A litany is a well-known and much-appreciated form of responsive petition, used in public liturgical services, and in private devotions, for common necessities of the Church, or in calamities to implore God's aid or to appease His just wrath.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us
Mother of the Crucified, pray for us
Sorrowful Mother, pray for us
Mournful Mother, pray for us
Sighing Mother, pray for us
Afflicted Mother, pray for us
Foresaken Mother, pray for us
Desolate Mother, pray for us
Mother most sad, pray for us
Mother set around with anguish, pray for us
Mother overwhelmed by grief, pray for us
Mother transfixed by a sword, pray for us
Mother crucified in thy heart, pray for us
Mother bereaved of thy Son, pray for us
Sighing Dove, pray for us
Mother of Dolors, pray for us
Fount of tears, pray for us
Sea of bitterness, pray for us
Field of tribulation, pray for us
Mass of suffering, pray for us
Mirror of patience, pray for us
Rock of constancy, pray for us
Remedy in perplexity, pray for us
Joy of the afflicted, pray for us
Ark of the desolate, pray for us
Refuge of the abandoned, pray for us
Shiled of the oppressed, pray for us
Conqueror of the incredulous, pray for us
Solace of the wretched, pray for us
Medicine of the sick, pray for us
Help of the faint, pray for us
Strength of the weak, pray for us
Protectress of those who fight, pray for us
Haven of the shipwrecked, pray for us
Calmer of tempests, pray for us
Companion of the sorrowful, pray for us
Retreat of those who groan, pray for us
Terror of the treacherous, pray for us
Standard-bearer of the Martyrs, pray for us
Treasure of the Faithful, pray for us
Light of Confessors, pray for us
Pearl of Virgins, pray for us
Comfort of Widows, pray for us
Joy of all Saints, pray for us
Queen of thy Servants, pray for us
Holy Mary, who alone art unexampled, pray for us
Pray for us, most Sorrowful Virgin, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ
Let us pray, --- O God, in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, a sword of grief pierced through the most sweet soul of Thy glorious Blessed Virgin Mother Mary: grant that we, who celebrate the memory of her Seven Sorrows, may obtain the happy effect of Thy Passion, Who lives and reigns world without end, Amen.
Prayers in Honor of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pope Pius VII approved another series of prayers in honor of the Seven Sorrows for daily meditation in 1815:
O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
1. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God. Hail Mary…
2. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety. Hail Mary…
3. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss of your dear Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge. Hail Mary…
4. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude. Hail Mary…
5. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel. Hail Mary…
6. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the Cross. Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding. Hail Mary…
7. I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom. Hail Mary…
Let Us Pray:
Let intercession be made for us, we beseech You, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the hour of our death, before the throne of Your mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Your bitter Passion. Through You, O Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.
Chaplet of Seven Sorrows
Each group of seven is begun with an Our Father, as in the regular Rosary. Some people start with an Act of Contrition since the devotion has a penitential aspect. Also, like the regular Rosary, the groups of seven Hail Marys are an occasion for meditation on "Mysteries" in this case, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, listed below:
The First Sorrow
The Prophecy of Simeon
Reading: Luke 2:25-35.
When Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus in the temple, Simeon predicts that a "sword" (of sorrow) will pierce Mary's soul.
The Second Sorrow
The flight into Egypt
Reading: Matthew 2:13-15.
When King Herod orders the death of all male children age two or younger, Mary and Joseph flee to Egypt with the infant Jesus.
The Third Sorrow
The Child Jesus Lost in the Temple
Reading: Luke 2: 41-50.
Mary and Joseph search for the child Jesus for three days, finding Him at last — after agonizing sorrow — in the temple.
The Fourth Sorrow
Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross
Reading: Luke 23: 27-29.
As Jesus makes His way to Calvary, condemned to crucifixion, He meets His mother, Mary. He is bruised, derided, cursed and defiled and her sorrow is absolute as Jesus drags His own cross up the hill of His crucifixion.
The Fifth Sorrow
Mary at the foot of the cross
Reading: John 19: 25-30.
Mary stands near her dying Son unable to minister to him as He cries "I thirst." She hears Him promise heaven to a thief and forgive His enemies. His last words, "Behold your mother," charge us to look on Mary as our mother.
The Sixth Sorrow
Mary receives the body of Jesus
Reading: Psalm 130.
Jesus is taken down from the cross and His body is placed in Mary's arms. The passion and death are over, but for His mother, grief continues. She holds His body in her arms.
The Seventh Sorrow
Mary witnesses the burial of Jesus
Reading: Luke 23: 50-56.
The body of Jesus is laid in the tomb. The most tragic day in history ends, Mary alone in sorrow, awaiting the Resurrection.
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