Ave Maria Meditations
The First Sorrow: The Prophecy of Simeon: “And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.” (Lk 2:35)
I pity you, oh my afflicted mother, on account of the first sword of sorrow that pierced you, when in the temple, by the prophecy of St. Simeon, all the cruel sufferings that men would inflict on your beloved Jesus were represented to you, which you had already learned from the holy Scriptures, even to his death before your eyes upon the infamous wood of the cross, exhausted of blood and abandoned by all, and you without the power to defend or relieve him. By that bitter memory, then, which for so many years afflicted your heart, I pray you, oh my queen, to obtain for me the grace that always in life and in death I may keep impressed upon my heart the passion of Jesus and your sorrows.
PRAYER:
Oh my blessed Mother, not one sword only, but as many swords as I have committed sins have I added to those seven in Thy Heart. Ah, my Lady, Thy sorrows are not due to Thee who art innocent, but to me who am guilty. But since Thou hast wished to suffer so much for me, ah, by Thy merits obtain for me great sorrow for my sins, and patience under the trials of this life, which will always be light in comparison with my demerits, for I have often merited Hell. Amen.
