Ave Maria Meditations
The Fifth Sorrow of Our Lady: Mary Stands at the Foot of Cross at the Crucifixion: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother. (Jn 19:25)
I pity you, oh my afflicted mother, on account of the fifth sword that pierced your heart, when on Mount Calvary you did behold your beloved son, Jesus, dying slowly before your eyes, amid so many insults, and in anguish, on that hard bed of the cross, without being able to give him even the least of those comforts which the greatest criminals receive at the hour of death. And I pray you by the anguish which you, oh my most loving mother, did suffer together with your dying Son, and by the tenderness you did feel, when, for the last time he spoke to you from the cross, and taking leave of you, left all of us to you in the person of St. John, as your children; and you, still constant, did behold him bow his head and expire; I pray you to obtain for me the grace, by your crucified love, to live and die crucified to everything in this world, in order to live only to God through my whole life, and thus to enter one day paradise, to enjoy him face to face.
PRAYER
Ah, Mother, the most afflicted of all Mothers, Thy Son, then, is dead. Thy Son so amiable, and who loved Thee so much! Weep, for Thou hast reason to weep. Who can ever console Thee? Nothing can console Thee but the thought that Jesus, by His death, has conquered Hell, has opened paradise which was closed to men, and has gained so many souls.
From that throne of the cross He was to reign over so many Hearts, which, conquered by His love, would serve Him with love. Do not disdain, oh my Mother, to keep me near to weep with Thee, for I have more reason than Thou to weep for the offenses that I have committed against Thy Son. Ah, Mother of Mercy, I hope for pardon and my eternal salvation, first through the death of my Redeemer, and then through the merits of Thy sorrows. Amen.
