Ave Maria Meditations
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary that has made the strongest appeal to devotion are: the prophecy of Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the three days loss of Jesus, the meeting with Jesus carrying His Cross, His death on Calvary, His being taken down from the cross, and His burial in the tomb.
Simeon foretold to the Mother the opposition the Redeemer would arouse, and the sword that was to pierce her own heart, “You yourself shall be pierced with a sword.” Mary’s sorrow on Calvary was deeper than any sorrow ever felt on earth, for no mother in all the world had a heart as tender as the heart of the Mother of God. As there was no love like her love, there was no sorrow like her sorrow. She bore her sufferings for us that we might enjoy the graces of redemption. She suffered willingly in order to prove her great love for us, for true love is proved by sacrifice.
It was not because she was the Mother of God that Mary could bear her sorrows, but because she saw things from His point of view and not from her own, or rather, she had made his point of view hers. We should do the same. The Mother of Sorrows will be on hand to help us.
Devotion to the sorrows of Mary is the source of great graces because it leads into the depths of the Heart of Christ. If we think frequently of the false pleasures of this world, we shall embrace patiently the sorrows and sufferings of this life, and we shall be penetrated with a sorrow for sin. The church urges us to give ourselves over to her love completely and bear our cross patiently with the Mother of Sorrows.
From the Complete Marian Prayer Book
