Every September 15, the Church celebrates the memory of Our Lady of Sorrows, a devotion very widespread in Mediterranean countries that contemplates Mary at the foot of the Cross. The origin of this commemoration dates back to the late 11th century, when liturgical expressions began to emerge in Europe that highlighted the intimate union of the Virgin with the Passion of her Son.
In the 13th century, the friars “Servants of Mary” particularly promoted this spirituality, until in 1668 they were allowed to celebrate the Votive Mass of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Later, Pope Innocent XII authorized in 1692 the celebration of the Seven Sorrows on the third Sunday of September. It was Pius VII who, in 1814, extended the feast to the entire Church, and finally Pius X set the definitive date on September 15, 1913, right after the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, changing its name to Our Lady of Sorrows.
An early testimony of this devotion is found in the famous hymn Stabat Mater, attributed to the blessed Jacopone da Todi (1230-1306), which sings with poetic intensity the fidelity of the Mother who remains beside her crucified Son.
Mary at the Foot of the Cross
The Gospel of Saint John relates: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother (…) and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold your mother’” (Jn 19:25-27).
These words are Christ’s last disposition: to entrust Mary to the beloved disciple and make him her son. Tradition has seen in this gesture a sign for the entire Church: Mary is entrusted to Christians and Christians are entrusted to Mary. Thus, the Mother of Jesus is also the Mother of the Church.
Woman and New Eve
The title by which Jesus addresses Mary—“Woman”—links her both to the episode of Cana, where her “hour” had not yet come, and to the scene of the Cross, where the hour of redemption is fulfilled. By calling her Woman, Christ presents her as the new Eve, she who with her obedience and her pain participates in the redemptive work that the first sin had frustrated.
Mother and Faithful Disciple
The devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows reminds us that Mary is not only Mother, but also disciple. She accompanied Jesus from the beginning, remained faithful until the end, and as Simeon had announced in the temple, a sword pierced her heart. Her interior martyrdom is transformed into a testimony of radical fidelity to the Son, and a model for every disciple who wishes to follow Christ on the way of the cross.
In this feast, the Church contemplates Mary as the Mother who suffers but does not collapse; the disciple who teaches us to remain firm in faith, even in the midst of pain, and the intercessor who accompanies every believer in their own sufferings.
Source: EWTN