Today is the day we honor Our Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Sorrows.

From the Gospel according to St. Luke: “And a sword will pass through your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Source: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

From the Second Reading of the Office of readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows:

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his. (St. Bernard.)

St. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:24-25 (taken from the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for today:)

Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church. I became a minister of this church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness.

Liturgy of the Hours excerpts courtesy of Divine Office

Join with Our Lady in enduring sufferings for the sake of Christ. It is a work of reparation: the repair of the damage our sins have caused, and the damage that the sins of others have caused, too.

In this post: Promises for those devoted to the Sorrowful Mother I detail the spiritual benefits of cultivating a devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Among them is recovery from addictions!

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