From Season to Season

Today--the Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent--is a day traditionally set aside to honor to Seven Sorrows of Mary. Although the reforms of the Church's Calendar after Vatican II elimitated this duplicate celebration of the Mary's "Dolours," opting to focus on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows on September 15, the liturgy does include an optional collect (opening prayer) for today's Mass which reminds us of the special role Mary played in the Passion. And so, today, we remember Mary as the Woman of Compassion . Madonna in Sorrow by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato In our culture, compassion is often equated with kindness or even with mercy, but there is a much more dynamic meaning to this word. It comes to us from two Latin words ( cum =with and passio =to suffer) and literally means "to suffer with." And so, to be a person of compassion means that we literally share in the sufferings of another person. This isn't simple empathy, eit...

This Lent, I have been especially mindful of the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Although this isn't a specifically Lenten devotion — bringing together as it does events drawn from the entire life of Jesus — it nonetheless invites us to reflect on the role Mary played in the full story of salvation, particularly in those times of sadness and fear that are an essential part of the Gospel story. A strong tie of faith binds Mary’s sorrows to those we experience throughout life. Her faith, resilience, courage, and (especially) hope allowed her to find the hand of God at work, even in the most devastating events of her life. The Seven Sorrows of Mary are: 1. The Prophecy of Simeon (cf. Luke 2:34-35 ) 2. The Flight into Egypt (cf. Matthew 2:13-14 ) 3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple (cf. Luke 2:43-45 ) 4. Meeting Jesus As He Carries the Cross (cf. Luke 23:27 ) 5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (cf. John 19:18, 25-27 ) 6. Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross (cf. Mark 15:43-4...