Devotion to Our Sorrowful Mother

Homily for the Memorial of Our Sorrowful Mother

The history of the Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother is long and complicated. Several important people are connected to that history. Among them is St. Anselm, a Benedictine monk, St. Bridget of Sweden, Pope Sixtus IV, the seven brothers who founded the Servite Order, Pope Benedict XIII, and Pope St. Pius X. Each of these individuals is responsible for advocating the devotion to Our Sorrowful Mother. The devotion developed great popularity in the United States during the Second World War, especially among the mothers of the men who were fighting in Europe and in the Pacific theater. Of course, it is reasonable to point to the fact that the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John are also important to the popularization of this devotion.

At its very beginning, the devotion focused on the prophecy of Simeon on the occasion of the Presentation of our Lord Jesus in the temple forty days after his birth. Its later development included six other moments during the life of Our Blessed Mother: the flight into Egypt with its accompanying exile, the occasion when Jesus was lost in the temple of Jerusalem, the meeting of our Blessed Mother with Jesus as he carried his cross, standing at the foot of the cross, the deposition of the body of Jesus into the arms of Mary, and the succeeding burial of Christ. Originally, the devotion consisted of the recitation of the “Hail Mary” as one meditated upon each of the seven sorrows.

The Servite Order regards the Sorrowful Mother as their patron and the Feast of the Sorrowful Mother as their patronal feast. At one time in the history of the church, the Sorrowful Mother was also celebrated on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Pope St. Pius X is responsible for placing the feast on September 15, a day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

In the Gospel text that we read, we hear how before his death on the cross, Jesus placed the care of his mother into the hands of the Beloved Disciple. Although the Beloved Disciple is never named in the Gospel of St. John, popular devotion has pointed at St. John the Apostle as the one who took Mary into his home. At the same time, we regard this particular episode of St. John’s Gospel as Jesus giving us his mother as our mother as well. It is that which we remember as we celebrate the sacrifice of Calvary in our Eucharist today. Not only has Jesus given us the Blessed Mother, he has also given us himself, present in this Most Blessed Sacrament.