OUR MOTHER OF SORROWS NOVENA
FIFTH SWORD OF SORROW
Day 6 -
Reflection
Behold her at the
foot of the cross, looking on her dying Son, and then see if there is grief
like her grief. Let us stop then also today on Calvary, to consider this fifth
sword that pierced the heart of Mary, namely, the death of Jesus.
As soon as our afflicted
Redeemer had ascended the hill of Calvary, the executioners stripped him of his
garments, and piercing his sacred hands and feet with nails, not sharp, but
blunt: “Non acutis, sed obtusis” as St. Bernard says, and to torture him more,
they fastened him to the cross.
When they had
crucified him, they planted the cross, and thus left him to die. The
executioners abandon him, but Mary does not abandon him. She then draws nearer
to the cross, in order to assist at his death.
“I did not leave
him,” thus the blessed Virgin revealed to St. Bridget, “and stood nearer to his
cross.” But what did it avail, oh Lady, says St. Bonaventure, to go to Calvary
to witness there the death of this Son? Shame should have prevented thee, for
his disgrace was also thine, because thou wast his mother; or, at least, the
horror of such a crime as that of seeing a God crucified by his own creatures,
should have prevented thee.
But the saint
himself answers: “Thy heart did not consider the horror, but the suffering: Non
considerabat cor tuum horrorem, sed dolorem.” Ah, thy heart did not then care
for its own sorrow, but for the suffering and death of thy dear Son; and
therefore thou thyself didst wish to be near him, at least to compassionate
him.
Ah, true mother!
says William the Abbot, loving mother! for not even the terror of death could
separate thee from thy beloved Son. But, oh God, what a spectacle of sorrow, to
see this Son then in agony upon the cross, and under the cross this mother in
agony, who was suffering all the pain that her Son was suffering!
Novena Prayer
Ever glorious Blessed Virgin Mary, queen of martyrs, mother of mercy, hope, and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through the sorrows that pierced thy tender heart I beseech thee take pity on my poverty and necessities, have compassion on my anxieties and miseries. I ask it through the mercy of thy divine Son; I ask it through His immaculate life, bitter passion, and ignominious death on the cross. As I am persuaded that He honors thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, let me experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, now and at the hour of my death. Amen.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary full of
Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the
fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and
at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Stabat Mater
Stabat mater dolorosa
juxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.
Cuius animam gementem,
contristatam et dolentem
pertransivit gladius.
O quam tristis et afflicta
fuit illa benedicta,
mater Unigeniti!
Quae mœrebat et dolebat,
pia Mater, dum videbat
nati pœnas inclyti.
Quis est homo qui non fleret,
matrem Christi si videret
in tanto supplicio?
Quis non posset contristari
Christi Matrem contemplari
dolentem cum Filio?
Pro peccatis suæ gentis
vidit Iesum in tormentis,
et flagellis subditum.
Vidit suum dulcem Natum
moriendo desolatum,
dum emisit spiritum.
Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim doloris
fac, ut tecum lugeam.
Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amando Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.
Sancta Mater, istud agas,
crucifixi fige plagas
cordi meo valide.
Tui Nati vulnerati,
tam dignati pro me pati,
pœnas mecum divide.
Fac me tecum pie flere,
crucifixo condolere,
donec ego vixero.
Juxta Crucem tecum stare,
et me tibi sociare
in planctu desidero.
Virgo virginum præclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me tecum plangere.
Fac, ut portem Christi mortem,
passionis fac consortem,
et plagas recolere.
Fac me plagis vulnerari,
fac me Cruce inebriari,
et cruore Filii.
Flammis ne urar succensus,
per te, Virgo, sim defensus
in die iudicii.
Christe, cum sit hinc exire,
da per Matrem me venire
ad palmam victoriæ.
Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animæ donetur
paradisi gloria. Amen.
At the Cross her station
At the Cross her station keeping,
stood the mournful Mother weeping,
close to her Son to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
all His bitter anguish bearing,
now at length the sword has passed.
O how sad and sore distressed
was that Mother, highly blest,
of the sole-begotten One.
Christ above in torment hangs,
she beneath beholds the pangs
of her dying glorious Son.
Is there one who would not weep,
whelmed in miseries so deep,
Christ’s dear Mother to behold?
Can the human heart refrain
from partaking in her pain,
in that Mother’s pain untold?
For the sins of His own nation,
She saw Jesus wracked with torment,
All with scourges rent:
She beheld her tender Child,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His spirit forth He sent.
O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
make my heart with thine accord:
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
make my soul to glow and melt
with the love of Christ my Lord.
Holy Mother! pierce me through,
in my heart each wound renew
of my Savior crucified:
Let me share with thee His pain,
who for all my sins was slain,
who for me in torments died.
Let me mingle tears with thee,
mourning Him who mourned for me,
all the days that I may live:
By the Cross with thee to stay,
there with thee to weep and pray,
is all I ask of thee to give.
Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
let me share thy grief divine;
Let me, to my latest breath,
in my body bear the death
of that dying Son of thine.
Wounded with His every wound,
steep my soul till it hath swooned,
in His very Blood away;
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
lest in flames I burn and die,
in His awful Judgment Day.
Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
be Thy Mother my defense,
be Thy Cross my victory;
While my body here decays,
may my soul Thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee.
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