See mother, I make all things new... |
SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
NOVENA
Day 5
Mary's Fourth Sword of Sorrow: She Meets Jesus
Carrying His Cross
The time was at
hand when mankind's redemption was to be accomplished. Already the divine
Victim of our sins is bearing the instrument of our salvation. Torn by the
cruel scourging, crowned with thorns, and covered with blood He proceeds on His
way to Calvary, and in this pitiful condition meets His blessed Mother. What a
spectacle, what a sight for a Mother such as Mary! Anxious to look upon her,
and with one fond glance to thank her for her heroic, unselfish love, He made
an effort to change His bowed position beneath the cross, feebly raised His
head, and directed toward her one loving glance of ineffable anguish, mingled
with grateful recognition and humble resignation. Then the sad procession moves
on, Mary following her divine Son on His way to death.
Reflection
St. Bernardine
says, that to form an idea of the greatness of Mary’s grief in losing her Jesus
by death, we must consider the love that this Mother bore to her Son. All
mothers feel the sufferings of their children as their own. Hence, when the
Canaanitish woman entreated our Saviour to deliver her daughter from the devil
that tormented her, she asked Him rather to pity her, the mother, than her
daughter: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David, my daughter is
grievously troubled by a devil.” But what mother ever loved her son as Mary
loved Jesus? He was her only Son, reared amidst so many troubles; a most
amiable Son, and tenderly loving His Mother; a Son who, at the same time that
He was her Son, was also her God, who had come on earth to enkindle in the
hearts of all the fire of Divine love, as He Himself declared: “I am come to
cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?” Let us only
imagine what a flame He must have enkindled in that pure heart of His holy
Mother, void as it was of every earthly affection. In fine, the Blessed Virgin
herself told Saint Bridget, ‘that love had rendered her heart and that of her
Son but one.’ That blending together of Servant and Mother, of Son and God,
created in the heart of Mary a fire composed of a thousand flames.
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.
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.
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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