Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows
Each day at Chaminade Julienne, we pray the Marianist version of the Three O’clock Prayer together as a whole school. The prayer is a reflection on the goodness of God, our call discipleship, and our relationship with Mary, the first disciple. It is a perfect prayer to align with today’s feast and our gospel. In the gospel, we stand with Mary at the foot of the cross. Who better to understand our own sufferings and pain than our blessed Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows. Mary is a great companion in our mourning, our frustrations, our loss, our sadness, our grief.
We all experience sorrow and pain–physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally. Let us take some time today to reflect on our own sorrows. What is it that rests heavy on your heart these days? Does your sorrow center on your own wounds or do you grieve in a special way for the sorrows you witness in others? “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted” (Mt 5:4); to mourn is to know and have sorrow. A heart that mourns is a heart that loves. Christ has given us to Mary. Like a great and loving mother, Mary holds us in her heart. We are invited today to stand at the foot of the cross along with our sorrowful mother. She is the perfect model of our hope in the cross of Jesus. Even in the midst of her sorrow and pain, she was not overcome with despair, but rather endured the suffering. Her intercession helps us to do the same, to move through and see beyond the sorrow. May we, like Mary, embrace the sorrow we experience, take up our cross, and persevere in the hope and promise of the resurrection.
Lord Jesus,
we gather in spirit at the foot of the Cross
with your Mother and the disciple whom you loved.
We ask your pardon for our sins,
which are the cause of your death.We thank you for remembering us
in that hour of salvation
and for giving us Mary as our Mother.Holy Virgin,
take us under your protection
and open us to the action of
the Holy Spirit.Saint John,
obtain for us the grace of taking Mary
into our lives as you did,
and of assisting her in her mission.May the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit
be glorified in all places
through the Immaculate Virgin Mary.Amen.
Peace,
Brandon Meyer